Ligand slope, density and affinity direct cell polarity and migration on molecular gradient surfaces

RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (60) ◽  
pp. 31581-31588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-ju Lee ◽  
Eugene W. L. Chan ◽  
Wei Luo ◽  
Muhammad N. Yousaf

A patterned peptide gradient with control of slope and density is created for studies of directed cell polarization and migration.

2016 ◽  
Vol 212 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Plutoni ◽  
Elsa Bazellieres ◽  
Maïlys Le Borgne-Rochet ◽  
Franck Comunale ◽  
Agusti Brugues ◽  
...  

Collective cell migration (CCM) is essential for organism development, wound healing, and metastatic transition, the primary cause of cancer-related death, and it involves cell–cell adhesion molecules of the cadherin family. Increased P-cadherin expression levels are correlated with tumor aggressiveness in carcinoma and aggressive sarcoma; however, how P-cadherin promotes tumor malignancy remains unknown. Here, using integrated cell biology and biophysical approaches, we determined that P-cadherin specifically induces polarization and CCM through an increase in the strength and anisotropy of mechanical forces. We show that this mechanical regulation is mediated by the P-cadherin/β-PIX/Cdc42 axis; P-cadherin specifically activates Cdc42 through β-PIX, which is specifically recruited at cell–cell contacts upon CCM. This mechanism of cell polarization and migration is absent in cells expressing E- or R-cadherin. Thus, we identify a specific role of P-cadherin through β-PIX–mediated Cdc42 activation in the regulation of cell polarity and force anisotropy that drives CCM.


2000 ◽  
Vol 149 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarang V. Kulkarni ◽  
Gerald Gish ◽  
Peter van der Geer ◽  
Mark Henkemeyer ◽  
Tony Pawson

We have used cell lines deficient in p120 Ras GTPase activating protein (Ras-GAP) to investigate the roles of Ras-GAP and the associated p190 Rho-GAP (p190) in cell polarity and cell migration. Cell wounding assays showed that Ras-GAP–deficient cells were incapable of establishing complete cell polarity and migration into the wound. Stimulation of mutant cells with growth factor rescued defects in cell spreading, Golgi apparatus fragmentation, and polarized vesicular transport and partially rescued migration in a Ras-dependent manner. However, for directional movement, the turnover of stress fibers and focal adhesions to produce an elongate morphology was dependent on the constitutive association between Ras-GAP and p190, independent of Ras regulation. Disruption of the phosphotyrosine-mediated Ras-GAP/p190 complex by microinjecting synthetic peptides derived from p190 sequences in wild-type cells caused a suppression of actin filament reorientation and migration. From these observations we suggest that although Ras-GAP is not directly required for motility per se, it is important for cell polarization by regulating actin stress fiber and focal adhesion reorientation when complexed with 190. This observation suggests a specific function for Ras-GAP separate from Ras regulation in cell motility.


Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsvi Sachs

Cell polarization is the specialization of developmental events along one orientation or one direction. Such polarization must be an early, essential stage of tissue patterning. The specification of orientation could not occur only at the level of the genetic system and it must express a coordination of events in many cells. There is a positive feedback relation between cell polarization and the transport of the known hormone auxin: polarity determines oriented auxin transport while transport itself induces both new and continued polarization. Since cell polarization increases gradually, this feedback leads to the canalization of transport – and of the associated cell differentiation – along defined strands of specialized cells. Recent work has shown that the same canalized flow can also be an important determinant of cell shape. In primordial, embryonic regions cell growth is oriented along the flow of auxin from the shoot towards the root. In later developmental stages the cells respond to the same flow by growing in girth, presumably adjusting the capacity of the tissues to the flow of signals. Finally, disrupted flow near wounds results in the development of relatively unorganized callus. Continued callus development appears to require the participation of the cells, as sources and sinks of auxin and other signals. The overall picture to emerge suggests that cell patterning can result from competition between cells acting as preferred channels, sources and sinks for developmental signals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (23) ◽  
pp. 3933-3947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elma Aflaki ◽  
Nariman A. B. Balenga ◽  
Petra Luschnig-Schratl ◽  
Heimo Wolinski ◽  
Silvia Povoden ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (13) ◽  
pp. 2593-2604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuhiro Kato ◽  
Tsubasa Yazawa ◽  
Kentaro Taki ◽  
Kazutaka Mori ◽  
Shujie Wang ◽  
...  

