The ability of individual cells to adhere and coalesce into distinct tissues is a major feature of multicellular organisms. Research in my laboratory centers on a protein complex that projects from the cell surface and forms a structural “Velcro” that holds cells to one another. This complex is comprised of a transmembrane “cadherin” component that mediates Ca++-dependent homophilic recognition, and a number of associated “catenins” that link cadherins to the underlying cytoskeleton. A major focus in our lab is to understand how these catenins direct cadherin-adhesive activities, and how cadherin-based cell-cell adhesion ultimately impacts gene expression and differentiation. These basic research questions are shedding new light on how dysregulation of the cadherin/catenin adhesion system drives tissue pathologies such as acute lung injury, fibrosis and cancer.
Selected Publications:
Verheyen, E.V. and C.J. Gottardi. 2009. Regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by protein kinases. Dev. Dyn. Published Online: Jul 21 2009 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.22019.
Maher, M. T., Flozak, A.S., Stocker, A., Chenn, A. and C.J. Gottardi. 2009. Activity of the β-catenin phospho-destruction complex at cell-cell contacts is enhanced by cadherin-based adhesion. J. Cell Biol., 186 (2).
Maher MT, Flozak AS, Hartsell AM, Russell S, Beri R, Peled ON, Gottardi C.J. 2009. Issues associated with assessing nuclear localization of N-terminally unphosphorylated beta-catenin with monoclonal antibody 8E7. Biology Direct; 4:5.
PMID: 19187541
Jeanes A, Gottardi C.J., Yap AS. 2008. Cadherins and cancer: how does cadherin dysfunction promote tumor progression? Oncogene; Nov;27(55):6920-9.
PMID: 19029934
Lal M, Song X, Pluznick JL, Di Giovanni V, Merrick DM, Rosenblum ND, Chauvet V, Gottardi CJ, Pei Y, Caplan MJ. 2008. Polycystin-1 C-terminal Tail Associates with b-catenin and Inhibits Canonical Wnt Signaling.
Human Molecular Genetics. PMID: 18632682
Gottardi C.J., Peifer M. 2008. Terminal Regions of β-Catenin Come into View.
Commentary for Structure. 16(3):336-338.
PMID: 18334207.
Niessen CM, Gottardi C.J. 2008. Molecular components of the adherens junction.
Biochimica et biophysica acta; 1778(3):562-71.
PMID: 18206110.
Daugherty RL, Gottardi CJ. 2007. Phospho-regulation of β-Catenin Adhesion and Signaling Functions. Physiology (Bethesda, Md.); 22:303-9. PMID: 17928543.
Thorne ME, Gottardi CJ. 2005. Terminating Wnt signals: a novel nuclear export mechanism targets activated β-catenin. J. Cell Biol. Dec; 171(5):761-3.
PMID: 16314432.
