Figure 5.

Formation of new VE-cadherin junctions in endothelial cells does not require the activity of Rho or Rac. Confluent endothelial cells (A–D) were incubated in medium without serum or complements and containing 5 mM EGTA to disrupt cadherin-dependent contacts for 5–20 min. After microinjection of C3 (A and B) or N17Rac (C and D), cells were washed to remove the EGTA and incubated in medium with serum and complements for 1 h to induce cell–cell contacts. Subconfluent CHO cells transfected with full-length VE-cadherin were also microinjected with C3 (E and F) or N17Rac (G and H) and incubated for up to 2 h. Staining of VE-cadherin was performed and visualized with anti-mouse FITC (B, D, F, and H); injected cells were identified with Dextran-Texas Red (A, C, E, and G). Arrows in panels B and D show the presence of VE-cadherin–dependent contacts; arrows in panels F and H show the dismantling of VE-cadherin contacts in CHO cells. Bar, 50 μm.