Establishment and characterization of a canine soft tissue sarcoma patient-derived xenograft model.

Spontaneously occurring soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is relatively common in canine cancer patients. Because of the similarities to human disease, canine STSs are a valuable and readily available resource for the study of new therapeutics. In this study, a canine patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model, CDX-STS2, was established. The CDX-STS2 model was engrafted and expanded for systemic administration studies with chemotherapeutic agents commonly used to treat STS, including doxorubicin, docetaxel and gemcitabine. Immunohistochemistry for drug-specific biomarkers and tumour growth measurement revealed tumour sensitivity to doxorubicin and docetaxel, whereas gemcitabine had no effect on tumour growth. Although many human PDX tumour models have been established, relatively few canine PDX models have been reported to date. CDX-STS2 represents a new STS PDX research model of canine origin that will be useful in bridging preclinical research with clinical studies of STS in pet dogs.

The two PDGF receptors maintain conserved signaling in vivo despite divergent embryological functions.

Gene targeting studies have indicated that the two receptors for PDGF, alpha and beta, direct unique functions during development. Distinct ligand affinities, patterns of gene expression, and/or mechanisms of signal relay may account for functional specificity of the two PDGF receptor isoforms. To distinguish between these factors, we have created two complementary lines of knockin mice in which the intracellular signaling domains of one PDGFR have been removed and replaced by those of the other PDGFR. While both lines demonstrated substantial rescue of normal development, substitution of the PDGFbetaR signaling domains with those of the PDGFalphaR resulted in varying degrees of vascular disease. This observation provides a framework for discussing the evolution of receptor tyrosine kinase functional specificity.

Retention of PDGFR-beta function in mice in the absence of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase and phospholipase Cgamma signaling pathways.

Signal transduction by the platelet-derived growth-factor receptor beta (PDGFR-beta) tyrosine kinase is required for proper formation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). However, the importance of individual PDGFR-beta signal transduction pathways in vivo is not known. To investigate the role of two of the pathways believed to be critical for PDGF signal transduction, we have generated mice that bear a PDGFR-beta that can no longer activate PI3kinase or PLCgamma. Although these mutant mice have normal vasculature, we provide multiple lines of evidence in vivo and from cells derived from the mutant mice that suggest that the mutant PDGFR-beta operates at suboptimal levels. Our observations indicate that although loss of these pathways can lead to attenuated PDGF-dependent cellular function, certain PDGFR-beta-induced signal cascades are not essential for survival in mice.

Src family kinases negatively regulate platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor-dependent signaling and disease progression.

We tested the hypothesis that Src family kinases (SFK) contribute to c-Cbl-mediated degradation of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) alpha receptor (alphaPDGFR). Using either a receptor mutant that does not engage SFKs (F72/74), or cells that that lack SFKs, we found that SFKs contributed to degradation of the alphaPDGFR. Overexpression of c-Cbl also reduced the receptor half-life, but only if the receptor was able to engage SFKs. In cultured cells, prolonging the half-life of the receptor correlated with enhanced signaling and more efficient S phase entry, whereas accelerating receptor degradation had the opposite effect. Consistent with these tissue culture findings, there was a statistically significant increase in the onset of a proliferative retinal disease when animals were injected with cells expressing the F72/74 receptor, as compared with cells expressing the WT receptor. Our findings suggest that SFKs cooperate with c-Cbl to negatively regulate the alphaPDGFR, and that the SFK/c-Cbl suppression of alphaPDGFR output is relevant to the onset and progression of a proliferative disease.

Compartmentalized signaling by GPI-anchored ephrin-A5 requires the Fyn tyrosine kinase to regulate cellular adhesion.

Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their corresponding surface-bound ligands, the ephrins, provide cues to the migration of cells and growth cones during embryonic development. Here we show that ephrin-A5, which is attached to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane by a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchor, induces compartmentalized signaling within a caveolae-like membrane microdomain when bound to the extracellular domain of its cognate Eph receptor. The physiological response induced by this signaling event is concomitant with a change in the cellular architecture and adhesion of the ephrin-A5-expressing cells and requires the activity of the Fyn protein tyrosine kinase. This study stresses the relevance of bidirectional signaling involving the ephrins and Eph receptors during brain development.

Src family kinases are required for integrin but not PDGFR signal transduction.

Src family kinases (SFKs) have been implicated as important regulators of ligand-induced cellular responses including proliferation, survival, adhesion and migration. Analysis of SFK function has been impeded by extensive redundancy between family members. We have generated mouse embryos harboring functional null mutations of the ubiquitously expressed SFKs Src, Yes and Fyn. This triple mutation leads to severe developmental defects and lethality by E9.5. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenotype, SYF cells (deficient for Src, Yes and Fyn) were derived and tested for their ability to respond to growth factors or plating on extracellular matrix. Our studies reveal that while Src, Yes and Fyn are largely dispensable for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced signaling, they are absolutely required to mediate specific functions regulated by extracellular matrix proteins. Fibronectin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion proteins, including the focal adhesion kinase FAK, was nearly eliminated in the absence of Src, Yes and Fyn. Furthermore, consistent with previous reports demonstrating the importance of FAK for cell migration, SYF cells displayed reduced motility in vitro. These results demonstrate that SFK activity is essential during embryogenesis and suggest that defects observed in SYF triple mutant embryos may be linked to deficiencies in signaling by extracellular matrix-coupled receptors.

