Directed Cell Movement Research Articles

Optogenetic Engineering: Light‐Directed Cell Motility

AbstractGenetically encoded, light‐activatable proteins provide the means to probe biochemical pathways at specific subcellular locations with exquisite temporal control. However, engineering these systems in order to provide a dramatic jump in localized activity, while retaining a low dark‐state background remains a significant challenge. When placed within the framework of a genetically encodable, light‐activatable heterodimerizer system, the actin‐remodelling protein cofilin induces dramatic changes in the F‐actin network and consequent cell motility upon illumination. We demonstrate that the use of a partially impaired mutant of cofilin is critical for maintaining low background activity in the dark. We also show that light‐directed recruitment of the reduced activity cofilin mutants to the cytoskeleton is sufficient to induce F‐actin remodeling, formation of filopodia, and directed cell motility.

Optogenetic engineering: light-directed cell motility.

Genetically encoded, light-activatable proteins provide the means to probe biochemical pathways at specific subcellular locations with exquisite temporal control. However, engineering these systems in order to provide a dramatic jump in localized activity, while retaining a low dark-state background remains a significant challenge. When placed within the framework of a genetically encodable, light-activatable heterodimerizer system, the actin-remodelling protein cofilin induces dramatic changes in the F-actin network and consequent cell motility upon illumination. We demonstrate that the use of a partially impaired mutant of cofilin is critical for maintaining low background activity in the dark. We also show that light-directed recruitment of the reduced activity cofilin mutants to the cytoskeleton is sufficient to induce F-actin remodeling, formation of filopodia, and directed cell motility.

Protrusive Activity Guides Changes in Cell-Cell Tension during Epithelial Cell Scattering

Knowing how epithelial cells regulate cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesions is essential to understand key events in morphogenesis as well as pathological events such as metastasis. During epithelial cell scattering, epithelial cell islands rupture their cell-cell contacts and migrate away as single cells on the extracellular matrix (ECM) within hours of growth factor stimulation, even as adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin are present at the cell-cell contact. How the stability of cell-cell contacts is modulated to effect such morphological transitions is still unclear. Here, we report that in the absence of ECM, E-cadherin adhesions continue to sustain substantial cell-generated forces upon hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) stimulation, consistent with undiminished adhesion strength. In the presence of focal adhesions, constraints that preclude the spreading and movement of cells at free island edges also prevent HGF-mediated contact rupture. To explore the role of cell motion and cell-cell contact rupture, we examine the biophysical changes that occur during the scattering of cell pairs. We show that the direction of cell movement with respect to the cell-cell contact is correlated with changes in the average intercellular force as well as the initial direction of cell-cell contact rupture. Our results suggest an important role for protrusive activity resulting in cell displacement and force redistribution in guiding cell-cell contact rupture during scattering.

Protein-tyrosine Pseudokinase 7 (PTK7) Directs Cancer Cell Motility and Metastasis

It is well established that widely expressed PTK7 is essential for vertebrate tissue morphogenesis. In cancer, the functionality of PTK7 is selectively regulated by membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), ADAMs (a disintegrin domain and metalloproteinases), and γ-secretase proteolysis. Here, we established that the full-length membrane PTK7, its Chuzhoi mutant with the two functional MT1-MMP cleavage sites, and its L622D mutant with the single inactivated MT1-MMP cleavage site differentially regulate cell motility in a two-dimensional versus three-dimensional environment. We also demonstrated that in polarized cancer cells, the levels of PTK7 expression and proteolysis were directly linked to the structure and kinetics of cell protrusions, including lamellipodia and invadopodia. In the functionally relevant and widely accepted animal models of metastasis, mouse and chick embryo models, both the overexpression and knock-out of PTK7 in HT1080 cells abrogated metastatic dissemination. Our analysis of human tissue specimens confirmed intensive proteolysis of PTK7 in colorectal cancer tumors, but not in matching normal tissue. Our results provide convincing evidence that both PTK7 expression and proteolysis, rather than the level of the cellular full-length PTK7 alone, contribute to efficient directional cell motility and metastasis in cancer.

