title: Requirement for N-cadherin-catenin complex in heart development.
abstract: Cell adhesion, mediated by N-cadherin, is critical for embryogenesis since N-cadherin-null embryos die during mid-gestation with multiple developmental defects. To investigate the role of N-cadherin in heart muscle development, N-cadherin was specifically deleted from myocardial cells in mice. The structural integrity of the myocardial cell wall was compromised in the N-cadherin mutant embryos, leading to a malformed heart and a delay in embryonic development. In contrast, cardiac-specific deletion of αE-catenin, found in adherens junctions, or β-catenin, did not cause any morphological defects in the embryonic heart, presumably due to compensation by αT-catenin that is normally found in intercalated disks and γ-catenin (plakoglobin), respectively. Embryos lacking β-catenin in the heart also exhibited a cardiac defect, but only later in development resulting in partial lethality. These genetic studies underscore the importance of the N-cadherin/catenin complex in cardiogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Іnstitute of Molecular Biology and Genetic, Kyiv, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Oksana O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Piven
authors.forename: Igor E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Kostetskii
authors.forename: Larysa L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Macewicz
authors.forename: Yurii M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kolomiets
authors.forename: Glenn L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Radice
authors.forename: Lubov L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lukash
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D051379:Mice; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C489083:Cdh2 protein, mouse; D051176:beta Catenin