Control of morphology, cytoskeleton and migration by syndecan-4

1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (20) ◽  
pp. 3421-3431 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. Longley ◽  
A. Woods ◽  
A. Fleetwood ◽  
G.J. Cowling ◽  
J.T. Gallagher ◽  
...  

Syndecan-4 is a widely expressed transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan which localizes to focal adhesions. Previous studies showed that the syndecan-4 cytoplasmic domain can associate with and potentiate the activity of protein kinase C, which is required for focal adhesion formation. To examine further the role of syndecan-4 in cell adhesion, we expressed syndecan-4 cDNA constructs in CHO-K1 cells. Syndecan-2 transfection was used to confirm effects seen were specific for syndecan-4. Cells overexpressing full length syndecan-4 core protein exhibited a more flattened, fibroblastic morphology, with increased focal adhesion formation and decreased cell motility. Expression of a syndecan-4 core protein with either a partial or complete deletion of the cytoplasmic domain or of an antisense construct led to markedly decreased spreading and focal adhesion formation, a more epithelioid morphology, and decreased motility. Overexpression of syndecan-2 changed the adhesive phenotype, but did not markedly alter focal adhesion and microfilament bundle formation. The data suggest that syndecan-4 is a regulator of focal adhesion and stress fiber formation, and influences both morphology and migration.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Katoh

Specific regulation and activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) are thought to be important for focal adhesion formation, and activation of Rho-kinase has been suggested to play a role in determining the effects of FAK on the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions. To clarify the role of FAK in stress fiber formation and focal adhesion organization, we examined the formation of new stress fibers and focal adhesions by activation of Rho-kinase in FAK knockout (FAK–/–) fibroblasts. FAK–/– cells were elliptical in shape, and showed reduced numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the central part of the cells along with large focal adhesions in the peripheral regions. Activation of Rho-kinase in FAK–/– cells transiently increased the actin filaments in the cell center, but these did not form typical thick stress fibers. Moreover, only plaque-like structures as the origins of newly formed focal adhesions were observed in the center of the cell. Furthermore, introduction of an exogenous GFP-labeled FAK gene into FAK–/– cells resulted in increased numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the center of the cells, which showed typical fibroblast morphology. These results indicated that FAK plays an important role in the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions as well as in regulation of cell shape and morphology with the activation of Rho-kinase.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Katoh

Specific regulation and activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) are thought to be important for focal adhesion formation, and activation of Rho-kinase has been suggested to play a role in determining the effects of FAK on the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions. To clarify the role of FAK in stress fiber formation and focal adhesion organization, we examined the formation of new stress fibers and focal adhesions by activation of Rho-kinase in FAK knockout (FAK–/–) fibroblasts. FAK–/– cells were elliptical in shape, and showed reduced numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the central part of the cells along with large focal adhesions in the peripheral regions. Activation of Rho-kinase in FAK–/– cells transiently increased the actin filaments in the cell center, but these did not form typical thick stress fibers. Moreover, only plaque-like structures as the origins of newly formed focal adhesions were observed in the center of the cell. Furthermore, introduction of an exogenous GFP-labeled FAK gene into FAK–/– cells resulted in increased numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the center of the cells, which showed typical fibroblast morphology. These results indicated that FAK plays an important role in the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions as well as in regulation of cell shape and morphology with the activation of Rho-kinase.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Katoh

Specific regulation and activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) are thought to be important for focal adhesion formation, and activation of Rho-kinase has been suggested to play a role in determining the effects of FAK on the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions. To clarify the role of FAK in stress fiber formation and focal adhesion organization, the author examined the formation of new stress fibers and focal adhesions by activation of Rho-kinase in FAK knockout (FAK–/–) fibroblasts. FAK–/–cells were elliptical in shape, and showed reduced numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the central part of the cells along with large focal adhesions in the peripheral regions. Activation of Rho-kinase in FAK–/–cells transiently increased the actin filaments in the cell center, but these did not form typical thick stress fibers. Moreover, only plaque-like structures as the origins of newly formed focal adhesions were observed in the center of the cell. Furthermore, introduction of an exogenous GFP-labeled FAK gene into FAK–/–cells resulted in increased numbers of stress fibers and focal adhesions in the center of the cells, which showed typical fibroblast morphology. These results indicated that FAK plays an important role in the formation of stress fibers and focal adhesions as well as in regulation of cell shape and morphology with the activation of Rho-kinase.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hedde van Hoorn ◽  
Dominique M. Donato ◽  
H. Emrah Balcioglu ◽  
Erik H. Danen ◽  
Thomas Schmidt

