Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

High-resolution Time-lapse Imaging and Automated Analysis of Microtubule Dynamics in Living Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
Published on: August 13, 2016
p120-catenin regulates microtubule dynamics and cell migration in a cadherin-independent manner
Tetsuo Ichii1, Masatoshi Takeichi
1Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
p120-catenin (p120) has been shown to be essential for cadherin stability. Here, we show that p120 is capable of regulating microtubule (MT) dynamics in a cadherin-independent manner. When p120 was depleted in cadherin-deficient Neuro-2a (N2a) cells, MT stability was reduced, as assessed by the nocodazole sensitivity of MTs. On the contrary, over-expression of p120 caused MTs to become resistant to nocodazole. Time-lapse recording of GFP-tagged EB1, a protein which binds the growing plus-ends of MTs, introduced into these cells demonstrated that the plus ends underwent more frequent catastrophe in p120-depleted cells. In addition, p120 knockdown up-regulated the motility of isolated cells, whereas it down-regulated the directional migration of cells from wound edges; and these migratory behaviors of cells were mimicked by nocodazole-induced MT depolymerization. These results suggest that p120 has the ability to regulate MT dynamics and that this activity, in turn, affects cell motility independently of the cadherin adhesion system.
Related Concept Videos
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
Microtubule Instability
