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Cadherin-mediated regulation of microtubule dynamics

Nature Cell Biology volume 2, pages 797–804 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Epithelial polarization and neuronal outgrowth require the assembly of microtubule arrays that are not associated with centrosomes. As these processes generally involve contact interactions mediated by cadherins, we investigated the potential role of cadherin signalling in the stabilization of non-centrosomal microtubules. Here we show that expression of cadherins in centrosome-free cytoplasts increases levels of microtubule polymer and changes the behaviour of microtubules from treadmilling to dynamic instability. This effect is not a result of cadherin expression per se but depends on the formation of cell–cell contacts. The effect of cell–cell contacts is mimicked by application of beads coated with stimulatory anti-cadherin antibody and is suppressed by overexpression of the cytoplasmic cadherin tail. We therefore propose that cadherins initiate a signalling pathway that alters microtubule organization by stabilizing microtubule ends.

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Figure 1: Expression of cadherins in CHO cells.
Figure 2: Effect of cadherin expression and cell–cell contacts in centrosome-free cytoplasts.
Figure 3: Quantification of microtubule fluorescence in isolated and contacting cytoplasts.
Figure 4: Microtubule organization and dynamics in isolated and contacting cytoplasts.
Figure 5: Effect of N-cadherin-inhibitory antibody on integrity of adherens junctions and microtubule organization.
Figure 6: Effect of N-cadherin-stimulatory beads on microtubule organization.
Figure 7: Effect of overexpression of cytoplasmic N-cadherin tail on microtubule organization in contacting, N-cadherin-expressing cytoplasts.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Geiger for help and encouragement, V. Rodionov for advice on the cytoplast assay and live cell imaging, J. Peloquin and S. Limbach for technical assistance, and E. Sadot for cadherin constructs. This work was supported in part by grants from the Israel Science Foundation, Minerva Foundation (Munich, Germany) and Crown Endowment Fund to A.B. A.C. acknowledges the travel grant from the Journal of Cell Science (The Company of Biologists Limited); G.G.B. acknowledges support from NIH grant GM25062.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Alexander Chausovsky & Alexander D. Bershadsky

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, 1525 Linden Drive, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Alexander Chausovsky & Gary G. Borisy

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  1. Alexander Chausovsky
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Correspondence to Gary G. Borisy.

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Chausovsky, A., Bershadsky, A. & Borisy, G. Cadherin-mediated regulation of microtubule dynamics. Nat Cell Biol 2, 797–804 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35041037

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