A homolog of the armadillo protein in Drosophila (
plakoglobin) associated with E-cadherin.
They interact with
plakoglobin, desmoplakin, and plakophilin that are involved in desmosome assembly and the anchoring of intermediate filaments of desmin [10].
Geiger, "Differential molecular interactions of [beta]-catenin and
plakoglobin in adhesion, signaling and cancer," Current Opinion in Cell Biology, vol.
(26-29) Reduced
plakoglobin in desmosomes has been reported and proposed as a possible clinical test and is particularly appealing as it may highlight a defect in otherwise apparently normal tissue.
[10] It is an autosomal-recessive disorder occurring due to mutation in the
plakoglobin gene.
It has been demonstrated that during this process and in response to an extrinsic signaling mechanism that is not fully understood, these cells undergo a series of transformations, including the loss of adhesion complexes and the polarity axis (with decreased epithelial markers such as E-cadherin, desmoplakin, and
plakoglobin), hypertrophy and cytoskeleton reorganization (with the substitution of keratin filaments for vimentin).
Plakoglobin interacts with and increases the protein levels of metastasis suppressor Nm23-H2 and regulates the expression of Nm23-H1.
Ross, "Cleavage of [beta]-catenin and
plakoglobin and shedding of VE-cadherin during endothelial apoptosis: evidence for a role for caspases and metalloproteinases," Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol.
Mutations in the
plakoglobin (PKG; MIM 173325) and desmoplakin (DSP; MIM 125647) genes have been reported to cause the Naxos disease and the Carvajal syndrome, respectively.2,3 Furthermore, a homozygous deletion mutation (c.1841delG) in desmocollin-2 (DSC2; MIM 125645) gene has been reported to be associated with cardiomyopathy and mild palmoplantar keratoderma in association with WH phenotype.4