QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online June 4, 2008

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?

Con-nectin' adhesion and survival

Nectins, which are a family of immunoglobulin-like transmembrane proteins, participate in intercellular adhesion, and help to form tight junctions (TJs) and adherens junctions (AJs). The cytoplasmic region of nectins is connected to the cytoskeleton by the actin-binding protein afadin. Mice that lack afadin die during embryogenesis and have disorganised TJs and AJs; however, it was not previously known whether developmental mechanisms such as apoptosis are affected by the absence of afadin. Yoshimi Takai and colleagues (p. 2008) now show that embryoid bodies that are derived from afadin^–/– embryonic stem cells contain many more apoptotic cells than those that are derived from wild-type cells. In addition, apoptosis (whether induced by the intrinsic or extrinsic pathway) is stimulated in NIH3T3 cells when afadin or nectin-3 is knocked down. Using the same cell line, the authors show that PDGF-dependent signalling through PI3K-Akt – a key pro-survival pathway – is substantially inhibited in the absence of afadin or nectin-3. Moreover, the nectin-afadin complex associates with the PDGF receptor at cell-cell boundaries. The authors conclude that the nectin-3–afadin complex has a role in PDGF-induced cell survival.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Involvement of the nectin-afadin complex in PDGF-induced cell survival

Noriyuki Kanzaki, Hisakazu Ogita, Hitomi Komura, Misa Ozaki, Yasuhisa Sakamoto, Takashi Majima, Takeshi Ijuin, Tadaomi Takenawa, and Yoshimi Takai
JCS 2008 121: 2008-2017. [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?