Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Show: 20 | 50 | 100
Results 1 - 20 de 35
Filter
Add more filters











Publication year range
1.
Sci Rep ; 14(1): 14471, 2024 06 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38914623

ABSTRACT

Circulating leukocytes enter tissue either through endothelial junctions (paracellular) or via a pore through the body of endothelial cells (transcellular). We have previously shown that genetically replacing VE-cadherin with a VE-cadherin-α-catenin (VEC-αC) fusion construct-which binds constitutively to actin-obstructs junctions, and blocks leukocyte extravasation in lung, skin and postcapillary venules of cremaster muscle. However, neutrophil recruitment into the inflamed peritoneal cavity was unimpaired. Investigating reasons for this, here, we visualized neutrophil diapedesis by 3D intravital video microscopy in the cremaster muscle and omentum, the major site of neutrophil recruitment into the peritoneal cavity. We found that 80% of neutrophil-extravasation occurred through HEVs in the omentum, which was unimpaired by VEC-αC. In addition, in larger venules (60-85 µm) of both tissues, less than 15% of neutrophils extravasated transcellularly in WT mice. However, in VEC-α-C mice, transcellular diapedesis increased severalfold in the omentum, but not in the cremaster. In line with this, omental venules expressed higher levels of ICAM-1 and atypical chemokine receptor 1. Furthermore, only in the omentum, VEC-αC expression caused reduced elongation of venular endothelium in flow-direction, suggesting different biomechanical properties. Collectively, VEC-αC does not inhibit paracellular transmigration in all types of venules and can modulate the diapedesis route.


Subject(s)
Neutrophils , Animals , Neutrophils/metabolism , Mice , Transendothelial and Transepithelial Migration , Omentum/metabolism , Cadherins/metabolism , Venules/metabolism , Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1/metabolism , Endothelial Cells/metabolism , Antigens, CD/metabolism , Antigens, CD/genetics , Neutrophil Infiltration , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Transcellular Cell Migration
2.
Nat Genet ; 54(11): 1702-1710, 2022 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36333500

ABSTRACT

Genomic imprinting is regulated by parental-specific DNA methylation of imprinting control regions (ICRs). Despite an identical DNA sequence, ICRs can exist in two distinct epigenetic states that are memorized throughout unlimited cell divisions and reset during germline formation. Here, we systematically study the genetic and epigenetic determinants of this epigenetic bistability. By iterative integration of ICRs and related DNA sequences to an ectopic location in the mouse genome, we first identify the DNA sequence features required for maintenance of epigenetic states in embryonic stem cells. The autonomous regulatory properties of ICRs further enabled us to create DNA-methylation-sensitive reporters and to screen for key components involved in regulating their epigenetic memory. Besides DNMT1, UHRF1 and ZFP57, we identify factors that prevent switching from methylated to unmethylated states and show that two of these candidates, ATF7IP and ZMYM2, are important for the stability of DNA and H3K9 methylation at ICRs in embryonic stem cells.


Subject(s)
DNA Methylation , Genomic Imprinting , Mice , Animals , Base Sequence , DNA Methylation/genetics , Epigenomics , Chromatin/genetics , Repressor Proteins/genetics
3.
Nucleic Acids Res ; 49(1): 145-157, 2021 01 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33290556

ABSTRACT

Mammalian de novo DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) are responsible for the establishment of cell-type-specific DNA methylation in healthy and diseased tissues. Through genome-wide analysis of de novo methylation activity in murine stem cells we uncover that DNMT3A prefers to methylate CpGs followed by cytosines or thymines, while DNMT3B predominantly methylates CpGs followed by guanines or adenines. These signatures are further observed at non-CpG sites, resembling methylation context observed in specialised cell types, including neurons and oocytes. We further show that these preferences result from structural differences in the catalytic domains of the two de novo DNMTs and are not a consequence of differential recruitment to the genome. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that, in case of human DNMT3A, the preference is due to favourable polar interactions between the flexible Arg836 side chain and the guanine that base-pairs with the cytosine following the CpG. By exchanging arginine to a lysine, the corresponding side chain in DNMT3B, the sequence preference is reversed, confirming the requirement for arginine at this position. This context-dependent enzymatic activity provides additional insights into the complex regulation of DNA methylation patterns.


