bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psoralen photoactivation promotes morphological and functional changes in fibroblasts in vitro reminiscent of cellular senescence
Authors: Herrmann Gernot , Brenneisen Peter , Wlaschek Meinhard , Wenk Jutta , Faisst Katrin , Quel Gudrun , Hommel Christina , Goerz Günter , Ruzicka Thomas , Krieg Thomas , Sies Helmut , Scharffetter-Kochanek Karin
Published: April 2021

Premature aging of the skin is a prominent side effect of psoralen photoactivation, a treatment used widely for various skin disorders. The molecular mechanisms underlying premature aging upon psoralen photoactivation are as yet unknown. Here we show that treatment of fibroblasts with 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) and subsequent ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation resulted in a permanent switch of mitotic to stably postmitotic fibroblasts which acquired a high level of de novo expression of SA-β-galactosidase, a marker for fibroblast senescence in vitro and in vivo. A single exposure of fibroblasts to 8-MOP/UVA resulted in a 5.8-fold up-regulation of two matrix-degrading enzymes, interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) and stromelysin-1 (MMP-3), over a period of >120 days, while TIMP-1, the major inhibitor of MMP-1 and MMP-3, was only slightly induced. This imbalance between matrix-degrading metalloproteases and their inhibitor may lead to connective tissue damage, a hallmark of premature aging. Superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide, but not singlet oxygen, were identified as important intermediates in the downstream signaling pathway leading to these complex fibroblast responses upon psoralen photoactivation. Collectively, the end phenotype induced upon psoralen photoactivation shares several criteria of senescent cells. In the absence of detailed molecular data on what constitutes normal aging, it is difficult to decide whether the changes reported here reflect mechanisms underlying normal cellular aging/senescence or rather produce a mimic of cellular aging/senescence by quite different pathways.
Cell heterogeneity upon myogenic differentiation: down-regulation of MyoD and Myf-5 generates ‘reserve cells’
Authors: Yoshida Naoko , Yoshida Shosei , Koishi Kyoko , Masuda Kanjiro , Nabeshima Yo-ichi
Published: April 2021

When a proliferating myoblast culture is induced to differentiate by deprivation of serum in the medium, a significant proportion of cells escape from terminal differentiation, while the rest of the cells differentiate. Using C2C12 mouse myoblast cells, this heterogeneity observed upon differentiation was investigated with an emphasis on the myogenic regulatory factors.

The differentiating part of the cell population followed a series of well-described events, including expression of myogenin, p21WAF1, and contractile proteins, permanent withdrawal from the cell cycle and cell fusion, whereas the rest of the cells did not initiate any of these events. Interestingly, the latter cells showed an undetectable or greatly reduced level of MyoD and Myf-5 expression, which had been originally expressed in the undifferentiated proliferating myoblasts. When these undifferentiated cells were isolated and returned to the growth conditions, they progressed through the cell cycle and regained MyoD expression. These cells demonstrated identical features with the original culture on the deprivation of serum. They produced both MyoD-positive differentiating and MyoD-negative undifferentiated populations once again. Thus the undifferentiated cells in the serum-deprived culture were designated ‘reserve cells’.

Upon serum deprivation, MyoD expression rapidly decreased as a result of down-regulation in approximately 50% of the cells. After this heterogenization, MyoD positive cells expressed myogenin, which is the earliest known event of terminal differentiation and marks irreversible commitment to this, while MyoD-negative cells did not differentiate and became the reserve cells. We also demonstrated that ectopic expression of MyoD converted the reserve cells to differentiating cells, indicating that down-regulation of MyoD is a causal event in the formation of reserve cells.
Expression of caveolin-1 and polarized formation of invaginated caveolae in Caco-2 and MDCK II cells
Authors: Vogel Ulla , Sandvig Kirsten , Deurs Bo van
Published: April 2021

We have studied caveolin-1 expression and the frequency and distribution of typical invaginated caveolae as they are identified by electron microscopy in the polarized epithelial cell lines MDCK II and Caco-2. In wild-type MDCK II cells caveolin expression is high and more than 400 caveolae/mm filter were observed at the basolateral membrane. No caveolae were found at the apical surface. By contrast, wild-type Caco-2 cells do not express caveolin-1 and have extremely few, if any caveolae. Caco-2 cells were stably transfected with the gene for caveolin-1 in order to investigate if the formation of caveolae is polarized also in these cells. We have isolated Caco-2 clones expressing different levels of caveolin-1, where the level of expression varies from 10-100% of the endogenous level in MDCK II cells. Caveolin-1 expression in Caco-2 cells gives rise to a marked immunofluorescense labeling mainly at the lateral plasma membrane. By electron microscopy an increase from less than 4 caveolae/mm filter in wild-type Caco-2 cells to 21-76 caveolae/mm filter in Caco-2 clones transfected with caveolin-1 was revealed and these caveolae were exclusively localized to the basolateral membrane. Thus expression of heterologous caveolin-1 in Caco-2 cells leads to polarized formation of caveolae, but there is a lack of correlation between the amount of caveolin expressed in the cells and the number of caveolae, suggesting that factors in addition to caveolin are required for generation of caveolae.
Formation of a distinct connexin43 phosphoisoform in mitotic cells is dependent upon p34cdc2 kinase
Authors: Lampe Paul D. , Kurata Wendy E. , Warn-Cramer Bonnie J. , Lau Alan F.
Published: April 2021