Paxillin inhibits HDAC6 to regulate microtubule acetylation, Golgi structure, and polarized migration.

Polarized cell migration is essential for normal organism development and is also a critical component of cancer cell invasion and disease progression. Directional cell motility requires the coordination of dynamic cell-extracellular matrix interactions as well as repositioning of the Golgi apparatus, both of which can be controlled by the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. In this paper, we have identified a new and conserved role for the focal adhesion scaffold protein paxillin in regulating the posttranslational modification of the MT cytoskeleton through an inhibitory interaction with the α-tubulin deacetylase HDAC6. We also determined that through HDAC6-dependent regulation of the MT cytoskeleton, paxillin regulates both Golgi organelle integrity and polarized cell invasion and migration in both three-dimensional and two-dimensional matrix microenvironments. Importantly, these data reveal a fundamental role for paxillin in coordinating MT acetylation-dependent cell polarization and migration in both normal and transformed cells.

SAT0552 Fibroblast-Like Synovial Cells and Monocytes TEAM up in the Organization and the Dynamic Modeling of the Synovial Tissue

BackgroundThe synovial lining tissue consists of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and monocyte-derived macrophage-like synoviocytes (MLS) within a self-built meshwork of dense extracellular matrix (ECM) components. FLS are thought to direct ECM...

T cell movement into the pancreas based on insulin receptor expression (BA14P.208)

Abstract In the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterized by insulitis and T cell-mediated beta cell destruction. The importance of insulin receptor (IR) expression in the pathogenesis of diabetes was examined since IR is a chemotactic molecule capable of directing cell movement in response to a gradient of insulin. Our published data shows that T cells, obtained from NOD diabetic mice, expressing a high density of IR can aggressively transfer insulitis and diabetes while T cells with low to negative amounts of IR, are capable of neither. Therefore, IR may function to deliver T cells to the islet where Ag specific cells within the population can recognize and destroy beta cells. Recently, it has been shown in NOD mice that benign insulitis can occur in the absence of T cell-MHC/Ag interactions. The object of this project was to test whether T cells expressing IR, can move into the pancreas based on insulin chemotaxis alone, in normal strains of mice. A transgenic C57Bl/6 mouse was made in which the mouse IR gene with a 3XFLAG tag was placed behind the CD3 promoter and enhancer to target IR expression on all T cells. In this transgenic model there is IR expression on all T cells and with age the transgenic mice exhibit insulitis, but not diabetes. Distinct areas of the IR mediate metabolic or chemotactic signaling indicating that a specific part of the IR may be selectively targeted for therapeutic intervention to block T cell movement.

NBT-II cell locomotion is modulated by restricting the size of focal contacts and is improved through EGF and ROCK signaling

Focal contacts, large macromolecular complexes that link the extracellular matrix and the internal cell cytoskeleton, are thought to govern cell locomotion. However, the maturation process through which focal contacts control the cellular migratory machinery by changes in size and molecular composition remain unclear. Here, we fabricated cell growth substrates that contained linear ECM strips of micron- or submicron-width in order to limit the enlargement of focal contacts. We found that NBT-II cells plated on the submicron substrate possessed smaller focal complexes that exhibited a highly dynamic turnover. These cells possessed various leading edges at multiple sites of the cell periphery, which prevented the cell from advancing. In contrast, cells grown on the micron-width substrate possessed large and stable focal adhesions. Most of these cells were elongated bipolar cells that were tethered at both ends and were immobile. Further, EGF and ROCK signaling pathways can modulate the cellular migratory responses according to the substrate guidance. On the submicron-width substrate, EGF treatment increased the focal contact size and the contractile force, causing these cells to develop one leading edge and migrate along the submicron-sized ECM paths. In contrast, inhibition of ROCK signaling decreased the focal contact size for cells plated on the micron substrate. These cells became less tethered and were able to migrate along or even across the micron-sized ECM paths. Our results indicate that formation and maturation of focal contacts is controlled by both ECM cues and intracellular signaling and they play a central role in directed cell motion.

