Abstract

During development, a multi-potent group of cells known as the cranial neural crest (CNC) migrate to form craniofacial structures. Proper migration of these cells requires proteolysis of cell adhesion molecules, such as cadherins. In Xenopus laevis, preventing extracellular cleavage of cadherin-11 impairs CNC migration. However, overexpression of the soluble cleavage product (EC1-3) is capable of rescuing this phenotype. The mechanism by which EC1-3 promotes CNC migration has not been investigated until now. Here we show that EC1-3 stimulates phosphorylation of Akt, a target of PI3K, in X.laevis CNC. Through immunoprecipitation experiments, we determined that EC1-3 interacts with all ErbB receptors, PDGFRα, and FGFR1. Of these receptors, only ErbB2 was able to produce an increase in Akt phosphorylation upon treatment with a recombinant EC1-3. This increase was abrogated by mubritinib, an inhibitor of ErbB2. We were able to recapitulate this decrease in Akt phosphorylation in vivo by knocking down ErbB2 in CNC cells. Knockdown of the receptor also significantly reduced CNC migration in vivo. We confirmed the importance of ErbB2 and ErbB receptor signaling in CNC migration using mubritinib and canertinib, respectively. Mubritinib and the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 significantly decreased cell migration while canertinib nearly prevented it altogether. These data show that ErbB2 and Akt are important for CNC migration and implicate other ErbB receptors and Akt-independent signaling pathways. Our findings provide the first example of a functional interaction between the extracellular domain of a type II classical cadherin and growth factor receptors.

Highlights

  • Cranial neural crest (CNC) cells are a highly plastic population of cells that are responsible for craniofacial formation during embryogenesis

  • For the first time we demonstrate the potential of a type II, classical cadherin ectodomain to bind ErbB receptors and stimulate phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling, which we show are both critical for cranial neural crest (CNC) migration

  • We have previously shown that the ADAM13 metalloprotease can cleave the ectodomain of cadherin-11, and that the released fragment (EC1-3) is capable of promoting CNC migration

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Summary

Introduction

Cranial neural crest (CNC) cells are a highly plastic population of cells that are responsible for craniofacial formation during embryogenesis. Originating at the border of the neural and non-neural ectoderm, CNC cells migrate ventrally into the developing face and differentiate into numerous cell types, including bone and cartilage [1]. Improper development and migration of the CNC can result in clefting of the palate and other malformations of the face [2]. Vital to these events are the precise regulation and processing of cadherins [3,4,5,6,7,8].

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