Increased levels of the Drosophila Abelson tyrosine kinase in nerves and muscles: subcellular localization and mutant phenotypes imply a role in cell-cell interactions

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 953-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. Bennett ◽  
F.M. Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Apical Cell ◽  
Cell Interactions ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Imaginal Disk ◽  
Abelson Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes ◽  
Cell Cell

Mutations in the Drosophila Abelson tyrosine kinase have pleiotropic effects late in development that lead to pupal lethality or adults with a reduced life span, reduced fecundity and rough eyes. We have examined the expression of the abl protein throughout embryonic and pupal development and analyzed mutant phenotypes in some of the tissues expressing abl. abl protein, present in all cells of the early embryo as the product of maternally contributed mRNA, transiently localizes to the region below the plasma membrane cleavage furrows as cellularization initiates. The function of this expression is not yet known. Zygotic expression of abl is first detected in the post-mitotic cells of the developing muscles and nervous system midway through embryogenesis. In later larval and pupal stages, abl protein levels are also highest in differentiating muscle and neural tissue including the photoreceptor cells of the eye. abl protein is localized subcellularly to the axons of the central nervous system, the embryonic somatic muscle attachment sites and the apical cell junctions of the imaginal disk epithelium. Evidence for abl function was obtained by analysis of mutant phenotypes in the embryonic somatic muscles and the eye imaginal disk. The expression patterns and mutant phenotypes indicate a role for abl in establishing and maintaining cell-cell interactions.

scholarly journals Order and coherence in the fate map of the zebrafish nervous system

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (8) ◽  
pp. 2595-2609 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Woo ◽  
S.E. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Fate Map ◽  
Dorsal Midline ◽  
Vertebrate Model ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes

The zebrafish is an excellent vertebrate model for the study of the cellular interactions underlying the patterning and the morphogenesis of the nervous system. Here, we report regional fate maps of the zebrafish anterior nervous system at two key stages of neural development: the beginning (6 hours) and the end (10 hours) of gastrulation. Early in gastrulation, we find that the presumptive neurectoderm displays a predictable organization that reflects the future anteroposterior and dorsoventral order of the central nervous system. The precursors of the major brain subdivisions (forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, neural retina) occupy discernible, though overlapping, domains within the dorsal blastoderm at 6 hours. As gastrulation proceeds, these domains are rearranged such that the basic order of the neural tube is evident at 10 hours. Furthermore, the anteroposterior and dorsoventral order of the progenitors is refined and becomes aligned with the primary axes of the embryo. Time-lapse video microscopy shows that the rearrangement of blastoderm cells during gastrulation is highly ordered. Cells near the dorsal midline at 6 hours, primarily forebrain progenitors, display anterior-directed migration. Cells more laterally positioned, corresponding to midbrain and hindbrain progenitors, converge at the midline prior to anteriorward migration. These results demonstrate a predictable order in the presumptive neurectoderm, suggesting that patterning interactions may be well underway by early gastrulation. The fate maps provide the basis for further analyses of the specification, induction and patterning of the anterior nervous system, as well as for the interpretation of mutant phenotypes and gene-expression patterns.

VEGF transiently disrupts gap junctional communication in endothelial cells

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 1229-1235
Author(s):  
S. Suarez ◽  
K. Ballmer-Hofer
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Map Kinases ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Early Effect ◽  
Gap Junctional Communication ◽  
Junctional Communication ◽  
Gap Junctional ◽  
Cell Cell

Vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF, stimulates angiogenesis by directly acting on endothelial cells. The effects of VEGF are mediated by two tyrosine kinase receptors, VEGFR-1 (Flt-1) and VEGFR-2 (Flk-1/KDR) that are highly related to receptors of the platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor family. We are interested in early signalling events downstream from VEGF receptors that affect blood vessel homeostasis. Endothelial cells form multiple types of cell-cell junctions that are required for cellular organization into complex networks. These junctions also regulate communication among adjacent cells. Stimulation by various growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) or PDGF has been shown to disrupt cell-cell junctions, consequently affecting cell-to-cell communication. We investigated gap junctional communication (GJC) by monitoring the transfer of a low molecular mass fluorescent tracer molecule between adjacent cells using immunofluorescence microscopy. VEGF maximally blocked GJC 15 minutes after growth factor administration. The cells resumed communication via gap junctions within 1–2 hours after treatment. This early effect of VEGF on communication correlated with changes in the phosphorylation state of one of the proteins involved in gap junction formation, connexin 43 (Cx43). The signalling mechanisms involved in this phenomenon depend on activation of VEGFR-2, impinge on a tyrosine kinase of the Src family and activate the Erk family of MAP kinases. The function of VEGF-mediated disruption of GJC might be to restrict an increase in endothelium permeability to the environment affected by local injury to blood vessels.

The role of apical cell-cell junctions and associated cytoskeleton in mechanotransduction

2017 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 139-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Sluysmans ◽  
Ekaterina Vasileva ◽  
Domenica Spadaro ◽  
Jimit Shah ◽  
Florian Rouaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apical Cell ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Cell Cell

scholarly journals Caenorhabditis elegans β-G Spectrin Is Dispensable for Establishment of Epithelial Polarity, but Essential for Muscular and Neuronal Function

2000 ◽  
Vol 149 (4) ◽  
pp. 915-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suraj Moorthy ◽  
Lihsia Chen ◽  
Vann Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Epithelial Polarity ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Cell Cell

The Caenorhabditis elegans genome encodes one α spectrin subunit, a β spectrin subunit (β-G), and a β-H spectrin subunit. Our experiments show that the phenotype resulting from the loss of the C. elegans α spectrin is reproduced by tandem depletion of both β-G and β-H spectrins. We propose that α spectrin combines with the β-G and β-H subunits to form α/β-G and α/β-H heteromers that perform the entire repertoire of spectrin function in the nematode. The expression patterns of nematode β-G spectrin and vertebrate β spectrins exhibit three striking parallels including: (1) β spectrins are associated with the sites of cell–cell contact in epithelial tissues; (2) the highest levels of β-G spectrin occur in the nervous system; and (3) β spec-trin-G in striated muscle is associated with points of attachment of the myofilament apparatus to adjacent cells. Nematode β-G spectrin associates with plasma membranes at sites of cell–cell contact, beginning at the two-cell stage, and with a dramatic increase in intensity after gastrulation when most cell proliferation has been completed. Strikingly, depletion of nematode β-G spectrin by RNA-mediated interference to undetectable levels does not affect the establishment of structural and functional polarity in epidermis and intestine. Contrary to recent speculation, β-G spectrin is not associated with internal membranes and depletion of β-G spectrin was not associated with any detectable defects in secretion. Instead β-G spectrin-deficient nematodes arrest as early larvae with progressive defects in the musculature and nervous system. Therefore, C. elegans β-G spectrin is required for normal muscle and neuron function, but is dispensable for embryonic elongation and establishment of early epithelial polarity. We hypothesize that heteromeric spectrin evolved in metazoans in response to the needs of cells in the context of mechanically integrated tissues that can withstand the rigors imposed by an active organism.

scholarly journals Complex function and expression of Delta during Drosophila oogenesis.

Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
L B Bender ◽  
P J Kooh ◽  
M A Muskavitch
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Complex Function ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Postembryonic Development ◽  
Cell Interactions ◽  
Follicle Cells ◽  
Egg Chambers ◽  
Cell Cell

Abstract Delta (Dl) encodes a cell surface protein that mediates cell-cell interactions central to the specification of a variety of cell fates during embryonic and postembryonic development of Drosophila melanogaster. We find that the Delta protein is expressed intermittently in follicle cells and in germ-line cells during stages 1-10 of oogenesis. Furthermore, Delta expression during oogenesis can be correlated with a number of morphogenetic defects associated with sterility observed in Dl mutant females, including failure of stalk formation within the germarium and subsequent fusion of egg chambers, necrosis in germ-line cells, and multiphasic embryonic arrest of fertilized eggs. We have also identified a Dl mutation that leads to context-dependent defects in Dl function during oogenesis. Direct comparison of Delta protein expression with that of the Notch protein in the ovary reveals substantial, but incomplete, coincidence of expression patterns in space and time. We discuss possible roles for the Delta protein in cell-cell interactions required for cell fate specification processes during oogenesis in light of available developmental and histochemical data.

