Premium
N‐cadherin adherens junctions in rat cerebral artery are mechano‐sensitive (664.9)
Author(s) -
Sun zhe,
Li Zhaohui,
Li Min,
Hill Michael,
Meininger Gerald
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.664.9
Subject(s) - adherens junction , cadherin , lumen (anatomy) , microbiology and biotechnology , ve cadherin , mechanosensitive channels , microbead (research) , actin cytoskeleton , cytoskeleton , adhesion , anatomy , chemistry , biology , biophysics , cell , ion channel , biochemistry , receptor , organic chemistry
N‐cadherins physically link apposing vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) via formation of adherens junctions (AJ) that are coupled to the actin cytoskeleton. In isolated rat mid‐cerebral artery, immunofluorescence studies revealed that the density of N‐cadherin‐AJs increased when lumen pressure was raised from 50 to 110 mmHg, suggesting that the N‐cadherin AJs are mechanosensitive and respond to changes of lumen pressure. In addition, the N‐cadherin‐AJs were observed to align along the cell membrane in pattern of strings when pressure increased from 50 to 90 mmHg. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) with N‐cadherin‐coated microbead (10 μm) tipped probes was employed to examine the response of N‐cadherin adhesion sites to pulling force in VSMC. AFM pulling of the N‐cadherin adhesion (~1 nN) induced an opposing force‐generating contractile response from the VSMC. Transfection of freshly isolated VSMC with N‐cadherin‐GFP was used to study clustering of N‐cadherin to the microbead adhesion site. Upon contact with cell membrane, the N‐cadherin‐coated microbead induced progressive clustering of N‐cadherin‐GFP. Furthermore, there was additional recruitment of N‐cadherin to the microbead when AFM pulling force was applied and the bead was pulled back toward the cell surface by the VSMC. Collectively, these results support a functional role of N‐cadherin AJs as mechano‐sensitive sites in the small resistance arteries. (1P01HL095486 to G.A.M.) Grant Funding Source : Supported by NIH 1P01HL095486 to G.A.M.