Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1993 Feb;120(3):757-66.
doi: 10.1083/jcb.120.3.757.

Loss of epithelial differentiation and gain of invasiveness correlates with tyrosine phosphorylation of the E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex in cells transformed with a temperature-sensitive v-SRC gene

J Behrens  1 , L Vakaet, R Friis, E Winterhager, F Van Roy, M M Mareel, W Birchmeier
Affiliations

Loss of epithelial differentiation and gain of invasiveness correlates with tyrosine phosphorylation of the E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex in cells transformed with a temperature-sensitive v-SRC gene

J Behrens et al. J Cell Biol. 1993 Feb.

Abstract

Loss of histotypic organization of epithelial cells is a common feature in normal development as well as in the invasion of carcinomas. Here we show that the v-src oncogene is a potent effector of epithelial differentiation and invasiveness. MDCK epithelial cells transformed with a temperature-sensitive mutant of v-src exhibit a strictly epithelial phenotype at the nonpermissive temperature for pp60v-src activity (40.5 degrees C) but rapidly loose cell-to-cell contacts and acquire a fibroblast-like morphology after culture at the permissive temperature (35 degrees C). Furthermore, the invasiveness of the cells into collagen gels or into chick heart fragments was increased at the permissive temperature. The profound effects of v-src on intercellular adhesion were not linked to changes in the levels of expression of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. Rather, we observed an increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of E-cadherin and, in particular, of the associated protein beta-catenin. These results suggest a mechanism by which v-src counteracts junctional assembly and thereby promotes invasiveness and dedifferentiation of epithelial cells through phosphorylation of the E-cadherin/catenin complex.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Apr 1;88(7):2893-7 - PubMed
    1. J Cell Biol. 1990 Apr;110(4):1239-52 - PubMed
    1. Virology. 1973 May;53(1):152-61 - PubMed
    1. Adv Cancer Res. 1976;23:23-89 - PubMed
    1. Virchows Arch B Cell Pathol Incl Mol Pathol. 1979 May 4;30(1):95-111 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

-