학술논문
Dynamic interactions between E-cadherin and Ankyrin-G mediate epithelial cell polarity maintenance
Document Type
Original Paper
Author
Source
Nature Communications. 14(1)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2041-1723
Abstract
E-cadherin is an essential cell‒cell adhesion protein that mediates canonical cadherin-catenin complex formation in epithelial lateral membranes. Ankyrin-G (AnkG), a scaffold protein linking membrane proteins to the spectrin-based cytoskeleton, coordinates with E-cadherin to maintain epithelial cell polarity. However, the molecular mechanisms governing this complex formation and its relationships with the cadherin-catenin complex remain elusive. Here, we report that AnkG employs a promiscuous manner to encapsulate three discrete sites of E-cadherin by the same region, a dynamic mechanism that is distinct from the canonical 1:1 molar ratio previously described for other AnkG or E-cadherin-mediated complexes. Moreover, we demonstrate that AnkG-binding-deficient E-cadherin exhibited defective accumulation at the lateral membranes and show that disruption of interactions resulted in cell polarity malfunction. Finally, we demonstrate that E-cadherin is capable of simultaneously anchoring to AnkG and β-catenin, providing mechanistic insights into the functional orchestration of the ankyrin-spectrin complex with the cadherin-catenin complex. Collectively, our results show that complex formation between E-cadherin and AnkG is dynamic, which enables the maintenance of epithelial cell polarity by ensuring faithful targeting of the adhesion molecule-scaffold protein complex, thus providing molecular mechanisms for essential E-cadherin-mediated complex assembly at cell‒cell junctions.
The maintenance of cell polarity depends on adhesion complexes that tether to the cytoskeleton. Here the authors show the dynamic nature of E-cadherin–Ankyrin-G complex formation and investigate its functional role in epithelial cell polarity maintenance.
The maintenance of cell polarity depends on adhesion complexes that tether to the cytoskeleton. Here the authors show the dynamic nature of E-cadherin–Ankyrin-G complex formation and investigate its functional role in epithelial cell polarity maintenance.