E-cadherin is a calcium dependent adhesion molecule with important roles in epithelial intercellular adhesion and cellular structure. Immunofluorescent staining can localize and quantify protein expression in cells or tissues. Co-localization of 2 or more different proteins used in combination with fluorochromes of different colors can reveal the location of each protein. We investigated the use of e-cadherin immunofluorescence in different species (rat and mouse), with different fixatives (10% neutral buffered formalin, 4% paraformaldehyde, and 2.5% glutaraldehyde), with and without antigen retrieval, and as a dual label with immunofluorescence for other proteins. Mouse monoclonal anti-e-cadherin antibodies (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) in conjunction with fluorochrome-conjugated donkey anti-mouse antibodies clearly delineated sites of e-cadherin expression in lungs of rats or mice. EDTA heat-induced epitope retrieval was required to restore antigenicity to fixed tissues. E-cadherin could be demonstrated in formalin or paraformaldehyde fixed tissues but not in glutaraldehyde fixed tissue. Immunofluorescent double-labeling with e-cadherin can be used with immunofluorescent detection of podoplanin, a lymphatic endothelial cell marker that is also expressed by alveolar type I cells in the lung. Low levels of e-cadherin expression in type I cells allowed the double labeled type I cells to be distinguished from lymphatic endothelium and facilitated diagnosis of lymphangiectasia. E-cadherin immunofluorescent double labeling can also be used with activated caspase 3 or â-catenin immunofluorescence to localize the expression of these proteins in damaged airways. Thus, in the lung, e-cadherin immunofluorescence can demonstrate abnormal and normal epithelial cell junctions, facilitate demonstration of airway epithelial changes, and distinguish podoplaninexpressing alveolar type I cells from lymphatic endothelium.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.