scholarly journals Possible Involvement of Phosphorylation of Occludin in Tight Junction Formation

1997 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
pp. 1393-1401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Sakakibara ◽  
Mikio Furuse ◽  
Mitinori Saitou ◽  
Yuhko Ando-Akatsuka ◽  
Shoichiro Tsukita

Occludin is an integral membrane protein localizing at tight junctions in epithelial and endothelial cells. Occludin from confluent culture MDCK I cells resolved as several (>10) bands between 62 and 82 kD in SDS-PAGE, of which two or three bands of the lowest Mr were predominant. Among these bands, the lower predominant bands were essentially extracted with 1% NP-40, whereas the other higher Mr bands were selectively recovered in the NP-40–insoluble fraction. Alkaline phosphatase treatment converged these bands of occludin both in NP-40–soluble and -insoluble fractions into the lowest Mr band, and phosphoamino acid analyses identified phosphoserine (and phosphothreonine weakly) in the higher Mr bands of occludin. These findings indicated that phosphorylation causes an upward shift of occludin bands and that highly phosphorylated occludin resists NP-40 extraction. When cells were grown in low Ca medium, almost all occludin was NP-40 soluble. Switching from low to normal Ca medium increased the amount of NP-40–insoluble occludin within 10 min, followed by gradual upward shift of bands. This insolubilization and the band shift correlated temporally with tight junction formation detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, we found that the anti–chicken occludin mAb, Oc-3, did not recognize the predominant lower Mr bands of occludin (non- or less phosphorylated form) but was specific to the higher Mr bands (phosphorylated form) on immunoblotting. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that this mAb mainly stained the tight junction proper of intestinal epithelial cells, whereas other anti-occludin mAbs, which can recognize the predominant lower Mr bands, labeled their basolateral membranes (and the cytoplasm) as well as tight junctions. Therefore, we conclude that non- or less phosphorylated occludin is distributed on the basolateral membranes and that highly phosphorylated occludin is selectively concentrated at tight juctions as the NP-40–insoluble form. These findings suggest that the phosphorylation of occludin is a key step in tight junction assembly.

1990 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-125
Author(s):  
E. Cohen ◽  
I. Ophir ◽  
Y.I. Henis ◽  
A. Bacher ◽  
Y. Ben Shaul

In the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT29, tight junctions can be induced by treatment with appropriate proteases or salt solutions. The temperature dependence of induced tight junction formation is characterized by a marked sigmoidal behavior. The different methods of induction used in this study were characterized by threshold temperatures ranging from 15 to 32 degrees C. Fluorescence photobleaching recovery measurements of the lateral diffusion of a fluorescent phospholipid probe in the cellular plasma membrane gave no evidence for a phase transition or for alteration in the organization of membrane lipids in lateral domains in the temperature range between 0 and 37 degrees C. Moreover, dynamic parameters of the probe in the plasma membrane did not change substantially on mild treatment with trypsin. Thus, the temperature dependence of tight junction formation is not dictated by the bulk properties of the cytoplasmic membrane lipids. The observed temperature dependence suggests that the assembly of tight junctions is a cooperative process, which may involve conformational rearrangement in a protein precursor subsequent to its proteolytic activation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1744-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker M. Stucke ◽  
Evy Timmerman ◽  
Joel Vandekerckhove ◽  
Kris Gevaert ◽  
Alan Hall

Three groups of evolutionarily conserved proteins have been implicated in the establishment of epithelial cell polarity: the apically-localized proteins of the Par (Par3-Par6-aPKC-Cdc42) and Crumbs groups (Crb3-PALS1-PATJ) and the basolaterally localized proteins of the Dlg group (Dlg1-Scribble-Lgl). During epithelial morphogenesis, these proteins participate in a complex network of interdependent interactions that define the position and functional organization of adherens junctions and tight junctions. However, the biochemical pathways through which they control polarity are poorly understood. In this study, we identify an interaction between endogenous hDlg1 and MPP7, a previously uncharacterized MAGUK-p55 subfamily member. We find that MPP7 targets to the lateral surface of epithelial cells via its L27N domain, through an interaction with hDlg1. Loss of either hDlg1 or MPP7 from epithelial Caco-2 cells results in a significant defect in the assembly and maintenance of functional tight junctions. We conclude that the formation of a complex between hDlg1 and MPP7 promotes epithelial cell polarity and tight junction formation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 115 (12) ◽  
pp. 2485-2495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomonori Hirose ◽  
Yasushi Izumi ◽  
Yoji Nagashima ◽  
Yoko Tamai-Nagai ◽  
Hidetake Kurihara ◽  
...  

