E-Cadherin and Gastric Cancer: Cause, Consequence, and Applications
Figure 1
Schematic structure of E-cadherin and its binding to catenin proteins. The E-cadherin glycoprotein is composed of three major structural domains: an intracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain, and an extracellular domain comprising five tandemly repeated domains EC1–EC5. The intracellular domain of E-cadherin interacts with the catenins including α-, β-, γ-, and p120 catenin. The catenin anchors to the actin cytoskeleton, establishing cadherin-catenin complex. Conformation of E-cadherin is only stable upon Ca2+ binding to its extracellular motifs. Its stabilization at the cell membrane and accurate function occur by association to cytoplasmic p120-catenin.
