VE-cadherin and desmoplakin are assembled into dermal microvascular endothelial intercellular junctions: a pivotal role for plakoglobin in the recruitment of desmoplakin to intercellular junctions

1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (20) ◽  
pp. 3045-3057 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.P. Kowalczyk ◽  
P. Navarro ◽  
E. Dejana ◽  
E.A. Bornslaeger ◽  
K.J. Green ◽  
...  

Vascular endothelial cells assemble adhesive intercellular junctions comprising a unique cadherin, VE-cadherin, which is coupled to the actin cytoskeleton through cytoplasmic interactions with plakoglobin, beta-catenin and alpha -catenin. However, the potential linkage between VE-cadherin and the vimentin intermediate filament cytoskeleton is not well characterized. Recent evidence indicates that lymphatic and vascular endothelial cells express desmoplakin, a cytoplasmic desmosomal protein that attaches intermediate filaments to the plasma membrane in epithelial cells. In the present study, desmoplakin was localized to intercellular junctions in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells. To determine if VE-cadherin could associate with desmoplakin, VE-cadherin, plakoglobin, and a desmoplakin amino-terminal polypeptide (DP-NTP) were co-expressed in L-cell fibroblasts. In the presence of VE-cadherin, both plakoglobin and DP-NTP were recruited to cell-cell borders. Interestingly, beta-catenin could not substitute for plakoglobin in the recruitment of DP-NTP to cell borders, and DP-NTP bound to plakoglobin but not beta-catenin in the yeast two-hybrid system. In addition, DP-NTP colocalized at cell-cell borders with alpha-catenin in the L-cell lines, and endogenous desmoplakin and alpha-catenin colocalized in cultured dermal microvascular endothelial cells. This is in striking contrast to epithelial cells, where desmoplakin and alpha -+catenin are restricted to desmosomes and adherens junctions, respectively. These results suggest that endothelial cells assemble unique junctional complexes that couple VE-cadherin to both the actin and intermediate filament cytoskeleton.

Tumor Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 101042831769432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yawen Ma ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Yixue Xue ◽  
Chengbin Qu ◽  
Jian Zheng ◽  
...  

Vigorous angiogenesis is one of the reasons for the poor prognosis of glioma. A number of studies have shown that long non-coding RNA can affect a variety of biological behaviors of tumors. However, the influence of long non-coding RNAs on glioma vascular endothelial cells remains unclear. To simulate the glioma microenvironment, we applied glioma-conditioned medium to human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells. The long non-coding RNA PVT1 was found to be highly expressed in glioma vascular endothelial cells. Cell Counting Kit-8, migration, and tube formation assays showed that PVT1 overexpression promoted glioma vascular endothelial cells proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. We also found that PVT1 overexpression upregulated the expression of the autophagy-related proteins Atg7 and Beclin1, which induced protective autophagy. Bioinformatics software and dual-luciferase system analysis confirmed that PVT1 acts by targeting miR-186. In addition, our study showed that miR-186 could target the 3′ untranslated region of Atg7 and Beclin1 to decrease their expression levels, thereby inhibiting glioma-conditioned human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell autophagy. In conclusion, PVT1 overexpression increased the expression of Atg7 and Beclin1 by targeting miR-186, which induced protective autophagy, thus promoting glioma vascular endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. Therefore, PVT1 and miR-186 can provide new therapeutic targets for future anti-angiogenic treatment of glioma.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (6) ◽  
pp. G1088-G1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongfang Wang ◽  
Richard E. Lehman ◽  
David B. Donner ◽  
Mary R. Matli ◽  
Robert S. Warren ◽  
...  

Normal human colonic microvascular endothelial cells (HUCMEC) have been isolated from surgical specimens by their adherence to Ulex europaeus agglutinin bound to magnetic dynabeads that bind α-l-fucosyl residues on the endothelial cell membrane. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated the presence of a range of endothelial-specific markers on HUCMEC, including the von Willebrand factor, Ulex europaeus agglutinin, and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1. The growing cells form monolayers with the characteristic cobblestone morphology of endothelial cells and eventually form tube-like structures. HUCMEC produce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and express the receptors, kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) and fms-like tyrosine kinase, through which VEGF mediates its actions in the endothelium. VEGF induces the tyrosine phosphorylation of KDR and a proliferative response from HUCMEC comparable to that elicited from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). On binding to HUCMEC or HUVEC,125I-labeled VEGF internalizes or dissociates to the medium. Once internalized,125I-labeled VEGF is degraded and no evidence of ligand recycling was observed. However, significantly less VEGF is internalized, and more is released to the medium from HUCMEC than HUVEC. Angiogenesis results from the proliferation and migration of microvascular, not large-vessel, endothelial cells. The demonstration that microvascular endothelial cells degrade less and release more VEGF to the medium than large-vessel endothelial cells identifies a mechanism permissive of the role of microvascular cells in angiogenesis.


