Roles of Nectins and Nectin-Like Molecules in the Nervous System

A variety of cell adhesion mechanisms underlie the way that cells are organized in tissues. Stable cell interactions are needed to maintain the structural integrity of tissues, and dynamic changes in cell adhesion participate in the morphogenesis of developing tissues. Stable interactions actually require active adhesion mechanisms that are very similar to those involved in tissue dynamics. Adhesion mechanisms are highly regulated during tissue morphogenesis and are intimately related to the processes of cell motility and cell migration. In particular, the cadherins and the integrins have been implicated in the control of cell movement. Cadherin mediated cell compaction and cellular rearrangements may be analogous to integrin-mediated cell spreading and motility on the ECM. Regulation of cell adhesion can occur at several levels, including affinity modulation, clustering, and coordinated interactions with the actin cytoskeleton. Structural studies have begun to provide a picture of how the binding properties of adhesion receptors themselves might be regulated. However, regulation of tissue morphogenesis requires complex interactions between the adhesion receptors, the cytoskeleton, and networks of signaling pathways. Signals generated locally by the adhesion receptors themselves are involved in the regulation of cell adhesion. These regulatory pathways are also influenced by extrinsic signals arising from the classic growth factor receptors. Furthermore, signals generated locally be adhesion junctions can interact with classic signal transduction pathways to help control cell growth and differentiation. This coupling between physical adhesion and developmental signaling provides a mechanism to tightly integrate physical aspects of tissue morphogenesis with cell growth and differentiation, a coordination that is essential to achieve the intricate patterns of cells in tissues.

A tight junction-enriched membrane fraction has been used as immunogen to generate a monoclonal antiserum specific for this intercellular junction. Hybridomas were screened for their ability to both react on an immunoblot and localize to the junctional complex region on frozen sections of unfixed mouse liver. A stable hybridoma line has been isolated that secretes an antibody (R26.4C) that localizes in thin section images of isolated mouse liver plasma membranes to the points of membrane contact at the tight junction. This antibody recognizes a polypeptide of approximately 225,000 D, detectable in whole liver homogenates as well as in the tight junction-enriched membrane fraction. R26.4C localizes to the junctional complex region of a number of other epithelia, including colon, kidney, and testis, and to arterial endothelium, as assayed by immunofluorescent staining of cryostat sections of whole tissue. This antibody also stains the junctional complex region in confluent monolayers of the Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cell line. Immunoblot analysis of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells demonstrates the presence of a polypeptide similar in molecular weight to that detected in liver, suggesting that this protein is potentially a ubiquitous component of all mammalian tight junctions. The 225-kD tight junction-associated polypeptide is termed "ZO-1."

Human natural killer (NK) cells express a series of activating receptors and coreceptors that are involved in recognition and killing of target cells. In this study, in an attempt to identify the cellular ligands for such triggering surface molecules, mice were immunized with NK-susceptible target cells. On the basis of a functional screening, four mAbs were selected that induced a partial down-regulation of the NK-mediated cytotoxicity against the immunizing target cells. As revealed by biochemical analysis, three of such mAbs recognized molecules of ∼70 kD. The other mAb reacted with two distinct molecules of ∼65 and 60 kD, respectively. Protein purification followed by tryptic digestion and mass spectra analysis, allowed the identification of the 70 kD and the 65/60 kD molecules as PVR (CD155) and Nectin-2 δ/α (CD112), respectively. PVR-Fc and Nectin-2-Fc soluble hybrid molecules brightly stained COS-7 cells transfected with the DNAM-1 (CD226) construct, thus providing direct evidence that both PVR and Nectin-2 represent specific ligands for the DNAM-1 triggering receptor. Finally, the surface expression of PVR or Nectin-2 in cell transfectants resulted in DNAM-1–dependent enhancement of NK-mediated lysis of these target cells. This lysis was inhibited or even virtually abrogated upon mAb-mediated masking of DNAM-1 (on NK cells) or PVR or Nectin-2 ligands (on cell transfectants).