Endocytosis of Cadherin from Intracellular Junctions Is the Driving Force for Cadherin Adhesive Dimer Disassembly
- 1 August 2006
- journal article
- Published by American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in Molecular Biology of the Cell
- Vol. 17 (8), 3484-3493
- https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e06-03-0190
Abstract
The adhesion receptor E-cadherin maintains cell–cell junctions by continuously forming short-lived adhesive dimers. Here mixed culture cross-linking and coimmunoprecipitation assays were used to determine the dynamics of adhesive dimer assembly. We showed that the amount of these dimers increased dramatically minutes after the inhibition of endocytosis by ATP depletion or by hypertonic sucrose. This increase was accompanied by the efficient recruitment of E-cadherin into adherens junctions. After 10 min, when the adhesive dimer amount had reached a plateau, the assembly of new dimers stalled completely. These cells, in a striking difference from the control, became unable to disintegrate both their intercellular contacts and adhesive dimers in response to calcium depletion. The same effects, but after a slightly longer time course, were obtained using acidic media, another potent approach inhibiting endocytosis. These data suggest that endocytosis is the main pathway for the dissociation of E-cadherin adhesive dimers. Its inhibition blocks the replenishment of the monomeric cadherin pool, thereby inhibiting new dimer formation. This suggestion has been corroborated by immunoelectron microscopy, which revealed cadherin-enriched coated pit-like structures in close association with adherens junctions.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- The ins and outs of E-cadherin traffickingTrends in Cell Biology, 2004
- Cadherin-mediated cell–cell adhesion: sticking together as a familyCurrent Opinion in Structural Biology, 2003
- Characterization of E-cadherin Endocytosis in Isolated MCF-7 and Chinese Hamster Ovary CellsPublished by Elsevier BV ,2003
- Intermediate filament–membrane attachments function synergistically with actin-dependent contacts to regulate intercellular adhesive strengthThe Journal of cell biology, 2002
- ARF6-GTP recruits Nm23-H1 to facilitate dynamin-mediated endocytosis during adherens junctions disassemblyNature, 2002
- Dynamic Interplay between Adhesive and Lateral E-Cadherin DimersMolecular and Cellular Biology, 2002
- C-Cadherin Ectodomain Structure and Implications for Cell Adhesion MechanismsScience, 2002
- Effects of cytoplasmic acidification on clathrin lattice morphology.The Journal of cell biology, 1989
- Effects of cytochalasin and phalloidin on actin.The Journal of cell biology, 1987
- Inhibition of actin polymerization by latrunculin AFEBS Letters, 1987