Schematic diagram of E-cad-herin cleavage by BFT. In HT29/C1 colonic epithelial cells, BFT induces ectodomain cleavage of the full-length E-cadherin (120 kDa) by an unknown mechanism. The resulting E-cadherin ectodomain (80 kDa) is shed into the cell culture media. The membrane tethered E-cadherin fragment (33 kDa) is then cleaved by γ-secretase resulting in the release of the E-cadherin intracellular fragment (28 kDa) into the cytoplasm. We hypothesize that the degradation of the 28 kDa fragment is due to the proteasome complex. Whether BFT binds to a putative BFT receptor or directly cleaves E-cadherin is also unknown. Abbreviation: BFT, Bacteroidesfragilis toxin.
© 2023 Korean J Clin Lab Sci
