scholarly journals FAK Potentiates Rac1 Activation and Localization to Matrix Adhesion Sites: A Role for βPIX

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumin Chang ◽  
Christopher A. Lemmon ◽  
Dongeun Park ◽  
Lewis H. Romer

FAK, a cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinase, is activated and localized to focal adhesions upon cell attachment to extracellular matrix. FAK null cells spread poorly and exhibit altered focal adhesion turnover. Rac1 is a member of the Rho-family GTPases that promotes membrane ruffling, leading edge extension, and cell spreading. We investigated the activation and subcellular location of Rac1 in FAK null and FAK reexpressing fibroblasts. FAK reexpressers had a more robust pattern of Rac1 activation after cell adhesion to fibronectin than the FAK null cells. Translocation of Rac1 to focal adhesions was observed in FAK reexpressers, but seldom in FAK null cells. Experiments with constitutively active L61Rac1 and dominant negative N17Rac1 indicated that the activation state of Rac1 regulated its localization to focal adhesions. We demonstrated that FAK tyrosine-phosphorylated βPIX and thereby increased its binding to Rac1. In addition, βPIX facilitated the targeting of activated Rac1 to focal adhesions and the efficiency of cell spreading. These data indicate that FAK has a role in the activation and focal adhesion translocation of Rac1 through the tyrosine phosphorylation of βPIX.

1999 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 831-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Kiosses ◽  
R. Hugh Daniels ◽  
Carol Otey ◽  
Gary M. Bokoch ◽  
Martin Alexander Schwartz

The serine/threonine p21-activated kinase (PAK) is an effector for Rac and Cdc42, but its role in regulating cytoskeletal organization has been controversial. To address this issue, we investigated the role of PAK in migration of microvascular endothelial cells. We found that a dominant negative (DN) mutant of PAK significantly inhibited cell migration and in-creased stress fibers and focal adhesions. The DN effect mapped to the most NH2-terminal proline-rich SH3-binding sequence. Observation of a green fluorescent protein-tagged α-actinin construct in living cells revealed that the DN construct had no effect on membrane ruffling, but dramatically inhibited stress fiber and focal contact motility and turnover. Constitutively active PAK inhibited migration equally well and also increased stress fibers and focal adhesions, but had a somewhat weaker effect on their dynamics. In contrast to their similar effects on motility, DN PAK decreased cell contractility, whereas active PAK increased contractility. Active PAK also increased myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, as indicated by staining with an antibody to phosphorylated MLC, whereas DN PAK had little effect, despite the increase in actin stress fibers. These results demonstrate that although PAK is not required for extension of lamellipodia, it has substantial effects on cell adhesion and contraction. These data suggest a model in which PAK plays a role coordinating the formation of new adhesions at the leading edge with contraction and detachment at the trailing edge.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney M. Cleghorn ◽  
Kevin M. Branch ◽  
Seunghyi Kook ◽  
Christopher Arnette ◽  
Nada Bulus ◽  
...  

Focal adhesions (FAs) play a key role in cell attachment, and their timely disassembly is required for cell motility. Both microtubule-dependent targeting and recruitment of clathrin are critical for FA disassembly. Here we identify nonvisual arrestins as molecular links between microtubules and clathrin. Cells lacking both nonvisual arrestins showed excessive spreading on fibronectin and poly-d-lysine, increased adhesion, and reduced motility. The absence of arrestins greatly increases the size and lifespan of FAs, indicating that arrestins are necessary for rapid FA turnover. In nocodazole washout assays, FAs in arrestin-deficient cells were unresponsive to disassociation or regrowth of microtubules, suggesting that arrestins are necessary for microtubule targeting–dependent FA disassembly. Clathrin exhibited decreased dynamics near FA in arrestin-deficient cells. In contrast to wild-type arrestins, mutants deficient in clathrin binding did not rescue the phenotype. Collectively the data indicate that arrestins are key regulators of FA disassembly linking microtubules and clathrin.


