Co-operation between E-cadherin, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, Rac and the WASP family protein, WAVE2, is necessary for productive cadherin-dependent contact formation

TL;DRAbstract

Intercellular adhesion is a fundamental process within all multicellular organisms.nIn epithelial cells, adhesion is mediated by the classical cadherin, E-cadherin. Cadherinsnare surface transmembrane molecules that engage in calcium-dependent homophilicninteractions to form intercellular contacts. In addition to its role as a molecular adhesive,nE-cadherin has a key role in developmental and pathogenic processes such asnembryogenesis, tissue morphogenesis and tumorigenesis. An increasing number ofnproteins are determined to become activated or to interact with E-cadherin uponnhomophilic ligation. Hence, cadherins are gaining the reputation for being dynamicnsurface receptors rather than 'static glues'. Therefore, to ultimately understand thenmechanism by which E-cadherin might function in higher order biological processes, thenintracellular signalling events that unfold upon homophilic ligation are important tonelucidate.To identify which signalling events are initiated upon homophili

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