Abstract
The classic cadherin-catenin complex (CCC) mediates cell-cell adhesion in metazoans. Although substantial insights have been gained by studying the CCC in vertebrate tissue culture, analyzing requirements for and regulation of the CCC in vertebrates remains challenging. Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful system for connecting the molecular details of CCC function with functional requirements in a living organism. Recent data, using an “angstroms to embryos” approach, have elucidated functions for key residues, conserved across all metazoans, that mediate cadherin/β-catenin binding. Other recent work reveals a novel, potentially ancestral, role for the C. elegans p120ctn homologue in regulating polarization of blastomeres in the early embryo via Cdc42 and the partitioning-defective (PAR)/atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) complex. Finally, recent work suggests that the CCC is trafficked to the cell surface via the clathrin adaptor protein complex 1 (AP-1) in surprising ways. These studies continue to underscore the value of C. elegans as a model system for identifying conserved molecular mechanisms involving the CCC.
Highlights
The classic cadherin-catenin complex (CCC) mediates cell-cell adhesion in metazoans
Caenorhabditis elegans: a simple system for studying cadherins The classic cadherin-catenin complex (CCC) is a conserved multiprotein complex found in all metazoans and connects transmembrane cadherins to the actin cytoskeleton[1]
circumferential filament bundle (CFB) detachment is accompanied by loss or tearing of the junctional proximal actin network recruited by HMP-16
Summary
C. elegans is a useful system for studying both the core functions and regulation of the CCC. The rapidity with which the function of single amino acids within each of the core CCC proteins can be assessed has allowed incisive experiments to be performed that link single amino acid changes in CCC proteins to essential, highly specific morphogenetic processes. The surprising lack of stringent requirements for CCC components or their modifiers in some developmental events has provided an opportunity to uncover conserved pathways shared by all metazoans. There is every reason to expect C. elegans to continue to be a useful model system for analyzing the CCC in the future. I apologize to many fine colleagues, whose work I could not cover at the level of detail it deserves, especially as it relates to work outside of C. elegans
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