Tong K I, Yau P, Overduin M, Bagby S, Porumb T, Takeichi M, Ikura M
Division of Molecular and Structural Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Canada.
FEBS Lett. 1994 Oct 3;352(3):318-22. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(94)00982-1.
Cadherins are a family of Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecules containing four extracellular tandem repeats each of 110 amino acids. The most amino-terminal repeat is believed to confer the specificity of cell adhesion. A polypeptide containing the amino-terminal repeat of mouse epithelial cadherin has been over-expressed in E. coli and purified to homogeneity. This polypeptide binds Ca2+ with a dissociation constant of 1.6 x 10(-4) M. CD and NMR experiments indicate that the polypeptide adopts a predominantly beta-sheet conformation and that binding of Ca2+ induces only small conformational changes.