2021 ◽  
pp. mbc.E20-05-0301
Author(s):  
Hailing Zong ◽  
Mark Hazelbaker ◽  
Christina Moe ◽  
Stephanie C. Ems-McClung ◽  
Ke Hu ◽  
...  

The asymmetric distribution of microtubule (MT) dynamics in migrating cells is important for cell polarization, yet the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, we addressed this question by studying the role of the MT depolymerase, MCAK, in the highly persistent migration of RPE-1 cells. MCAK knockdown leads to slowed migration and poor directional movement. Fixed and live cell imaging revealed that MCAK knockdown results in excessive membrane ruffling as well as defects in cell polarization and the maintenance of a major protrusive front. Additionally, loss of MCAK increases the lifetime of focal adhesions by decreasing their disassembly rate. These functions correlate with a spatial distribution of MCAK activity, wherein activity is higher in the trailing edge of cells compared to the leading edge. Overexpression of Rac1 has a dominant effect over MCAK activity, placing it downstream or in a parallel pathway to MCAK function in migration. Together, our data support a model in which the polarized distribution of MCAK activity and subsequent differential regulation of MT dynamics contribute to cell polarity, centrosome positioning and focal adhesion dynamics that all help facilitate robust directional migration. [Media: see text] [Media: see text]


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 785-791
Author(s):  
M D Schaller ◽  
C A Borgman ◽  
J T Parsons

Integrins play a central role in cellular adhesion and anchorage of the cytoskeleton and participate in the generation of intracellular signals, including tyrosine phosphorylation. We have recently isolated a cDNA encoding a unique, focal adhesion-associated protein tyrosine kinase (FAK) that is a component of an integrin-mediated signal transduction pathway. Here we report the isolation of cDNAs encoding the C-terminal, noncatalytic domain of the FAK kinase, termed FRNK (FAK-related nonkinase). Both the FAK- and FRNK-encoded polypeptides, pp125FAK and p41/p43FRNK, are expressed in normal chicken embryo cells. pp125FAK and p41/p43FRNK were localized to focal adhesions, suggesting that pp125FAK is directed to the focal adhesions by sequences within its C-terminal domain. We also show that the fibronectin-dependent increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of pp125FAK is accompanied by a concomitant posttranslational modification of p41FRNK.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik S Linklater ◽  
Emily Duncan ◽  
Ke Jun Han ◽  
Algirdas Kaupinis ◽  
Mindaugas Valius ◽  
...  

Rab40b is a SOCS box containing protein that regulates the secretion of MMPs to facilitate extracellular matrix remodeling during cell migration. Here we show that Rab40b interacts with Cullin5 via the Rab40b SOCS domain. We demonstrate that loss of Rab40b/Cullin5 binding decreases cell motility and invasive potential, and show that defective cell migration and invasion stem from alteration to the actin cytoskeleton, leading to decreased invadopodia formation, decreased actin dynamics at the leading edge, and an increase in stress fibers. We also show that these stress fibers anchor at less dynamic, more stable focal adhesions. Mechanistically, changes in the cytoskeleton and focal adhesion dynamics are mediated in part by EPLIN, which we demonstrate to be a binding partner of Rab40b and a target for Rab40b/Cullin5 dependent localized ubiquitylation and degradation. Thus, we propose a model where the Rab40b/Cullin5 dependent ubiquitylation regulates EPLIN localization to promote cell migration and invasion by altering focal adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics.


2011 ◽  
Vol 409 ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Boccafoschi ◽  
Marco Rasponi ◽  
Cecilia Mosca ◽  
Erica Bocchi ◽  
Simone Vesentini

