Cadherins belong to a family of Ca(2+)-dependent homophilic cell-cell adhesion proteins that are important for correct cellular localization and tissue integrity. They play a major role in the development and homeostasis of epithelial architecture. Recently, it has become more and more evident that P-cadherin contributes to the oncogenesis of many tumors. To analyze the role of P-cadherin in or...

The expression pattern of two Ca2(+)-dependent intercellular adhesion molecules, E- and P-cadherin, in 54 surgically resected gastric adenocarcinomas was examined immunohistochemically. E-cadherin was expressed uniformly at the cell-cell borders of most of the differentiated and adherent-type undifferentiated gastric adenocarcinomas, showing that E-cadherin serves as the main cadherin molecule ...

Backgrounds Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy (HJMD) is a rare genetic disorder caused from mutations in the Cadherin 3 (CDH3) gene. Results In the present study, we reported an Iranian family with three affected members born to a consanguineous parent. Mutational analysis using whole exome sequencing has revealed a nucleotide change in CDH3 gene (NM_001793:exon8:c.830delG) which l...

E-cadherin localization to the zonula adherens is fundamental for epithelial differentiation but the mechanisms controlling localization are unclear. Using the Drosophila follicular epithelium we genetically dissect E-cadherin transport in an in vivo model. We distinguish three mechanisms mediating E-cadherin accumulation at the zonula adherens. Two membrane trafficking pathways deliver newly s...

In epithelia, junction proteins are endocytosed for modulation of cell-cell adhesion and cell polarity. In response to growth factors, the cell-cell adhesion protein E-cadherin is internalized from the cell surface with degradation or recycling as potential fates. However, the cellular machinery involved in cadherin internalization and recycling remains controversial. Here we investigated EGF-i...

We present the first evidence that adhesion mediated by a member of the cadherin gene family can be regulated by a G protein-coupled receptor. We show that activating the M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) rapidly induces E-cadherin-mediated adhesion in a small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cell line. This response is inhibited by E-cadherin antibodies, and does not occur in another SCLC...

Collective cell migration (CCM) is essential for organism development, wound healing, and metastatic transition, the primary cause of cancer-related death, and it involves cell-cell adhesion molecules of the cadherin family. Increased P-cadherin expression levels are correlated with tumor aggressiveness in carcinoma and aggressive sarcoma; however, how P-cadherin promotes tumor malignancy remai...

The heterotrimeric G protein Gα13 transduces signals from G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to induce cell spreading, differentiation, migration, and cell polarity. Here, we describe a novel GPCR-independent function of Gα13 in regulating the stability of endothelial cell adherens junctions (AJs). We observed that the oxidant H2O2, which is released in response to multiple proinflammatory med...