The gap junction protein connexin43 is a phosphoprotein that typically migrates as three bands (nonphosphorylated, P1 and P2) during polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The electrophoretic mobility of connexin43 from mitotic cells was distinctly reduced to a form (P3) that migrated slower than P2 from Rat1 cells prepared by shakeoff of nocodazole-treated and untreated cultures. Mitotic FT210 cells, which contain a temperature-sensitive mutation in the p34cdc2 kinase, showed abundant levels of the P3 connexin43 when maintained at the permissive temperature where p34cdc2 is active. In contrast, nocodozole-treated FT210 cells grown at the nonpermissive temperature did not contain P3 connexin43. These results indicated that generation of the P3 connexin43 was dependent upon active p34cdc2/cyclin B kinase. Although the p34cdc2 kinase phosphorylated connexin43 in vitro on peptides containing serine 255, the major phosphotryptic peptides in P3 connexin43 from mitotic cells appeared to be the consequence of another protein kinase(s), which may be activated by the p34cdc2/cyclin B kinase. The P3 connexin43 exhibited a marked redistribution from cell-cell plasma membrane interfaces to multiple, distinctly stained cytoplasmic structures. These events may be part of the dramatic structural changes observed in mitotic cells undergoing cell rounding and cytokinesis. Results of initial studies using inhibitors of protein degradative and synthetic pathways suggested the likelihood that protein degradation and synthesis participate in the disappearance of the P3 connexin43 and restoration of the pattern of connexin43 isoforms observed in nonmitotic cells.
The Cdk inhibitors p25rum1 and p40SIC1 are functional homologues that play similar roles in the regulation of the cell cycle in fission and budding yeast
Authors: Sánchez-Díaz Alberto , González Isabel , Arellano Manuel , Moreno Sergio
Published: April 2021

p25rum1 and p40SIC1 are specific inhibitors of p34cdc2/CDC28 kinase complexes with B-type cyclins that play a central role in the regulation of the G1 phase of the cell cycle. We show here that low levels of expression of SIC1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe rescues all the phenotypes of cells lacking the rum1+ gene. In addition, high level expression of SIC1 in S. pombe induces extra rounds of DNA replication without mitosis, a phenotype very similar to the overexpression of rum1+. Transient expression of rum1+ in S. cerevisiae restores the G1 arrest phenotype of cdc4 sic1Δ double mutants. Overproduction of rum1+ in Saccharomyces cerevisiae causes a cell cycle block in G1with a phenotype similar to inactivation of all the Clb cyclins. Finally, we have mapped the cyclin interacting domain and Cdk inhibitory domain to a region of about 80 amino acids in p25rum1 that has significant homology to the C-terminal domain of p40SIC1. All these observations suggest that fission yeast p25rum1 and budding yeast p40SIC1 define a family of Cdk inhibitors that specifically down regulate cyclin B/Cdk1 during the G1 phase of the cell cycle.
Analysis of CD44 interactions with hyaluronan in murine L cell fibroblasts deficient in glycosaminoglycan synthesis: a role for chondroitin sulfate
Authors: Esford Lesley E. , Maiti Arpita , Bader Sharon A. , Tufaro Frank , Johnson Pauline
Published: April 2021

CD44 is a widely expressed cell adhesion molecule that binds the extracellular matrix component, hyaluronan, in a tightly regulated manner. Previous studies have shown that the CD44-hyaluronan interaction is affected by changes in the glycosylation state of CD44. In this study, we take advantage of several well-characterized murine L cell mutants defective in heparan sulfate synthesis (gro2C cells), heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate synthesis (sog9 cells), and glycosaminoglycan and oligosaccharide processing (sog8 cells) to assess the effects of these defects on the hyaluronan binding ability of CD44. In parental L cells and gro2C cells, CD44 was induced to bind hyaluronan after addition of the activating, anti-CD44 monoclonal antibody, IRAWB 14. By contrast, no inducible binding was observed in sog9 cells. Treatment of L cells with sodium chlorate, an inhibitor of sulfation, also abolished inducible hyaluronan binding. However, inducible and some constitutive hyaluronan binding was observed in sog8 cells. This indicates that sulfation and, in particular, the addition of chondroitin sulfate are required for inducible hyaluronan binding by CD44 in L cells. However, in the absence of fully processed oligosaccharides, chondroitin sulfate is not essential for hyaluronan binding, indicating that the effect of chondroitin sulfate is dependent upon the glycosylation state of the cell. Thus, in addition to glycosylation, chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis is an important post-translational modification that can affect the hyaluronan binding ability of CD44.
Physical and biochemical regulation of integrin release during rear detachment of migrating cells
Authors: Palecek Sean P. , Huttenlocher Anna , Horwitz Alan F. , Lauffenburger Douglas A.
Published: April 2021