It is well-known that cellular behavior can be guided by chemical signals and physical interactions at the cell-substrate interface. The patterns that cells encounter in their natural environment include nanometer-to-micrometer-sized topographies comprising extracellular matrix, proteins, and adjacent cells. Whether cells transduce substrate rigidity at the microscopic scale (for example, sensing the rigidity between adhesion sites) or the nanoscopic scale remains an open question. Here we report that micromolded elastomeric micropost arrays can decouple substrate rigidity from adhesive and surface properties. Arrays of poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microposts from microfabricated silicon masters have been fabricated. To control substrate rigidity they present the same post heights but different surface area and spacing between posts. The main advantage of micropost arrays over other surface modification solutions (i.e. hydrogels) is that measured subcellular traction forces could be attributed directly to focal adhesions. This would allow to map traction forces to individual focal adhesions and spatially quantify subcellular distributions of focal-adhesion area, traction force and focal-adhesion stress. Moreover, different adhesion intracellular pathways could be used by the cells to differentiate toward a proliferative or a contractile cellular phenotype, for instance. This particular application is advantageous for vascular tissue engineering applications, where mimicking as close as possible the vessels dynamics should be a step forward in this research field.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (11) ◽  
pp. 2646-2651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Oakes ◽  
Tamara C. Bidone ◽  
Yvonne Beckham ◽  
Austin V. Skeeters ◽  
Guillermina R. Ramirez-San Juan ◽  
...  

The ability of adherent cells to sense changes in the mechanical properties of their extracellular environments is critical to numerous aspects of their physiology. It has been well documented that cell attachment and spreading are sensitive to substrate stiffness. Here, we demonstrate that this behavior is actually biphasic, with a transition that occurs around a Young’s modulus of ∼7 kPa. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, contrary to established assumptions, this property is independent of myosin II activity. Rather, we find that cell spreading on soft substrates is inhibited due to reduced myosin-II independent nascent adhesion formation within the lamellipodium. Cells on soft substrates display normal leading-edge protrusion activity, but these protrusions are not stabilized due to impaired adhesion assembly. Enhancing integrin–ECM affinity through addition of Mn2+ recovers nascent adhesion assembly and cell spreading on soft substrates. Using a computational model to simulate nascent adhesion assembly, we find that biophysical properties of the integrin–ECM bond are optimized to stabilize interactions above a threshold matrix stiffness that is consistent with the experimental observations. Together, these results suggest that myosin II-independent forces in the lamellipodium are responsible for mechanosensation by regulating new adhesion assembly, which, in turn, directly controls cell spreading. This myosin II-independent mechanism of substrate stiffness sensing could potentially regulate a number of other stiffness-sensitive processes.


Microbiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 149 (9) ◽  
pp. 2417-2426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özlem Yilmaz ◽  
Patrick A. Young ◽  
Richard J. Lamont ◽  
George E. Kenny

Porphyromonas gingivalis, an oral pathogen, can internalize within primary gingival epithelial cells (GECs) through an invasion mechanism mediated by interactions between P. gingivalis fimbriae and integrins on the surface of the GECs. Fimbriae–integrin-based signalling events were studied by fluorescence microscopy, and the subcellular localization of integrin-associated signalling molecules paxillin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and the architecture of the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton were examined. GECs infected with P. gingivalis for 30 min demonstrated significant redistribution of paxillin and FAK from the cytosol to cell peripheries and assembly into focal adhesion complexes. In contrast, a fimbriae-deficient mutant of P. gingivalis did not contribute substantially to activation of paxillin or FAK. After 24 h, the majority of paxillin and FAK had returned to the cytoplasm with significant co-localization with P. gingivalis in the perinuclear region. Wild-type P. gingivalis induced nucleation of actin filaments forming microspike-like protrusions and long stable microfilaments distributed throughout the cells. Fimbriae mutants promoted a rich cortical actin meshwork accompanied by membrane ruffling dispersed along the cell membrane. Remarkable disassembly and nucleation of the actin and microtubule filamentous network was observed following 24 h infection with either wild-type or fimbriae-deficient mutants of P. gingivalis. The results show that fimbriated P. gingivalis cells induce formation of integrin-associated focal adhesions with subsequent remodelling of the actin and tubulin cytoskeleton.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1896-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Harden ◽  
J Lee ◽  
H Y Loh ◽  
Y M Ong ◽  
I Tan ◽  
...  