A comparative survey of the impact of NHE1 phosphorylation on pHi and cell motility (994.1)

The sodium hydrogen exchanger isoform one (NHE1) exchanges an intracellular proton for an extracellular sodium ion playing a key role in the regulation of pH and directed cell motility. The regulation of NHE1 function is complex, involving multiple protein‐protein interactions and several phosphorylation sites. While most of the kinase sites have been identified the role of each phosphorylation event has not been defined in the context of the other phosphorylation events. There are many challenges involved in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the role of the different phosphorylation events. In part, these challenges come from the fact that data has been collected from multiple cell types being stimulated by a wide array of agonists. The key phosphorylation sites on NHE1 include: RhoA associated kinase (Rock), ribosomal S‐6 kinase (Rsk), protein kinase B (AKT) and extracellular‐signal regulated kinase (Erk). We have created cell lines expressing two distinct mutations at each Ser/Thr phosphorylation site. The first mutation changes the Ser/Thr to Ala removing the ability of a kinase to phosphorylate that site. The second changes a Ser/Thr to Asp to mimic the phosphorylation event. To screen the roles of each of these phosphorylation sites, changes in intracellular pHi and cell motility will be determined in cell lines stably expressing each NHE1 mutant. Our goal is to evaluate the relative impact of each phosphorylation site on NHE1 function in a comparative comprehensive manner

Polarised clathrin-mediated endocytosis of EGFR during chemotactic invasion.

Directed cell migration is critical for numerous physiological processes including development and wound healing. However chemotaxis is also exploited during cancer progression. Recent reports have suggested links between vesicle trafficking pathways and directed cell migration. Very little is known about the potential roles of endocytosis pathways during metastasis. Therefore we performed a series of studies employing a previously characterised model for chemotactic invasion of cancer cells to assess specific hypotheses potentially linking endocytosis to directed cell migration. Our results demonstrate that clathrin-mediated endocytosis is indispensable for epidermal growth factor (EGF) directed chemotactic invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. Conversely, caveolar endocytosis is not required in this mode of migration. We further found that chemoattractant receptor (EGFR) trafficking occurs by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and is polarised towards the front of migrating cells. However, we found no role for clathrin-mediated endocytosis in focal adhesion disassembly in this migration model. Thus, this study has characterised the role of endocytosis during chemotactic invasion and has identified functions mechanistically linking clathrin-mediated endocytosis to directed cell motility.

The Focal Adhesion-Localized CdGAP Regulates Matrix Rigidity Sensing and Durotaxis

Motile cells are capable of sensing the stiffness of the surrounding extracellular matrix through integrin-mediated focal adhesions and migrate towards regions of higher rigidity in a process known as durotaxis. Durotaxis plays an important role in normal development and disease progression, including tumor invasion and metastasis. However, the signaling mechanisms underlying focal adhesion-mediated rigidity sensing and durotaxis are poorly understood. Utilizing matrix-coated polydimethylsiloxane gels to manipulate substrate compliance, we show that cdGAP, an adhesion-localized Rac1 and Cdc42 specific GTPase activating protein, is necessary for U2OS osteosarcoma cells to coordinate cell shape changes and migration as a function of extracellular matrix stiffness. CdGAP regulated rigidity-dependent motility by controlling membrane protrusion and adhesion dynamics, as well as by modulating Rac1 activity. CdGAP was also found to be necessary for U2OS cell durotaxis. Taken together, these data identify cdGAP as an important component of an integrin-mediated signaling pathway that senses and responds to mechanical cues in the extracellular matrix in order to coordinate directed cell motility.

The activation of directional stem cell motility by green light-emitting diode irradiation

The activation of directional stem cell motility by green light-emitting diode irradiation

PCP and Septins Compartmentalize Cortical Actomyosin to Direct Collective Cell Movement

Despite our understanding of actomyosin function in individual migrating cells, we know little about the mechanisms by which actomyosin drives collective cell movement in vertebrate embryos. The collective movements of convergent extension drive both global reorganization of the early embryo and local remodeling during organogenesis. We report here that planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins control convergent extension by exploiting an evolutionarily ancient function of the septin cytoskeleton. By directing septin-mediated compartmentalization of cortical actomyosin, PCP proteins coordinate the specific shortening of mesenchymal cell-cell contacts, which in turn powers cell interdigitation. These data illuminate the interface between developmental signaling systems and the fundamental machinery of cell behavior and should provide insights into the etiology of human birth defects, such as spina bifida and congenital kidney cysts.

