scholarly journals Protein phosphatase 1 activity controls a balance between collective and single cell modes of migration

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujun Chen ◽  
Nirupama Kotian ◽  
George Aranjuez ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
C Luke Messer ◽  
...  

Collective cell migration is central to many developmental and pathological processes. However, the mechanisms that keep cell collectives together and coordinate movement of multiple cells are poorly understood. Using the Drosophila border cell migration model, we find that Protein phosphatase 1 (Pp1) activity controls collective cell cohesion and migration. Inhibition of Pp1 causes border cells to round up, dissociate, and move as single cells with altered motility. We present evidence that Pp1 promotes proper levels of cadherin-catenin complex proteins at cell-cell junctions within the cluster to keep border cells together. Pp1 further restricts actomyosin contractility to the cluster periphery rather than at individual internal border cell contacts. We show that the myosin phosphatase Pp1 complex, which inhibits non-muscle myosin-II (Myo-II) activity, coordinates border cell shape and cluster cohesion. Given the high conservation of Pp1 complexes, this study identifies Pp1 as a major regulator of collective versus single cell migration.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujun Chen ◽  
Nirupama Kotian ◽  
George Aranjuez ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
C. Luke Messer ◽  
...  

AbstractCollective cell migration is central to many developmental and pathological processes. However, the mechanisms that keep cell collectives together and coordinate movement of multiple cells are poorly understood. Using the Drosophila border cell migration model, we find that Protein phosphatase 1 (Pp1) activity controls collective cell cohesion and migration. Inhibition of Pp1 causes border cells to round up, dissociate, and move as single cells with altered motility. We present evidence that Pp1 promotes proper levels of cadherin-catenin complex proteins at cell-cell junctions within the cluster to keep border cells together. Pp1 further restricts actomyosin contractility to the cluster periphery rather than at internal cell-cell contacts. We show that the myosin phosphatase Pp1 complex, which inhibits non-muscle myosin-II (Myo-II) activity, coordinates border cell shape and cluster cohesion. Given the high conservation of Pp1 complexes, this study identifies Pp1 as a major regulator of collective versus single cell migration.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin Sallak ◽  
Alba Yurani Torres ◽  
Hongyan Yin ◽  
Denise Montell

AbstractThe tyrosine kinase Src is over-expressed in numerous human cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. While Src has been extensively studied, its contributions to collective cell migration in vivo remain incompletely understood. Here we show that Src42A, but not Src64, is required for the specification and migration of the border cells in the Drosophila ovary, a well-developed and genetically tractable in vivo cell migration model. We found active Src42A enriched at border cell/nurse cell interfaces, where E-cadherin is less abundant, and depleted from border cell/border cell and border cell/polar cell junctions where E-cadherin is more stable, whereas total Src42A protein co-localizes with E-cadherin. Over-expression of wild type Src42A mislocalized Src activity and prevented border cell migration. Constitutively active or kinase dead forms of Src42A also impeded border cells. These findings establish border cells as a model for investigating the mechanisms of action of Src in cooperative, collective, cell-on-cell migration in vivo.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Xiang ◽  
Dabing Zhang ◽  
Denise J. Montell

Collective cell migration is emerging as a major contributor to normal development and disease. Collective movement of border cells in the Drosophila ovary requires cooperation between two distinct cell types: four to six migratory cells surrounding two immotile cells called polar cells. Polar cells secrete a cytokine, Unpaired (Upd), which activates JAK/STAT signaling in neighboring cells, stimulating their motility. Without Upd, migration fails, causing sterility. Ectopic Upd expression is sufficient to stimulate motility in otherwise immobile cells. Thus regulation of Upd is key. Here we report a limited RNAi screen for nuclear proteins required for border cell migration, which revealed that the gene encoding Tousled-like kinase (Tlk) is required in polar cells for Upd expression without affecting polar cell fate. In the absence of Tlk, fewer border cells are recruited and motility is impaired, similar to inhibition of JAK/STAT signaling. We further show that Tlk in polar cells is required for JAK/STAT activation in border cells. Genetic interactions further confirmed Tlk as a new regulator of Upd/JAK/STAT signaling. These findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms regulating the cooperation of motile and nonmotile cells during collective invasion, a phenomenon that may also drive metastatic cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (25) ◽  
pp. 3024-3036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Balcerak ◽  
Alicja Trebinska-Stryjewska ◽  
Maciej Wakula ◽  
Mateusz Chmielarczyk ◽  
Urszula Smietanka ◽  
...  

