cDNAs of cell adhesion molecules of different specificity induce changes in cell shape and border formation in cultured S180 cells.

The liver cell adhesion molecule (L-CAM) and N-cadherin or adherens junction-specific CAM (A-CAM) are structurally related cell surface glycoproteins that mediate calcium-dependent adhesion in different tissues. We have isolated and characterized a full-length cDNA clone for chicken N-cadherin and used this clone to transfect S180 mouse sarcoma cells that do not normally express N-cadherin. The transfected cells (S180cadN cells) expressed N-cadherin on their surfaces and resembled S180 cells transfected with L-CAM (S180L cells) in that at confluence they formed an epithelioid sheet and displayed a large increase in the number of adherens and gap junctions. In addition, N-cadherin in S180cadN cells, like L-CAM in S180L cells, accumulated at cellular boundaries where it was colocalized with cortical actin. In S180L cells and S180cadN cells, L-CAM and N-cadherin were seen at sites of adherens junctions but were not restricted to these areas. Adhesion mediated by either CAM was inhibited by treatment with cytochalasin D that disrupted the actin network of the transfected cells. Despite their known structural similarities, there was no evidence of interaction between L-CAM and N-cadherin. Doubly transfected cells (S180L/cadN) also formed epithelioid sheets. In these cells, both N-cadherin and L-CAM colocalized at areas of cell contact and the presence of antibodies to both CAMs was required to disrupt the sheets of cells. Studies using divalent antibodies to localize each CAM at the cell surface or to perturb their distributions indicated that in the same cell there were no interactions between L-CAM and N-cadherin molecules. These data suggest that the Ca(++)-dependent CAMs are likely to play a critical role in the maintenance of epithelial structures and support a model for the segregation of CAM mediated binding. They also provide further support for the so-called precedence hypothesis that proposes that expression and homophilic binding of CAMs are necessary for formation of junctional structures in epithelia.

Differential effects of the cytoplasmic domains of cell adhesion molecules on cell aggregation and sorting-out.

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are cell surface glycoproteins that play important roles in morphogenesis and histogenesis, particularly in defining discrete borders between cell populations. Previous studies have suggested that the cytoplasmic domains of CAMs play a significant role in their adhesion properties. These domains may also be involved in regulating other cellular interactions, such as those involved in the sorting-out of cells to form tissues. In the present studies, we have compared the effects of replacing the cytoplasmic domain of one CAM with that of another CAM of different homophilic binding specificity on cell adhesion and cell sorting-out. The molecules studied were liver CAM (L-CAM) and the neural CAM (N-CAM) sd polypeptide. One cDNA was constructed that encodes a chimeric molecule composed of the extracellular domain of L-CAM and the cytoplasmic plus transmembrane domains of the sd polypeptide of chicken N-CAM (called L/N-CAM). Another was constructed encoding a truncated L-CAM missing the last 50 residues of the cytoplasmic domain. Permanently transfected lines of mouse L cells were obtained expressing the truncated L-CAM ("L-L-50 cells") or the chimeric L/N-CAM ("L-L/N cells") and were compared with cells expressing intact L-CAM ("L-L cells"). Immunoblotting and ELISA analyses demonstrated that these various cell lines expressed similar amounts of CAMs at the cell surface. Aggregation of L-L and L-L/N cells occurred at similar rates in short-term aggregation assays and was inhibited by antibodies to the extracellular L-CAM binding domain. In contrast, L-L-50 cells did not aggregate. Incubation of transfected cells with cytochalasin D, which disrupts microfilaments, markedly inhibited aggregation of L-L cells but had no effect on L-L/N cell aggregation. Mixed L-L and L-L/N cells co-aggregated in short-term assays; in the longer-term sorting-out assays, however, they behaved differently: L-L cells sorted out from both L-L/N and untransfected cells, whereas L-L/N cells did not sort out from untransfected cells. These studies not only suggest that interactions of cytoplasmic domains of different CAMs with the cytoskeleton can modulate cell adhesion but also suggest that specific interactions with certain cytoskeletal components are required for events such as cell sorting and cell patterning.