Subject(s)
CpG Islands/genetics , DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases/metabolism , DNA Methylation/genetics , Mice/genetics , Amino Acid Substitution , Animals , Arginine/chemistry , Base Sequence , Crystallography, X-Ray , Cytosine/chemistry , DNA Methyltransferase 3A , Datasets as Topic , Embryonic Stem Cells/metabolism , Gene Knockout Techniques , Guanine/chemistry , Humans , Lysine/chemistry , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Substrate Specificity , Sulfites , Whole Genome Sequencing , DNA Methyltransferase 3B
4.
Haematologica ; 105(12): 2746-2756, 2020 12 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33256374

ABSTRACT

Bone marrow endothelium plays an important role in the homing of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells upon transplantation, but surprisingly little is known on how the bone marrow endothelial cells regulate local permeability and hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells transmigration. We show that temporal loss of vascular endothelial-cadherin function promotes vascular permeability in BM, even upon low-dose irradiation. Loss of vascular endothelial-cadherin function also enhances homing of transplanted hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to the bone marrow of irradiated mice although engraftment is not increased. Intriguingly, stabilizing junctional vascular endothelial-cadherin in vivo reduced bone marrow permeability, but did not prevent hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells migration into the bone marrow, suggesting that hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells use the transcellular migration route to enter the bone marrow. Indeed, using an in vitro migration assay, we show that human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells predominantly cross bone marrow endothelium in a transcellular manner in homeostasis by inducing podosome-like structures. Taken together, vascular endothelial-cadherin is crucial for BM vascular homeostasis but dispensable for the homing of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. These findings are important in the development of potential therapeutic targets to improve hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell homing strategies.


Subject(s)
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation , Podosomes , Animals , Bone Marrow , Bone Marrow Cells , Cell Movement , Endothelial Cells , Endothelium , Hematopoietic Stem Cells , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL
6.
Nat Biotechnol ; 38(6): 728-736, 2020 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32123383

ABSTRACT

Chromatin modifications regulate genome function by recruiting proteins to the genome. However, the protein composition at distinct chromatin modifications has yet to be fully characterized. In this study, we used natural protein domains as modular building blocks to develop engineered chromatin readers (eCRs) selective for DNA methylation and histone tri-methylation at H3K4, H3K9 and H3K27 residues. We first demonstrated their utility as selective chromatin binders in living cells by stably expressing eCRs in mouse embryonic stem cells and measuring their subnuclear localization, genomic distribution and histone-modification-binding preference. By fusing eCRs to the biotin ligase BASU, we established ChromID, a method for identifying the chromatin-dependent protein interactome on the basis of proximity biotinylation, and applied it to distinct chromatin modifications in mouse stem cells. Using a synthetic dual-modification reader, we also uncovered the protein composition at bivalently modified promoters marked by H3K4me3 and H3K27me3. These results highlight the ability of ChromID to obtain a detailed view of protein interaction networks on chromatin.


Subject(s)
Chromatin , Histones , Protein Interaction Mapping/methods , Protein Interaction Maps/genetics , Proteomics/methods , Animals , Cells, Cultured , Chromatin/chemistry , Chromatin/genetics , Chromatin/metabolism , DNA Methylation/genetics , Embryonic Stem Cells , Histones/chemistry , Histones/genetics , Histones/metabolism , Mice
7.
Cell Stem Cell ; 26(3): 431-440.e8, 2020 03 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32142663

ABSTRACT

Forward genetic screens with genome-wide CRISPR libraries are powerful tools for resolving cellular circuits and signaling pathways. Applying this technology to organoids, however, has been hampered by technical limitations. Here we report improved accuracy and robustness for pooled-library CRISPR screens by capturing sgRNA integrations in single organoids, substantially reducing required cell numbers for genome-scale screening. We applied our approach to wild-type and APC mutant human intestinal organoids to identify genes involved in resistance to TGF-ß-mediated growth restriction, a key process during colorectal cancer progression, and validated hits including multiple subunits of the tumor-suppressive SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Mutations within these genes require concurrent inactivation of APC to promote TGF-ß resistance and attenuate TGF-ß target gene transcription. Our approach can be applied to a variety of assays and organoid types to facilitate biological discovery in primary 3D tissue models.


