E-cadherin-mediated adhesion inhibits ligand-dependent activation of diverse receptor tyrosine kinases

E-cadherin is an essential adhesion protein as well as a tumor suppressor that is silenced in many cancers. Its adhesion-dependent regulation of signaling has not been elucidated. We report that E-cadherin can negatively regulate, in an adhesion-dependent manner, the ligand-dependent activation of divergent classes of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), by inhibiting their ligand-dependent activation in association with decreases in receptor mobility and in ligand-binding affinity. E-cadherin did not regulate a constitutively active mutant RTK (Neu(*)) or the ligand-dependent activation of LPA receptors or muscarinic receptors, which are two classes of G protein-coupled receptors. EGFR regulation by E-cadherin was associated with complex formation between EGFR and E-cadherin that depended on the extracellular domain of E-cadherin but was independent of β-catenin binding or p120-catenin binding. Transfection of E-cadherin conferred negative RTK regulation to human melanoma and breast cancer lines with downregulated endogenous E-cadherin. Abrogation of E-cadherin regulation may contribute to the frequent ligand-dependent activation of RTK in tumors

Density enhanced phosphatase-1 down-regulates urokinase receptor surface expression in confluent endothelial cells

VEGF165, the major angiogenic growth factor, is known to activate various steps in proangiogenic endothelial cell behavior, such as endothelial cell migration and invasion, or endothelial cell survival. Thereby, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) system has been shown to play an essential role not only by its proteolytic capacities, but also by induction of intracellular signal transduction. Therefore, expression of its cell surface receptor uPAR is thought to be an essential regulatory mechanism in angiogenesis. We found that uPAR expression on the surface of confluent endothelial cells was down-regulated compared with subconfluent proliferating endothelial cells. Regulation of uPAR expression was most probably affected by extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) activation, a downstream signaling event of the VEGF/VEGF-receptor system. Consistently, the receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase DEP-1 (density enhanced phosphatase-1/CD148), which is abundantly expressed in confluent endothelial cells, inhibited the VEGF-dependent activation of ERK1/2, leading to down-regulation of uPAR expression. Overexpression of active ERK1 rescued the DEP-1 effect on uPAR. That DEP-1 plays a biologic role in angiogenic endothelial cell behavior was demonstrated in endothelial cell migration, proliferation, and capillary-like tube formation assays in vitro