Distribution of desmoplakin in normal cultured human keratinocytes and in basal cell carcinoma cells

Proteomics as a new tool to study fingermark ageing in forensics

Fingermarks are trace evidence of great forensic importance, and their omnipresence makes them pivotal in crime investigation. Police and law enforcement authorities have exploited fingermarks primarily for personal identification, but crucial knowledge on when fingermarks were deposited is often lacking, thereby hindering crime reconstruction. Biomolecular constituents of fingermark residue, such as amino acids, lipids and proteins, may provide excellent means for fingermark age determination, however robust methodologies or detailed knowledge on molecular mechanisms in time are currently not available. Here, we address fingermark age assessment by: (i) drafting a first protein map of fingermark residue, (ii) differential studies of fresh and aged fingermarks and (iii), to mimic real-world scenarios, estimating the effects of donor contact with bodily fluids on the identification of potential age biomarkers. Using a high-resolution mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach, we drafted a characteristic fingermark proteome, of which five proteins were identified as promising candidates for fingermark age estimation. This study additionally demonstrates successful identification of both endogenous and contaminant proteins from donors that have been in contact with various bodily fluids. In summary, we introduce state-of-the-art proteomics as a sensitive tool to monitor fingermark aging on the protein level with sufficient selectivity to differentiate potential age markers from body fluid contaminants.

The molecular composition and function of desmosomes

Desmosomes are intercellular adhesive junctions that are particularly prominent in tissues experiencing mechanical stress, such as the heart and epidermis. Whereas the related adherens junction links actin to calcium-dependent adhesion molecules known as classical cadherins, desmosomes link intermediate filaments (IF) to the related subfamily of desmosomal cadherins. By tethering these stress-bearing cytoskeletal filaments to the plasma membrane, desmosomes serve as integrators of the IF cytoskeleton throughout a tissue. Recent evidence suggests that IF attachment in turn strengthens desmosomal adhesion. This collaborative arrangement results in formation of a supracellular network, which is critical for imparting mechanical integrity to tissues. Diseases and animal models targeting desmosomal components highlight the importance of desmosomes in development and tissue integrity, while the downregulation of individual protein components in cancer metastasis and wound healing suggests their importance in cell homeostasis. This chapter will provide an update on desmosome composition, function, and regulation, and will also discuss recent work which raises the possibility that desmosome proteins do more than play a structural role in tissues where they reside.

Drebrin, an Actin-Binding, Cell-Type Characteristic Protein: Induction and Localization in Epithelial Skin Tumors and Cultured Keratinocytes

Isoform E2 of drebrin, an actin-binding protein originally identified in neuronal cells, has recently been identified in diverse non-neuronal cells, mostly in association with cell processes and intercellular junctions. Here, we report on the presence of drebrin in normal human skin, epithelial skin cancers, and cultured keratinocytes. Keratinocytes of normal epidermis contain almost no drebrin but the protein is readily seen in hair follicles. By immunohistochemistry and immunoblot, basal cell carcinomas (BCC) are rich in drebrin, and confocal laser scanning and immunoelectron microscopy show accumulation at adhering junctions, in co-localization with actin and partially with plaque proteins. In squamous cell carcinomas, keratoacanthomas, and in epidermal precancers, drebrin is heterogeneously distributed, appearing as mosaics. Primary keratinocyte cultures contain significant amounts of drebrin enriched at adhering junctions. When epithelium-derived cells devoid of drebrin are transfected with drebrin-enhanced green fluorescent protein, constructs accumulate in the cell periphery, and immunoprecipitation shows complexes with actin. During epidermal growth factor induced formation of cell processes, drebrin retains this junction association, as observed by live cell microscopy. Our results suggest novel functions of drebrin such as an involvement in cell-cell adhesion and tumorigenesis and a potential value in diagnosis of BCC.

Medium calcium concentration determines keratin intermediate filament density and distribution in immortalized cultured thymic epithelial cells (TECs)

Isolation and culture of thymic epithelial cells (TECs) using conventional primary tissue culture techniques under conditions employing supplemented low calcium medium yielded an immortalized cell line derived from the LDA rat (Lewis [Rt1l] cross DA [Rt1a]) that could be manipulated in vitro. Thymi were harvested from 4-5-day-old neonates, enzymically digested using collagenase (1 mg/ml, 37 degrees C, 1 h) and cultured in low calcium WAJC404A medium containing cholera toxin (20 ng/ml), dexamethasone (10 nM), epidermal growth factor (10 ng/ml), insulin (10 mug/ml), transferrin (10 mug/ml), 2% calf serum, 2.5% Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM), and 1% antibiotic/antimycotic. TECs cultured in low calcium displayed round to spindle-shaped morphology, distinct intercellular spaces (even at confluence), and dense reticular-like keratin patterns. In high calcium (0.188 mM), TECs formed cobblestone-like confluent monolayers that were resistant to trypsinization (0.05%) and displayed keratin intermediate filaments concentrated at desmosomal junctions between contiguous cells. Changes in cultured TEC morphology were quantified by an analysis of desmosome/membrane relationships in high and low calcium media. Desmosomes were significantly increased in the high calcium medium. These studies may have value when considering the growth conditions of cultured primary cell lines like TECs.

