Prototypical Type I E-cadherin and Type II Cadherin-7 Mediate Very Distinct Adhesiveness through Their Extracellular Domains

Using a dual pipette assay that measures the force required to separate adherent cell doublets, we have quantitatively compared intercellular adhesiveness mediated by Type I (E- or N-cadherin) or Type II (cadherin-7 or -11) cadherins. At similar cadherin expression levels, cells expressing Type I ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of biological chemistry 2006-02, Vol.281 (5), p.2901-2910
Main Authors: Chu, Yeh-Shiu, Eder, Olivier, Thomas, William A., Simcha, Inbal, Pincet, Frederic, Ben-Ze'ev, Avri, Perez, Eric, Thiery, Jean Paul, Dufour, Sylvie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Avian Proteins - chemistry
Avian Proteins - genetics
Avian Proteins - physiology
beta Catenin - genetics
beta Catenin - metabolism
Cadherins - chemistry
Cadherins - genetics
Cadherins - physiology
Cell Adhesion
Cell Line
Chickens
Intercellular Junctions
Kinetics
Life Sciences
Membrane Microdomains - physiology
Transfection
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Summary:Using a dual pipette assay that measures the force required to separate adherent cell doublets, we have quantitatively compared intercellular adhesiveness mediated by Type I (E- or N-cadherin) or Type II (cadherin-7 or -11) cadherins. At similar cadherin expression levels, cells expressing Type I cadherins adhered much more rapidly and strongly than cells expressing Type II cadherins. Using chimeric cadherins, we found that the extracellular domain exerts by far the dominant effect on cell adhesivity, that of E-cadherin conferring high adhesivity, and that of cadherin-7 conferring low adhesivity. Type I cadherins were incorporated to a greater extent into detergent-insoluble cytoskeletal complexes, and their cytoplasmic tails were much more effective in disrupting strong adherent junctions, suggesting that Type II cadherins form less stable complexes with β-catenin. The present study demonstrates compellingly, for the first time, that cadherins are dramatically different in their ability to promote intercellular adhesiveness, a finding that has profound implications for the regulation of tissue morphogenesis.
ISSN:0021-9258
1083-351X
DOI:10.1074/jbc.M506185200