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Non-neuronal role for CDK5 in cell adhesion

CDK5 is a cyclin-dependent kinase expressed primarily in neurons, in which it functions downstream of Rac in control of neurite outgrowth. But the kinase is also expressed in some non-neuronal tissues, including muscle and the lens. What is its function in these cells? Peggy Zelenka and co-workers have investigated non-neuronal roles of CDK5 by analysing the adult mouse lens and stably transfected lens epithelial cells (see p. 2109). They find that CDK5 is expressed in the cytoplasm of differentiating fibre cells, especially along the lateral membranes and at the basal tips, which contain elaborate junctional complexes. Speculating that this reflects a role for CDK5 in cell adhesion, the authors assessed the performance of CDK5-expressing epithelial cells in spreading and adhesion assays. They demonstrate that these cells exhibit increased attachment to fibronectin matrices and elevated spreading rates but that cell-cell adhesion and association of N-cadherin with the cytoskeleton are reduced. Zelenka and co-workers conclude that CDK5 differentially regulates cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, suggesting that this is important for coordination of elongation and adhesion during lens fibre cell differentiation.

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Cdk5 regulates cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion in lens epithelial cells

Sewite Negash, Hwai-Shi Wang, Chun Gao, Dolena Ledee, and Peggy Zelenka
JCS 2002 115: 2109-2117. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?