Takeichi M, Hatta K, Nose A, Nagafuchi A, Matsunaga M
Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan.
Ciba Found Symp. 1989;144:243-9; discussion 250-4, 290-5. doi: 10.1002/9780470513798.ch14.
Cadherins are a family of transmembrane glycoproteins which are responsible for Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion. Each member of the family displays a unique pattern of tissue distribution. The expression of cadherin molecules in an embryo is spatiotemporally regulated so as to be associated with a variety of morphogenetic events. Antibodies against cadherins perturb the morphogenesis of tissues, indicating their importance in tissue formation. When cells were transfected with cDNAs encoding cadherins, they expressed the exogenous cadherin molecules and these were functional. Using these transfected cells, we tested whether each member of the cadherin family has a binding specificity, and found that cells preferentially adhere to those expressing the identical cadherin type. The cadherin-mediated specific adhesion also occurred in the attachment of neurites to the surface of other cells. These observations suggest that cadherins are crucial for the selective adhesiveness of cells, and thus for the embryonic morphogenetic processes in which specific adhesive interactions of cells are involved.
钙黏着蛋白是一类跨膜糖蛋白，负责依赖钙离子的细胞间黏附。该家族的每个成员都呈现出独特的组织分布模式。胚胎中钙黏着蛋白分子的表达在时空上受到调控，从而与多种形态发生事件相关联。针对钙黏着蛋白的抗体扰乱组织的形态发生，表明它们在组织形成中具有重要性。当用编码钙黏着蛋白的cDNA转染细胞时，它们表达外源性钙黏着蛋白分子且这些分子具有功能。利用这些转染细胞，我们测试了钙黏着蛋白家族的每个成员是否具有结合特异性，发现细胞优先黏附于表达相同类型钙黏着蛋白的细胞。钙黏着蛋白介导的特异性黏附也发生在神经突与其他细胞表面的附着过程中。这些观察结果表明，钙黏着蛋白对于细胞的选择性黏附至关重要，因此对于涉及细胞特异性黏附相互作用的胚胎形态发生过程也至关重要。