Subject(s)
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats , Organoids , Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/genetics , Genetic Testing , Humans , Intestines , Transforming Growth Factor beta
8.
EMBO J ; 39(23): e105606, 2020 12 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33433018

ABSTRACT

Chromosomes have an intrinsic tendency to segregate into compartments, forming long-distance contacts between loci of similar chromatin states. How genome compartmentalization is regulated remains elusive. Here, comparison of mouse ground-state embryonic stem cells (ESCs) characterized by open and active chromatin, and advanced serum ESCs with a more closed and repressed genome, reveals distinct regulation of their genome organization due to differential dependency on BAZ2A/TIP5, a component of the chromatin remodeling complex NoRC. On ESC chromatin, BAZ2A interacts with SNF2H, DNA topoisomerase 2A (TOP2A) and cohesin. BAZ2A associates with chromatin sub-domains within the active A compartment, which intersect through long-range contacts. We found that ground-state chromatin selectively requires BAZ2A to limit the invasion of active domains into repressive compartments. BAZ2A depletion increases chromatin accessibility at B compartments. Furthermore, BAZ2A regulates H3K27me3 genome occupancy in a TOP2A-dependent manner. Finally, ground-state ESCs require BAZ2A for growth, differentiation, and correct expression of developmental genes. Our results uncover the propensity of open chromatin domains to invade repressive domains, which is counteracted by chromatin remodeling to establish genome partitioning and preserve cell identity.


Subject(s)
Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/genetics , Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/metabolism , Genome , Pluripotent Stem Cells/metabolism , Adenosine Triphosphatases/metabolism , Animals , Cell Cycle Proteins , Cell Differentiation , Chromatin/metabolism , Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly , DNA Topoisomerases, Type II/metabolism , Epigenomics , Gene Expression Regulation , Histones/metabolism , Mice , Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology , Pluripotent Stem Cells/cytology , Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins/metabolism , Cohesins
9.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol ; 40(2): 378-393, 2020 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31826650

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin is of dominant importance for the formation and stability of endothelial junctions, yet induced gene inactivation enhances vascular permeability in the lung but does not cause junction rupture. This study aims at identifying the junctional adhesion molecule, which is responsible for preventing endothelial junction rupture in the pulmonary vasculature in the absence of VE-cadherin. Approach and Results: We have compared the relevance of ESAM (endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule), JAM (junctional adhesion molecule)-A, PECAM (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule)-1, and VE-cadherin for vascular barrier integrity in various mouse tissues. Gene inactivation of ESAM enhanced vascular permeability in the lung but not in the heart, skin, and brain. In contrast, deletion of JAM-A or PECAM-1 did not affect barrier integrity in any of these organs. Blocking VE-cadherin with antibodies caused lethality in ESAM-/- mice within 30 minutes but had no such effect in JAM-A-/-, PECAM-1-/- or wild-type mice. Likewise, induced gene inactivation of VE-cadherin caused rapid lethality only in the absence of ESAM. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that only combined interference with VE-cadherin and ESAM disrupted endothelial junctions and caused massive blood coagulation in the lung. Mechanistically, we could exclude a role of platelet ESAM in coagulation, changes in the expression of other junctional proteins or a contribution of cytoplasmic signaling domains of ESAM. CONCLUSIONS: Despite well-documented roles of JAM-A and PECAM-1 for the regulation of endothelial junctions, only for ESAM, we detected an essential role for endothelial barrier integrity in a tissue-specific way. In addition, we found that it is ESAM which prevents endothelial junction rupture in the lung when VE-cadherin is absent.


