Cleavage and shedding of E-cadherin after induction of apoptosis

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	Cleavage and shedding of E-cadherin after induction of apoptosis
Creators Name:	Steinhusen, U., Weiske, J., Badock, V., Tauber, R., Bommert, K. and Huber, O.
Abstract:	Apoptotic cell death induces dramatic molecular changes in cells, becoming apparent on the structural level as membrane blebbing, condensation of the cytoplasm and nucleus, and loss of cell-cell contacts. The activation of caspases is one of the fundamental steps during programmed cell death. Here we report a detailed analysis of the fate of the Ca2+-dependent cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin in apoptotic epithelial cells and show that during apoptosis fragments of E-cadherin with apparent molecular masses of 24, 29, and 84 kDa are generated by two distinct proteolytic activities. In addition to a caspase-3-mediated cleavage releasing the cytoplasmic domain of E-cadherin, a metalloproteinase sheds the extracellular domain from the cell surface during apoptosis. Immunofluorescence analysis confirmed that concomitant with the disappearance of E-cadherin staining at the cell surface, the E-cadherin cytoplasmic domain accumulates in the cytosol. In the presence of inhibitors of caspase-3 and/or metalloproteinases, cleavage of E-cadherin was almost completely blocked. The simultaneous cleavage of the intracellular and extracellular domains of E-cadherin may provide a highly efficient mechanism to disrupt cadherin-mediated cell-cell contacts in apoptotic cells, a prerequisite for cell rounding and exit from the epithelium.
Keywords:	Apoptosis, Biological Models, Cadherins, Caspase 3, Caspase 6, Caspase 7, Caspases, Cell Line, Cell Membrane, Cytosol, Dipeptides, Epithelial Cells, Hydroxamic Acids, Metalloendopeptidases, Protease Inhibitors, Tertiary Protein Structure, Animals, Dogs
Source:	Journal of Biological Chemistry
ISSN:	0021-9258
Publisher:	American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Volume:	276
Number:	7
Page Range:	4972-4980
Date:	1 January 2001
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M006102200
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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