Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 drives annexin A2 system-mediated perivascular fibrin clearance in oxygen-induced retinopathy in mice.

Oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) is a well-characterized model for retinopathy of prematurity, a disorder that results from rapid microvascular proliferation after exposure of the retina to high oxygen levels. Here, we report that the proliferative phase of OIR requires transcriptional induction of the annexin A2 (A2) gene through the direct action of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 complex. We show, in addition, that A2 stabilizes its binding partner, p11, and promotes OIR-related angiogenesis by enabling clearance of perivascular fibrin. Adenoviral-mediated restoration of A2 expression restores neovascularization in the oxygen-primed Anxa2(-/-) retina and reinstates plasmin generation and directed migration in cultured Anxa2(-/-) endothelial cells. Systemic depletion of fibrin repairs the neovascular response to high oxygen treatment in the Anxa2(-/-) retina, whereas inhibition of plasminogen activation dampens angiogenesis under the same conditions. These findings show that the A2 system enables retinal neoangiogenesis in OIR by enhancing perivascular activation of plasmin and remodeling of fibrin. These data suggest new potential approaches to retinal angiogenic disorders on the basis of modulation of perivascular fibrinolysis.

Feedback regulation of endothelial cell surface plasmin generation by PKC-dependent phosphorylation of annexin A2.

In response to blood vessel injury, hemostasis is initiated by platelet activation, advanced by thrombin generation, and tempered by fibrinolysis. The primary fibrinolytic protease, plasmin, can be activated either on a fibrin-containing thrombus or on cells. Annexin A2 (A2) heterotetramer (A2·p11)(2) is a key profibrinolytic complex that assembles plasminogen and tissue plasminogen activator and promotes plasmin generation. We now report that, in endothelial cells, plasmin specifically induces activation of conventional PKC, which phosphorylates serine 11 and serine 25 of A2, triggering dissociation of the (A2·p11)(2) tetramer. The resulting free p11 undergoes ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation, thus preventing further translocation of A2 to the cell surface. In vivo, pretreatment of A2(+/+) but not A2(-/-) mice with a conventional PKC inhibitor significantly reduced thrombosis in a carotid artery injury model. These results indicate that augmentation of fibrinolytic vascular surveillance by blockade of serine phosphorylation is A2-dependent. We also demonstrate that plasmin-induced phosphorylation of A2 requires both cleavage of A2 and activation of Toll-like receptor 4 on the cell surface. We propose that plasmin can limit its own generation by triggering a finely tuned "feedback" mechanism whereby A2 becomes serine-phosphorylated, dissociates from p11, and fails to translocate to the cell surface.

Endothelial cell annexin A2 regulates polyubiquitination and degradation of its binding partner S100A10/p11.

The annexin A2 (A2) heterotetramer, consisting of two copies of A2 and two copies of S100A10/p11, promotes fibrinolytic activity on the surface of vascular endothelial cells by assembling plasminogen and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and accelerating the generation of plasmin. In humans, overexpression of A2 by acute promyelocytic leukemia cells is associated with excessive fibrinolysis and hemorrhage, whereas anti-A2 autoantibodies appear to accentuate the risk of thrombosis in patients with anti-phospholipid syndrome. Complete deficiency of A2 in mice leads to a lack of tPA cofactor activity, accumulation of intravascular fibrin, and failure to clear arterial thrombi. Within the endothelial cell, p11 is required for Src kinase-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of A2, which signals translocation of both proteins to the cell surface. Here we show that p11 is expressed at very low levels in the absence of A2 both in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate further that unpartnered p11 becomes polyubiquitinated and degraded via a proteasome-dependent mechanism. A2 stabilizes intracellular p11 through direct binding, thus masking an autonomous p11 polyubiquitination signal that triggers proteasomal degradation. This interaction requires both the p11-binding N-terminal domain of A2 and the C-terminal domain of p11. This mechanism prevents accumulation of free p11 in the endothelial cell and suggests that regulation of tPA-dependent cell surface fibrinolytic activity is precisely tuned to the intracellular level of p11.

Listeria monocytogenes promotes tumor growth via tumor cell toll-like receptor 2 signaling.