Defining the interactions between intermediate filaments and desmosomes

Desmoplakin (DP), plakoglobin (PG), and plakophilin 1 (PP1) are desmosomal components lacking a transmembrane domain, thus making them candidate linker proteins for connecting intermediate filaments and desmosomes. Using deletion and site-directed mutagenesis, we show that remarkably, removal of approximately 1% of DP's sequence obliterates its ability to associate with desmosomes. Conversely, when linked to a foreign protein, as few as 86 NH2-terminal DP residues are sufficient to target to desmosomes efficiently. In in vitro overlay assays, the DP head specifically associates with itself and with desmocollin 1a (Dsc1a). In similar overlay assays, PP1 binds to DP and Dsc1a, and to a lesser extent, desmoglein 1 (Dsg1), while PG binds to Dsg1 and more weakly to Dsc1a and DP. Interestingly, like DP, PG and PP1 associate with epidermal keratins, although PG is considerably weaker in its ability to do so. As judged by overlay assays, the amino terminal head domain of type II keratins appears to have a special importance in establishing these connections. Taken together, our findings provide new insights into the complexities of the links between desmosomes and intermediate filaments (IFs). Our results suggest a model whereby at desmosome sites within dividing epidermal cells, DP and PG anchor to desmosomal cadherins and to each other, forming an ordered array of nontransmembrane proteins that then bind to keratin IFs. As epidermal cells differentiate, PP1 is added as a molecular reinforcement to the plaque, enhancing anchorage to IFs and accounting at least partially for the increase in numbers and stability of desmosomes in suprabasal cells.

Protein phosphatases maintain the organization and structural interactions of hepatic keratin intermediate filaments

The importance of protein phosphatases in the maintenance of cytoskeletal structure is supported by the serious liver injury caused by microcystin-LR, a hepatotoxic inhibitor of type-1 and type-2A serine/threonine protein phosphatases. We used the microcystin-LR-induced cell injury as a model to study the roles of protein dephosphorylation in maintaining cytoskeletal structure and cellular interactions in primary rat hepatocyte cultures. Confocal microscopy revealed that the first visible effect of microcystin-LR is disruption of desmoplakin organization at the cell surface, indicating dissociation of desmosomes. This effect is followed by a dramatic reorganization of both the intermediate filament (keratins 8 and 18) and microfilament networks, resulting in a merged structure in which the intermediate filaments are organized around a condensed actin core. Keratin 8, keratin 18 and desmoplakin I/II are the major cytoskeleton-associated targets for microcystin-LR-induced phosphorylation. Hyperphosphorylation of keratin 8 and 18 is accompanied by an increased keratin solubility, which correlates with the observed morphological effects. Phosphopeptide mapping shows that four specific tryptic phosphopeptides are highly phosphorylated predominantly in the soluble pool of keratin 18, whereas keratin 8 shows no indications of such assembly state-specific sites. Phosphopeptide maps of keratins phosphorylated in vivo and in vitro indicate that Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase may be involved in regulating the serine-specific phosphorylation of both keratin 8 and keratin 18, while cAMP-dependent protein kinase does not seem to play a major role in this context. Taken together, our results show that the interactions between keratin intermediate filaments and desmosomes as well as the assembly states of their main constituent proteins, are directly regulated by serine/threonine kinase/phosphatase equilibria.

Making a connection: direct binding between keratin intermediate filaments and desmosomal proteins

In epidermal cells, keratin intermediate filaments connect with desmosomes to form extensive cadherin-mediated cytoskeletal architectures. Desmoplakin (DPI), a desmosomal component lacking a transmembrane domain, has been implicated in this interaction, although most studies have been conducted with cells that contain few or no desmosomes, and efforts to demonstrate direct interactions between desmoplakin and intermediate filaments have not been successful. In this report, we explore the biochemical nature of the connections between keratin filaments and desmosomes in epidermal keratinocytes. We show that the carboxy terminal "tail" of DPI associates directly with the amino terminal "head" of type II epidermal keratins, including K1, K2, K5, and K6. We have engineered and purified recombinant K5 head and DPI tail, and we demonstrate direct interaction in vitro by solution-binding assays and by ligand blot assays. This marked association is not seen with simple epithelial type II keratins, vimentin, or with type I keratins, providing a possible explanation for the greater stability of the epidermal keratin filament architecture over that of other cell types. We have identified an 18-amino acid residue stretch in the K5 head that is conserved only among type II epidermal keratins and that appears to play some role in DPI tail binding. This finding might have important implications for understanding a recent point mutation found within this binding site in a family with a blistering skin disorder.