Pteridines ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-132
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Shiota ◽  
Masakazu Ishii ◽  
Toshinori Yamamoto ◽  
Shunichi Shimizu ◽  
Yuji Kiuchi

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine whether 17β-estradiol stimulates the synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin : BH4), which is one of the cofactors of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, in mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells. Addition of 17()-estradiol to endothelial cells time- and concentration-dependently increased intracellular BH4 level. 17β-Estradiol also stimulated the mRNA level of GTP-cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH), which is a rate-limiting enzyme of the de novo BH4 synthetic pathway. In addition, the 17β-estradiol-induced expression of GTPCH mRNA was strongly attenuated by treatment with an inhibitor of 17β-estradiol receptor 4-hydroxy-tamoxlfen. These results suggest that 17β-estradiol stimulates BH4 synthesis through the induction of GTPCH by tamoxifensensitive receptor in vascular endothelial cells. The 17β-estradiol-induced increase in BH4 level might be implicated in not only NO production, but also protective effects of 17β-estradiol against ischemic brain damage and atherosclerosis, since BH4 is an intracellular antioxidant.


2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (2) ◽  
pp. H1023-H1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Yao ◽  
Aleksandr Rabodzey ◽  
C. Forbes Dewey

Flow-induced mechanotransduction in vascular endothelial cells has been studied over the years with a major focus on putative connections between disturbed flow and atherosclerosis. Recent studies have brought in a new perspective that the glycocalyx, a structure decorating the luminal surface of vascular endothelium, may play an important role in the mechanotransduction. This study reports that modifying the amount of the glycocalyx affects both short-term and long-term shear responses significantly. It is well established that after 24 h of laminar flow, endothelial cells align in the direction of flow and their proliferation is suppressed. We report here that by removing the glycocalyx by using the specific enzyme heparinase III, endothelial cells no longer align under flow after 24 h and they proliferate as if there were no flow present. In addition, confluent endothelial cells respond rapidly to flow by decreasing their migration speed by 40% and increasing the amount of vascular endothelial cadherin in the cell-cell junctions. These responses are not observed in the cells treated with heparinase III. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (a major component of the glycocalyx) redistribute after 24 h of flow application from a uniform surface profile to a distinct peripheral pattern with most molecules detected above cell-cell junctions. We conclude that the presence of the glycocalyx is necessary for the endothelial cells to respond to fluid shear, and the glycocalyx itself is modulated by the flow. The redistribution of the glycocalyx also appears to serve as a cell-adaptive mechanism by reducing the shear gradients that the cell surface experiences.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 4024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilona Gróf ◽  
Alexandra Bocsik ◽  
András Harazin ◽  
Ana Raquel Santa-Maria ◽  
Gaszton Vizsnyiczai ◽  
...  

Clinical and experimental results with inhaled sodium bicarbonate as an adjuvant therapy in cystic fibrosis (CF) are promising due to its mucolytic and bacteriostatic properties, but its direct effect has not been studied on respiratory epithelial cells. Our aim was to establish and characterize co-culture models of human CF bronchial epithelial (CFBE) cell lines expressing a wild-type (WT) or mutant (deltaF508) CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) channel with human vascular endothelial cells and investigate the effects of bicarbonate. Vascular endothelial cells induced better barrier properties in CFBE cells as reflected by the higher resistance and lower permeability values. Activation of CFTR by cAMP decreased the electrical resistance in WT but not in mutant CFBE cell layers confirming the presence and absence of functional channels, respectively. Sodium bicarbonate (100 mM) was well-tolerated by CFBE cells: it slightly reduced the impedance of WT but not that of the mutant CFBE cells. Sodium bicarbonate significantly decreased the more-alkaline intracellular pH of the mutant CFBE cells, while the barrier properties of the models were only minimally changed. These observations indicate that sodium bicarbonate is beneficial to deltaF508-CFTR expressing CFBE cells. Thus, sodium bicarbonate may have a direct therapeutic effect on the bronchial epithelium.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 3553-3564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Kogata ◽  
Michitaka Masuda ◽  
Yuji Kamioka ◽  
Akiko Yamagishi ◽  
Akira Endo ◽  
...  

Platelet endothelial adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) is a part of intercellular junctions and triggers intracellular signaling cascades upon homophilic binding. The intracellular domain of PECAM-1 is tyrosine phosphorylated upon homophilic engagement. However, it remains unclear which tyrosine kinase phosphorylates PECAM-1. We sought to isolate tyrosine kinases responsible for PECAM-1 phosphorylation and identified Fer as a candidate, based on expression cloning. Fer kinase specifically phosphorylated PECAM-1 at the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif. Notably, Fer induced tyrosine phosphorylation of SHP-2, which is known to bind to the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif of PECAM-1, and Fer also induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Gab1 (Grb2-associated binder-1). Engagement-dependent PECAM-1 phosphorylation was inhibited by the overexpression of a kinase-inactive mutant of Fer, suggesting that Fer is responsible for the tyrosine phosphorylation upon PECAM-1 engagement. Furthermore, by using green fluorescent protein-tagged Fer and a time-lapse fluorescent microscope, we found that Fer localized at microtubules in polarized and motile vascular endothelial cells. Fer was dynamically associated with growing microtubules in the direction of cell-cell contacts, where p120catenin, which is known to associate with Fer, colocalized with PECAM-1. These results suggest that Fer localized on microtubules may play an important role in phosphorylation of PECAM-1, possibly through its association with p120catenin at nascent cell-cell contacts.


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