HAX1 protein is involved in the regulation of apoptosis, cell motility and calcium homeostasis. Its overexpression was reported in several tumors, including breast cancer. This study demonstrates that HAX1 has an impact on collective, but not single-cell migration, thus indicating the importance of cell–cell contacts for the HAX1-mediated effect. Accordingly, it was shown that HAX1 knockdown affects cell–cell junctions, substrate adhesion, and epithelial cell layer integrity. As demonstrated here, these effects can be attributed to the modulation of actomyosin contractility through changes in RhoA and septin signaling. Additionally, it was shown that HAX1 does not influence invasive potential in the breast cancer cell line, suggesting that its role in breast cancer progression may be linked instead to collective invasion of the epithelial cells but not single-cell dissemination.


Author(s):  
Nirupama Kotian ◽  
Katie M Troike ◽  
Kristen N Curran ◽  
Justin D Lathia ◽  
Jocelyn A McDonald

Abstract Migrating cell collectives are key to embryonic development but also contribute to invasion and metastasis of a variety of cancers. Cell collectives can invade deep into tissues, leading to tumor progression and resistance to therapies. Collective cell invasion is also observed in the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma, which infiltrates the surrounding brain parenchyma leading to tumor growth and poor patient outcomes. Drosophila border cells, which migrate as a small cell cluster in the developing ovary, are a well-studied and genetically accessible model used to identify general mechanisms that control collective cell migration within native tissue environments. Most cell collectives remain cohesive through a variety of cell-cell adhesion proteins during their migration through tissues and organs. In this study, we first identified cell adhesion, cell matrix, cell junction, and associated regulatory genes that are expressed in human brain tumors. We performed RNAi knockdown of the Drosophila orthologs in border cells to evaluate if migration and/or cohesion of the cluster was impaired. From this screen, we identified eight adhesion-related genes that disrupted border cell collective migration upon RNAi knockdown. Bioinformatics analyses further demonstrated that subsets of the orthologous genes were elevated in the margin and invasive edge of human glioblastoma patient tumors. These data together show that conserved cell adhesion and adhesion regulatory proteins with potential roles in tumor invasion also modulate collective cell migration. This dual screening approach for adhesion genes linked to glioblastoma and border cell migration thus may reveal conserved mechanisms that drive collective tumor cell invasion.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen C. Lamb ◽  
Chathuri P. Kaluarachchi ◽  
Thiranjeewa I. Lansakara ◽  
Yiling Lan ◽  
Alexei V. Tivanski ◽  
...  

AbstractA key regulator of collective cell migrations, which drive development and cancer metastasis, is substrate stiffness. Increased substrate stiffness promotes migration and is controlled by Myosin. Using Drosophila border cell migration as a model of collective cell migration, we identify, for the first time, that the actin bundling protein Fascin limits Myosin activity in vivo. Loss of Fascin results in: increased activated Myosin on the border cells and their substrate, the nurse cells; decreased border cell Myosin dynamics; and increased nurse cell stiffness as measured by atomic force microscopy. Reducing Myosin restores on-time border cell migration in fascin mutant follicles. Further, Fascin’s actin bundling activity is required to limit Myosin activation. Surprisingly, we find that Fascin regulates Myosin activity in the border cells to control nurse cell stiffness to promote migration. Thus, these data shift the paradigm from a substrate stiffness-centric model of regulating migration, to uncover that collectively migrating cells play a critical role in controlling the mechanical properties of their substrate in order to promote their own migration. This new means of mechanical regulation of migration is likely conserved across contexts and organisms, as Fascin and Myosin are common regulators of cell migration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (20) ◽  
pp. 5195-5200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Costigliola ◽  
Liya Ding ◽  
Christoph J. Burckhardt ◽  
Sangyoon J. Han ◽  
Edgar Gutierrez ◽  
...  

