Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Imaging Molecular Adhesion in Cell Rolling by Adhesion Footprint Assay
Published on: September 27, 2021
Armc8 is an evolutionarily conserved armadillo protein involved in cell-cell adhesion complexes through multiple
Ismail Sahin Gul1,2, Paco Hulpiau1,2,3, Ellen Sanders1,2
1Center for Inflammation Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium.
Armadillo-repeat-containing protein 8 (Armc8) is an ancient protein interacting with δ-catenins and αE-catenin. These interactions suggest a role for Armc8 in desmosome regulation and potential links to tumorigenesis.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Armadillo-repeat-containing protein 8 (Armc8) is involved in cell-cell contacts and intracellular signaling.
- Understanding Armc8's evolutionary history and protein interactions is crucial for elucidating its cellular functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and analyze the evolutionary relationships of Armc8 orthologs across species.
- To characterize novel protein interactors of Armc8 and investigate their functional significance.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomic and structural analyses of armadillo repeat proteins.
- Yeast two-hybrid assays, co-immunoprecipitation, and co-localization studies to identify protein interactions.
Main Results:
- Armc8 is a highly ancestral protein, not found in yeast, and is not the human ortholog of yeast Gid5/Vid28.
- Armc8 specifically interacts with δ-catenins (plakophilins-1, -2, -3, p0071) and αE-catenin.
- Armc8 does not interact with αN-catenin or αT-catenin.
Conclusions:
- Armc8 plays a role in regulating αE-catenin, which is implicated in cancer.
- Armc8 may also regulate plakophilins in desmosomes, suggesting a potential role in tumorigenesis due to desmosomal protein deregulation.
More Related Videos
13:22Adhesion Frequency Assay for In Situ Kinetics Analysis of Cross-Junctional Molecular Interactions at the Cell-Cell Interface
Published on: November 2, 2011
08:43A Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy Assay of Protein-Protein Interactions at Cell-Cell Contacts
Published on: December 1, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to...
Protein Complex Assembly
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
Molecular Chaperones and Protein Folding
The...
Cell Adhesion in Plants
Pectins are complex heteropolymers mainly composed of negatively-charged α-D-glucopyranosyl uronic acid and some neutral glycosyl residues such as α-L-rhamnopyranose, α-L-arabinofuranose,...
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally...