LI-cadherin gene expression during mouse intestinal development

LI-cadherin (Liver-Intestine cadherin) is a member of a subclass (7-D cadhe rins) within the cadherin superfamily. Although its cellular function as a cell-cell adhesion molecule has been demonstrated in cell culture studies, its physiological function still needs to be explored in the intact organis m, After isolating the cDNA for mouse LI-cadherin, we generated specific an tibodies against the overexpressed protein and studied its expression patte rn in adult mouse tissues and mouse embryos. The mouse LI-cadherin sequence is 91% identical to the sequence of rat LI-cadherin and exhibits the same structural features described for rat LI-cadherin, In mouse adult tissue, L I-cadherin is expressed in the intestine and in small amounts in the spleen . In contrast to rat, Mouse LI-cadherin was not expressed in liver, During mouse embryogenesis, LI-cadherin expression beans at embryonic day 12.5, Wi th the exception of transient expression in the urogenital sinus and the co mmon bile duct on day 13.5, LI-cadherin was found exclusively in the intest inal epithelium, Its expression coincides with the formation of intestinal villi, a developmental stage that includes major tissue remodeling, growth, and differentiation. LI-cadherin is expressed along the entire anterior-po sterior axis of the developing intestine as well as along the entire villus axis once villi begin to form. LI-cadherin occupies all cell surfaces of t he deeper layers of the epithelium, distributing to basolateral surfaces on ly in the cells of the outer epithelial layer, LI-cadherin was found to be always coexpressed with E-cadherin. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.