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REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbes and Innate Immunity
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1506636
This article is part of the Research Topic Pathogens, Inflammation and Epithelial Homeostasis View all articles

Role of E-Cadherin in Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction: Implications for Bacterial Infection, Inflammation, and Disease Pathogenesis

Provisionally accepted
Peter Lialios Peter Lialios 1,2Stella Alimperti Stella Alimperti 1,2*
  • 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
  • 2 Center for Biological and Biomedical Engineering, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Epithelial barriers serve as critical defense lines against microbial infiltration and maintain tissue homeostasis. E-cadherin, an essential component of adherens junctions, has emerged as a pivotal molecule that secures epithelial homeostasis. Lately, its pleiotropic role beyond barrier function, including its involvement in immune responses, has become more evident. Herein, we delve into the intricate relationship between (dys)regulation of epithelial homeostasis and the versatile functionality of E-cadherin, describing complex mechanisms that underlie barrier integrity and disruption in disease pathogenesis such as bacterial infection and inflammation, among others.Clinical implications of E-cadherin perturbations in host pathophysiology are emphasized; downregulation, proteolytic phenomena, abnormal localization/signaling and aberrant immune reactions are linked with a broad spectrum of pathology beyond infectious diseases. Finally, potential therapeutic interventions that may harness E-cadherin to mitigate barrier-associated tissue damage are explored. Overall, this review highlights the crucial role of E-cadherin in systemic health, offering insights that could pave the way for strategies to reinforce/restore barrier integrity and treat related diseases.

    Keywords: E-cadherin, epithelial barrier, Infection, Bacteria, Inflammation, Homeostasis, Disease pathogenesis

    Received: 05 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Lialios and Alimperti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Stella Alimperti, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, 20057, District of Columbia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.