Subject(s)
Antigens, CD/metabolism , Cadherins/metabolism , Capillary Permeability/physiology , Cell Adhesion Molecules/metabolism , Cell Death/physiology , Endothelium, Vascular/metabolism , Lung/metabolism , Animals , Blood Coagulation/physiology , Cell Adhesion , Cells, Cultured , Cricetinae , Endothelium, Vascular/ultrastructure , Female , Immunoblotting , Lung/blood supply , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Microscopy, Electron , Models, Animal , Signal Transduction
10.
EMBO J ; 37(22)2018 11 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30297530

ABSTRACT

Endothelial cells line blood and lymphatic vessels and form intercellular junctions, which preserve vessel structure and integrity. The vascular endothelial cadherin, VE-cadherin, mediates endothelial adhesion and is indispensible for blood vessel development and permeability regulation. However, its requirement for lymphatic vessels has not been addressed. During development, VE-cadherin deletion in lymphatic endothelial cells resulted in abortive lymphangiogenesis, edema, and prenatal death. Unexpectedly, inducible postnatal or adult deletion elicited vessel bed-specific responses. Mature dermal lymph vessels resisted VE-cadherin loss and maintained button junctions, which was associated with an upregulation of junctional molecules. Very different, mesenteric lymphatic collectors deteriorated and formed a strongly hyperplastic layer of lymphatic endothelial cells on the mesothelium. This massive hyperproliferation may have been favored by high mesenteric VEGF-C expression and was associated with VEGFR-3 phosphorylation and upregulation of the transcriptional activator TAZ Finally, intestinal lacteals fragmented into cysts or became highly distended possibly as a consequence of the mesenteric defects. Taken together, we demonstrate here the importance of VE-cadherin for lymphatic vessel development and maintenance, which is however remarkably vessel bed-specific.


Subject(s)
Antigens, CD/metabolism , Cadherins/metabolism , Dermis/embryology , Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental , Lymphangiogenesis , Lymphatic Vessels/metabolism , Mesentery/embryology , Animals , Antigens, CD/genetics , Cadherins/genetics , Endothelial Cells/metabolism , Gene Deletion , Mice , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C/genetics , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C/metabolism , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3/genetics , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3/metabolism
11.
JCI Insight ; 2(16)2017 Aug 17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28814672

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Lack of investigatory and diagnostic tools has been a major contributing factor to the failure to mechanistically understand lymphedema and other lymphatic disorders in order to develop effective drug and surgical therapies. One difficulty has been understanding the true changes in lymph vessel pathology from standard 2D tissue sections. METHODS: VIPAR (volume information-based histopathological analysis by 3D reconstruction and data extraction), a light-sheet microscopy-based approach for the analysis of tissue biopsies, is based on digital reconstruction and visualization of microscopic image stacks. VIPAR allows semiautomated segmentation of the vasculature and subsequent nonbiased extraction of characteristic vessel shape and connectivity parameters. We applied VIPAR to analyze biopsies from healthy lymphedematous and lymphangiomatous skin. RESULTS: Digital 3D reconstruction provided a directly visually interpretable, comprehensive representation of the lymphatic and blood vessels in the analyzed tissue volumes. The most conspicuous features were disrupted lymphatic vessels in lymphedematous skin and a hyperplasia (4.36-fold lymphatic vessel volume increase) in the lymphangiomatous skin. Both abnormalities were detected by the connectivity analysis based on extracted vessel shape and structure data. The quantitative evaluation of extracted data revealed a significant reduction of lymphatic segment length (51.3% and 54.2%) and straightness (89.2% and 83.7%) for lymphedematous and lymphangiomatous skin, respectively. Blood vessel length was significantly increased in the lymphangiomatous sample (239.3%). CONCLUSION: VIPAR is a volume-based tissue reconstruction data extraction and analysis approach that successfully distinguished healthy from lymphedematous and lymphangiomatous skin. Its application is not limited to the vascular systems or skin. FUNDING: Max Planck Society, DFG (SFB 656), and Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence EXC 1003.

