The role of the microtubular system in the cell response to HGF/SF

Actin cytoskeleton in mesenchymal-to-amoeboid transition of cancer cells

During development of metastasis, tumor cells migrate through different tissues and encounter different extracellular matrices. An ability of cells to adapt mechanisms of their migration to these diverse environmental conditions, called migration plasticity, gives tumor cells an advantage over normal cells for long distant dissemination. Different modes of individual cell motility-mesenchymal and amoeboid-are driven by different molecular mechanisms, which largely depend on functions of the actin cytoskeleton that can be modulated in a wide range by cellular signaling mechanisms in response to environmental conditions. Various triggers can switch one motility mode to another, but regulations of these transitions are incompletely understood. However, understanding of the mechanisms driving migration plasticity is instrumental for finding anti-cancer treatment capable to stop cancer metastasis. In this review, we discuss cytoskeletal features, which allow the individually migrating cells to switch between mesenchymal and amoeboid migrating modes, called mesenchymal-to-amoeboid transition (MAT). We briefly describe main characteristics of different cell migration modes, and then discuss the triggering factors that initiate MAT with special attention to cytoskeletal features essential for migration plasticity.

Plasticity of tumor cell migration: acquisition of new properties or return to the past?

During tumor development cancer cells pass through several stages when cell morphology and migration abilities change remarkably. These stages are named epithelial-mesenchymal and mesenchymal-amoeboid transitions. The molecular mechanisms underlying cell motility are changing during these transitions. As result of transitions the cells acquire new characteristics and modes of motility. Cell migration becomes more independent from the environmental conditions, and thus cell dissemination becomes more aggressive, which leads to formation of distant metastases. In this review we discuss the characteristics of each of the transitions, cell morphology, and the specificity of cellular structures responsible for different modes of cell motility as well as molecular mechanisms regulating each transition.

Guanine nucleotide exchange factor Dock7 mediates HGF-induced glioblastoma cell invasion via Rac activation

Background:

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a highly invasive primary brain tumour, remains an incurable disease. Rho GTPases and their activators, guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), have central roles in GBM invasion. Anti-angiogenic therapies may stimulate GBM invasion via HGF/c-Met signalling. We aim to identify mediators of HGF-induced GBM invasion that may represent targets in a combination anti-angiogenic/anti-invasion therapeutic paradigm.

Methods:

Guanine nucleotide exchange factor expression was measured by microarray analysis and western blotting. Specific depletion of proteins was accomplished using siRNA. Cell invasion was determined using matrigel and brain slice assays. Cell proliferation and survival were monitored using sulforhodamine B and colony formation assays. Guanine nucleotide exchange factor and GTPase activities were determined using specific affinity precipitation assays.

Results:

We found that expression of Dock7, a GEF, is elevated in human GBM tissue in comparison with non-neoplastic brain. We showed that Dock7 mediates serum- and HGF-induced glioblastoma cell invasion. We also showed that Dock7 co-immunoprecipitates with c-Met and that this interaction is enhanced upon HGF stimulation in a manner that is dependent on the adaptor protein Gab1. Dock7 and Gab1 also co-immunoprecipitate in an HGF-dependent manner. Furthermore, Gab1 is required for HGF-induced Dock7 and Rac1 activation and glioblastoma cell invasion.

Conclusions:

Dock7 mediates HGF-induced GBM invasion. Targeting Dock7 in GBM may inhibit c-MET-mediated invasion in tumours treated with anti-angiogenic regimens.

Mitotic spindle misorientation in cancer--out of alignment and into the fire

Mitotic spindle orientation can influence tissue organization and vice versa. Cells orient their spindles by rotating them parallel or perpendicular to the cell--and hence the tissue--axis. Spindle orientation in turn controls the placement of daughter cells within a tissue, influencing tissue morphology. Recent findings implicating tumor suppressor proteins in spindle orientation bring to the forefront a connection between spindle misorientation and cancer. In this Commentary, we focus on the role of three major human tumor suppressors--adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), E-cadherin and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)--in spindle orientation. We discuss how, in addition to their better-known functions, these proteins affect microtubule stability and cell polarity, and how their loss of function causes spindles to become misoriented. We also consider how other cancer-associated features, such as oncogene mutations, centrosome amplification and the tumor microenvironment, might influence spindle orientation. Finally, we speculate on the role of spindle misorientation in cancer development and progression. We conclude that spindle misorientation alone is unlikely to be tumorigenic, but it has the potential to synergize with cancer-associated changes to facilitate genomic instability, tissue disorganization, metastasis and expansion of cancer stem cell compartments.

