The Impact of pH on the Structure and Function of Neural Cadherin

Neural (N-) cadherin is a transmembrane protein within adherens junctions that mediates cell-cell adhesion. It has 5 modular extracellular domains (EC1-EC5) that bind 3 calcium ions between each of the modules. Calcium binding is required for dimerization. N-cadherin is involved in diverse processes including tissue morphogenesis, excitatory synapse formation and dynamics, and metastasis of cancer. During neurotransmission and tumorigenesis, fluctuations in extracellular pH occur, causing tissue acidosis with associated physiological consequences. Studies reported here aim to determine the effect of pH on the dimerization properties of EC1-EC2 N-cadherin in vitro. Since N-cadherin is an anionic protein, we hypothesized that acidification of solution would cause an increase in stability of the apo protein, a decrease in the calcium-binding affinity and a concomitant decrease in the formation of adhesive dimer. The stability of the apo monomer was increased, and the calcium-binding affinity was decreased at reduced pH, consistent with our hypothesis. Surprisingly, analytical SEC studies shoan increase in calcium-induced dimerization as solution pH decreased from 7.4 to 5.0. Salt-dependent dimerization studies indicated that electrostatic repulsion attenuates dimerization affinity. These results point to a possible electrostatic mechanism for moderating dimerization affinity of the Type I cadherin family.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S. in Chemistry

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Jungles, Jared Michael

Contributors dc:contributor

• Susan Pedigo
• Nathan Hammer
• Michael Mossing

• Cadherin
• Electrostatics
• Neural Cadherin
• pH
• Chemistry

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1288

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-2287