12.
Cell Rep ; 18(7): 1804-1816, 2017 02 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28199850

ABSTRACT

Measurements of flow velocities at the level of individual arterial vessels and sinusoidal capillaries are crucial for understanding the dynamics of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell homing in the bone marrow vasculature. We have developed two complementary intravital two-photon imaging approaches to determine blood flow dynamics and velocities in multiple vessel segments by capturing the motion of red blood cells. High-resolution spatiotemporal measurements through a cranial window to determine short-time dynamics of flowing blood cells and repetitive centerline scans were used to obtain a detailed flow-profile map with hemodynamic parameters. In addition, we observed the homing of individual hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and obtained detailed information on their homing behavior. With our imaging setup, we determined flow patterns at cellular resolution, blood flow velocities and wall shear stress in small arterial vessels and highly branched sinusoidal capillaries, and the cellular dynamics of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell homing.


Subject(s)
Blood Flow Velocity/physiology , Bone Marrow Cells/physiology , Bone Marrow/physiology , Hematopoietic Stem Cells/physiology , Microvessels/physiology , Animals , Cell Movement/physiology , Hemodynamics/physiology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Transgenic , Shear Strength/physiology , Stress, Physiological/physiology
13.
Cell ; 168(3): 442-459.e20, 2017 01 26.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28111071

ABSTRACT

Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and cMyc (OSKM) reprogram somatic cells to pluripotency. To gain a mechanistic understanding of their function, we mapped OSKM-binding, stage-specific transcription factors (TFs), and chromatin states in discrete reprogramming stages and performed loss- and gain-of-function experiments. We found that OSK predominantly bind active somatic enhancers early in reprogramming and immediately initiate their inactivation genome-wide by inducing the redistribution of somatic TFs away from somatic enhancers to sites elsewhere engaged by OSK, recruiting Hdac1, and repressing the somatic TF Fra1. Pluripotency enhancer selection is a stepwise process that also begins early in reprogramming through collaborative binding of OSK at sites with high OSK-motif density. Most pluripotency enhancers are selected later in the process and require OS and other pluripotency TFs. Somatic and pluripotency TFs modulate reprogramming efficiency when overexpressed by altering OSK targeting, somatic-enhancer inactivation, and pluripotency enhancer selection. Together, our data indicate that collaborative interactions among OSK and with stage-specific TFs direct both somatic-enhancer inactivation and pluripotency-enhancer selection to drive reprogramming.


Subject(s)
Cellular Reprogramming , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Animals , Chromatin/metabolism , Fibroblasts/metabolism , Histone Code , Kruppel-Like Factor 4 , Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors/metabolism , Mice , Octamer Transcription Factor-3/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc/metabolism , Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional , SOXB1 Transcription Factors/metabolism , Silencer Elements, Transcriptional
14.
Blood ; 128(4): 529-41, 2016 07 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27235139

ABSTRACT

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is the first cytokine known to counteract chemokine-induced activation of leukocyte integrins. We showed recently that this activity dampens neutrophil recruitment into inflamed tissue and is required for survival of myocardial infarction in mice. The receptor responsible for this GDF-15-triggered anti-inflammatory mechanism on myeloid cells is not known. Here, we identify this receptor as transforming growth factor ß receptor I (TGF-ßRI) (activin receptor-like kinase 5 [ALK-5]) and TGF-ß receptor II (TGF-ßRII). We show that interference with these receptors by small-molecule inhibitors, antibodies, or small interfering RNA, blocked the GDF-15 effect on leukocyte integrin activation. Likewise, gene inactivation of each of the 2 receptors in neutrophils isolated from conditional gene-deficient mice abolished the inhibitory effect of GDF-15 on CXCL1-induced ß2-integrin activation and neutrophil diapedesis. Rapid neutrophil arrest induced by CXCL1 in vivo was inhibited by GDF-15 in an ALK-5 and TGF-ßRII dependent way. As for GDF-15 gene-deficient mice, we found that extravasation of neutrophils deficient for ALK-5 or TGF-ßRII was strongly increased in the interleukin-1ß inflamed cremaster. The inhibitory effects of GDF-15 on neutrophil integrin activation and in vivo neutrophil arrest were also found for TGF-ß1. Mechanistically, GDF-15 and TGF-ß1 interfered with integrin activation by inhibiting the activation of Ras-related protein 1 (Rap-1), an effect that depended on CalDAG- guanine nucleotide exchange factor 1 (GEF1) and cell division control protein 42 homolog. We conclude that both GDF-15 and TGF-ß1 counteract chemokine-induced integrin activation on neutrophils via the ALK-5/TGF-ßRII heterodimer. This represents a novel, rapid anti-inflammatory activity of the 2 TGF-ß receptors and of TGF-ß1.


