Abstract

Apical localization of Intercellular Adhesion Receptor (ICAM)-1 regulates the adhesion and guidance of leukocytes across polarized epithelial barriers. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms that determine ICAM-1 localization into apical membrane domains of polarized hepatic epithelial cells, and their effect on lymphocyte-hepatic epithelial cell interaction. We had previously shown that segregation of ICAM-1 into apical membrane domains, which form bile canaliculi and bile ducts in hepatic epithelial cells, requires basolateral-to-apical transcytosis. Searching for protein machinery potentially involved in ICAM-1 polarization we found that the SNARE-associated protein plasmolipin (PLLP) is expressed in the subapical compartment of hepatic epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo. BioID analysis of ICAM-1 revealed proximal interaction between this adhesion receptor and PLLP. ICAM-1 colocalized and interacted with PLLP during the transcytosis of the receptor. PLLP gene editing and silencing increased the basolateral localization and reduced the apical confinement of ICAM-1 without affecting apicobasal polarity of hepatic epithelial cells, indicating that ICAM-1 transcytosis is specifically impaired in the absence of PLLP. Importantly, PLLP depletion was sufficient to increase T-cell adhesion to hepatic epithelial cells. Such an increase depended on the epithelial cell polarity and ICAM-1 expression, showing that the epithelial transcytotic machinery regulates the adhesion of lymphocytes to polarized epithelial cells. Our findings strongly suggest that the polarized intracellular transport of adhesion receptors constitutes a new regulatory layer of the epithelial inflammatory response.

Highlights

  • The type I transmembrane protein intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 is the counterreceptor of leukocyte β2-integrins and mediates the firm adhesion of leukocytes to epithelial and endothelial cells [1,2,3]

  • HepG2 cells are spontaneously polarized human hepatic epithelial cells that form bile canalicular-like structures (BCs) with a spherical shaped-lumen sealed by tight junctions (TJs) and surrounded by the subapical compartment (SAC), which could be detected by expressing GFP-Rab11 (Fig. 1b)

  • Despite its preferential apical localization, ICAM-1 accumulates at the basolateral plasma membrane (Fig. 1c), which is accessible from the extracellular milieu

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The type I transmembrane protein intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 is the counterreceptor of leukocyte β2-integrins and mediates the firm adhesion of leukocytes to epithelial and endothelial cells [1,2,3]. ICAM-1 is apically confined in polarized intestinal and hepatic epithelia [2, 4, 5]. Such polarization confers on these cellular barriers the capacity to establish a haptotactic gradient between apical and basolateral membrane domains, which guides infiltrated immune cells [2, 6]. ICAM-1 is mostly confined in these apical structures and is not accessible to circulating immune cells, which preferentially adhere to hepatic epithelial cells when.

Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.