Cell migration can be considered as a repeated cycle of membrane protrusion and attachment, cytoskeletal contraction and rear detachment. At intermediate and high levels of cell-substratum adhesiveness, cell speed appears to be rate-limited by rear detachment, specifically by the disruption of cytoskeleton-adhesion receptor-extracellular matrix (ECM) linkages. Often, cytoskeletal linkages fracture to release integrin adhesion receptors from the cell. Cell-extracellular matrix bonds may also dissociate, allowing the integrins to remain with the cell. To investigate molecular mechanisms involved in fracturing these linkages and regulating cell speed, we have developed an experimental system to track integrins during the process of rear retraction in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Integrin expression level was varied by transfecting CHO B2 cells, which express very little endogenous α5 integrin, with a plasmid containing human α5 integrin cDNA and sorting the cells into three populations with different α5 expression levels. Receptor/ligand affinity was varied using CHO cells transfected with either αIIbβ3 or αIIbβ3(β1-2), a high affinity variant. αIIbβ3(β1-2) is activated to a higher affinity state with an anti-LIBS2 antibody. Fluorescent probes were conjugated to non-adhesion perturbing anti-integrin antibodies, which label integrins in CHO cells migrating on a matrix-coated glass coverslip. The rear retraction area was determined using phase contrast microscopy and integrins initially in this area were tracked by fluorescence microscopy and a cooled CCD camera.

We find that rear retraction rate appears to limit cell speed at intermediate and high adhesiveness, but not at low adhesiveness. Upon rear retraction, the amount of integrin released from the cell increases as extracellular matrix concentration, receptor level and receptor-ligand affinity increase. In fact, integrin release is a constant function of cell-substratum adhesiveness and the number of cell-substratum bonds. In the adhesive regime where rear detachment limits the rate of cell migration, cell speed has an inverse relationship to the amount of integrin released at the rear of the cell. At high cell-substratum adhesiveness, calpain, a Ca2+-dependent protease, is also involved in release of cytoskeletal linkages during rear retraction. Inhibition of calpain results in decreased integrin release from the cell membrane, and consequently a decrease in cell speed, during migration. These observations suggest a model for rear retraction in which applied tension and calpain-mediated cytoskeletal linkage cleavage are required at high adhesiveness, but only applied tension is required at low adhesiveness.
Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases and human trophoblast cell differentiation in vitro
Authors: Keryer Guy , Alsat Eliane , Taskén Kjetil , Evain-Brion Danièle
Published: April 2021

Human trophoblast cells offer a unique in vitro model for the study of aspects of the dynamic processes occurring during cell fusion and syncytium formation. In the human placenta, mononuclear cytotrophoblasts aggregate and fuse to form a multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast. In vitro, the addition of cyclic AMP analogs, 8-bromo-cyclic-AMP or Sp-8-bromo-cyclic AMPS, promotes syncytiotrophoblast formation, as shown by the disappearance of immunostained E-cadherin and desmoplakin, and increased numbers of nuclei per syncytium. An antagonist of cyclic AMP, Rp-8-bromo-cyclic AMPS, and an inhibitor of the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, H-89, impair cell fusion. This led us to study the pattern of expression and subcellular localization of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase subunits during syncytium formation. Cytotrophoblasts expressed the RIα and RIIα regulatory subunits and the Cα and Cβ catalytic subunits. RIα was down-regulated during syncytium formation. No change in RIIα protein levels was observed, but there was a drastic subcellular redistribution. RIIα located in the Golgi-centrosomal area of cytotrophoblasts was scattered throughout the cytoplasm of the syncytiotrophoblast. Interestingly, an accumulation of RIIα was observed underneath the apical membrane of syncytiotrophoblast in vitro and in situ. This suggests a key role of cyclic AMPdependent protein kinase type IIα during cell fusion and microvilli formation, both of which are essential for the secretory and transfer functions of the syncytiotrophoblast.
Endocytic internalization in yeast and animal cells: similar and different
Authors: Geli M. Isabel , Riezman Howard
Published: April 2021

The internalization step of endocytosis has been the focus of several laboratories during the last forty years. Unlike some other budding events in the cell, many fundamental questions regarding the molecular machinery involved in the mechanism of budding itself still remain unsolved. Over the last few years the general picture of the field has quickly evolved from the originally simplistic view which postulated that clathrin polymerization is the major force driving budding at the plasma membrane. Refinement of the assays and molecular markers to measure endocytosis in animal cells has shown that other factors in addition to the clathrin coat are required and that endocytosis can also take place through clathrin-independent mechanisms. At the same time, recent introduction of genetic approaches to study endocytosis has accelerated the identification of molecules required for this process. The isolation of endocytosis mutants in budding yeast has been especially fruitful in this respect. Preliminary comparison of the results obtained in yeast and animal cells did not seem to coincide, but further progress in both systems now suggests that part of the divergence originally seen may be due to the particular experimental approaches used rather than fundamental differences in endocytic mechanisms. In this review we present a short historical overview on the advances made in yeast and animal cells regarding the study of endocytosis, underlining both emerging similarities and still interesting differences.
Cornified cell envelope assembly: a model based on electron microscopic determinations of thickness and projected density
Authors: Jarnik Michal , Simon Martha N. , Steven Alasdair C.
Published: April 2021