Epithelial cells retain junctions during mitosis

It has long been known that cells show reduced cell-substratum adhesion during mitosis in tissue culture, but it is not generally known whether cell-cell adhesion is also reduced. Epithelial cells, both in culture and in tissues, are linked together by several different types of intercellular junctions. Are these junctions disassembled when epithelial cells divide? Cultured epithelial cells were fluorescently stained for desmosomes, tight junctions and zonulae adherentes, and large numbers of dividing cells examined by light microscopy. The results suggested that all three types of intercellular junctions were retained throughout cell division and no evidence for internalization of junctions was obtained. The persistence of intercellular junctions by cultured cells during division was confirmed by electron microscopy. In order to determine whether intercellular junctions were similarly retained by dividing cells in tissues, human colonic mucosal crypt cells and basal keratinocytes were studied by electron microscopy. Both cell types retained intercellular junctions during division. Dividing basal keratinocytes also possessed hemidesmosomal contact with the basement membrane. It is suggested that retention of cellular junctions during division is important for maintenance of tissue integrity and organization.

An immunofluorescence study of the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the organization of microfilaments, keratin intermediate filaments, and microtubules in human keratinocytes

Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy has been used to investigate the ultraviolet (UV) radiation induced disruption of the organization of microfilaments, keratin intermediate filaments, and microtubules in cultured human epidermal keratinocytes. Following irradiation, concurrent changes in the organization of the three major cytoskeletal components were observed in cells incubated under low Ca2+ (0.15 mM) conditions. UV irradiation induced a dose-dependent condensation of keratin filaments into the perinuclear region. This collapse of the keratin network was accompanied by the reorganization of microfilaments into rings and a restricted distribution of microtubules, responses normally elicited by exposure to high Ca2+ (1.05 mM) medium. The UV induced alteration of the keratin network appears to disrupt the interactions between keratin and actin, permitting the reorganization of actin filaments in the absence of Ca2+ stimulation. In addition to the perinuclear condensation of keratin filaments, UV irradiation inhibits the Ca2+ induced formation of keratin alignments at the membrane of apposed cells if UV treatment precedes exposure to high Ca2+ medium. Incubation of keratinocytes in high Ca2+ medium for 24 hours prior to irradiation results in the stabilization of membrane associated keratin alignments and a reduced susceptibility of cytoplasmic keratin filaments to UV induced disruption. Unlike results from investigations with isogenic skin fibroblasts, no UV induced disassembly of microtubules was discernible in irradiated human keratinocytes.

A function for the integrin alpha 6 beta 4 in the hemidesmosome

Many epithelial cells appear to use cell-substratum adhesion complexes known as hemidesmosomes as the main means of anchorage to the connective tissue. Initially recognized as distinctive electron-dense images, hemidesmosomes are still poorly understood at the biochemical level. The regulation and mode of their assembly, which is disrupted in certain blistering diseases and is critical to proper wound repair, also remains to be elucidated. The integrin alpha 6 beta 4 is expressed along the basal surface of various epithelial cells. We show here that this integrin localizes to hemidesmosomes as determined by immunoelectron microscopy using antibodies directed against both the extra- and intracytoplasmic domains of alpha 6 beta 4. This result, which agrees with a recent study, suggests a functional role for the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin in the hemidesmosomes. We therefore investigated such a potential role for this integrin using the cultured rat bladder carcinoma cell line 804G, which has the uncommon ability to form hemidesmosomes in vitro when maintained on uncoated glass substrates. By immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence, we show that 804G cells express alpha 6 beta 4 along their basal surface in a punctate pattern that overlaps with the distribution of hemidesmosomal plaque antigens. However, this pattern is altered when cells are plated in the presence of an antiserum directed against alpha 6 beta 4. Furthermore, no hemidesmosomes are detectable at the ultrastructural level in the alpha 6 beta 4 antibody-treated cells compared with control cells. These results indicate that integrins may play a critical role in assembly and adhesive functions of the hemidesmosome.

