Translational Medical Research Commons^™

Α-Catenin-Dependent Cytoskeletal Tension Controls Yap Activity In The Heart., Alexia Vite, Caimei Zhang, Roslyn Yi, Sabrina Emms, Glenn L. Radice

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

Shortly after birth, muscle cells of the mammalian heart lose their ability to divide. At the same time, the N-cadherin/catenin cell adhesion complex accumulates at the cell termini, creating a specialized type of cell-cell contact called the intercalated disc (ICD). To investigate the relationship between ICD maturation and proliferation, αE-catenin (Ctnna1) and αT-catenin (Ctnna3) genes were deleted to generate cardiac-specific α-catenin double knockout (DKO) mice. DKO mice exhibited aberrant N-cadherin expression, mislocalized actomyosin activity and increased cardiomyocyte proliferation that was dependent on Yap activity. To assess effects on tension, cardiomyocytes were cultured on deformable polyacrylamide hydrogels of varying stiffness. When …