Changes in cell morphology are essential in the development of a multicellular organism. The regulation of the cytoskeleton by the Rho subfamily of small GTP-binding proteins is an important determinant of cell shape. The Rho subfamily has been shown to participate in a variety of morphogenetic processes during Drosophila melanogaster development. We describe here a Drosophila homolog, DPAK, of the serine/threonine kinase PAK, a protein which is a target of the Rho subfamily proteins Rac and Cdc42. Rac, Cdc42, and PAK have previously been implicated in signaling by c-Jun amino-terminal kinases. DPAK bound to activated (GTP-bound) Drosophila Rac (DRacA) and Drosophila Cdc42. Similarities in the distributions of DPAK, integrin, and phosphotyrosine suggested an association of DPAK with focal adhesions and Cdc42- and Rac-induced focal adhesion-like focal complexes. DPAK was elevated in the leading edge of epidermal cells, whose morphological changes drive dorsal closure of the embryo. We have previously shown that the accumulation of cytoskeletal elements initiating cell shape changes in these cells could be inhibited by expression of a dominant-negative DRacA transgene. We show that leading-edge epidermal cells flanking segment borders, which express particularly large amounts of DPAK, undergo transient losses of cytoskeletal structures during dorsal closure. We propose that DPAK may be regulating the cytoskeleton through its association with focal adhesions and focal complexes and may be participating with DRacA in a c-Jun amino-terminal kinase signaling pathway recently demonstrated to be required for dorsal closure.


1997 ◽  
Vol 324 (2) ◽  
pp. 653-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura LUO ◽  
Tony CRUZ ◽  
Christopher McCULLOCH

The cytokine interleukin 1 (IL-1) is an important mediator of connective-tissue destruction in arthritic joints but the mechanisms by which IL-1 mediates signal transduction in chondrocytes is poorly understood. Previous results have indicated that IL-1 receptors co-localize with focal adhesions [Qwarnstrom, Page, Gillis and Dower (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 8261–8269], discrete adhesive domains of cells that function in cell attachment and possibly in signal transduction. We have determined whether focal adhesions restrict IL-1-induced Ca2+ signalling in primary cultures of bovine chondrocytes. In cells grown for 24 h on fibronectin, the basal intracellular Ca2+ ion concentration ([Ca2+]i) was 100±3 nM. Optimal increases of [Ca2+]i above baseline were induced by 10 nM IL-1 (183±30 nM above baseline). There was no significant difference between cells plated on fibronectin or type II collagen (P > 0.2; 233±90 nM above baseline). Ca2+ transients were significantly decreased by the inclusion of 0.5 mM EGTA in the bathing buffer (74±11 nM above baseline), and 1 μM thapsigargin completely blocked Ca2+ transients. Cells plated on poly-(l-lysine) or suspended cells showed no Ca2+ increases, whereas cells grown on fibronectin exhibited IL-1-induced Ca2+ responses that corresponded temporally to the time-dependent cell spreading after plating on fibronectin. Cells plated on poly-(l-lysine) and incubated with fibronectin-coated beads exhibited vinculin staining in association with the beads. In identical cell preparations, IL-1 induced a 136±39 nM increase of [Ca2+]i above baseline in response to 10 nM IL-1β. There were no IL-1-induced Ca2+ increases when cells on poly-(l-lysine) were incubated with fibronectin-coated beads for only 15 min at 37 °C, in cells maintained for 3 h at 4 °C, in cells incubated with BSA beads for 3 h at 37 °C, or in cells pretreated with cytochalasin D. Labelling of IL-1 receptors with 125I-IL-1β showed 3-fold more specific labelling of focal adhesion complexes in cells incubated with fibronectin-coated beads compared with cells incubated with BSA-coated beads, indicating that IL-1 receptor binding or the number of IL-1 receptors was increased in focal adhesions. These results indicate that, in chondrocytes, IL-1-induced Ca2+ signalling is dependent on focal adhesion formation and that focal adhesions recruit IL-1 receptors by redistribution in the cell membrane.


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