hINADI/PATJ, a homolog of discs lost, interacts with crumbs and localizes to tight junctions in human epithelial cells

dCrumbs is an apical organizer crucial for the maintenance of epithelial polarity in Drosophila (1). It is known that dCrumbs interacts with Discs lost (Dlt), a protein with four PDZ (PSD95/Dises Large/ZO-1) domains (2), and Stardust (Sdt), a protein of the NIAGUK (membrane-associated guanylate kinase) family (3, 4). We have searched for potential homologs of Dlt in human epithelial cells and characterized one of them in intestinal epithelial cells. Human INAD-like (hINADl) contains 8 PDZ domains, is concentrated in tight junctions, and is also found at the apical plasma membrane. Overexpression of hINADl disrupted the tight junctions localization of ZO-1 and 3. We also identified a partial cDNA coding the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of a new human crumbs (CRB3) expressed in Caco-2 cells. This CRB3 was able to interact through its C-terminal end with the N-terminal domain of hINADl. Taken together, the data indicate that hINADl is likely to represent a Dlt homolog in mammalian epithelial cells and might be involved in regulating the integrity of tight junctions. We thus propose to rename hINADl ATJ for protein associated to tight junctions.