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E‐cadherin's role in development, tissue homeostasis and disease: Insights from mouse models
Author(s) -
Schneider Marlon R.,
Kolligs Frank T.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201400141
Subject(s) - cdh1 , cadherin , biology , carcinogenesis , microbiology and biotechnology , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , cell adhesion , embryonic stem cell , function (biology) , gene , cell , genetics , cancer , metastasis
Abstract Recent studies uncovered critical roles of the adhesion protein E‐cadherin in health and disease. Global inactivation of Cdh1 , the gene encoding E‐cadherin in mice, results in early embryonic lethality due to an inability to form the trophectodermal epithelium. To unravel E‐cadherin's functions beyond development, numerous mouse lines with tissue‐specific disruption of Cdh1 have been generated. The consequences of E‐cadherin loss showed great variability depending on the tissue in question, ranging from nearly undetectable changes to a complete loss of tissue structure and function. This review focuses on these studies and discusses how they provided important insights into E‐cadherin's role in cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, and its consequences for biological processes as epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, vascularization, and carcinogenesis. Lastly, we present some perspectives and possible approaches for future research.