The mammalian protein ASIP/PAR-3 interacts with atypical protein kinase C isotypes (aPKC) and shows overall sequence similarity to the invertebrate proteins C. elegans PAR-3 and Drosophila Bazooka, which are crucial for the establishment of polarity in various cells. The physical interaction between ASIP/PAR-3 and aPKC is also conserved in C. elegans PAR-3 and PKC-3 and in Drosophila Bazooka and DaPKC. In mammals, ASIP/PAR-3 colocalizes with aPKC and concentrates at the tight junctions of epithelial cells, but the biological meaning of ASIP/PAR-3 in tight junctions remains to be clarified. In the present study, we show that ASIP/PAR-3 staining distributes to the subapical domain of epithelial cell-cell junctions, including epithelial cells with less-developed tight junctions, in clear contrast with ZO-1, another tight-junction-associated protein, the staining of which is stronger in cells with well-developed tight junctions. Consistently, immunogold electron microscopy revealed that ASIP/PAR-3 concentrates at the apical edge of tight junctions, whereas ZO-1 distributes alongside tight junctions. To clarify the meaning of this characteristic localization of ASIP, we analyzed the effects of overexpressed ASIP/PAR-3 on tight junction formation in cultured epithelial MDCK cells. The induced overexpression of ASIP/PAR-3, but not its deletion mutant lacking the aPKC-binding sequence, promotes cell-cell contact-induced tight junction formation in MDCK cells when evaluated on the basis of transepithelial electrical resistance and occludin insolubilization. The significance of the aPKC-binding sequence in tight junction formation is also supported by the finding that the conserved PKC-phosphorylation site within this sequence,ASIP-Ser827, is phosphorylated at the most apical tip of cell-cell contacts during the initial phase of tight junction formation in MDCK cells. Together,our present data suggest that ASIP/PAR-3 regulates epithelial tight junction formation positively through interaction with aPKC.


1993 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Itoh ◽  
A Nagafuchi ◽  
S Yonemura ◽  
T Kitani-Yasuda ◽  
S Tsukita ◽  
...  

We previously identified a 220-kD constitutive protein of the plasma membrane undercoat which colocalizes at the immunofluorescence microscopic level with cadherins and occurs not only in epithelial M., S. Yonemura, A. Nagafuchi, Sa. Tsukita, and Sh. Tsukita. 1991. J. Cell Biol. 115:1449-1462). To clarify the nature and possible functions of this protein, we cloned its full-length cDNA and sequenced it. Unexpectedly, we found mouse 220-kD protein to be highly homologous to rat protein ZO-1, only a part of which had been already sequenced. This relationship was confirmed by immunoblotting with anti-ZO-1 antibody. As protein ZO-1 was originally identified as a component exclusively underlying tight junctions in epithelial cells, where cadherins are not believed to be localized, we analyzed the distribution of cadherins and the 220-kD protein by ultrathin cryosection immunoelectron microscopy. We found that in non-epithelial cells lacking tight junctions cadherins and the 220-kD protein colocalize, whereas in epithelial cells (e.g., intestinal epithelial cells) bearing well-developed tight junctions cadherins and the 220-kD protein are clearly segregated into adherens and tight junctions, respectively. Interestingly, in epithelial cells such as hepatocytes, which tight junctions are not so well developed, the 220-kD protein is detected not only in the tight junction zone but also at adherens junctions. Furthermore, we show in mouse L cells transfected with cDNAs encoding N-, P-, E-cadherins that cadherins interact directly or indirectly with the 220-kD protein. Possible functions of the 220-kD protein (ZO-1) are discussed with special reference to the molecular mechanism for adherens and tight junction formation.