Transmembrane Collagen XVII Modulates Integrin Dependent Keratinocyte Migration via PI3K/Rac1 Signaling

The hemidesmosomal transmembrane component collagen XVII (ColXVII) plays an important role in the anchorage of the epidermis to the underlying basement membrane. However, this adhesion protein seems to be also involved in the regulation of keratinocyte migration, since its expression in these cells is strongly elevated during reepithelialization of acute wounds and in the invasive front of squamous cell carcinoma, while its absence in ColXVII-deficient keratinocytes leads to altered cell motility. Using a genetic model of murine Col17a1− /− keratinocytes we elucidated ColXVII mediated signaling pathways in cell adhesion and migration. Col17a1− /− keratinocytes exhibited increased spreading on laminin 332 and accelerated, but less directed cell motility. These effects were accompanied by increased expression of the integrin subunits β4 and β1. The migratory phenotype, as evidenced by formation of multiple unstable lamellipodia, was associated with enhanced phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity. Dissection of the signaling pathway uncovered enhanced phosphorylation of the β4 integrin subunit and the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as activators of PI3K. This resulted in elevated Rac1 activity as a downstream consequence. These results provide mechanistic evidence that ColXVII coordinates keratinocyte adhesion and directed motility by interfering integrin dependent PI3K activation and by stabilizing lamellipodia at the leading edge of reepithelializing wounds and in invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

A8.30 Analysis of monocyte-fibroblast interaction in 3D synovial micromass tissue cultures

BackgroundMonocytes (Mo) are among the first hematopoietic cells to migrate into the inflamed synovial tissue of arthritic joints. Monocyte migration appears to be associated with the expanding synovial lining network...

Calreticulin affects cell adhesiveness through differential phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1.

Cellular adhesion to the underlying substratum is regulated through numerous signaling pathways. It has been suggested that insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) is involved in some of these pathways, via association with and activation of transmembrane integrins. Calreticulin, as an important endoplasmic reticulum-resident, calcium-binding protein with a chaperone function, plays an obvious role in proteomic expression. Our previous work showed that calreticulin mediates cell adhesion not only by affecting protein expression but also by affecting the state of regulatory protein phosphorylation, such as that of c-src. Here, we demonstrate that calreticulin affects the abundance of IRS-1 such that the absence of calreticulin is paralleled by a decrease in IRS-1 levels and the unregulated overexpression of calreticulin is accompanied by an increase in IRS-1 levels. These changes in the abundance of calreticulin and IRS-1 are accompanied by changes in cell-substratum adhesiveness and phosphorylation, such that increases in the expression of calreticulin and IRS-1 are paralleled by an increase in focal contact-based cellsubstratum adhesiveness, and a decrease in the expression of these proteins brings about a decrease in cell-substratum adhesiveness. Wild type and calreticulin-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were cultured and the IRS-1 isoform profile was assessed. Differences in morphology and motility were also quantified. While no substantial differences in the speed of locomotion were found, the directionality of cell movement was greatly promoted by the presence of calreticulin. Calreticulin expression was also found to have a dramatic effect on the phosphorylation state of serine 636 of IRS-1, such that phosphorylation of IRS-1 on serine 636 increased radically in the absence of calreticulin. Most importantly, treatment of cells with the RhoA/ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, which among its many effects also inhibited serine 636 phosphorylation of IRS-1, had profound effects on cell-substratum adhesion, in that it suppressed focal contacts, induced extensive close contacts, and increased the strength of adhesion. The latter effect, while counterintuitive, can be explained by the close contacts comprising labile bonds but in large numbers. In addition, the lability of bonds in close contacts would permit fast locomotion. An interesting and novel finding is that Y-27632 treatment of MEFs releases them from contact inhibition of locomotion, as evidenced by the invasion of a cell’s underside by the thin lamellae and filopodia of a cell in close apposition.