Cell migration is essential for various physiological and pathological processes. Polarization in motile cells requires the coordination of several key signaling molecules, including RhoA small GTPases and phosphoinositides. Although RhoA participates in a front–rear polarization in migrating cells, little is known about the functional interaction between RhoA and lipid turnover. We find here that src-homology 2–containing inositol-5-phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) interacts with RhoA in a GTP-dependent manner. The association between SHIP2 and RhoA is observed in spreading and migrating U251 glioma cells. The depletion of SHIP2 attenuates cell polarization and migration, which is rescued by wild-type SHIP2 but not by a mutant defective in RhoA binding. In addition, the depletion of SHIP2 impairs the proper localization of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate, which is not restored by a mutant defective in RhoA binding. These results suggest that RhoA associates with SHIP2 to regulate cell polarization and migration.


2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (6) ◽  
pp. C1465-C1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Z. Mercure ◽  
Roman Ginnan ◽  
Harold A. Singer

Previous studies indicate involvement of the multifunctional Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell migration. In the present study, molecular loss-of-function studies were used specifically to assess the role of the predominant CaMKIIδ2 isoform on VSM cell migration using a scratch wound healing assay. Targeted CaMKIIδ2 knockdown using siRNA or inhibition of activity by overexpressing a kinase-negative mutant resulted in attenuation of VSM cell migration. Temporal and spatial assessments of kinase autophosphorylation indicated rapid and transient activation in response to wounding, in addition to a sustained activation in the leading edge of migrating and spreading cells. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated suppression of CaMKIIδ2 resulted in the inhibition of wound-induced Rac activation and Golgi reorganization, and disruption of leading edge morphology, indicating an important function for CaMKIIδ2 in regulating VSM cell polarization. Numerous previous reports link activation of CaMKII to ERK1/2 signaling in VSM. Wound-induced ERK1/2 activation was also found to be dependent on CaMKII; however, ERK activity did not account for effects of CaMKII in regulating Golgi polarization, indicating alternative mechanisms by which CaMKII affects the complex events involved in cell migration. Wounding a VSM cell monolayer results in CaMKIIδ2 activation, which positively regulates VSM cell polarization and downstream signaling, including Rac and ERK1/2 activation, leading to cell migration.


2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 867
Author(s):  
Sebastian F. Mause ◽  
Elisabeth Ritzel ◽  
Annika Deck ◽  
Felix Vogt ◽  
Elisa A. Liehn

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are involved in vascular repair and modulate properties of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) relevant for their contribution to neointima formation following injury. Considering the relevant role of the CXCL12–CXCR4 axis in vascular homeostasis and the potential of EPCs and SMCs to release CXCL12 and express CXCR4, we analyzed the engagement of the CXCL12–CXCR4 axis in various modes of EPC–SMC interaction relevant for injury- and lipid-induced atherosclerosis. We now demonstrate that the expression and release of CXCL12 is synergistically increased in a CXCR4-dependent mechanism following EPC–SMC interaction during co-cultivation or in response to recombinant CXCL12, thus establishing an amplifying feedback loop Additionally, mechanical injury of SMCs induces increased release of CXCL12, resulting in enhanced CXCR4-dependent recruitment of EPCs to SMCs. The CXCL12–CXCR4 axis is crucially engaged in the EPC-triggered augmentation of SMC migration and the attenuation of SMC apoptosis but not in the EPC-mediated increase in SMC proliferation. Compared to EPCs alone, the alliance of EPC–SMC is superior in promoting the CXCR4-dependent proliferation and migration of endothelial cells. When direct cell–cell contact is established, EPCs protect the contractile phenotype of SMCs via CXCL12–CXCR4 and reverse cholesterol-induced transdifferentiation toward a synthetic, macrophage-like phenotype. In conclusion we show that the interaction of EPCs and SMCs unleashes a CXCL12–CXCR4-based autoregulatory feedback loop promoting regenerative processes and mediating SMC phenotype control to potentially guard vascular homeostasis.


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