The long-term goal of this project is to understand how cadherins function to influence cellular behavior. In particular, we are interested in how N-cadherin increases the cell motility and invasive behavior of human epithelial tumor cells. The cadherins are the transmembrane components of the adherens junction, a cell-cell adhesive structure in epithelia and other cells. Thus, the idea that an adhesion protein may be involved in increasing cell motility is a novel one. Cadherins are expressed in a tissue specific manner in normal tissues. Our laboratory discovered that expression of an inappropriate cadherin by an epithelial cell (in this case, N-cadherin rather than the normally expressed E-cadherin) resulted in a cell with increased cell motility and increased invasion.
The specific aims of this proposal are focused on understanding the role N-cadherin plays in modulating cell motility. Specifically, we propose to: 1. Determine the molecular basis of N-cadherin-mediated cell motility. 2. Use a transgenic mouse model to investigate the role of N-cadherin in tumor progression. 3. Determine if N-cadherin plays a role in angiogenesis by modulating the motility of endothelial cells. To accomplish these goals, we will make use of molecular constructs, often made up of chimeric molecules. These constructs will be expressed in cells to observe their effect on cellular behavior and phenotype. Protein-protein interactions will be determined by several means which include coimmunoprecipitation reactions, co-localization in tissue culture cells and yeast two hybrid analysis. Protein-protein interactions will also be analyzed by co-transfecting interaction domains of two proteins into eukaryotic cells followed by co-localization in intact cells (immunofluorescence) and co-immunoprecipitation of cell extracts. We will use a mouse model system to examine the effects of expressing N-cadherin in otherwise normal breast epithelial cells to determine if N-cadherin influences cell behavior only in the contex of a tumor cell. Finally, we will examine the role N-cadherin may play in motility of normal endothelial cells. We predict we will clearly identify regions on n-cadherin that mediate cell motility without effecting cell adhesion. This knowledge may make it possible to generate reagents that could be used to inhibit tumor cell motility without inhibiting cell adhesion. Such reagents might be useful to prevent metastasis of tumor cells and/or angiogenesis of endothelial cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM051188-13
Application #
6922796
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-CDF-4 (02))
Program Officer
Flicker, Paula F
Project Start
1994-08-01
Project End
2006-07-31
Budget Start
2005-08-01
Budget End
2006-07-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$352,800
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Department
Dentistry
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
168559177
City
Omaha
State
NE
Country
United States
Zip Code
68198
Huang, Huocong; Svoboda, Robert A; Lazenby, Audrey J et al. (2016) Up-regulation of N-cadherin by Collagen I-activated Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 in Pancreatic Cancer Requires the Adaptor Molecule Shc1. J Biol Chem 291:23208-23223
Liu, Xiang; Yi, Chunhui; Wen, Yunfei et al. (2014) Interactions between MUC1 and p120 catenin regulate dynamic features of cell adhesion, motility, and metastasis. Cancer Res 74:1609-20
Fukunaga, Yoshitaka; Svoboda, Robert A; Cerny, Ronald L et al. (2009) Expression artifact with retroviral vectors based on pBMN. Anal Biochem 395:49-53
Curtis, Matthew W; Johnson, Keith R; Wheelock, Margaret J (2008) E-cadherin/catenin complexes are formed cotranslationally in the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi compartments. Cell Commun Adhes 15:365-78
Fukumoto, Yuri; Shintani, Yasushi; Reynolds, Albert B et al. (2008) The regulatory or phosphorylation domain of p120 catenin controls E-cadherin dynamics at the plasma membrane. Exp Cell Res 314:52-67
Mandal, Shyamali; Johnson, Keith R; Wheelock, Margaret J (2008) TGF-beta induces formation of F-actin cores and matrix degradation in human breast cancer cells via distinct signaling pathways. Exp Cell Res 314:3478-93
Shintani, Yasushi; Fukumoto, Yuri; Chaika, Nina et al. (2008) Collagen I-mediated up-regulation of N-cadherin requires cooperative signals from integrins and discoidin domain receptor 1. J Cell Biol 180:1277-89
Shintani, Yasushi; Maeda, Masato; Chaika, Nina et al. (2008) Collagen I promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer cells via transforming growth factor-beta signaling. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 38:95-104
Wheelock, Margaret J; Shintani, Yasushi; Maeda, Masato et al. (2008) Cadherin switching. J Cell Sci 121:727-35
Keim, Sarah A; Johnson, Keith R; Wheelock, Margaret J et al. (2008) Generation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against the proregion of human desmoglein-2. Hybridoma (Larchmt) 27:249-58

Showing the most recent 10 out of 19 publications