Alpha Catenin Antibody

Alpha Catenin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CTNNA1 gene. When surface epithelium CTNNA1 was ablated, hair follicle development was blocked and epidermal morphogenesis was dramatically affected, with defects in adherens junction formation, intercellular adhesion, and epithelial polarity. In vitro, CTNNA1 null keratinocytes were poorly contact inhibited and grew rapidly. These differences were not dependent upon intercellular adhesion and were in marked contrast to keratinocytes conditionally null for another essential intercellular adhesion protein, desmoplakin Knockout keratinocytes exhibited sustained activation of the Ras-MAPK cascade due to aberrations in growth factor responses. It is concluded that features of precancerous lesions often attributed to defects in cell cycle regulatory genes can be generated by compromising the function of CTNNA1.