scholarly journals Heat Shock Protein 27 Associates with Basolateral Cell Boundaries in Heat-Shocked and ATP-Depleted Epithelial Cells

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-341
Author(s):  
Eric A. Shelden ◽  
Michael J. Borrelli ◽  
Fiona M. Pollock ◽  
Rita Bonham
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Apical Cell ◽  
Atp Depletion ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Double Labeling ◽  
Cell Substrate ◽  
Cell Cell

ABSTRACT. Heat stress alters epithelial barrier function, and heat stress preconditioning protects epithelial function from injury. Hsp27 is a small stress protein that has previously been shown to modulate actin assembly. Thus, by regulating actin filaments associated with cell junctions, hsp27 could alter epithelial function. To begin to address this hypothesis, the regulation and distribution of a human hsp27-green fluorescence fusion protein (EGFPhHsp27) that is expressed in cultured renal epithelial cells was assessed. EGFPhHsp27, like the endogenous hsp27, associated with the cytoskeleton in heat-stressed and chemically ATP-depleted cells, and both proteins were regulated similarly. Confocal microscopy of intact and detergent-lysed cells revealed novel distribution patterns in which EGFPhHsp27 associated with basolateral, but not apical, cell borders in injured cells. Double labeling studies revealed EGFPhHsp27 and actin filament colocalization in ATP-depleted cells. However, during heat shock, granules of EGFPhHsp27 were found at sites of cell-cell contact and in the cell body, but colocalization with actin was not apparent. Thus, heat stress and ATP depletion induce distinct patterns of hsp27 redistribution in epithelial cells, and sites of cell-cell and cell-substrate attachment are unique in their ability to recruit hsp27 during injury. The association of EGFPhHsp27 with basolateral cell boundaries supports a potential role for hsp27 in protection or regulation of epithelial cell-cell and cell-substrate attachments.

scholarly journals Architecture of cell–cell junctions in situ reveals a mechanism for bacterial biofilm inhibition

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (31) ◽  
pp. e2109940118
Author(s):  
Charlotte E. Melia ◽  
Jani R. Bolla ◽  
Stefan Katharios-Lanwermeyer ◽  
Daniel B. Mihaylov ◽  
Patrick C. Hoffmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extracellular Matrix ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Intact Cell ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Cell Interactions ◽  
Bacterial Biofilm ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Biofilm Inhibition ◽  
Cell Cell

Many bacteria, including the major human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are naturally found in multicellular, antibiotic-tolerant biofilm communities, in which cells are embedded in an extracellular matrix of polymeric molecules. Cell–cell interactions within P. aeruginosa biofilms are mediated by CdrA, a large, membrane-associated adhesin present in the extracellular matrix of biofilms, regulated by the cytoplasmic concentration of cyclic diguanylate. Here, using electron cryotomography of focused ion beam–milled specimens, we report the architecture of CdrA molecules in the extracellular matrix of P. aeruginosa biofilms at intact cell–cell junctions. Combining our in situ observations at cell–cell junctions with biochemistry, native mass spectrometry, and cellular imaging, we demonstrate that CdrA forms an extended structure that projects from the outer membrane to tether cells together via polysaccharide binding partners. We go on to show the functional importance of CdrA using custom single-domain antibody (nanobody) binders. Nanobodies targeting the tip of functional cell-surface CdrA molecules could be used to inhibit bacterial biofilm formation or disrupt preexisting biofilms in conjunction with bactericidal antibiotics. These results reveal a functional mechanism for cell–cell interactions within bacterial biofilms and highlight the promise of using inhibitors targeting biofilm cell–cell junctions to prevent or treat problematic, chronic bacterial infections.

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