In stratifying squamous epithelia, the cornified cell envelope (CE), a peripheral layer of crosslinked protein, is assembled sequentially from precursor proteins initially dispersed in the cytoplasm. Its major component is loricrin (37 kDa in mouse), which contributes from approx. 60% to >80% of the protein mass in different tissues. Despite its importance to the mechanical resilience and impenetrability of these tissues, detailed information has not been obtained on CE structure, even on such basic properties as its thickness or uniformity across a given CE or from tissue to tissue. To address this issue, we have studied CEs isolated from three murine epithelia, namely epidermis, forestomach and footpad, by electron microscopy of metal-shadowed specimens and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of unstained specimens. The former data reveal that the cytoplasmic surface is smoothly textured whereas the extracellular surface is corrugated, and that the average thickness is 15.3±1.2 nm, and strikingly uniform. Measurements of mass-per-unit-area from the STEM images yielded values of approx. 7.0±0.8 kDa/nm2, which were remarkably consistent over all three tissues. These data imply that the mature CE has a uniquely defined thickness. To explain its uniformity, we postulate that loricrin forms a molecular monolayer, not a variable number of multiple layers. In this scenario, the packing density is one loricrin monomer per 7 nm2, and loricrin should have an elongated shape, 2.5-3.0 nm wide by approx. 11 nm long. Moreover, we anticipate that any inter-tissue variations in the mechanical properties of CEs should depend more on protein composition and cross-linking pattern than on the thickness of the protein layer deposited.
Mutational analysis of the potential phosphorylation sites in the cytoplasmic domain of integrin β1A: Requirement for threonines 788-789 in receptor activation
Authors: Wennerberg Krister , Fässler Reinhard , Wärmegård Birgitta , Johansson Staffan
Published: April 2021

To investigate the role of the potential phosphorylation sites in the cytoplasmic domain of integrin β1A, point mutated variants of the protein were stably expressed in the β1-deficient cell line GD25. Mutants T777A, Y783F, S785A, and Y795F were fully active in promoting cell adhesion, de novo formation of focal contacts, formation of fibronectin fibrils, and activation of focal adhesion kinase. Thus, phosphorylation of these residues is not required for several basic functions of integrin β1A. On the other hand, the TT788-9AA mutant, was defective in mediating cell attachment and did not contribute to fibronectin fibril formation. The conformation of the extracellular domain was shifted towards an inactive state as measured by binding of the monoclonal antibody 9EG7. Antibody induced clustering of β1ATT788-9AA demonstrated that the mutant cytoplasmic part was functional in mediating activation of focal adhesion kinase. Therefore, we conclude that threonines 788-789, which are conserved among most integrin β subunits, are of critical importance for integrin function due to effects on the extracellular conformation of the receptor.
Effects of collagenase-cleavage of type I collagen on α2β1 integrin-mediated cell adhesion
Authors: Messent Anthea J. , Tuckwell Danny S. , Knäuper Vera , Humphries Martin J. , Murphy Gillian , Gavrilovic Jelena
Published: April 2021

In this paper we show that collagenase-3 cleavage of type I collagen has a marked effect on α2β1 integrin-mediated interactions with the collagen fragments generated. Isolated α2β1 integrin and α2 integrin A-domain were found to bind to both native collagen and native fragment and, to a lesser degree, native fragment. Whole integrin and integrin A-domain binding were lost after heat denaturation of the collagen fragments. At physiological temperature, cell adhesion to triple-helical fragment via α2β1 integrin was still possible; however, no α2β1 integrin-mediated adhesion to the fragment was observed.

Unwinding of the collagen fragment triple helices by heating to physiological temperatures prior to adsorption to plastic tissue culture plates resulted in total abrogation of HT1080 cell attachment to either fragment. These results provide significant evidence in support of a role for matrixmetalloproteinase cleavage of the extracellular matrix in modifying cell-matrix interactions.
Cell cycle-associated accumulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in the nuclei of human gingival fibroblasts
Authors: Zhao Wan-Qian , Li Hang , Yamashita Kyoko , Guo Xiao-Kui , Hoshino Takeshi , Yoshida Shonen , Shinya Takashi , Hayakawa Taro
Published: April 2021

We first confirmed an earlier immunohistochemical study showing that immunoreactive TIMP-1-like protein accumulated in the nuclei of human gingival fibroblasts (Gin-1 cells), reaching a maximum in the S phase of the cell cycle (Li, H., Nishio, K., Yamashita, K., Hayakawa, T. and Hoshino, T. (1995). Nagoya J. Med. Sci. 58, 133-142). Then we isolated this protein from a nuclear extract of Gin-1 cells and demonstrated it to be identical to human recombinant TIMP-1 by western blotting, by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay for TIMP-1 and by an assay for matrix metalloproteinase inhibition. The amount of TIMP-1 in the cytosolic fraction of quiescent Gin-1 cells after stimulation by fetal calf serum increased continuously for 48 hours, whereas that in the nuclear extract showed a maximum at 24 hours (S phase) and significantly decreased thereafter. Gin-1 cells expressed mRNAs for both TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 together with mRNA for TIMP-1. However, neither TIMP-2 nor TIMP-3 proteins seemed to accumulate in the nuclei of Gin-1 cells. These facts strongly suggest that TIMP-1 accumulates specifically in the nuclei of Gin-1 cells in a cell cycle-dependent manner.
Vitronectin regulates smooth muscle contractility via αv and β1 integrin(s)
Authors: Dahm Lisa M. , Bowers Chauncey W.
Published: April 2021

