Cadherin-Catenin Antibody Sampler Kit

Background

Adherens junctions are dynamic structures that form cell-cell contacts and are important in development, differentiation, tissue integrity, morphology and cell polarity. They are composed of cadherins that are transmembrane proteins that bind cadherins on adjacent cells in a calcium dependent manner. On the cytoplasmic side of adherens junctions, the cadherins associate with β-catenin, γ-catenin and p120 catenin (δ). β-catenin and γ-catenin associate with α-catenin, which links the cadherin-catenin complex to the actin cytoskeleton (1,2). Recent studies indicate that cancer cells exhibit increased N-cadherin and diminished E-cadherin expression. E-cadherin is considered a suppressor of invasive cancer cell growth and this change in cadherin expression associated with cancer progression is termed the “cadherin switch”. β-catenin is one of the key downstream effectors in the Wnt signaling pathway and has been implicated in early embryonic development and tumorigenesis (3-5).