Murine dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC) express the hemophilic adhesion molecule E-cadherin

M. G. Lee, A. Tang, S. O. Sharrow, M. C. Udey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cadherins mediate homotypic intercellular adhesion in epidermis and other epithelia. E-cadherin is also involved in interactions between murine epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) and keratinocytes (KC). Dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC) comprise another subpopulation of epidermal leukocytes. Using flow cytometry, we determined that DETC expressed levels of E-cadherin similar to those expressed by LC and KC. DETC also adhered ~ three-fold better to KC and E-cadherin-transfected fibroblasts than to normal fibroblasts. Treatment of DETC with trypsin in the absence of calcium caused a loss of E-cadherin and resulted in an ~ 80% decrease in DETC-KC adhesion whereas treatment of DETC with trypsin in the presence of calcium did not significantly affect E-cadherin expression or DETC-KC binding. Thus, E-cadherin may be involved in adhesion of DETC to KC. DETC are derived from TCR Vγ3+ thymocytes that transiently populate embryonic murine thymus. We determined that TCR Vγ3+ thymocytes as well as other early (fetal day 16) TCR γ/δ+ thymocytes expressed E-cadherin; TCR γ/δ+ (TCR Vγ3-) thymocytes that developed later did not. These results indicate that cells of the T cell lineage can express E-cadherin, and suggest that E-cadherin may play a role in adhesion of DETC (and/or DETC precursors) to KC.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)149-155
Number of pages7
JournalEpithelial Cell Biology
Volume3
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 1994

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Cancer Research
  • Cell Biology

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