A Homolog of the armadillo Protein in Drosophila (Plakoglobin) Associated with E-Cadherin

Three cytoplasmic proteins, called catenins, bind to the cytoplasmic tail of the epithelial cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. The complementary DNA sequence was determined for the 92-kilodalton β catenin of Xenopus laevis . The sequence is homologous to mammalian plakoglobin, a protein of desmosomal and zonula adherens cell junctions, and to the plakoglobin homolog in Drosophila melanogaster , the product of the segment polarity gene armadillo . A monoclonal antibody to bovine plakoglobin recognizes the analogous β catenin in the Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line. Armadillo plakoglobin may link E-cadherin to the underlying actin cytoskeleton at cell-cell junctions; the E-cadherin-catenin protein complex may also participate in the transmission of developmental information.