Subject(s)
CD18 Antigens/metabolism , Growth Differentiation Factor 15/metabolism , Neutrophils/metabolism , Protein Multimerization/physiology , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism , Animals , CD18 Antigens/genetics , Growth Differentiation Factor 15/genetics , Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors/genetics , Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors/metabolism , Humans , Interleukin-1beta/genetics , Interleukin-1beta/metabolism , Mice , Neutrophils/cytology , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics , Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type I , Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II , Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta/genetics , Transforming Growth Factor beta1/genetics , Transforming Growth Factor beta1/metabolism
15.
Circ Res ; 115(6): 581-90, 2014 Aug 29.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25057127

ABSTRACT

RATIONALE: Endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 (Esm1) is a secreted protein thought to play a role in angiogenesis and inflammation. However, there is currently no direct in vivo evidence supporting a function of Esm1 in either of these processes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of Esm1 in vivo and the underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: We generated and analyzed Esm1 knockout (Esm1(KO)) mice to study its role in angiogenesis and inflammation. Esm1 expression is induced by the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in endothelial tip cells of the mouse retina. Esm1(KO) mice showed delayed vascular outgrowth and reduced filopodia extension, which are both VEGF-A-dependent processes. Impairment of Esm1 function led to a decrease in phosphorylated Erk1/2 (extracellular-signal regulated kinases 1/2) in sprouting vessels. We also found that Esm1(KO) mice displayed a 40% decrease in leukocyte transmigration. Moreover, VEGF-induced vascular permeability was decreased by 30% in Esm1(KO) mice and specifically on stimulation with VEGF-A165 but not VEGF-A121. Accordingly, cerebral edema attributable to ischemic stroke-induced vascular permeability was reduced by 50% in the absence of Esm1. Mechanistically, we show that Esm1 binds directly to fibronectin and thereby displaces fibronectin-bound VEGF-A165 leading to increased bioavailability of VEGF-A165 and subsequently enhanced levels of VEGF-A signaling. CONCLUSIONS: Esm1 is simultaneously a target and modulator of VEGF signaling in endothelial cells, playing a role in angiogenesis, inflammation, and vascular permeability, which might be of potential interest for therapeutic applications.


Subject(s)
Cell Membrane Permeability/physiology , Cell Membrane/physiology , Endothelial Cells/physiology , Proteoglycans/physiology , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/physiology , Animals , Biological Availability , Fibronectins/metabolism , Inflammation/physiopathology , Male , Mice , Mice, Knockout , Mice, Transgenic , Models, Animal , Neovascularization, Physiologic/physiology , Proteoglycans/deficiency , Proteoglycans/genetics , Signal Transduction/physiology , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism
16.
J Immunol ; 190(3): 892-6, 2013 Feb 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23293350

ABSTRACT

CD99-like 2 (CD99L2) is a membrane protein with moderate sequence homology to CD99, which initiates cell aggregation of transfected cells and that is strongly expressed on endothelial cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. We showed recently that Abs against CD99L2 inhibit neutrophil, but not T lymphocyte, recruitment into inflamed tissues. In this study, we have generated conditional gene-deficient mice for CD99L2 and show by analyzing them in various inflammation models several results. First, gene ablation of CD99L2 impairs neutrophil recruitment into inflamed cremaster and peritoneum. Second, despite the strong expression of CD99L2 on peripheral neutrophils, only gene ablation on endothelial cells but not on myeloid cells affects neutrophil extravasation. Third, in contrast to our previous Ab-based results, recruitment of activated T cells into inflamed skin was impaired in mice lacking CD99L2 on endothelial cells. We conclude that CD99L2 is an essential endothelial Ag for leukocyte extravasation, which does not require homophilic interactions with CD99L2 on leukocytes.


