NHERF links the N-cadherin/catenin complex to the platelet-derived growth factor receptor to modulate the actin cytoskeleton and regulate cell motility.

Using phage display, we identified Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor (NHERF)-2 as a novel binding partner for the cadherin-associated protein, beta-catenin. We showed that the second of two PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 (PDZ) domains of NHERF interacts with a PDZ-binding motif at the very carboxy terminus of beta-catenin. N-cadherin expression has been shown to induce motility in a number of cell types. The first PDZ domain of NHERF is known to bind platelet-derived growth factor-receptor beta (PDGF-Rbeta), and the interaction of PDGF-Rbeta with NHERF leads to enhanced cell spreading and motility. Here we show that beta-catenin and N-cadherin are in a complex with NHERF and PDGF-Rbeta at membrane ruffles in the highly invasive fibrosarcoma cell line HT1080. Using a stable short hairpin RNA system, we showed that HT1080 cells knocked down for either N-cadherin or NHERF had impaired ability to migrate into the wounded area in a scratch assay, similar to cells treated with a PDGF-R kinase inhibitor. Cells expressing a mutant NHERF that is unable to associate with beta-catenin had increased stress fibers, reduced lamellipodia, and impaired cell migration. Using HeLa cells, which express little to no PDGF-R, we introduced PDGF-Rbeta and showed that it coimmunoprecipitates with N-cadherin and that PDGF-dependent cell migration was reduced in these cells when we knocked-down expression of N-cadherin or NHERF. These studies implicate N-cadherin and beta-catenin in cell migration via PDGF-R-mediated signaling through the scaffolding molecule NHERF.