Fig 2: Representative histograms showing EphA2 and/or EGFP expression in U937 and EphA2ΔC-EGFP-U937 cells (A) as well as J774.1 and EphA2ΔC-EGFP-J774.1 cells (B).

Fig 3: Molecular association of EphA2 with the β2 integrin/ICAM1 (A) and β2 integrin/VCAM1 complexes (B) in U937 and EphA2ΔC-EGFP-U937 cells.

Fig 4: Proposed model of Dlg-1 function in the lens. The results obtained in this study support a model in which Dlg-1 affects lens fiber cell adhesion and differentiation at least in part by promoting the full activation of EphA2. EphA2, in turn, balances the activities of Fgf receptors by enhancing Fgfr2 activation while suppressing activation of Fgfr1 and Fgfr3, thus leading to the proper levels of activation of Erk and Akt. In addition, Dlg-1 promotes EphA2's regulation of the interaction between N-cadherin and β-catenin, thus stabilizing the cytoskeleton and membrane-anchored adherens junction complexes. Dlg-1 also potentially interacts directly with β-catenin.

Fig 5: Levels of N-cadherin, β-catenin, and EphA2 are altered of Dlgf/f10Cre lenses. (A) Cytosolic (Triton soluble) and cytoskeletal-associated (Triton X-100 insoluble) extracts from P2 control and Dlgf/f10Cre lenses were subjected to Western blot analysis for the indicated proteins, and the blots were reprobed for Gapdh as a loading control. Representative blots are shown. (B) Quantification of protein levels. Shown are the levels of the indicated proteins in extracts from Dlgf/f10Cre lenses relative to levels in the controls (control levels set a 1.0). Signal intensities were quantified by phosphorimager analysis, and the data were subjected to statistical analysis as described in Materials and Methods. At least three protein pools were blotted in triplicate over one to three blots. The relative levels of N-cadherin in the cytosolic fraction from Dlgf/f10Cre lenses were increased compared with controls, whereas the levels of cytoskeletal associated N-cadherin were reduced. The levels of active β-catenin, total β-catenin, and EphA2 in the cytoskeletal associated fraction from Dlgf/f10Cre lenses were reduced compared with controls. Error bars denote SD. *FDR < 0.05; **FDR < 0.01.