Subject(s)
Antigens, CD/physiology , Chemotaxis, Leukocyte/physiology , Transendothelial and Transepithelial Migration/physiology , 12E7 Antigen , Animals , Antibodies/pharmacology , Antigens, CD/genetics , Antigens, CD/immunology , Cells, Cultured , Coculture Techniques , Endothelial Cells/immunology , Endothelial Cells/pathology , Gene Knockdown Techniques , Inflammation/immunology , Lung/blood supply , Male , Mice , Microcirculation , Myeloid Cells/immunology , Myositis/immunology , Neutrophils/physiology , Ovalbumin/immunology , Peptide Fragments/immunology , Peritonitis/chemically induced , Peritonitis/immunology , Radiation Chimera , T-Lymphocytes/immunology
17.
Nat Med ; 17(5): 581-8, 2011 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21516086

ABSTRACT

Inflammatory cell recruitment after myocardial infarction needs to be tightly controlled to permit infarct healing while avoiding fatal complications such as cardiac rupture. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), a transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)-related cytokine, is induced in the infarcted heart of mice and humans. We show that coronary artery ligation in Gdf15-deficient mice led to enhanced recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) into the infarcted myocardium and an increased incidence of cardiac rupture. Conversely, infusion of recombinant GDF-15 repressed PMN recruitment after myocardial infarction. In vitro, GDF-15 inhibited PMN adhesion, arrest under flow and transendothelial migration. Mechanistically, GDF-15 counteracted chemokine-triggered conformational activation and clustering of ß(2) integrins on PMNs by activating the small GTPase Cdc42 and inhibiting activation of the small GTPase Rap1. Intravital microscopy in vivo in Gdf15-deficient mice showed that Gdf-15 is required to prevent excessive chemokine-activated leukocyte arrest on the endothelium. Genetic ablation of ß(2) integrins in myeloid cells rescued the mortality of Gdf15-deficient mice after myocardial infarction. To our knowledge, GDF-15 is the first cytokine identified as an inhibitor of PMN recruitment by direct interference with chemokine signaling and integrin activation. Loss of this anti-inflammatory mechanism leads to fatal cardiac rupture after myocardial infarction.


Subject(s)
Growth Differentiation Factor 15/physiology , Integrins/physiology , Myocardial Infarction/physiopathology , Neutrophils/physiology , Animals , CD18 Antigens/genetics , CD18 Antigens/physiology , Cell Adhesion , Cell Movement , Growth Differentiation Factor 15/deficiency , Growth Differentiation Factor 15/genetics , Male , Mice , Mice, 129 Strain , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Myeloid Cells/pathology , Myeloid Cells/physiology , Myocardial Infarction/genetics , Myocardial Infarction/pathology , Neutrophils/pathology , Signal Transduction , cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein/physiology , rap1 GTP-Binding Proteins/physiology
18.
Blood ; 117(3): 942-52, 2011 Jan 20.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21030556

ABSTRACT

The endothelium actively participates in neutrophil migration out of the vasculature via dynamic, cytoskeleton-dependent rearrangements leading to the formation of transmigratory cups in vitro, and to domes that completely surround the leukocyte in vivo. Leukocyte-specific protein 1 (LSP1), an F-actin-binding protein recently shown to be in the endothelium, is critical for effective transmigration, although the mechanism has remained elusive. Herein we show that endothelial LSP1 is expressed in the nucleus and cytosol of resting endothelial cells and associates with the cytoskeleton upon endothelial activation. Two-photon microscopy revealed that endothelial LSP1 was crucial for the formation of endothelial domes in vivo in response to neutrophil chemokine keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC) as well as in response to endogenously produced chemokines stimulated by cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α [TNFα] or interleukin-1ß [IL-1ß]). Endothelial domes were significantly reduced in Lsp1(-/-) compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Lsp1(-/-) animals not only showed impaired neutrophil emigration after KC and TNFα stimulation, but also had disproportionate increases in vascular permeability. We demonstrate that endothelial LSP1 is recruited to the cytoskeleton in inflammation and plays an important role in forming endothelial domes thereby regulating neutrophil transendothelial migration. The permeability data may underscore the physiologic relevance of domes and the role for LSP1 in endothelial barrier integrity.