Tumor suppressor interactions with microtubules: keeping cell polarity and cell division on track

Tumor suppressor proteins protect cells and tissues from malignant transformation. Among their diverse actions, many of these proteins interact with the microtubule cytoskeleton. This review focuses on the interactions of several tumor suppressors with microtubules and speculates on how disruption of microtubule-dependent processes may contribute to cancer development and spread. We conclude that several tumor suppressors stabilize microtubules and organize microtubule arrays, functions that are likely to be important in preventing tumorigenesis. How tumor suppressors link microtubule stability with cell fate, and how their mutation affects the response of cancer cells to anti-microtubule chemotherapy drugs, remains unclear; these should prove fertile areas for future research.

Regulation of polarity in cells devoid of actin bundle system after treatment with inhibitors of myosin II activity

Interplay of two cytoskeletal systems--microfilaments and microtubules is essential for directional cell movement. To better understand the role of those cytoskeletal systems in polarization of cells, rat fibroblasts were incubated with drugs inhibiting activity of myosin II: blebbistatin and Y-27632. Both drugs led to disappearance of actin-myosin bundles and mature focal cell-matrix adhesions but did not affect polarization and directional motility. The rate of motility even increased after inhibitor treatment. The characteristic feature of inhibitor-treated fibroblasts was collapse of the cytoplasm accompanied by bundling of microtubules that led to transformation of lamellae into long immobile tails. The only exception was the leading anterior lamella which was not transformed into the tail and supported directional movement of the cell. The tail at the cell rear determined the position of anterior lamella and direction of locomotion. Depolymerization of microtubules by colcemid stopped directional locomotion of inhibitor-treated cells. These data show that integrity of the microtubular system provides the basic mechanism of polarization and orientation which is only modified by interactions with actin-myosin system and cell-substrate adhesions. We suggest that the position of bundled tail microtubules and dispersed microtubules in leading lamella determine polarization in cells lacking stress fibers and focal adhesions. Thus, polarization is based on microtubule-dependent mechanisms both in non-contractile and contractile cells. These mechanisms could switch dependent on circumstances as fibroblasts may acquire non-contractile phenotype, not only after direct inhibition of myosin II but also in certain conditions of microenvironment.

Mimp, a mitochondrial carrier homologue, inhibits Met-HGF/SF-induced scattering and tumorigenicity by altering Met-HGF/SF signaling pathways

We have recently shown that Mimp, a mitochondrial carrier protein homologue, is induced by Met-hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) signaling and decreases the mitochondrial membrane potential in DA3 mammary adenocarcinoma cells. We show here that induction of Mimp leads to growth arrest in response to HGF/SF by arresting cells at the S phase of the cell cycle. Induction of Mimp or its transient expression does not lead to apoptosis. Mimp also attenuates HGF/SF-induced cellular scattering in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. The exogenous induction of Mimp at levels similar to its endogenous induction by HGF/SF increases the level of the Met protein and its phosphorylation by HGF/SF but reduces the levels of Shc and prevents the HGF/SF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Grb2 and Shc. In contrast, the level of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) increases following Mimp induction and the level of phosphorylated PI3K in response to HGF/SF is unaffected by the exogenous induction of Mimp. Moreover, exogenous Mimp prevents the HGF/SF-induced transcription of the serum response element-luciferase reporter gene. Our results show that Mimp expression reduces Met-HGF/SF-induced proliferation and scattering by attenuating and altering the downstream signaling of Met. These data show a new link between a tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor and a mitochondrial carrier homologue that regulates cellular growth, motility, and tumorigenicity.

Drug-Eluting Stents

Advances in catheter and stent design have made stent implantation the standard coronary angioplasty procedure. Unfortunately, in-stent restenosis continues to plague this procedure, with the optimum binary restenosis rates reaching ~10% to 20%. In the past few years, it has become clear that in-stent restenosis is largely due to the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells to form a neointima. To address this issue, stents coated with drug-delivery vehicles have been developed to deliver antiproliferative therapeutics. Two drugs, rapamycin and taxol, have been the lead compounds for testing the idea of a drug-eluting stent. These drugs have been successful largely because of the solid mechanistic understanding of their effects and extensive preclinical examination. The result of these years of work is that the rapamycin-coated stent entered the US market in April of 2003, and the taxol-coated stent appears poised to follow soon.

