Myosin Light Chain Kinase in Endothelial Cell Calcium Signaling and Endothelial Functions

Author(s):  
Quang-Kim Tran ◽  
Hiroshi Watanabe
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 204589401876417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Wang ◽  
Mary E. Brown ◽  
Gabriel T. Kelly ◽  
Sara M. Camp ◽  
Joseph B. Mascarenhas ◽  
...  

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a potent bioactive endogenous lipid that signals a rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton via the regulation of non-muscle myosin light chain kinase isoform (nmMLCK). S1P induces critical nmMLCK Y464 and Y471 phosphorylation resulting in translocation of nmMLCK to the periphery where spatially-directed increases in myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation and tension result in lamellipodia protrusion, increased cell-cell adhesion, and enhanced vascular barrier integrity. MYLK, the gene encoding nmMLCK, is a known candidate gene in lung inflammatory diseases, with coding genetic variants (Pro21His, Ser147Pro, Val261Ala) that confer risk for inflammatory lung injury and influence disease severity. The functional mechanisms by which these MYLK coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affect biologic processes to increase disease risk and severity remain elusive. In the current study, we utilized quantifiable cell immunofluorescence assays to determine the influence of MYLK coding SNPs on S1P-mediated nmMLCK phosphorylation and translocation to the human lung endothelial cell (EC) periphery . These disease-associated MYLK variants result in reduced levels of S1P-induced Y464 phosphorylation, a key site for nmMLCK enzymatic regulation and activation. Reduced Y464 phosphorylation resulted in attenuated nmMLCK protein translocation to the cell periphery. We further conducted EC kymographic assays which confirmed that lamellipodial protrusion in response to S1P challenge was retarded by expression of a MYLK transgene harboring the three MYLK coding SNPs. These data suggest that ARDS/severe asthma-associated MYLK SNPs functionally influence vascular barrier-regulatory cytoskeletal responses via direct alterations in the levels of nmMLCK tyrosine phosphorylation, spatial localization, and lamellipodial protrusions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (1) ◽  
pp. L121-L125 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Khimenko ◽  
T. M. Moore ◽  
P. S. Wilson ◽  
A. E. Taylor

It is generally accepted that microvascular permeability is controlled by intercellular endothelial cell gap size. This process is controlled in endothelial cell monolayers and peripheral blood vessels by calmodulin (CaM)-dependent myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK), which phosphorylates MLC20 with subsequent actin-myosin interaction. In the present study both CaM and MLCK blockers were studied during ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury in isolated buffer-perfused rat lungs. The effects of a calcium ionophore (CaI) were tested in isolated intact rat lungs to compare the effects of increasing intracellular Ca2+ to I/R-induced damage. Because protein kinase C (PKC) could also be a mediator of I/R injury, a PKC inhibitor was studied in lungs subjected to either I/R or CaI. In lungs subjected to I/R alone, a fivefold increase in microvascular permeability occurred after 30 min of reperfusion (P < 0.001), and a tenfold increase was present after an additional 60 min of reperfusion (P < 0.01). Pretreatment of the I/R lungs with a CaM inhibitor (trifluoperazine, 100 microM) or with a MLCK inhibitor (ML-7,500 nM) blocked the microvascular damage at both 30 and 90 min of reperfusion. When the CaM inhibitor was introduced into the venous reservoir after 46 min of reperfusion, after the microvascular damage was present, no further increase in microvascular permeability occurred. Pretreatment of the lungs with a PKC inhibitor (staurosporine, 100 nM) did not alter the magnitude of the increased microvascular permeability produced by I/R or the time course of the damage. The calcium ionophore A23187 (7.5 microM) caused increases in Kfc values similar to those produced by I/R. Pretreatment of A23187-treated lungs with a CaM inhibitor produced no protective effect on the microvascular injury at 30 min after administration. Pretreatment of the CaI-challenged lungs with staurosporine significantly increased the microvascular barrier injury at 30 min compared with that occurring with I/R. When a beta-adrenergic receptor agonist (isoproterenol, 10 microM) was introduced to the lung after CaI-induced damage had occurred, no further increase in microvascular permeability was observed, and a trend toward reversal of injury occurred. We conclude from these studies that CaM/MLCK/MLC20 system is involved in our model of I/R-induced rat lung injury but is not involved in lung injury associated with Ca2+ entering the cell.