Subject(s)
Calcium-Binding Proteins/physiology , Capillary Permeability/physiology , Endothelium/metabolism , Neutrophils/physiology , Transendothelial and Transepithelial Migration , Animals , Blotting, Western , Calcium-Binding Proteins/genetics , Calcium-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Capillary Permeability/drug effects , Cells, Cultured , Cytoskeleton/metabolism , Endothelial Cells/drug effects , Endothelial Cells/metabolism , Endothelium/cytology , Endothelium/drug effects , Female , Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics , Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism , Humans , Male , Mice , Mice, 129 Strain , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Microfilament Proteins , Microscopy, Confocal/instrumentation , Microscopy, Electron, Transmission , Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton/instrumentation , Muscle, Skeletal/blood supply , Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects , Neutrophils/cytology , Neutrophils/ultrastructure , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/pharmacology
19.
Blood ; 116(7): 1172-84, 2010 Aug 19.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20479283

ABSTRACT

Leukocyte extravasation depends on various adhesion receptors at endothelial cell contacts. Here we have analyzed how mouse CD99 and CD99L2 cooperate with PECAM-1. We found that antibodies against mouse CD99 and PECAM-1 trap neutrophils between endothelial cells in in vitro transmigration assays. A sequential function, as has been suggested for human PECAM-1 and CD99, could not be demonstrated. In contrast to these in vitro results, blocking CD99 or CD99L2 or gene disruption of PECAM-1 trapped neutrophils in vivo between endothelial cells and the underlying basement membrane as revealed by electron microscopy and by 3-dimensional confocal fluorescence microscopy in the inflamed cremaster tissue. Leukocyte extravasation was inhibited in interleukin-1beta-inflamed peritoneum and in the cremaster by PECAM-1 gene disruption and was further attenuated by blocking antibodies against CD99 and CD99L2. In addition, CD99 and CD99L2 were required for leukocyte extravasation in the cremaster after stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-alpha, where the need for PECAM-1 is known to be bypassed. We conclude that CD99 and CD99L2 act independently of PECAM-1 in leukocyte extravasation and cooperate in an independent way to help neutrophils overcome the endothelial basement membrane.


Subject(s)
Antigens, CD/physiology , Endothelium, Vascular/metabolism , Leukocytes/immunology , Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1/physiology , 12E7 Antigen , Animals , Basement Membrane/immunology , Basement Membrane/metabolism , Cell Adhesion , Cell Movement , Cells, Cultured , Endothelium, Vascular/cytology , Endothelium, Vascular/immunology , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Humans , Inflammation , Leukocytes/cytology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Neutrophils/immunology , Neutrophils/metabolism , Peritoneum/immunology
20.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl ; 48(29): 5282-6, 2009.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19308941

ABSTRACT

The right fit: Plasmid DNA molecules show chirality-dependent interaction with gold surfaces modified by L and D N-isobutyrylcysteine. Relaxed DNA molecules have a stronger interaction and adsorption on the L surface, while their counterparts on the D surface maintain a supercoiled conformation, indicating a weak interaction (see picture).


Subject(s)
Cysteine/analogs & derivatives , DNA/chemistry , Gold/chemistry , Plasmids/chemistry , Adsorption , Computer Simulation , Cysteine/chemistry , Models, Molecular , Molecular Conformation , Nucleic Acid Conformation , Stereoisomerism , Surface Properties
SELECTION OF CITATIONS
SEARCH DETAIL