Ultrastructural localization of E-cadherin cell adhesion molecule on the cytoplasmic membrane of keratinocytes in vivo and in vitro.

We examined the ultrastructural localization of E (epithelial)-cadherin cell adhesion molecules by immunoperoxidase electron microscopy on the epithelium of mouse intestine, epidermis of human skin, and cultured human keratinocytes. The in vivo studies demonstrated that E-cadherin was present at the intermediate junction but not at the desmosome of the mouse intestinal single epithelium, and was found on the cytoplasmic membranes of keratinocytes with condensation in the intercellular space of the desmosomes, except for the basal surface of the basal cells. In vitro studies demonstrated that keratinocytes cultured in medium containing a low Ca2+ concentration (0.1 mM) lacked the tight connection through desmosomes, and that E-cadherin showed diffuse distribution and dot-like accumulation around the free surface of the cytoplasmic membrane. In culture medium containing a high concentration of Ca2+ (0.6 mM), keratinocytes formed desmosomal adhesion structures in which E-cadherin was accumulated. The free surface of the keratinocytes in this medium showed weaker distribution and a lesser amount of dot-like accumulation of E-cadherin than that in a low Ca2+ condition. These findings suggest that the distribution pattern of the E-cadherin cell adhesion molecules on the keratinocytes is different from that on the single epithelium of the intestine, and that E-cadherin on the cytoplasmic membrane of the keratinocytes shifts to the desmosomes under physiological conditions, participating in adhesion in association with other desmosomal cadherins.