Previous work from this laboratory has established a method for maintaining physiological contractility of dissociated avian smooth muscle in a defined medium at low density. The present report emphasizes the dramatic potency of serum to alter smooth muscle phenotype and induce a loss of contractility. Vitronectin, a molecule purified from plasma, mimicked these effects of serum via an integrin that is RGD-sensitive. Studies utilizing blocking antibodies against vitronectin demonstrated that the presence of this specific adhesion molecule was necessary for the serum-induced loss of contractility. Based on the actions of function-blocking antibodies and RGD-containing peptides, the integrin αvβ1 appears to be the primary receptor involved in vitronectin’s ability to induce phenotypic transformation in amniotic smooth muscle. The influence of vitronectin on smooth muscle contractility is particularly relevant, because this molecule is abundant in whole blood and plasma (approx. 400 μg/ml). The results suggest that smooth muscle needs to be continually protected from normal blood constituents in vivo. The implications of these results for smooth muscle-related diseases like atherosclerosis, restenosis and Kaposi’s sarcoma are discussed.
Opposite sorting and transcytosis of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor in transfected endothelial and epithelial cells
Authors: Su Tao , Stanley Keith K.
Published: April 2021

We have transfected a polarised endothelial cell line, ECV 304, and an epithelial cell line, MDCK, with a well characterised epithelial protein, the rat polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR), in order to study the protein sorting and transcytosis in endothelial cells. The expressed protein was normally processed and the steady state distribution between apical and basolateral surfaces was similar in both cell types. MDCK cells, however, showed a marked polarity in the delivery of newly synthesised pIgR to the cell surface, and in the release of secretory component. 88% of newly synthesised pIgR in MDCK cells was first delivered to the basolateral surface and 99% of secretory component was released from the apical surface. In contrast the basolateral targeting signal of pIgR was only partially recognised in endothelial cells, with 63% of the newly synthesised pIgR being first delivered to the basolateral surface. At steady state only 43% of the pIgR was found on the basolateral membrane. The direction of dimeric IgA transcytosis in endothelial cells was from apical to basolateral surfaces, opposite to that in MDCK cells. These data suggest that endothelial cells poorly recognise the targeting signals of proteins from epithelial cells, and that the direction of transcytosis is linked to the biological role of the cells.
Identification of an interchromosomal compartment by polymerization of nuclear-targeted vimentin
Authors: Bridger Joanna M. , Herrmann Harald , Münkel Christian , Lichter Peter
Published: April 2021

A number of structural and functional subnuclear compartments have been described, including regions exclusive of chromosomes previously hypothesized to form a reactive nuclear space. We have now explored this accessible nuclear space and interchromosomal nucleoplasmic domains experimentally using Xenopus vimentin engineered to contain a nuclear localization signal (NLS-vimentin). In stably transfected human cells incubated at 37°C, the NLS-vimentin formed a restricted number of intranuclear speckles. At 28°C, the optimal temperature for assembly of the amphibian protein, NLS-vimentin progressively extended with time out from the speckles into strictly orientated intranuclear filamentous arrays. This enabled us to observe the development of a system of interconnecting channel-like areas. Quantitative analysis based on 3-D imaging microscopy revealed that these arrays were localized almost exclusively outside of chromosome territories. During mitosis the filaments disassembled and dispersed throughout the cytoplasm, while in anaphase-telophase the vimentin was recruited back into the nucleus and reassembled into filaments at the chromosome surfaces, in distributions virtually identical to those observed in the previous interphase. The filaments also colocalized with specific nuclear RNAs, coiled bodies and PML bodies, all situated outside of chromosome territories, thereby interlinking these structures. This strongly implies that these nuclear entities coexist in the same interconnected nuclear compartment. The assembling NLS-vimentin is restricted to and can be used to delineate, at least in part, the formerly proposed reticular interchromosomal domain compartment (ICD). The properties of NLS-vimentin make it an excellent tool for performing structural and functional studies on this compartment.
Microtubules facilitate the stimulated secretion of β-hexosaminidase in lacrimal acinar cells
Authors: Costa Silvia R. da , Yarber Francie A. , Zhang Liping , Sonee Manisha , Hamm-Alvarez Sarah F.
Published: April 2021

Stimulation of lacrimal acini with secretagogues such as carbachol initiates movement and fusion of acinar secretory vesicles with the apical plasma membrane, resulting in release of protein into the nascent tear fluid. Using rabbit lacrimal acini reconstituted in vitro from isolated cells, we have investigated the organization of the apical cytoskeleton and its role in stimulated secretion. Confocal microscopy revealed a microtubule array emanating from the apical region of the acini; the apical region was also enriched in microfilaments and γ-tubulin. Cytokeratin-based intermediate filaments were apically concentrated, and also detected at the cell periphery. Neither confocal microscopy nor biochemical analysis revealed any reorganization of lumenal microfilaments or microtubules which might accompany carbachol-stimulated release of secretory proteins. However, major changes in the acinar microtubule array induced by taxol or nocodazole were correlated with inhibition of carbachol-dependent release of the secreted protein, β-hexosaminidase. Major changes in lumenal microfilaments induced by jasplakinolide or cytochalasin D did not inhibit the carbachol-dependent release of β-hexosaminidase; rather, release of β-hexosaminidase from jasplakinolide-or cytochalasin D-treated carbachol-stimulated acini was markedly increased relative to the release from untreated stimulated acini. Our findings demonstrate that microtubules play a major role in stimulated lacrimal secretion, and suggest a contributory role for microfilaments.
Contributions of extracellular and intracellular domains of full length and chimeric cadherin molecules to junction assembly in epithelial cells
Authors: Norvell Suzanne M. , Green Kathleen J.
Published: April 2021