1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 693-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
EB Griepp ◽  
WJ Dolan ◽  
ES Robbins ◽  
DD Sabatini

Measurements of the transepithelial electrical resistance correlated with freeze-fracture observations have been used to study the process of tight junction formation under various experimental conditions in monolayers of the canine kidney epithelial cell line MDCK. Cells derived from previously confluent cultures and plated immediately after trypsin- EDTA dissociation develop a resistance that reaches its maximum value of several hundred ohms-cm(2) after approximately 24 h and falls to a steady-state value of 80-150 ohms- cm(2) by 48 h. The rise in resistance and the development of tight junctions can be completely and reversibly prevented by the addition of 10 μg/ml cycloheximide at the time of plating, but not when this inhibitor is added more than 10 h after planting. Thus tight junction formation consists of separable synthetic and assembly phases. These two phases can also be dissociated and the requirement for protein synthesis after plating eliminated if, following trypsinization, the cells are maintained in spinner culture for 24 h before plating. The requirement for protein synthesis is restored, however, if cells maintained in spinner culture are treated with trypsin before plating. Actinomycin D prevents development of resistance only in monolayers formed from cells derived from sparse rather than confluent cultures, but new mRNA synthesis is not required if cells obtained from sparse cultures are maintained for 24 h in spinner culture before plating. Once a steady-state resistance has been reached, its maintenance does not require either mRNA or protein synthesis; in fact, inhibition of protein synthesis causes a rise in the resistance over a 30-h period. Following treatments that disrupt the junctions in steady- state monolayers recovery of resistance also does not require protein synthesis. These observations suggest that proteins are involved in tight junction formation. Such proteins, which do not turn over rapidly under steady-state conditions, are destroyed by trypsinization and can be resynthesized in the absence of stable cell-cell or cell-substratum contact. Messenger RNA coding for proteins involved in tight junction formation is stable except when cells are sparsely plated, and can also be synthesized without intercellular contacts or cell-substratum attachment.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1145-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Javed ◽  
T.P. Fleming ◽  
M. Hay ◽  
S. Citi

The expression of the tight junction peripheral membrane protein, cingulin (140 × 10(3) M(r), was investigated in mouse eggs and staged preimplantation embryos by immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation. Polyclonal antibody to chicken brush cingulin detected a single 140 × 10(3) M(r) protein in immunoblots of unfertilised eggs and all preimplantation stages. Relative protein levels were high in eggs and early cleavage stages, declined during later cleavage and increased again in expanding blastocysts. Quantitative immunoprecipitation of metabolically labelled eggs and staged embryos also revealed a biphasic pattern for cingulin synthesis with relative net levels being high in unfertilised eggs, minimal during early cleavage, rising 2.3-fold specifically at the onset of compaction (8-cell stage, when tight junction formation begins), and increasing further at a linear rate during morula and blastocyst stages. Cingulin synthesis in eggs is not influenced by fertilisation (or aging, if unfertilised), but this level declines sharply after first cleavage. These results indicate that cingulin is expressed by both maternal and embryonic genomes. The turnover of maternal cingulin (unfertilised eggs) and embryonic cingulin at a stage before tight junction formation begins (4-cell stage) is higher (t1/2 approximately 4 hours) than cingulin synthesised after tight junction formation (blastocysts; t1/2 approximately 10 hours). This increase in cingulin stability is reversed in the absence of extracellular calcium. Cingulin synthesis is also tissue-specific in blastocysts, being up-regulated in trophectoderm and down-regulated in the inner cell mass. Taken together, the results suggest that (i) cingulin may have a role during oogenesis and (ii) cell-cell contact patterns regulate cingulin biosynthesis during early morphogenesis, contributing to lineage-specific epithelial maturation.


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