The contribution of bacterial infection to tumorigenesis is usually ascribed to infection-associated inflammation. An alternate view is that direct interaction of bacteria with tumor cells promotes tumor progression. Here, we show that the microenvironment of large tumors favors bacterial survival, which in turn directly accelerates tumor growth by activating tumor cell Toll-like receptors (TLR). Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) survives in the microenvironment of large but not small tumors, resulting in the promotion of tumor growth. Lm did not affect the percentage of regulatory T cells or myeloid suppressor cells in the tumor. Through TLR2 signaling, Lm activated mitogen-activated protein kinases and nuclear factor-kappaB in tumor cells, resulting in the increased production of nitric oxide and interleukin-6 and increased proliferation of tumor cells. All of these effects were abrogated by silencing expression of TLR2, but not TLR4. The interaction of Helicobacter pylori with tumor cells from gastric carcinoma patients resulted in similar effects. These findings provide a new insight into infection-associated tumorigenesis and illustrate the importance of antibiotic therapy to treat tumors with bacterial infiltration.

Toll-like receptors on tumor cells facilitate evasion of immune surveillance.

The signal pathways that trigger tumor cell escape from immune surveillance are incompletely understood. Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which activate innate and adaptive immune responses, are thought to be restricted to immune cells. We show here that TLRs, including TLR4, are expressed on tumor cells from a wide variety of tissues, suggesting that TLR activation may be an important event in tumor cell immune evasion. Activation of TLR4 signaling in tumor cells by lipopolysaccharide induces the synthesis of various soluble factors and proteins including interleukin-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, interleukin-12, B7-H1, and B7-H2, and results in resistance of tumor cells to CTL attack. In addition, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated tumor cell supernatants inhibit both T cell proliferation and natural killer cell activity. Blockade of the TLR4 pathway by either TLR4 short interfering RNA or a cell-permeable TLR4 inhibitory peptide reverses tumor-mediated suppression of T cell proliferation and natural killer cell activity in vitro, and in vivo, delays tumor growth and thus prolongs the survival of tumor-bearing mice. These findings indicate that TLR signaling results in a cascade leading to tumor evasion from immune surveillance. These novel functions of TLRs in tumor biology suggest a new class of therapeutic targets for cancer therapy.

Essential role for IKKgamma/NEMO in TCR-induced IL-2 expression in Jurkat T cells.

The control of IL-2 gene expression in T cells by multiple transcriptional factors has been extensively explored, however, the role of the NF-kappaB signaling pathway in TCR-dependent IL-2 production still remains unclear. In this study, we used a somatic cell genetics approach to address this question. Triggering TCR in mutant Jurkat T cells lacking IKKgamma/NEMO failed to induce IL-2 due to a selective loss in I-kappaB kinase activity, I-kappaBalpha degradation and NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity. The AP-1 and NF-AT binding activities in the IL-2 promoter were comparable between wild-type and mutant T cells. These defects in the mutant cell line were rescued by the reintroduction of exogenous IKKgamma. Taken together, our data demonstrate that IKKgamma plays an essential role in TCR-induced signaling pathways leading to IL-2 expression.

A20 inhibits tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha-induced apoptosis by disrupting recruitment of TRADD and RIP to the TNF receptor 1 complex in Jurkat T cells.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) can trigger distinct signaling pathways leading to either the activation of NF-kappaB transcription factors or apoptosis. NF-kappaB activation results in the expression of antiapoptotic genes that inhibit the apoptosis pathway that is activated in parallel. However, the molecular mechanism of this inhibition remains poorly characterized. We have isolated a Jurkat T-cell mutant that exhibits enhanced sensitivity to TNF-induced apoptosis as a result of a deficiency in I-kappaB kinase gamma (IKKgamma)/NEMO, an essential component of the IKK complex and NF-kappaB pathway. We show here that the zinc finger protein A20 is an NF-kappaB-inducible gene that can protect the IKKgamma-deficient cells from TNF-induced apoptosis by disrupting the recruitment of the death domain signaling molecules TRADD and RIP to the receptor signaling complex. Our study, together with reports on the role of other antiapoptotic proteins such as c-FLIP and c-IAP, suggests that, in order to ensure an effective shutdown of the apoptotic pathway, TNF induces multiple NF-kappaB-dependent genes that inhibit successive steps in the TNFR1 death signaling pathway.