Growth factor signaling pathways in vascular development.

Recent research on the formation and maintenance of the vasculature in the embryo and in the adult has provided a greater understanding of the cellular signals involved in these processes. With this understanding comes the potential means of controlling vascularization in pathological situations such as tumorigenesis and wounding. For the purpose of this review, we will discuss the key receptor tyrosine kinases involved in vascular function and the molecules which relay signals downstream of receptor activation. The receptor tyrosine kinases discussed include the vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptors, Eph receptors, Tie1, and Tie2, all of which are expressed on vascular endothelial cells. We also discuss the roles of the platelet derived growth factor receptors which are expressed on vascular smooth muscle cells. While all of these receptor tyrosine kinases activate many similar effector molecules, some of the signals initiated appear to be distinct. This may explain, at least in part, how different receptor tyrosine kinases expressed in overlapping patterns on the developing vasculature, direct unique biological functions.

Platelet-derived growth factor-dependent activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase is regulated by receptor binding of SH2-domain-containing proteins which influence Ras activity.

Upon binding of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), the PDGF beta receptor (PDGFR) undergoes autophosphorylation on distinct tyrosine residues and binds several SH2-domain-containing signal relay enzymes, including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phospholipase C gamma (PLC gamma), the GTPase-activating protein of Ras (RasGAP), and the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2. In this study, we have investigated whether PDGF-dependent PI3K activation is affected by the other proteins that associate with the PDGFR. We constructed and characterized a series of PDGFR mutants which contain binding sites for PI3K as well as one additional protein, either RasGAP, SHP-2, or PLC gamma. While all of the receptors had wild-type levels of PDGF-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity and associated with comparable amounts of PI3K activity, their abilities to trigger accumulation of PI3K products in vivo differed dramatically. The wild-type receptor, as well as receptors that recruited PI3K or PI3K and SHP-2, were all capable of fully activating PI3K. In contrast, receptors that associated with PI3K and RasGAP or PI3K and PLC gamma displayed a greatly reduced ability to stimulate production of PI3K products. When this series of receptors was tested for their ability to activate Ras, we observed a strong positive correlation between Ras activation and PI3K activation. Further investigation of the relationship between Ras and PI3K indicated that Ras was upstream of PI3K. Thus, activation of PI3K requires not only binding of PI3K to the tyrosine-phosphorylated PDGFR but accumulation of GTP-bound Ras as well. Furthermore, PLC gamma and RasGAP negatively modulate PDGF-dependent PI3K activation. Finally, PDGF-stimulated signal relay can be regulated by altering the ratio of SH2-domain-containing enzymes that are recruited to the PDGFR.

Identification of a putative Syp substrate, the PDGF beta receptor.

Because the protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) Syp associates with the tyrosine-phosphorylated platelet-derived growth factor beta receptor (beta PDGFR), the beta PDGFR is a likely Syp substrate. We tested this hypothesis by determining whether recombinant Syp (rSyp) and a control PTP, recombinant PTP1B (rPTP1B), were able to dephosphorylate the beta PDGFR. The beta PDGFR was phosphorylated at multiple tyrosine residues in an in vitro kinase assay and then incubated with increasing concentrations of rSyp or rPTP1B. While the receptor was nearly completely dephosphorylated by high concentrations of rPTP1B, receptor dephosphorylation by rSyp plateaued at approximately 50%. Two-dimensional phosphopeptide maps of the beta PDGFR demonstrated that rSyp displayed a clear preference for certain receptor phosphorylation sites; the most efficiently dephosphorylated sites were phosphotyrosines (Tyr(P)-771 and -751, followed by Tyr(P)740, while Tyr(P)-1021 and Tyr(P)-1009 were very poor substrates. In contrast, rPTP1B displayed no selectivity for the various rPTP1B displayed no selectivity for the various beta PDGFR tyrosine phosphorylation sites and dephosphorylated all of them with comparable efficiency. A Syp construct that lacked the SH2 domains was still able to discriminate between the various receptor phosphorylation sites, although less effectively than full-length Syp. These in vitro studies predicted that Syp can dephosphorylate the receptor in vivo. Indeed, we found that a beta PDGFR mutant (F1009) that associates poorly with Syp, had a much slower in vivo rate of receptor dephosphorylation than the wild type receptor. In addition, the GTPase-activating protein of Ras (GAP) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase were less stably associated with the wild type beta PDGFR than with the F1009 receptor. These findings are consistent with the in vitro experiments showign that Syp prefers to dephosphorylate sites on the beta PDGFR, that are important for binding phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Tyr(P)-740 and Tyr(P)-751) and GAP (Tyr(P)-771). These studies reveal that Syp is a substrate-selective PTP and that both the catalytic domain and the SH2 domains contribute to Syp's ability to choose substrates. Furthermore, it appears that Syp plays a role in PDGF-dependent intracellular signal relay by selectively dephosphorylating the beta PDGFR and thereby regulating the binding of a distinct group of receptor-associated signal relay enzymes.