The integrity of cell-cell junctions in epithelial cells depends on functional interactions of both extracellular and intracellular domains of cadherins with other junction proteins. To examine the roles of the different domains of E-cadherin and desmoglein in epithelial junctions, we stably expressed full length desmoglein 1 and chimeras of E-cadherin and desmoglein 1 in A431 epithelial cells. Full length desmoglein 1 was able to incorporate into or disrupt endogenous desmosomes depending on expression level. Each of the chimeric cadherin molecules exhibited distinct localization patterns at the cell surface. A chimera of the desmoglein 1 extracellular domain and the E-cadherin intracellular domain was distributed diffusely at the cell surface while the reverse chimera, comprising the E-cadherin extracellular domain and the desmoglein 1 intracellular domain, localized in large, sometimes contiguous patches at cell-cell interfaces. Nevertheless, both constructs disrupted desmosome assembly. Expression of constructs containing the desmoglein 1 cytoplasmic domain resulted in approximately a 3-fold decrease in E-cadherin bound to plakoglobin and a 5-to 10-fold reduction in the steady-state levels of the endogenous desmosomal cadherins, desmoglein 2 and desmocollin 2, possibly contributing to the dominant negative effect of the desmoglein 1 tail. In addition, biochemical analysis of protein complexes in the stable lines revealed novel in vivo protein interactions. Complexes containing β-catenin and desmoglein 1 were identified in cells expressing constructs containing the desmoglein 1 tail. Furthermore, interactions were identified between endogenous E-cadherin and the chimera containing the E-cadherin extracellular domain and the desmoglein 1 intracellular domain providing in vivo evidence for previously predicted lateral interactions of E-cadherin extracellular domains.
Stability of transbilayer phospholipid asymmetry in viable ram sperm cells after cryotreatment
Authors: Muller K. , Pomorski T. , Muller P. , Herrmann A.
Published: April 2021

The transbilayer dynamics of lipids in the plasma membrane of mammalian sperm cells is crucial for the fertilization process. Here, the transbilayer movement and distribution of phospholipids in the plasma membrane of fresh, ejaculated and cryopreserved ram spermatozoa was studied by labeling cells with fluorescent analogues of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine. By co-labeling cells with the DNA-binding dye propidiumiodide as well as by employing fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry we were able to determine the transbilayer redistribution of fluorescent phospholipid analogues in intact (propidiumiodide-negative) and in impaired (propidiumiodide-positive) spermatozoa. The transbilayer distribution of the fluorescent phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine analogues was not perturbed in intact sperm cells after cryopreservation. In those cells, the phosphatidylserine analogue became rapidly enriched on the cytoplasmic leaflet by the activity of a putative aminophospholipid translocase similar to intact cells of fresh, ejaculated samples. However, upon cryopreservation the activity of the putative aminophospholipid translocase was significantly reduced in intact cells. Employing annexin V-FITC, we found that even after cryopreservation the sequestering of endogenous phosphatidylserine to the cytoplasmic leaflet is maintained in intact cells, but not in impaired cells. The phosphatidylcholine analogue redistributed very slowly remaining essentially confined to the exoplasmic leaflet of the plasma membrane of intact cells from both fresh, ejaculated and cryopreserved samples. The physiological consequences of a perturbed transbilayer asymmetry in sperm plasma membranes is discussed.
Disruption of dynamic cell surface architecture of NIH3T3 fibroblasts by the N-terminal domains of moesin and ezrin: In vivo imaging with GFP fusion proteins
Authors: Amieva Manuel R. , Litman Pninit , Ichimaru Laiqiang Huang, Eiji , Furthmayr Heinz
Published: April 2021

Lamellipodia, filopodia, microspikes and retraction fibers are characteristic features of a dynamic and continuously changing cell surface architecture and moesin, ezrin and radixin are thought to function in these microextensions as reversible links between plasma membrane proteins and actin microfilaments. Full-length and truncated domains of the three proteins were fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP), expressed in NIH3T3 cells, and distribution and behaviour of cells were analysed by using digitally enhanced differential interference contrast (DIC) and fluorescence video microscopy. The amino-terminal (N-)domains of all three proteins localize to the plasma membrane and fluorescence recordings parallel the dynamic changes in cell surface morphology observed by DIC microscopy of cultured cells. Expression of this domain, however, significantly affects cell surface architecture by the formation of abnormally long and fragile filopodia that poorly attach and retract abnormally. Even more striking are abundant irregular, branched and motionless membraneous structures that accumulate during retraction of lamellipodia. These are devoid of actin, endogenous moesin, ezrin and radixin, but contain the GFP-labeled domain. While a large proportion of endogenous proteins can be extracted with non-ionic detergents as in untransfected control cells, >90% of N-moesin and >60% of N-ezrin and N-radixin remain insoluble. The minimal size of the domain of moesin required for membrane localization and change in behavior includes residues 1-320. Deletions of amino acid residues from either end result in diffuse intracellular distribution, but also in normal cell behavior. Expression of GFP-fusions of full-length moesin or its carboxy-terminal domain has no effect on cell behavior during the observation period of 6-8 hours. The data suggest that, in the absence of the carboxy-terminal domain, N-moesin, -ezrin and -radixin interact tightly with the plasma membrane and interfere with normal functions of endogeneous proteins mainly during retraction.
Localization of intracellular Ca2+ stores in HeLa cells during infection with Chlamydia trachomatis
Authors: Majeed Meytham , Krause Karl-Heinz , Clark Robert A. , Kihlström Erik , Stendahl Olle
Published: April 2021