Hepatocyte Growth Factor/scatter factor-induces phosphorylation of cortactin in A431 cells in a Src kinase-independent manner

The Hepatocyte Growth Factor receptor transduces proliferating and scattering signals in epithelial and endothelial cells. We have explored potential interactions of the HGF/SF receptor beta-subunit (p145(beta MET)) with F-actin binding partners aiming to identify novel downstream effectors implicated in HGF/SF pluripotent signalling. Cortactin, a p80/85 F-actin binding protein, was found phosphorylated on tyrosine in response to HGF-SF in A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells, expressing the HGF/SF receptor (c-MET). The HGF/SF receptor was enriched in the detergent-insoluble fraction and was found to co-precipitate with cortactin and to associate in vitro with cortactin. The Grb2 small adapter protein known to associate via its Src homology 2 domain (SH2) with the MET C-terminus, was also associated with cortactin. Transient transfection of A431 cells with dominant-negative Grb2 constructs has revealed that the Grb2-C-SH3 domain possesses a central role in cortactin phosphorylation in response to HGF/SF. Finally, tyrosine phosphorylation of cortactin was found uncoupled of endogenous c-Src kinase activity, thus further supporting the hypothesis that cortactin is a direct target of the MET kinase. We propose that cortactin may constitute a docking site for MET-derived signals within the cytoskeleton.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor in the eye

Hepatocyte growth factor, also known as scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a multipotential cytokine which can produce a range of responses in target cells and its influence in the eye in health and disease is just beginning to be appreciated. Usually HGF/SF is synthesised by mesenchymally derived cells and targets and signals epithelial cells in a paracrine manner via their c-Met surface receptor. However, there is growing evidence for the existence of autocrine loops in a number of cell systems prominent among which are ocular cells such as the corneal endothelium, the lens epithelium, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and others. Marked cellular proliferation is stimulated when activated HGF/SF is exposed to hepatocytes, renal epithelium, melanocytes and vascular endothelial cells but it is often a poor mitogen for other cell types. In target cells the cytokine promotes other bioactions such as junctional breakdown, shape change, cell scattering, directional and nondirectional migration, cell survival, invasive behaviour and/or tubule formation. These activities seem to depend on HGF/SF linking with the c-Met receptor and pathways to stimulate the various types of cytokine/receptor response are being unravelled at the present time. In corneal wound healing, HGF/SF is produced by stromal keratocytes and targets the repairing epithelium. HGF/SF is a constituent of tears, aqueous humour and vitreous humour at levels above that found in plasma although it is not clear how much is activated. Aqueous HGF/SF may well influence lens epithelial, corneal endothelial and trabecular meshwork cell survival. Vitreous levels of HGF/SF are elevated in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), where a target cell is the RPE and in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) where HGF/SF has been shown to be a major angiogenesis factor. Finally HGF/SF may be involved in the metastatic spread of tumour cells from uveal melanomata and in the formation of vascular channels in these tumours.

Scatter factor induces segregation of multinuclear cells into several discrete motile domains

The effects of scatter factor, HGF/SF, on multinuclear MDCK epitheliocytes were examined. Multinuclear cells were obtained by blocking cytokinesis by low concentration of cytochalasin D; these large cells had discoid shape and did not move much on the substrate. Incubation of these cells with HGF/SF induced their profound reorganization: their cytoplasm was reversibly segregated into several individually moving motile flattened domains, termed lamelloplasts and connected with one another by cylindrical domains termed cables. One or several nuclei were present in many lamelloplasts, but some lamelloplasts were anuclear. Nuclei were absent from the cables. Lamelloplasts continuously formed actin-rich ruffles at their edges; their cytoplasm contained small actin bundles and numerous focal adhesions. In contrast, cable, had no ruffles or focal adhesions. Dense networks of vimentin and keratin intermediate filaments were present in lamelloplasts; bundles of filaments of both types were seen in the cables. Segregation was accompanied by redistribution of centrosomes from perinuclear zone into lamelloplasts. As a result each lamelloplast in segregated cell acquired individual complex of centrosome and radiating microtubules. The cables contained numerous parallel microtubules but never had centrosomes. This reorganization of microtubular system was essential for segregation as alterations of shape and actin cytoskeleton were prevented by microtubule specific drugs: colcemid and Taxol (paclitaxel). It is suggested that mechanism of segregation is based on activation of two types of opposite actin reorganization: formation of actin networks in lamelloplasts and their dismantlement in the cables. Spatial distribution of the domains in which these opposite types of reorganizations occur may be regulated by microtubular system. It is also suggested that mechanisms of HGF/SF-induced segregation may be closely related to the mechanisms of important physiological reorganizations of cells, such as polarization of pseudopodial activities in motile cells and cytokinesis.