AbstractCell survival, differentiation, and migration are all dependent on the cell’s interaction with its external environment. In addition to chemical cues, cells react to their physical environment, particularly the stiffness of the substrate. In order for cells to react to these elements, they must make use of cellular machinery to signal changes in their microenvironment. One such proposed machinery is the protein p130Cas, which has been shown to regulate focal adhesion turnover, actin dynamics, and cell migration. Here we show that p130Cas localizes to focal adhesions depending on substrate stiffness and subsequently modulates cellular force exertion. We compared on substrates of tunable stiffness knock-out CAS-/-cells to cells re-expressing either the full-length p130Cas or a mutant lacking the focal adhesion targeting domains. On polyacrylamide gels, we observed that p130Cas prevented focal adhesion formation at low stiffness. On structured micro-pillar arrays, p130Cas preferentially localized to sites of force exertion when the apparent Young’s modulus of the substrate was higher than E = 47 kPa. Stiffness-dependent localization of p130Cas coincided with slower, but increased force exertion for the full-length p130Cas. Cas localization to focal adhesions preceded force build-up by three minutes, suggesting a coordinating role for p130Cas in the cellular mechanoresponse. Thus, p130Cas appears to relay mechanosensory information in the cell through its ability to tune force exertion at the focal adhesion.


2001 ◽  
Vol 356 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klemens LÖSTER ◽  
Dörte VOSSMEYER ◽  
Werner HOFMANN ◽  
Werner REUTTER ◽  
Kerstin DANKER

Integrins are heterodimeric adhesion receptors consisting of α- and β-subunits capable of binding extracellular matrix molecules as well as other adhesion receptors on neighbouring cells. These interactions induce various signal transduction pathways in many cell types, leading to cytoskeletal reorganization, phosphorylation and induction of gene expression. Integrin ligation leads to cytoplasmic protein–protein interactions requiring both integrin cytoplasmic domains, and these domains are initiation points for focal adhesion formation and subsequent signal transduction cascades. In previous studies we have shown that the very short cytoplasmic α1 tail is required for post-ligand events, such as cell spreading as well as actin stress-fibre formation. In the present paper we report that cells lacking the cytoplasmic domain of the α1 integrin subunit are unable to form proper focal adhesions and that phosphorylation on tyrosine residues of focal adhesion components is reduced on α1β1-specific substrates. The α1 cytoplasmic sequence is a specific recognition site for focal adhesion components like paxillin, talin, α-actinin and pp125FAK. It seems to account for α1-specific signalling, since when peptides that mimic the cytoplasmic domain of α1 are transferred into cells, they influence α1β1-specific adhesion, presumably by competing for binding partners. For α1 integrin/protein binding, the conserved Lys-Ile-Gly-Phe-Phe-Lys-Arg motif and, in particular, the two lysine residues, are important.


1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Woods ◽  
J R Couchman

Focal adhesion formation in fibroblasts results from complex transmembrane signaling processes initiated by extracellular matrix molecules. Although a role for integrins with attendant tyrosine kinases has been established, there is evidence that cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are also involved with an associated role of protein kinase C. The identity of the proteoglycan has remained elusive, but we now report that syndecan 4 (ryudocan/amphiglycan) is present in focal adhesions of a number of cell types. Affinity-purified antibodies raised against a unique portion of the cytoplasmic domain of syndecan 4 core protein recognized an HSPG of similar characteristics to those of syndecan 4. These antibodies stained focal adhesions only after cell permeabilization and recognized differing mammalian species. Syndecan 4 was associated with focal adhesions that contained either beta 1 or beta 3 integrin subunits and those that formed on substrates of fibronectin, laminin, vitronectin, or type I collagen. No focal adhesions were found that were vinculin-containing but lacked syndecan 4. In contrast, syndecan 2, whose cytoplasmic domain is closely homologous to syndecan 4, does not appear to be a focal adhesion component. Thus, syndecan 4 represents a new transmembrane focal adhesion component, probably involved in their assembly.


