PMID: 9427683Apr 29, 1998Paper

Long-range and selective autoregulation of cell-cell or cell-matrix adhesions by cadherin or integrin ligands

Journal of Cell Science
S LevenbergB Geiger

Abstract

In this study we demonstrate that local stimulation of cell surface cadherins or integrins induces a selective enhancement of adherens junction or focal contact assembly, respectively, throughout the cell. N-cadherin transfected CHO cells (CHO-Ncad) were incubated with different ligands including N-cadherin extracellular domain (NEC), anti-N-cadherin antibodies, fibronectin and concanavalin A (ConA), conjugated to synthetic beads. Electron microscopic examination indicated that both cadherin- and integrin-reactive beads bound tightly to the cell surface and were apparently endocytosed after several hours of incubation. The ConA-beads remained largely at the cell surface. Immunofluorescence labeling of the cells with antibodies to different adhesion-associated molecules indicated that both NEC- and anti-N-cadherin-conjugated beads induced a major increase in the level of junction-associated cadherin and beta-catenin labeling and a modest increase in junctional vinculin labeling, compared to untreated cells or cells bound to ConA-beads. FN-conjugated beads, on the other hand, significantly enhanced vinculin labeling at focal contacts and suppressed cadherin and beta-catenin staining in cell-cell junctions. The cadherin-reactive b...Continue Reading

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