The Activation of Directional Stem Cell Motility by Green Light-Emitting Diode Irradiation

Light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation is potentially a photostimulator to manipulate cell behavior by opsin-triggered phototransduction and thermal energy supply in living cells. Directional stem cell motility is critical for the efficiency and specificity of stem cells in tissue repair. We explored that green LED (530 nm) irradiation directed the human orbital fat stem cells (OFSCs) to migrate away from the LED light source through activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)/MAP kinase/p38 signaling pathway. ERK inhibitor selectively abrogated light-driven OFSC migration. Phosphorylation of these kinases as well as green LED irradiation-induced cell migration was facilitated by increasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production in OFSCs after green LED exposure, and which was thermal stress-

Durotaxis Directed Cell Migration for Enhanced Vascular Stent Endothelialization

Vascular stents often cause adverse physiological responses as a result of inadequate endothelialcoverage. The new generation of vascular stent designs includes substratums with nanopatternedtopographies that enhance cell functionality for rapid endothelialization. Quick endothelializationcan be achieved by promoting cell migration rate and guiding cell migration direction, factorsaccomplishable by durotaxis, stiffness directed cell motility. However, the stiffness gradientrequired to induce durotaxis has not yet been implemented in materials viable for vascular stents.Our objective is to improve upon existing stent designs through durotaxis by studyingendothelial cell migration on biodegradable chitosan modified with nanopatternedtopography and gradated stiffness. We will fabricate three nanostructured substrates with 400nm pitch rectangular grooves and ridges possessing different stiffness gradients of 1 Pa/um, 10Pa/um, and 100 Pa/um and seed them with human umbilical vein and human aortic endothelialcells. We expect our nanostructured substrates will outperform our only topographicallymodified (no stiffness gradient) control and flat surface control. The proposed study will not onlyoffer a potential solution for improved endothelialization but also offer a proof of concept forintegration of durotaxis to vascular stent designs..

Cadherin-11 Mediates Contact Inhibition of Locomotion during Xenopus Neural Crest Cell Migration

Collective cell migration is an essential feature both in embryonic development and cancer progression. The molecular mechanisms of these coordinated directional cell movements still need to be elucidated. The migration of cranial neural crest (CNC) cells during embryogenesis is an excellent model for collective cell migration in vivo. These highly motile and multipotent cells migrate directionally on defined routes throughout the embryo. Interestingly, local cell-cell interactions seem to be the key force for directionality. CNC cells can change their migration direction by a repulsive cell response called contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL). Cell protrusions collapse upon homotypic cell-cell contact and internal repolarization leads to formation of new protrusions toward cell-free regions. Wnt/PCP signaling was shown to mediate activation of small RhoGTPase RhoA and inhibition of cell protrusions at the contact side. However, the mechanism how a cell recognizes the contact is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that Xenopus cadherin-11 (Xcad-11) mediated cell-cell adhesion is necessary in CIL for directional and collective migration of CNC cells. Reduction of Xcad-11 adhesive function resulted in higher invasiveness of CNC due to loss of CIL. Additionally, transplantation analyses revealed that CNC migratory behaviour in vivo is non-directional and incomplete when Xcad-11 adhesive function is impaired. Blocking Wnt/PCP signaling led to similar results underlining the importance of Xcad-11 in the mechanism of CIL and directional migration of CNC.

Planar cell polarity and the kidney

Planar cell polarity (PCP) is the uniform orientation and alignment of a group of cells orthogonal to the apical–basal axis within a tissue. Originally described in insects, it is now known that PCP is required for many processes in vertebrates, including directional cell movement, polarized cell division, ciliary orientation, neural tube closure, heart development and lung branching. In this review, we outline the evidence implicating PCP in kidney development and disease focusing initially on the function of PCP in ureteric bud branching and elongation. We then describe how defects in PCP may lead to polycystic kidney disease and discuss a newly identified role for PCP in the kidney filtration barrier.