Chlamydia trachomatis elementary bodies (EBs) enter epithelial cells within membrane-bound endosomes that aggregate with each other in a calcium-regulated process, but avoid fusion with lysosomes. Annexin III but not I translocates to Chlamydia l aggregates and inclusions. In this study, we localize the intracellular Ca2+ stores during the course of infection by analyzing the distribution of three intracellular Ca2+ store proteins: calreticulin, type-1 inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3-R), and Sarcoplasmic/Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+ ATPase type 2 (SERCA2) in HeLa cells infected with C. trachomatis serovar L2. In uninfected cells, immunofluorescence staining of the proteins showed a fine granular distributed pattern for all three proteins. After infection with C. trachomatis, calreticulin was found at the periphery of Chlamydia l aggregates and inclusions from 3 to 48 hours post-infection. In infected cells, SERCA2 was intimately associated with Chlamydia l inclusions after 3 and 24 hours, but not after 48 hours. Moreover, IP3-R was translocated to and colocalized with EB aggregates and Chlamydia l inclusions and had a distribution very similar to that of SERCA 2.

After 24 hours incubation with Chlamydia e, there was a local accumulation of [Ca2+]i (105±17 nM) in the proximity of Chlamydia l inclusions, compared to 50±13 nM in other parts of the cell cytoplasm. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+, this local accumulation of Ca2+ increased to 295±50 nM after adding 50 µM ATP, and to a similar extent after adding 100 nM thapsigargin (Tg). These data indicate that during infection of HeLa cells with Chlamydia e, intracellular Ca2+ stores are redistributed, causing local accumulation of Ca2+ in the vicinity of Chlamydia l inclusions. These changes may trigger the association of certain proteins such as annexins with Chlamydia - containing vesicles, and thereby regulation of membrane-membrane interaction during endosome aggregation and inclusion formation.

Key words: Intracellular Ca2+ store protein, Chlamydia, Thapsigargin, Elementary body, HeLa cell
The M-cadherin catenin complex interacts with microtubules in skeletal muscle cells: Implications for the fusion of myoblasts
Authors: Kaufmann Ulrike , Kirsch Joachim , Irintchev Andrej , Wernig Anton , Starzinski-Powitz Anna
Published: April 2021

M-cadherin, a calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion molecule, is expressed in skeletal muscle cells. Its pattern of expression, both in vivo and in cell culture as well as functional studies, have implied that M-cadherin is important for skeletal muscle development, in particular the fusion of myoblasts into myotubes. M-cadherin formed complexes with the catenins in skeletal muscle cells similar to E-cadherin in epithelial cells. This suggested that the muscle-specific function of the M-cadherin catenin complex might be mediated by additional interactions with yet unidentified cellular components, especially cytoskeletal elements. These include the microtubules which also have been implicated in the fusion process of myoblasts. Here we present evidence that the M-cadherin catenin complex interacts with microtubules in myogenic cells by using three independent experimental approaches. (1) Analysis by laser scan microscopy revealed that the destruction of microtubules by nocodazole leads to an altered cell surface distribution of M-cadherin in differentiating myogenic cells. In contrast, disruption of actin filaments had little effect on the surface distribution of M-cadherin. (2) M-cadherin antibodies coimmunoprecipitated tubulin from extracts of nocodazole-treated myogenic cells but not of nocodazole-treated epithelial cells ectopically expressing M-cadherin. Vice versa, tubulin antibodies coimmunoprecipitated M-cadherin from extracts of nocodazole-treated myogenic cells but not of nocodazoletreated M-cadherin-expressing epithelial cells. (3) M-cadherin and the catenins, but not a panel of control proteins, were copolymerized with tubulin from myogenic cell extracts even after repeated cycles of assembly and disassemly of tubulin. Moreover, neither M-cadherin nor E-cadherin could be found in a complex with microtubules in epithelial cells ectopically expressing M-cadherin. Our data are consistent with the idea that the interaction of M-cadherin with microtubules might be essential to keep the myoblasts aligned during fusion, a process in which both M-cadherin and microtubules have been implicated.
The subapical actin cytoskeleton regulates secretion and membrane retrieval in pancreatic acinar cells
Authors: Valentijn Karine M. , Gumkowski Francine D. , Jamieson James D.
Published: April 2021

We examined the effects of disruption of the actin cytoskeleton by cytochalasin D (cytoD) on basal and carbamylcholine-stimulated exocytosis and on compensatory membrane retrieval in pancreatic acinar cells. Although the involvement of actin in exocytosis is reasonably well established, its role in these coupled processes is not understood. Our findings suggested that cytoD inhibited stimulated secretion of amylase. However, morphometry revealed that exocytosis had occurred: the number of zymogen granules decreased, the size of the lumen increased, and large vacuolar structures continuous with the lumen formed into which amylase accumulated. Large amounts of amylase were released to the medium on removal of secretagogue and cytoD, suggesting that the subapical actin network provides contractile forces that expel the lumenal contents. Strikingly, we observed that at the apical pole of the cells where exocytosis occurred, cytoD induced an accumulation of membrane invaginations into a vastly enlarged apical membrane. These pits were often surrounded by a clathrin-like coat. Concomitantly, AP-2-, clathrin-, dynamin- and caveolin-like immunoreactivity concentrated around the enlarged lumina, suggesting that incorporation of zymogen granule membrane into the apical plasma membrane triggered the recruitment of these proteins. After wash out of cytoD and carbamylcholine and reformation of the subapical actin cytoskeleton, the coated invaginations largely disappeared in association with a reduction in lumenal size, and relocation of clathrin, AP-2, dynamin and caveolin into the cell. We suggest that the actin terminal web also controls compensatory membrane retrieval following exocytosis.
Colocalization of cytoplasmic dynein with dynactin and CLIP-170 at microtubule distal ends
Authors: Vaughan Kevin T. , Tynan Sharon H. , Faulkner Nicole E. , Echeverri Christophe J. , Vallee Richard B.
Published: April 2021

