THE ROLE OF CADHERIN-CATENIN-CYTOSKELETON COMPLEX IN ANGIOGENESIS - ANTISENSE OLIGONUCLEOTIDE OF PLAKOGLOBIN PROMOTES ANGIOGENESIS IN-VITRO, AND PROTEIN-KINASE-C (PKC) ENHANCES ANGIOGENESIS THROUGH THE PLAKOGLOBIN SIGNALING PATHWAY

Angiogenesis plays an important role in various diseases and condition s such as malignant tumor, wound healing, and atherosclerosis. Since c ell-to-cell adhesion may play a key role in angiogenesis, we investiga ted the effect of the cadherin-catenin-cytoskeleton complex on angioge nesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Immunofluore scence staining revealed that alpha-catenin, beta-catenin, and plakogl obin were concentrated at cell-cell contacts in HUVECs. Antisense olig onucleotide (AS-oligo), complementary to the region of human plakoglob in was dissolved in saline and applied to the media at 1 mM every 12 h for 4 days, and sense oligonucleotide (S-oligo) was used as control. HUVEC migration from an injury line was enhanced by AS-oligo. Interest ingly, HUVECs migrated in line with S-oligo, and in a scattered fashio n with AS-oligo. Tube formation on Matrigel occurred earlier with AS-o ligo than with S-oligo. These findings indicate that plakoglobin inhib ited HUVEC migration and tube formation (angiogenesis) by regulating c ell-cell adhesion.