Figure 1

Exogenous expression of E- and P-cadherin promotes formation of functional adherens junctions and morphological changes in 231 cells. A: Western blot showing E- and P-cadherin expression before (-) and after (+) addition of Dexamethasone in 231 clones. MCF7 and BT549 cells were used as controls for endogenous expression of E- and P-cadherin, respectively. B: E- or P-cadherin expression promotes epitheloid morphology (first column, bright field) and recruits the catenins (p120 and beta-catenin) to the adherens junctions (immunofluorescence, columns two to four). C: E- or P-cadherin expression enhances cell aggregation. Left pictures show representative examples of cellular aggregation in each condition ("-", before and "+" after addition of Dex). E-cadherin positive MCF7 cells were used as control. Right: Quantification of mean particle size. Each bar represents mean ± SEM size (measured in pixels) of cell aggregates (n = 25, for each condition). Mean differences were compared by Student's t test (* indicates differences statistically significant p < 0.05; NS, not significant).