Ectopie expression of Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by the mela noma cell line Mel Wei led to alterations in cell morphology and to changes in the expression of two melanoma-associated cell adhesion mol ecules, neural cell adhesion molecule and MUC18. The normally flat, triangular cells developed neurite-like extensions and exhibited a less organized growth pattern. When compared to untransfec...

In utero exposure of rodents to valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been proposed to induce an adult phenotype with behavioural characteristics reminiscent of those observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have evaluated the face validity of this model in terms of social cognition deficits which are a major core symptom of ASD. We employed the social approach ...

Many cell adhesion molecules have a distinct pattern of expression and well-defined role in cell-cell recognition. In contrast, NCAM is broadly expressed and perturbations of its function affect many diverse aspects of embryonic development. Evidence has been obtained suggesting that the molecule and its polysialic acid moiety serve not only to contribute to specific interactions, but also to r...

We cloned the Xenopus homologue of cadherin-11 and studied its spatiotemporal expression pattern during early development. The messenger RNA is present from the mid-gastrulation through embryo development. It is expressed in different neural crest cell populations, during their migration and differentiation. This pattern, unexpected for an adhesion molecule, reinforces the idea of novel functio...

Cryoelectron microscopy has been used to determine the structure of a virus when complexed with its glycoprotein cellular receptor. Human rhinovirus 16 complexed with the two amino-terminal, immunoglobulin-like domains of the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 shows that the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 binds into the 12-A deep "canyon" on the viral surface. This result confirms the predict...

Recently, it has been proposed that abnormalities in neuronal structural plasticity may underlie the pathogenesis of major depression, resulting in changes in the volume of specific brain regions, including the hippocampus (HIP), the prefrontal cortex (PC), and the amygdala (AMY), as well as the morphology of individual neurons in these brain regions. In the present survey, we compile the data ...

Muscle development in vivo involves a complex sequence of cell-cell interactions in which secondary myotubes first form in association with primary myotubes and subsequently separate from them. We show here that during this process N-cadherin and the different structural forms of NCAM are regulated in a pattern that involves both temporal changes in expression and localization to particular reg...

The neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM plays an important role during neural development and in the adult brain. To study the intracellular trafficking of NCAM in neurons, two major isoforms, NCAM140 or NCAM180, were expressed in primary cortical neurons and in the rat B35 neuroblastoma cell line. NCAM was endocytosed and subsequently recycled to the plasma membrane, whereas only a minor fracti...

Synapse formation is tightly associated with neuronal excitability. We found striking synaptic overgrowth caused by Drosophila K(+)-channel mutations of the seizure and slowpoke genes, encoding Erg and Ca(2+)-activated large-conductance (BK) channels, respectively. These mutants display two distinct patterns of "satellite" budding from larval motor terminus synaptic boutons. Double-mutant analy...

The AP-2δ transcription factor is restricted to a subset of retinal ganglion cells. Overexpression of AP-2δ in chick retina results in induction of polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) accompanied by misrouting and bundling of ganglion cell axons. Two polysialyltransferases, ST8SIA2 and ST8SIA4, are responsible for polysialylation of NCAM. Here, we investigate the mechanism d...