Vascular endothelial-cadherin stabilizes at cell-cell junctions by anchoring to circumferential actin bundles through alpha- and beta-catenins in cyclic AMP-Epac-Rap1 signal-activated endothelial cells.

ABSTRACT: Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin is a cell-cell adhesion molecule involved in endothelial barrier functions. Previously, we reported that cAMP-Epac-Rap1 signal enhances VE-cadherin-dependent cell adhesion. Here, we further scrutinized how cAMP-Epac-Rap1 pathway promotes stabilization of VE-cadherin at the cell-cell contacts. Forskolin induced circumferential actin bundling and accumulation of VE-cadherin fused with green fluorescence protein (VEC-GFP) on the bundled actin filaments. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analyses using VEC-GFP revealed that forskolin stabilizes VE-cadherin at cell-cell contacts. These effects of forskolin were mimicked by an activator for Epac but not by that for protein kinase A. Forskolin-induced both accumulation and stabilization of junctional VEC-GFP was impeded by latrunculin A. VE-cadherin, alpha-catenin, and beta-catenin were dispensable for forskolin-induced circumferential actin bundling, indicating that homophilic VE-cadherin association is not the trigger of actin bundling. Requirement of alpha- and beta-catenins for forskolin-induced stabilization of VE-cadherin on the actin bundles was confirmed by FRAP analyses using VEC-GFP mutants, supporting the classical model that alpha-catenin could potentially link the bundled actin to cadherin. Collectively, circumferential actin bundle formation and subsequent linkage between actin bundles and VE-cadherin through alpha- and beta-catenins are important for the stabilization of VE-cadherin at the cell-cell contacts in cAMP-Epac-Rap1 signal-activated cells.

SUBMITTER: Noda K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2820423 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature