PKCα-mediated phosphorylation of the diacylglycerol kinase ζ MARCKS domain switches cell migration modes by regulating interactions with Rac1 and RhoA.

Cells can switch between Rac1 (lamellipodia-based) and RhoA (blebbing-based) migration modes, but the molecular mechanisms regulating this shift are not fully understood. Diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGKζ), which phosphorylates diacylglycerol to yield phosphatidic acid, forms independent complexes with Rac1 and RhoA, selectively dissociating each from their common inhibitor RhoGDI. DGKζ catalytic activity is required for Rac1 dissociation but is dispensable for RhoA dissociation; instead, DGKζ stimulates RhoA release via a kinase-independent scaffolding mechanism. The molecular determinants that mediate the selective targeting of DGKζ to Rac1 or RhoA signaling complexes are unknown. Here, we show that protein kinase Cα (PKCα)-mediated phosphorylation of the DGKζ MARCKS domain increased DGKζ association with RhoA and decreased its interaction with Rac1. The same modification also enhanced DGKζ interaction with the scaffold protein syntrophin. Expression of a phosphomimetic DGKζ mutant stimulated membrane blebbing in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and C2C12 myoblasts, which was augmented by inhibition of endogenous Rac1. DGKζ expression in differentiated C2 myotubes, which have low endogenous Rac1 levels, also induced substantial membrane blebbing via the RhoA-ROCK pathway. These events were independent of DGKζ catalytic activity, but dependent upon a functional C-terminal PDZ-binding motif. Rescue of RhoA activity in DGKζ-null cells also required the PDZ-binding motif, suggesting that syntrophin interaction is necessary for optimal RhoA activation. Collectively, our results define a switch-like mechanism whereby DGKζ phosphorylation by PKCα plays a role in the interconversion between Rac1 and RhoA signaling pathways that underlie different cellular migration modes.

Diacylglycerol kinase ζ regulates RhoA activation via a kinase-independent scaffolding mechanism.

Rho GTPases share a common inhibitor, Rho guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (RhoGDI), which regulates their expression levels, membrane localization, and activation state. The selective dissociation of individual Rho GTPases from RhoGDI ensures appropriate responses to cellular signals, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGKζ), which phosphorylates diacylglycerol to yield phosphatidic acid, selectively dissociates Rac1 by stimulating PAK1-mediated phosphorylation of RhoGDI on Ser-101/174. Similarly, phosphorylation of RhoGDI on Ser-34 by protein kinase Cα (PKCα) selectively releases RhoA. Here we show DGKζ is required for RhoA activation and Ser-34 phosphorylation, which were decreased in DGKζ-deficient fibroblasts and rescued by wild-type DGKζ or a catalytically inactive mutant. DGKζ bound directly to the C-terminus of RhoA and the regulatory arm of RhoGDI and was required for efficient interaction of PKCα and RhoA. DGKζ-null fibroblasts had condensed F-actin bundles and altered focal adhesion distribution, indicative of aberrant RhoA signaling. Two targets of the RhoA effector ROCK showed reduced phosphorylation in DGKζ-null cells. Collectively our findings suggest DGKζ functions as a scaffold to assemble a signaling complex that functions as a RhoA-selective, GDI dissociation factor. As a regulator of Rac1 and RhoA activity, DGKζ is a critical factor linking changes in lipid signaling to actin reorganization.

Synaptic neurotransmission depression in ventral tegmental dopamine neurons and cannabinoid-associated addictive learning.

Drug addiction is an association of compulsive drug use with long-term associative learning/memory. Multiple forms of learning/memory are primarily subserved by activity- or experience-dependent synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). Recent studies suggest LTP expression in locally activated glutamate synapses onto dopamine neurons (local Glu-DA synapses) of the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) following a single or chronic exposure to many drugs of abuse, whereas a single exposure to cannabinoid did not significantly affect synaptic plasticity at these synapses. It is unknown whether chronic exposure of cannabis (marijuana or cannabinoids), the most commonly used illicit drug worldwide, induce LTP or LTD at these synapses. More importantly, whether such alterations in VTA synaptic plasticity causatively contribute to drug addictive behavior has not previously been addressed. Here we show in rats that chronic cannabinoid exposure activates VTA cannabinoid CB1 receptors to induce transient neurotransmission depression at VTA local Glu-DA synapses through activation of NMDA receptors and subsequent endocytosis of AMPA receptor GluR2 subunits. A GluR2-derived peptide blocks cannabinoid-induced VTA synaptic depression and conditioned place preference, i.e., learning to associate drug exposure with environmental cues. These data not only provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, that NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic depression at VTA dopamine circuitry requires GluR2 endocytosis, but also suggest an essential contribution of such synaptic depression to cannabinoid-associated addictive learning, in addition to pointing to novel pharmacological strategies for the treatment of cannabis addiction.

PTEN suppression promotes neurite development exclusively in differentiating PC12 cells via PI3-kinase and MAP kinase signaling.

As a dual-specificity phosphatase catalyzing the dephosphorylation of phosphatidylinositols and protein substrates, PTEN is critically involved in the nervous system development. However, the regulatory role of PTEN in neurite outgrowth is still controversial, and the downstream signaling events remain elusive. Here, we show that PTEN knockdown promoted the proliferation and survival but not the neurite outgrowth of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells when exposed to nerve growth factor (NGF). In contrast, selective PTEN silencing in differentiating PC12 cells that express nestin significantly facilitated neurite elongation. Elevated Akt and Erk1/2 phosphorylation was involved in accelerated NGF-induced neurite development of PC12 cells following PTEN knockdown. Discriminated roles of the lipid phosphatase and protein phosphatase activities of PTEN in neurite development, as well as the detailed molecular profiles affected by these phosphatase activities, were defined by restored expression of a lipid phosphatase-deficient PTEN mutant following endogenous PTEN silencing in PC12 cells. Our study suggests an overall inhibitory effect of PTEN in neurite development reconciled by a probably indispensable role of this phosphatase in the initiation of PC12 cell differentiation.

PTEN-5-HT2C coupling: a new target for treating drug addiction.

It is well known that the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a brain region in which virtually all abused drugs exert rewarding effects by activating its dopamine neurons. We recently found that the tumour suppressor enzyme phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) directly interacts to a region in the third intracellular loop (3L4F) of serotonin 5-HT2C receptors (5-HT2cR) in the rat VTA. PTEN limits agonist-induced 5-HT2cR phosphorylation via its protein phosphatase activity. Systemic or intra-amygdaloid application of the interfering peptide Tat-3L4F is able to disrupt PTEN coupling with 5-HT2cR in the rat VTA, resulting both in a suppression of the increased firing rate of VTA dopaminergic neurons induced by Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, and in a blockade of the conditioned place preference induced by THC and nicotine [Ji, S.P. et al. (2006). Nat. Med., 12: 324-329]. Because the blockade effects of Tat-3L4F peptide on the conditioned preference could be achieved by the suppression of Tat-3L4F peptide on the rewarding and/or learning/memory mechanisms associated with conditioned place preference, we recently explored whether Tat-3L4F can affect learning and memory. We observed that Tat-3L4F did not produce significant effects on spatial learning and memory in a Morris water maze test, thus indicating that Tat-3L4F can effectively suppress the rewarding effects induced by drugs of abuse.

Regulation of neurite outgrowth in N1E-115 cells through PDZ-mediated recruitment of diacylglycerol kinase zeta.

Syntrophins are scaffold proteins that regulate the subcellular localization of diacylglycerol kinase zeta (DGK-zeta), an enzyme that phosphorylates the lipid second-messenger diacylglycerol to yield phosphatidic acid. DGK-zeta and syntrophins are abundantly expressed in neurons of the developing and adult brain, but their function is unclear. Here, we show that they are present in cell bodies, neurites, and growth cones of cultured cortical neurons and differentiated N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells. Overexpression of DGK-zeta in N1E-115 cells induced neurite formation in the presence of serum, which normally prevents neurite outgrowth. This effect was independent of DGK-zeta kinase activity but dependent on a functional C-terminal PDZ-binding motif, which specifically interacts with syntrophin PDZ domains. DGK-zeta mutants with a blocked C terminus acted as dominant-negative inhibitors of outgrowth from serum-deprived N1E-115 cells and cortical neurons. Several lines of evidence suggest DGK-zeta promotes neurite outgrowth through association with the GTPase Rac1. DGK-zeta colocalized with Rac1 in neuronal processes and DGK-zeta-induced outgrowth was inhibited by dominant-negative Rac1. Moreover, DGK-zeta directly interacts with Rac1 through a binding site located within its C1 domains. Together with syntrophin, these proteins form a tertiary complex in N1E-115 cells. A DGK-zeta mutant that mimics phosphorylation of the MARCKS domain was unable to bind an activated Rac1 mutant (Rac1(V12)) and phorbol myristate acetate-induced protein kinase C activation inhibited the interaction of DGK-zeta with Rac1(V12), suggesting protein kinase C-mediated phosphorylation of the MARCKS domain negatively regulates DGK-zeta binding to active Rac1. Collectively, these findings suggest DGK-zeta, syntrophin, and Rac1 form a regulated signaling complex that controls polarized outgrowth in neuronal cells.