The intermediate filament vimentin is required for cells to transition from the epithelial state to the mesenchymal state and migrate as single cells; however, little is known about the specific role of vimentin in the regulation of mesenchymal migration. Vimentin is known to have a significantly greater ability to resist stress without breaking in vitro compared with actin or microtubules, and also to increase cell elasticity in vivo. Therefore, we hypothesized that the presence of vimentin could support the anisotropic mechanical strain of single-cell migration. To study this, we fluorescently labeled vimentin with an mEmerald tag using TALEN genome editing. We observed vimentin architecture in migrating human foreskin fibroblasts and found that network organization varied from long, linear bundles, or “fibers,” to shorter fragments with a mesh-like organization. We developed image analysis tools employing steerable filtering and iterative graph matching to characterize the fibers embedded in the surrounding mesh. Vimentin fibers were aligned with fibroblast branching and migration direction. The presence of the vimentin network was correlated with 10-fold slower local actin retrograde flow rates, as well as spatial homogenization of actin-based forces transmitted to the substrate. Vimentin fibers coaligned with and were required for the anisotropic orientation of traction stresses. These results indicate that the vimentin network acts as a load-bearing superstructure capable of integrating and reorienting actin-based forces. We propose that vimentin's role in cell motility is to govern the alignment of traction stresses that permit single-cell migration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (22) ◽  
pp. 2656-2673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketki Sawant ◽  
Yujun Chen ◽  
Nirupama Kotian ◽  
Kevin M. Preuss ◽  
Jocelyn A. McDonald

During development and in cancer, cells often move together in small to large collectives. To move as a unit, cells within collectives need to stay coupled together and coordinate their motility. How cell collectives remain interconnected and migratory, especially when moving through in vivo environments, is not well understood. The genetically tractable border cell group undergoes a highly polarized and cohesive cluster-type migration in the Drosophila ovary. Here we report that the small GTPase Rap1, through activation by PDZ-GEF, regulates border cell collective migration. We find that Rap1 maintains cell contacts within the cluster, at least in part by promoting the organized distribution of E-cadherin at specific cell–cell junctions. Rap1 also restricts migratory protrusions to the front of the border cell cluster and promotes the extension of protrusions with normal dynamics. Further, Rap1 is required in the outer migratory border cells but not in the central nonmigratory polar cells. Such cell specificity correlates well with the spatial distribution of the inhibitory Rapgap1 protein, which is higher in polar cells than in border cells. We propose that precisely regulated Rap1 activity reinforces connections between cells and polarizes the cluster, thus facilitating the coordinated collective migration of border cells.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen C. Lamb ◽  
Kelsey K. Anliker ◽  
Tina L. Tootle

AbstractFascin is an actin bundling protein that is essential for developmental cell migrations and promotes cancer metastasis. In addition to bundling actin, Fascin has several actin-independent roles. Border cell migration during Drosophila oogenesis provides an excellent model to study Fascin’s various roles during invasive, collective cell migration. Border cell migration requires Fascin. Fascin functions not only within the migrating border cells, but also within the nurse cells, the substrate for this migration. Loss of Fascin results in increased, shorter and mislocalized protrusions during migration. Data supports the model that Fascin promotes the activity of Enabled, an actin elongating factor, to regulate migration. Additionally, loss of Fascin inhibits border cell delamination. These defects are partially due to altered E-cadherin localization in the border cells; this is predicted to be an actin-independent role of Fascin. Overall, Fascin is essential for multiple aspects of this invasive, collective cell migration, and functions in both actin-dependent and -independent manners. These findings have implications beyond Drosophila, as border cell migration has emerged as a model to study mechanisms mediating cancer metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirupama Kotian ◽  
Katie M. Troike ◽  
Kristen N. Curran ◽  
Justin D. Lathia ◽  
Jocelyn A McDonald

Migrating cell collectives are key to embryonic development but also contribute to invasion and metastasis of a variety of cancers. Cell collectives can invade deep into tissues, leading to tumor progression and resistance to therapies. Collective cell invasion is also observed in the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma, which infiltrates the surrounding brain parenchyma leading to tumor growth and poor patient outcomes. Drosophila border cells, which migrate as a small cell cluster in the developing ovary, are a well-studied and genetically accessible model used to identify general mechanisms that control collective cell migration within native tissue environments. Most cell collectives remain cohesive through a variety of cell-cell adhesion proteins during their migration through tissues and organs. In this study, we first identified cell adhesion, cell junction, and associated regulatory genes that are expressed in human brain tumors. We performed RNAi knockdown of the Drosophila orthologs in border cells to evaluate if migration and/or cohesion of the cluster was impaired. From this screen, we identified eight adhesion genes that disrupted border cell collective migration upon RNAi knockdown. Bioinformatics analyses further demonstrated that subsets of the orthologous genes were elevated in the margin and invasive edge of human glioblastoma patient tumors. These data together show that conserved cell adhesion and adhesion regulatory proteins with potential roles in tumor invasion also modulate collective cell migration. This dual screening approach for adhesion genes linked to glioblastoma and border cell migration thus may reveal conserved mechanisms that drive collective tumor cell invasion.


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