Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Biophysical Characterization Of A Proline Mutant Of Neural Cadherin, Keshia S. Dykes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cadherins are calcium dependent glycoproteins whose homophilic interactions mediate cell-cell adhesion in solid tissues. They are comprised of an extracellular region, a transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic region. The extracellular region plays a critical role in cadherin-mediated cell adhesion, and has five tandemly repeated ectodomains (ec1-ec5), with three calcium binding sites situated in each interface between the domains. Dimerization of cadherin occurs through formation of adhesive interactions between extracellular domains of cadherins from neighboring cells. Adhesive interaction occurs at the interfaces of ec1 domains of two molecules originating from different cell surfaces. Dimerization is critically dependent on the binding of …