Biomaterials Center for Regenerative Medical Engineering, Foundation for Advancement of International Science, 24-16 Kasuga, 3-chome, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0821, Japan.
School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, G1-13, 4259, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 226-8502, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 12;10(1):17044. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-72517-2.
E-cadherin is a key Ca-dependent cell adhesion molecule, which is expressed on many cell surfaces and involved in cell morphogenesis, embryonic development, EMT, etc. The fusion protein E-cad-Fc consists of the extracellular domain of E-cadherin and the IgG Fc domain. On plates coated with this chimeric protein, ES/iPS cells are cultivated particularly well and induced to differentiate. The cells adhere to the plate via E-cad-Fc in the presence of Ca and detach by a chelating agent. For the purpose of clarifying the structures of E-cad-Fc in the presence and absence of Ca, we analyzed the molecular structure of E-cad-Fc by AFM in liquid. Our AFM observations revealed a rod-like structure of the entire extracellular domain of E-cad-Fc in the presence of Ca as well as trans-binding of E-cad-Fc with adjacent molecules, which may be the first, direct confirmation of trans-dimerization of E-cadherin. The observed structures were in good agreement with an X-ray crystallographic model. Furthermore, we succeeded in visualizing the changes in the rod-like structure of the EC domains with and without calcium. The biomatrix surface plays an important role in cell culture, so the analysis of its structure and function may help promote cell engineering based on cell recognition.
E-钙黏蛋白是一种关键的 Ca 依赖性细胞黏附分子,表达于许多细胞表面,参与细胞形态发生、胚胎发育、上皮间质转化等过程。E-钙黏蛋白-Fc 融合蛋白由 E-钙黏蛋白的细胞外结构域和 IgG Fc 结构域组成。在涂有这种嵌合蛋白的平板上,ES/iPS 细胞培养得特别好,并能被诱导分化。在 Ca 存在的情况下,细胞通过 E-cad-Fc 黏附在平板上,然后通过螯合剂将其分离。为了阐明 Ca 存在和不存在时 E-cad-Fc 的结构,我们在液体中通过原子力显微镜(AFM)对 E-cad-Fc 的分子结构进行了分析。我们的 AFM 观察结果表明,在 Ca 存在的情况下,E-cad-Fc 的整个细胞外结构域呈现出棒状结构,并且 E-cad-Fc 与相邻分子发生跨键结合,这可能是 E-钙黏蛋白跨二聚体的首次直接证实。观察到的结构与 X 射线晶体学模型非常吻合。此外,我们成功地观察到了有钙和无钙时 EC 结构域的棒状结构的变化。生物基质表面在细胞培养中起着重要的作用,因此分析其结构和功能可能有助于促进基于细胞识别的细胞工程。