Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2199297 | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience | 2007 | 12 Pages |
During development of the visual system, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) require cell–cell adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix proteins for axon growth. In this study, we demonstrate that the classical cadherin, E-cadherin, is expressed in RGCs from E6 to E12 and promotes neurite outgrowth from all regions of the chick retina at E6, E8 and E10. E-cadherin is also expressed in the optic tectum. E-cadherin adhesion blocking antibodies specifically inhibit neurite outgrowth on an E-cadherin substrate. The receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase, PTPμ, associates with E-cadherin. In this manuscript, we demonstrate that antisense-mediated down-regulation of PTPμ, overexpression of catalytically inactive PTPμ and perturbation of endogenous PTPμ using a specific PTPμ inhibitor peptide results in a substantial reduction in neurite outgrowth on E-cadherin. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that E-cadherin is an important adhesion molecule for chick RGC neurite outgrowth and suggest that PTPμ expression and catalytic activity are required for outgrowth on an E-cadherin substrate.