p120-catenin and β-catenin differentially regulate cadherin adhesive function

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Rebecca G. Oas, Emory University; Benjamin A. Nanes, Emory University; Chimdimnma C. Esimai, Georgia Institute of Technology; Peter A. Vincent, Albany Medical College; Andrés J. Garcia, Georgia Institute of Technology; Andrew Kowalczyk, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-03-15
• Publisher: American Society for Cell Biology
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 Oas et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.molbiolcell.org/content/24/6/704
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Molecular Biology of the Cell
• ISSN: 1059-1524
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 704
• End Page: 714
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health through Grants T32EY007092 (R.O.), F30HL110447 (B.A.N.), R01HL77870 (P.A.V.), R01GM065918 (A.J.G.), and R01AR050501 (A.P.K.), the National Science Foundation through Grant BES0827719 (A.J.G.), and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award (C.E.).
• Research Categories: Biology, Cell

Abstract

Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, the major adherens junction adhesion molecule in endothelial cells, interacts with p120-catenin and β-catenin through its cytoplasmic tail. However, the specific functional contributions of the catenins to the establishment of strong adhesion are not fully understood. Here we use bioengineering approaches to identify the roles of cadherin–catenin interactions in promoting strong cellular adhesion and the ability of the cells to spread on an adhesive surface. Our results demonstrate that the domain of VE-cadherin that binds to β-catenin is required for the establishment of strong steady-state adhesion strength. Surprisingly, p120 binding to the cadherin tail had no effect on the strength of adhesion when the available adhesive area was limited. Instead, the binding of VE-cadherin to p120 regulates adhesive contact area in a Rac1-dependent manner. These findings reveal that p120 and β-catenin have distinct but complementary roles in strengthening cadherin-mediated adhesion.