1995 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z M Goeckeler ◽  
R B Wysolmerski

The phosphorylation of regulatory myosin light chains by the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) has been shown to be essential and sufficient for initiation of endothelial cell retraction in saponin permeabilized monolayers (Wysolmerski, R. B. and D. Lagunoff. 1990. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 87:16-20). We now report the effects of thrombin stimulation on human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVE) actin, myosin II and the functional correlate of the activated actomyosin based contractile system, isometric tension development. Using a newly designed isometric tension apparatus, we recorded quantitative changes in isometric tension from paired monolayers. Thrombin stimulation results in a rapid sustained isometric contraction that increases 2- to 2.5-fold within 5 min and remains elevated for at least 60 min. The phosphorylatable myosin light chains from HUVE were found to exist as two isoforms, differing in their molecular weights and isoelectric points. Resting isometric tension is associated with a basal phosphorylation of 0.54 mol PO4/mol myosin light chain. After thrombin treatment, phosphorylation rapidly increases to 1.61 mol PO4/mol myosin light chain within 60 s and remains elevated for the duration of the experiment. Myosin light chain phosphorylation precedes the development of isometric tension and maximal phosphorylation is maintained during the sustained phase of isometric contraction. Tryptic phosphopeptide maps from both control and thrombin-stimulated cultures resolve both monophosphorylated Ser-19 and diphosphorylated Ser-19/Thr-18 peptides indicative of MLCK activation. Changes in the polymerization of actin and association of myosin II correlate temporally with the phosphorylation of myosin II and development of isometric tension. Activation results in a 57% increase in F-actin content within 90 s and 90% of the soluble myosin II associates with the reorganizing F-actin. Furthermore, the disposition of actin and myosin II undergoes striking reorganization. F-actin initially forms a fine network of filaments that fills the cytoplasm and then reorganizes into prominent stress fibers. Myosin II rapidly forms discrete aggregates associated with the actin network and by 2.5 min assumes a distinct periodic distribution along the stress fibers.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e59965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabeha Fazal ◽  
Kaiser M. Bijli ◽  
Matthew Murrill ◽  
Antony Leonard ◽  
Mohammad Minhajuddin ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 4572-4581 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Behling-Kelly ◽  
David McClenahan ◽  
K. S. Kim ◽  
C. J. Czuprynski

ABSTRACT “Haemophilus somnus” causes thrombotic meningoencephalitis in cattle. Our laboratory has previously reported that H. somnus has the ability to adhere to, but not invade, bovine brain endothelial cells (BBEC) in vitro. The goal of this study was to determine if H. somnus alters brain endothelial cell monolayer integrity in vitro, in a manner that would be expected to contribute to inflammation of the central nervous system (CNS). Monolayer integrity was monitored by measuring transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) and albumin flux. BBEC incubated with H. somnus underwent rapid cytoskeletal rearrangement, significant increases in albumin flux, and reductions in TEER. Decreased monolayer TEER was preceded by phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain and was partially dependent on tumor necrosis factor alpha and myosin light-chain kinase but not interleukin-1β. Neither heat-killed H. somnus, formalin-fixed H. somnus, nor purified lipooligosaccharide altered monolayer integrity within a 2-h incubation period, whereas conditioned medium from H. somnus-treated BBEC caused a modest reduction in TEER. The data from this study support the hypothesis that viable H. somnus alters integrity of the blood-brain barrier by promoting contraction of BBEC and increasing paracellular permeability of the CNS vasculature.


2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. A31
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Watanabe ◽  
Quang-Kim Tran ◽  
Hong-Yen Le ◽  
Kazuhiko Takeuchi ◽  
Mariko Ozeki ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 276 (11) ◽  
pp. 8567-8573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin G. Birukov ◽  
Csilla Csortos ◽  
Lisa Marzilli ◽  
Steven Dudek ◽  
Shwu-Fan Ma ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (16) ◽  
pp. 1975-1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. Kelley ◽  
Alison C. E. Wirshing ◽  
Ronen Zaidel-Bar ◽  
Erin J. Cram

We identify the Caenorhabditis elegans myosin light-chain kinase, MLCK-1, required for contraction of spermathecae. During contraction, MLCK-1 moves from the apical cell boundaries to the basal actomyosin bundles, where it stabilizes myosin downstream of calcium signaling. MLCK and ROCK act in distinct subsets of cells to coordinate the timing of contraction.


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