Homophilic interaction and deformation of E-cadherin and cadherin 7 probed by single molecule force spectroscopy

作者：Wu Fei; Kumar Prashant; Lu Chen; El Marjou Ahmed; Qiu Wu; Lim Chwee Teck; Thiery Jean Paul; Liu Ruchuan

来源：Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2015, 587: 38-47.

DOI：10.1016/j.abb.2015.10.008

• Force spectroscopy
• Cell adhesion
• Atomic force microscopy
• Magnetic tweezers

Cadherin-mediated adhesion plays a crucial role in multicellular organisms. Dysfunction within this adhesion system has major consequences in many pathologies, including cancer invasion and metastasis. However, mechanisms controlling cadherin recognition and adhesive strengthening are only partially understood. Here, we investigated the homophilic interactions and mechanical stability of the extracellular (EC) domains of E-cadherin and cadherin 7 using atomic force microscopy and magnetic tweezers. Besides exhibiting stronger interactions. E-cadherin also showed more efficient force-induced self-strengthening of interactions than cadherin 7. In addition, the distributions of the unbinding forces for both cadherins partially overlap with those of the unfolding forces, indicating that partial unfolding/deformation of the cadherin EC domains may take place during their homophilic interactions. These conformational changes may be involved in cadherins physiology function and contribute to the significant differences in adhesive strength mediated by type I and type II cadherins.

• 出版日期2015-12-1
• 单位重庆大学