Figure 9.
Putative E-cadherin/ARVCF/ZO-1 associations and C-terminal PDZ binding motifs in members of the p120ctn protein family. (A) Schematic model of possible E-cadherin complexes. Cadherins may associate directly with the armadillo repeats of ARVCF, which in turn may bind to the ZO-1 PDZ domains via its PDZ-binding motif. Alternatively, cadherins may bind ARVCF indirectly via their known interaction with β- or γ-catenin, α-catenin, and ZO-1. ZO-2 also may associate with ARVCF. (B) Alignment of the C terminus of different members of the p120ctn protein family. The C-terminal 10 amino acids of ARVCF splice variants and the different members of the p120ctn family are aligned. Identical amino acids are boxed and shaded. With the exception of p120ctn itself, the C-terminal PDZ-binding SWV motif identified in ARVCF is conserved, indicating that other members of the p120ctn family also may bind to ZO-1, ZO-2, and possibly other PDZ-domain proteins.