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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Aug 27.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Cell Biol. 2010 Jun 13;12(7):696–702. doi: 10.1038/ncb2072

Figure 1. Myosin (Myo) IIA and myosin IIB localize to apical epithelial junctions.

Figure 1

(a) Confluent MCF-7 cells were fixed and immunostained for E-cadherin (magenta) and for myosin IIA (green) or myosin IIB (green). Representative confocal images were taken from the apical junctions of the cells. Magnifications show detailed colocalization of E-cadherin with myosin II isoforms and the distribution of proteins along the z axis of cells are represented in x–z views (where apical is up). Arrows indicate enrichment of E-cadherin and myosin II at the apical tips of cell–cell contacts. (b) Confocal images show co-localization of myosin IIA (green) and myosin IIB (magenta) at apical junctions in MCF-7 monolayers. (c) E-cadherin RNAi. MCF-7 cells were transfected with siRNA against E-cadherin or scrambled (scr.) siRNA; E-cadherin levels were assessed by immunoblot analysis 48 h after transfection. Tubulin was used as a loading control. (d) E-cadherin KD cells were fixed 48 h after transfection and immunostained for E-cadherin and either myosin IIA or myosin IIB; x–y images in the apical plane and x–z reconstructions are shown. Arrows indicate apical regions of cell–cell contacts. (e) Junctional accumulation of myosin II isoforms was quantified by measuring fluorescence intensity at cell–cell contacts in control and E-cadherin KD cells. Data are represented as means ± s.e.m. (n = 21; three asterisks, P < 0.001; Student’s t-test). Scale bars, 10 µm.