Desmoplakin expression and distribution in cultured rat bladder epithelial cells of varying tumorigenic potential

The expression and distribution of the desmosomal plaque proteins, desmoplakins (DPs) I and II, were studied in nontumorigenic (RBE-8) and a series of tumorigenic (AY34, R-4909, SS-24B, RBTCC-8, and 804G) rat bladder epithelial cell lines. These cell lines ranged from slow-growing papillary transitional cells (AY34) to rapidly metastatic carcinoma cells (RBTCC-8). DPs I and II were shown by immunoblotting and Northern analysis to be present in nontumorigenic RBE-8 cells as well as in all of the tumorigenic cell lines, albeit in differing amounts. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed striking differences in DP distribution, corresponding in general with increases in tumorigenic potential. Whereas DPs of normal RBE-8 cells and less tumorigenic AY34 cells were localized predominantly at cell interfaces, the more tumorigenic lines exhibited a high proportion of DP in the form of cytoplasmic dots, a distribution reminiscent of that seen in epithelial cells maintained in low levels of extracellular calcium. In 804G cells, which represented the most extreme example of this phenomenon, the majority of DPs were organized as cytoplasmic dots. Electron microscopy revealed intermediate filament (IF)-associated spots in the cytoplasm as well as an elaborate array of IF-associated plaques at the cell-substratum interface. The IF-associated spots in the cytoplasm reacted with anti-DP antibody in immunogold labeling experiments while those at the cell-substratum did not react. In more dense cultures of 804G cells, certain cells stratified and expressed increased amounts of DP followed by the induction of new keratins including those of the skin type. Decreasing extracellular calcium resulted in a rearrangement of DP in each cell line; staining at cell-cell interfaces disappeared and was replaced with a pattern of cytoplasmic dots. These results demonstrate a possible relationship between desmosome assembly and/or maintenance and tumorigenic potential.

Formation of hemidesmosomes in vitro by a transformed rat bladder cell line

Two hemidesmosomal plaque components of 230 and 180 kD have recently been characterized using autoantibodies in the serum samples of bullous pemphigoid (BP) patients (Klatte, D. H., M. A. Kurpakus, K. A. Grelling, and J. C. R. Jones. 1989, J. Cell Biol. 109:3377-3390). These BP autoantibodies generate the type of staining patterns that one would predict for formed hemidesmosomes, i.e., a punctate staining pattern towards the substratum; in less than 50% of various primary epithelial and transformed epidermal cell lines even when such cells are maintained in culture for prolonged periods. In contrast, affinity-purified human autoantibodies against the 230-kD hemidesmosomal plaque component generate intense immunofluorescence staining along the region of cell-substratum interaction in the rat bladder tumor cell line 804G maintained on uncoated glass cover-slips. This pattern is distinct from that observed in the 804G cells using an antibody preparation directed against vinculin, a component of adhesion plaques. Ultrastructural analyses of the 804G cells reveals that hemidesmosome-like structures occur along the basal surface of cells where they abut the substratum. These structures are present in 804G cells maintained in culture in reduced levels of Ca2+ and are recognized by autoantibodies directed against the 230-kD hemidesmosomal plaque component as determined by immunogold ultrastructural localization. To study hemidesmosome appearance in this cell line, 804G cells were trypsinized and then allowed to readhere to glass coverslips. In rounded, unattached 804G cells, hemidesmosome-like plaque structures occur along the cell surface. These structures are recognized by the 230-kD autoantibodies. At 1 h after plating, hemidesmosomes are observed along the substratum attached surface of cells. Protein synthesis is not required for the appearance of these hemidesmosomes. Within 4 h of plating, autoantibody staining and hemidesmosomes appear towards the cell periphery. Subsequently, the polypeptide recognized by the BP autoantibodies becomes concentrated in the perinuclear region, where there are numerous hemidesmosomes. We propose that the hemidesmosomes in 804G cells are involved in cell-substratum adhesion. We discuss possible mechanisms of assembly of hemidesmosomes in the 804G cells. Indeed, the 804G cells should prove an invaluable cell line for the biochemical and molecular dissection of hemidesmosome structure, function, and assembly.

Biology of basal cell carcinoma (Part I)

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in humans. Although rarely metastatic, it is capable of significant local destruction and disfigurement. This two-part article reviews the current understanding of basal cell carcinoma biology. Part I examines significant clinical, histologic, and ultrastructural features that relate to invasive potential. Genetic characteristics, including tumor growth rate, chromosomal abnormalities, and oncogene presence, are discussed, and expression of important cell and matrix proteins, including keratin, fibronectin, and HLA antigens, are reviewed. Further topics to be explored in Part II include host immunologic responses, theories of pathogenesis, and valuable second-line therapeutic regimens for treatment of multiple cancers.