Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Science Policy Alerts

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 3 October 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5642, pp. 109 - 113
DOI: 10.1126/science.1086957
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Untangling Desmosomal Knots with Electron Tomography

Wanzhong He,1 Pamela Cowin,2 David L. Stokes1,2,3*

Cell adhesion by adherens junctions and desmosomes relies on interactions between cadherin molecules. However, the molecular interfaces that define molecular specificity and that mediate adhesion remain controversial. We used electron tomography of plastic sections from neonatal mouse skin to visualize the organization of desmosomes in situ. The resulting three-dimensional maps reveal individual cadherin molecules forming discrete groups and interacting through their tips. Fitting of an x-ray crystal structure for C-cadherin to these maps is consistent with a flexible intermolecular interface mediated by an exchange of amino-terminal tryptophans. This flexibility suggests a novel mechanism for generating both cis and trans interactions and for propagating these adhesive interactions along the junction.

1 Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine
2 Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
3 New York Structural Biology Center, 89 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stokes{at}saturn.med.nyu.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Insights into the Low Adhesive Capacity of Human T-cadherin from the NMR Structure of Its N-terminal Extracellular Domain.
S. A. Dames, E. Bang, D. Haussinger, T. Ahrens, J. Engel, and S. Grzesiek (2008)
J. Biol. Chem. 283, 23485-23495
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Allosteric Role of the Ca2+ Switch in Adhesion and Elasticity of C-Cadherin.
M. Sotomayor and K. Schulten (2008)
Biophys. J. 94, 4621-4633
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Two Stage Cadherin Kinetics Require Multiple Extracellular Domains but Not the Cytoplasmic Region.
Y.-H. Chien, N. Jiang, F. Li, F. Zhang, C. Zhu, and D. Leckband (2008)
J. Biol. Chem. 283, 1848-1856
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Structure of a Tyrosine Phosphatase Adhesive Interaction Reveals a Spacer-Clamp Mechanism.
A. R. Aricescu, C. Siebold, K. Choudhuri, V. T. Chang, W. Lu, S. J. Davis, P. A. van der Merwe, and E. Y. Jones (2007)
Science 317, 1217-1220
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Forces and Bond Dynamics in Cell Adhesion.
E. A. Evans and D. A. Calderwood (2007)
Science 316, 1148-1153
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Suprabasal Dsg2 expression in transgenic mouse skin confers a hyperproliferative and apoptosis-resistant phenotype to keratinocytes.
D. Brennan, Y. Hu, S. Joubeh, Y. W. Choi, D. Whitaker-Menezes, T. O'Brien, J. Uitto, U. Rodeck, and M. G. Mahoney (2007)
J. Cell Sci. 120, 758-771
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cell-cell adhesion in lung endothelium.
D. M. Shasby (2007)
Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 292, L593-L607
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamics and Stability of E-Cadherin Dimers.
F. Cailliez and R. Lavery (2006)
Biophys. J. 91, 3964-3971
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The desmosome: cell science lessons from human diseases..
M. D. Kottke, E. Delva, and A. P. Kowalczyk (2006)
J. Cell Sci. 119, 797-806
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Regulation of N-Cadherin Dynamics at Neuronal Contacts by Ligand Binding and Cytoskeletal Coupling.
O. Thoumine, M. Lambert, R.-M. Mege, and D. Choquet (2006)
Mol. Biol. Cell 17, 862-875
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Hyper-adhesion in desmosomes: its regulation in wound healing and possible relationship to cadherin crystal structure.
D. R. Garrod, M. Y. Berika, W. F. Bardsley, D. Holmes, and L. Tabernero (2005)
J. Cell Sci. 118, 5743-5754
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Identification of a transiently exposed VE-cadherin epitope that allows for specific targeting of an antibody to the tumor neovasculature.
C. May, J. F. Doody, R. Abdullah, P. Balderes, X. Xu, C. P. Chen, Z. Zhu, L. Shapiro, P. Kussie, D. J. Hicklin, et al. (2005)
Blood 105, 4337-4344
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The mechanism of cell adhesion by classical cadherins: the role of domain 1.
O. J. Harrison, E. M. Corps, T. Berge, and P. J. Kilshaw (2005)
J. Cell Sci. 118, 711-721
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Minimal Essential Unit for Cadherin-mediated Intercellular Adhesion Comprises Extracellular Domains 1 and 2.
W. Shan, Y. Yagita, Z. Wang, A. Koch, A. F. Svenningsen, E. Gruzglin, L. Pedraza, and D. R. Colman (2004)
J. Biol. Chem. 279, 55914-55923
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Trans-bonded pairs of E-cadherin exhibit a remarkable hierarchy of mechanical strengths.
E. Perret, A. Leung, H. Feracci, and E. Evans (2004)
PNAS 101, 16472-16477
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
VE-cadherin: adhesion at arm's length.
P. A. Vincent, K. Xiao, K. M. Buckley, and A. P. Kowalczyk (2004)
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 286, C987-C997
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Desmosomes in a tangle.
N. LeBrasseur (2003)
J. Cell Biol. 163, 200
   Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)