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (20) ◽  
pp. 3415-3420 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.R. Couchman ◽  
A. Woods

It is now becoming clear that additional transmembrane components can modify integrin-mediated adhesion. Syndecan-4 is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan whose external glycosaminoglycan chains can bind extracellular matrix ligands and whose core protein cytoplasmic domain can signal during adhesion. Two papers in this issue of JCS demonstrate, through transfection studies, that syndecan-4 plays roles in the formation of focal adhesions and stress fibers. Overexpression of syndecan-4 increases focal adhesion formation, whereas a partially truncated core protein that lacks the binding site for protein kinase C(α) and phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate acts as a dominant negative inhibitor of focal adhesion formation. Focal adhesion induction does not require interaction between heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan and ligand but can occur when non-glycanated core protein is overexpressed; this suggests that oligomerization of syndecan-4 plays a major role in signaling from the extracellular matrix in adhesion.


Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqian Fang ◽  
Dong H Kim ◽  
Teresa Santiago-Sim

Introduction: An intracranial aneurysm (IA) is a weak spot in cerebral blood vessel wall that can lead to its abnormal bulging. Previously, we reported that mutations in THSD1 , encoding thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing protein 1, are associated with IA in a subset of patients. THSD1 is a transmembrane molecule with a thrombospondin type-1 repeat (TSR). Proteins with TSR domain have been implicated in a variety of processes including regulation of matrix organization, cell adhesion and migration. We have shown that in mouse brain Thsd1 is expressed in endothelial cells. Hypothesis: THSD1 plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the endothelium by promoting adhesion of endothelial cells to the underlying basement membrane. Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells are used to investigate the role of THSD1 in vitro . THSD1 expression was knocked-down by RNA interference. Cell adhesion assay was done on collagen I-coated plates and focal adhesion formation was visualized using immunofluorescence by paxillin and phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase (pFAK) staining. THSD1 re-expression is accomplished by transfection with a pCR3.1-THSD1-encoding plasmid. Results: Knockdown of THSD1 caused striking change in cell morphology and size. Compared to control siRNA-treated cells that exhibited typical cobblestone morphology, THSD1 knockdown cells were narrow and elongated, and were significantly smaller ( p <0.01). Cell adherence to collagen I-coated plates was also attenuated in THSD1 knockdown cells ( p <0.01). Consistent with this finding is the observation that the number and size of focal adhesions, based on paxillin and pFAK staining, were significantly reduced after THSD1 knockdown ( p <0.01). These defects in cell adhesion and focal adhesion formation were rescued by re-expression of wild type THSD1 ( p <0.05). In contrast, initial studies indicate that expression of mutated versions of THSD1 as seen in human patients (L5F, R450*, E466G, P639L) could not restore cell adhesion and focal adhesion formation to wild type levels. Conclusions: Our studies provide evidence for a role of THSD1 and THSD1 mutations in endothelial cell adhesion and suggest a possible mechanism underlying THSD1 -mediated aneurysm disease.


2009 ◽  
Vol 186 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabina E. Winograd-Katz ◽  
Shalev Itzkovitz ◽  
Zvi Kam ◽  
Benjamin Geiger

Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix is mediated by elaborate networks of multiprotein complexes consisting of adhesion receptors, cytoskeletal components, signaling molecules, and diverse adaptor proteins. To explore how specific molecular pathways function in the assembly of focal adhesions (FAs), we performed a high-throughput, high-resolution, microscopy-based screen. We used small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to target human kinases, phosphatases, and migration- and adhesion-related genes. Multiparametric image analysis of control and of siRNA-treated cells revealed major correlations between distinct morphological FA features. Clustering analysis identified different gene families whose perturbation induced similar effects, some of which uncoupled the interfeature correlations. Based on these findings, we propose a model for the molecular hierarchy of FA formation, and tested its validity by dynamic analysis of FA formation and turnover. This study provides a comprehensive information resource on the molecular regulation of multiple cell adhesion features, and sheds light on signaling mechanisms regulating the formation of integrin adhesions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document