Cytoplasmic dynein is a minus end-directed microtubule motor responsible for centripetal organelle movement and several aspects of chromosome segregation. Our search for cytoplasmic dynein-interacting proteins has implicated the dynactin complex as the cytoplasmic dynein ‘receptor’ on organelles and kinetochores. Immunofluorescence microscopy using a total of six antibodies generated against the p150Glued, Arp1 and dynamitin subunits of dynactin revealed a novel fraction of dynactin-positive structures aligned in linear arrays along the distal segments of interphase microtubules. Dynactin staining revealed that these structures colocalized extensively with CLIP-170. Cytoplasmic dynein staining was undetectable, but extensive colocalization with dynactin became evident upon transfer to a lower temperature. Overexpression of the dynamitin subunit of dynactin removed Arp1 from microtubules but did not affect microtubule-associated p150Glued or CLIP-170 staining. Brief acetate treatment, which has been shown to affect lysosomal and endosomal traffic, also dispersed the Golgi apparatus and eliminated the microtubule-associated staining pattern. The effect on dynactin was rapidly reversible and, following acetate washout, punctate dynactin was detected at microtubule ends within 3 minutes. Together, these findings identify a region along the distal segments of microtubules where dynactin and CLIP-170 colocalize. Because CLIP-170 has been reported to mark growing microtubule ends, our results indicate a similar relationship for dynactin. The functional interaction between dynactin and cytoplasmic dynein further suggests that this these regions represent accumulations of cytoplasmic dynein cargo-loading sites involved in the early stages of minus end-directed organelle transport.
Pulsatile influxes of H+, K+ and Ca2+ lag growth pulses of Lilium longiflorum pollen tubes
Authors: Messerli Mark A. , Danuser Gaudenz , Robinson Kenneth R.
Published: April 2021

Fluxes of H+, K+ and Ca2+ were measured with selfreferencing ion-selective probes, near the plasma membrane of growing Lilium longiflorum pollen tubes. Measurements from three regions around short, steadygrowing tubes showed small, steady influx of H+ over the distal 40 μm and a region of the tube within 50-100 μm of the grain with larger magnitude efflux from the grain. K+ fluxes were immeasurable in short tubes. Measurements of longer tubes that were growing in a pulsatile manner revealed a pulsatile influx of both H+ and K+ at the growing tip. The average fluxes at the cell surface during the peaks of the H+ and K+ pulses were 489±81 and 688±144 pmol cm−2 second−1, respectively. Growth was measured by tracking the pollen tips with a computer vision system that achieved a spatial resolution of approximately 1/10 pixel. The high spatial resolution enabled the detection of growth, and thus the changes in growth rates, with a temporal sampling rate of 1 frame/second. These data show that the H+ and K+ pulses have a phase lag of 103±9 and 100±11 degrees, respectively, with respect to the growth pulses.

Calcium fluxes were also measured in growing tubes. During steady growth, the calcium influx was relatively steady. When pulsatile growth began, the basal Ca2+ influx decreased and a pulsatile component appeared, superimposed on the reduced basal Ca2+ flux. The peaks of the Ca2+ pulses at the cell surface averaged 38.4±2.5 pmol cm−2 second−1. Longer tubes had large pulsatile Ca2+ fluxes with smaller baseline fluxes. The Ca2+ influx pulses had a phase lag of 123±9 degrees with respect to the growth pulses.
Association of the class V myosin Myo4p with a localised messenger RNA in budding yeast depends on She proteins
Authors: Münchow Sonja , Sauter Claus , Jansen Ralf-Peter
Published: April 2021

Asymmetric distribution of messenger RNAs is a widespread mechanism to localize synthesis of specific protein to distinct sites in the cell. Although not proven yet there is considerable evidence that mRNA localisation is an active process that depends on the activity of cytoskeletal motor proteins. To date, the only motor protein with a specific role in mRNA localisation is the budding yeast type V myosin Myo4p. Myo4p is required for the localisation of ASH1 mRNA, encoding a transcriptional repressor that is essential for differential expression of the HO gene and mating type switching in budding yeast. Mutations in Myo4p, in proteins of the actin cytoskeleton, and in four other specific genes, SHE2-SHE5 disrupt the daughterspecific localisation of ASH1 mRNA. In order to understand if Myo4p is directly participating in mRNA transport, we used in situ colocalisation and coprecipitation of Myo4p and ASH1 mRNA to test for their interaction. Our results indicate an association of Myo4p and ASH1 mRNA that depends on the activity of two other genes involved in ASH1 mRNA localisation, SHE2 and SHE3. This strongly suggests a direct role of Myo4p myosin as a transporter of localised mRNAs, convincingly supporting the concept of motor-protein based mRNA localisation.