Identification and Characterization of Interaction Partners of Drosophila cadherin 99C

• Main Author: Liu, Ri Hua Sandy
• Other Authors: Godt, Dorothea
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Biology; Development; 0307
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/24262

Drosophila cadherin Cad99C is a critical regulator of follicle cell microvilli during Drosophila oogenesis. I extended the functional analysis of Cad99C by identifying Drosophila Myosin VIIA, and Cad74A and Cad87A, which are homologues of human Myosin VIIA and Cadherin 23, respectively, as components of the Cad99C protein complex and by studying their interactions in follicle cell microvilli. My co-immunoprecipitation data show that the cytoplasmic tail of Cad99C interacts with Myosin VIIA, and the extracellular cadherin repeats of Cad99C interact with Cad87A and Cad74A, independent of the cytoplasmic tail of Cad99C. Genetic studies indicate that 1) Cad99C and Cad74A/Cad87A localize independently to microvilli, although their amount is affected by changes in the ratio of their concentrations. 2) All cadherins affect microvillus morphology when overexpressed although the phenotypes are different. The overexpression effect of Cad74A depends on Cad99C but not vice versa. These data point to complex interactions between the microvillus cadherins.