The catenins (a-catenin, b-catenin and plakoglobin) are cytoplasmic proteins that link cadherin cell adhesion molecules to the cytoskeleton. Catenins are required for functional cell adhesion, and are the targets of regulatory signals that control cell adhesion. B-Catenin, plakoglobin, and their Drosophila homolog, Armadillo, are also critical components of the wnt-1/wingless signaling pathway that controls cell fate determination during development. The goal of this proposal is to understand the interactions among the catenins and their binding partners both biochemically and structurally. 1. The three-dimensional structures of b-catenin, plakoglobin, and their complexes with classical cadherin cytoplasmic domains and a-catenin, will be determined by x-ray crystallography. 2. The binding stoichiometries and affinities for the interaction of b-catenin with the E-cadherin cytoplasmic domain and with a-catenin will be measured by standard biochemical methods and surface plasmon resonance detection. 3. The affinities and structures of plakoglobin interactions with E-cadherin, desmosomal cadherins and with a-catenin will be determined in order to understand the unique properties of plakoglobin that allow it to be localized both in adherens junctions and desmosomes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM056169-02
Application #
2750151
Study Section
Physiological Chemistry Study Section (PC)
Project Start
1997-08-01
Project End
2001-07-31
Budget Start
1998-08-01
Budget End
1999-07-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771545
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305
Kang, Hyunook; Weiss, Thomas M; Bang, Injin et al. (2016) Structure of the Intermediate Filament-Binding Region of Desmoplakin. PLoS One 11:e0147641
Dickinson, Daniel J; Nelson, W James; Weis, William I (2015) Studying epithelial morphogenesis in Dictyostelium. Methods Mol Biol 1189:267-81
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Choi, Hee-Jung; Weis, William I (2015) Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of the ?-catenin homolog HMP-2 from Caenorhabditis elegans. Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun 71:272-6
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Weis, William I; Nelson, W James; Dickinson, Daniel J (2013) Evolution and cell physiology. 3. Using Dictyostelium discoideum to investigate mechanisms of epithelial polarity. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 305:C1091-5
Nelson, W James; Dickinson, Daniel J; Weis, William I (2013) Roles of cadherins and catenins in cell-cell adhesion and epithelial cell polarity. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci 116:3-23

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