Roles of the nectin-afadin system in epithelial-mesenchymal and mesenchymal-epithelial transitions

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The disruption of cell-cell junctions and the increase in cell movement play important roles in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. On the other hand, the cell-cell junction formation and cell polarization at the interface between neighboring cells are crucial for the mesenchymal-epithelial transition. In this study, nectin-like molecules, which resemble cell adhesion molecules nectins in their molecular structure, afadin, which binds to the cytoplasmic region of nectins, and their related molecules were shown to promote the growth factor-induced cell movement. The underlying mechanisms were also elucidated. The interaction of afadin with another adaptor protein was essential for the cell polarization of epithelial cells.