N-cadherin promotes motility in human breast cancer cells regardless of their E-cadherin expression

MT Nieman, RS Prudoff, KR Johnson… - The Journal of cell …, 1999 - rupress.org
MT Nieman, RS Prudoff, KR Johnson, MJ Wheelock
The Journal of cell biology, 1999rupress.org
E-cadherin is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates calcium-dependent, homotypic
cell–cell adhesion and plays a role in maintaining the normal phenotype of epithelial cells.
Decreased expression of E-cadherin has been correlated with increased invasiveness of
breast cancer. In other systems, inappropriate expression of a nonepithelial cadherin, such
as N-cadherin, by an epithelial cell has been shown to downregulate E-cadherin expression
and to contribute to a scattered phenotype. In this study, we explored the possibility that …
E-cadherin is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates calcium-dependent, homotypic cell–cell adhesion and plays a role in maintaining the normal phenotype of epithelial cells. Decreased expression of E-cadherin has been correlated with increased invasiveness of breast cancer. In other systems, inappropriate expression of a nonepithelial cadherin, such as N-cadherin, by an epithelial cell has been shown to downregulate E-cadherin expression and to contribute to a scattered phenotype. In this study, we explored the possibility that expression of nonepithelial cadherins may be correlated with increased motility and invasion in breast cancer cells. We show that N-cadherin promotes motility and invasion; that decreased expression of E-cadherin does not necessarily correlate with motility or invasion; that N-cadherin expression correlates both with invasion and motility, and likely plays a direct role in promoting motility; that forced expression of E-cadherin in invasive, N-cadherin–positive cells does not reduce their motility or invasive capacity; that forced expression of N-cadherin in noninvasive, E-cadherin–positive cells produces an invasive cell, even though these cells continue to express high levels of E-cadherin; that N-cadherin–dependent motility may be mediated by FGF receptor signaling; and that cadherin-11 promotes epithelial cell motility in a manner similar to N-cadherin.
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