Regional regulation of microtubule dynamics in polarized, motile cells

Microtubules are known to be required for locomotion of mammalian cells, and recent experiments demonstrate that suppression of microtubule dynamic turnover reduces the rate of cell motility and induces wandering of growth cones [Liao et al., 1995: J Cell Sci. 108:3473-3483; Tanaka et al., 1995: J Cell Biol. 128:139-155]. To determine how microtubule dynamic instability behavior contributes to directed cell locomotion, the behavior of individual microtubules has been directly observed and quantified at leading and lateral edges of hepatocyte growth factor-treated motile cells. Microtubules extended into newly formed protrusions at the leading edge; these "pioneer" microtubules [Waterman-Storer and Salmon, 1997: J Cell Biol. 139:417-434] showed persistent growth when compared with microtubules in non-leading, lateral edges. The percentage of total observation time spent in the growth phase was 68.2% at the leading edge compared with 32.0% in non-leading edges, and net microtubule elongation was observed in lamellipodia at the leading edge. The frequency of catastrophe transitions was threefold greater and the average number of transitions/microtubule/min was twofold greater in non-leading edges, as compared with the leading edge. These observations demonstrate that pioneer microtubules that enter newly formed lamellipodia at the leading edge of motile cells are characterized by persistent growth excursions, and directly demonstrate that the frequency of catastrophe transitions can be regionally regulated in polarized motile cells. The data indicate that region specific differences in the organization and dynamics of actin filaments may regulate microtubule dynamic instability behavior in vivo.

Requirement of regulated activation of Ras for response of MDCK cells to hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) induces cell scattering, migration, and branching tubule formation of MDCK cells. To examine the role of the Ras protein in the HGF/SF-induced responses, we constructed MDCK cell clones expressing either inducible dominant-negative Ras or constitutively activated Ras and analyzed their effects on responses of cells to HGF/SF. Induced expression of dominant-negative Ras prevented cell dissociation required for cell scattering, migration, and cystic formation as well as branching morphology required for branching tubule formation. Constitutively activated Ras induced cell dissociation, but not a scattered fibroblastic morphology even in the presence of HGF/SF. MDCK cells expressing constitutively activated Ras migrated at a level similar to that of wild-type MDCK cells stimulated by HGF/SF. MDCK cells expressing constitutively activated Ras showed disorganized growth in three-dimensional culture and did not form the branching tubule structures. These results indicate that activation of the Ras protein is essential for the cell scattering, migration, and branching tubule formation of MDCK cells induced by HGF/SF, and a properly regulated activation is required for some stages of the HGF/SF-induced responses of MDCK cells.

SF/HGF is a mediator between limb patterning and muscle development

Scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF) is known to be involved in the detachment of myogenic precursor cells from the lateral dermomyotomes and their subsequent migration into the newly formed limb buds. As yet, however, nothing has been known about the role of the persistent expression of SF/HGF in the limb bud mesenchyme during later stages of limb bud development. To test for a potential role of SF/HGF in early limb muscle patterning, we examined the regulation of SF/HGF expression in the limb bud as well as the influence of SF/HGF on direction control of myogenic precursor cells in limb bud mesenchyme. We demonstrate that SF/HGF expression is controlled by signals involved in limb bud patterning. In the absence of an apical ectodermal ridge (AER), no expression of SF/HGF in the limb bud is observed. However, FGF-2 application can rescue SF/HGF expression. Excision of the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) results in ectopic and enhanced SF/HGF expression in the posterior limb bud mesenchyme. We could identify BMP-2 as a potential inhibitor of SF/HGF expression in the posterior limb bud mesenchyme. We further demonstrate that ZPA excision results in a shift of Pax-3-positive cells towards the posterior limb bud mesenchyme, indicating a role of the ZPA in positioning of the premuscle masses. Moreover, we present evidence that, in the limb bud mesenchyme, SF/HGF increases the motility of myogenic precursor cells and has a role in maintaining their undifferentiated state during migration. We present a model for a crucial role of SF/HGF during migration and early patterning of muscle precursor cells in the vertebrate limb.

Locomotory behaviour of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts on metallic grids

Behaviour of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts on special discontinuous substrata (metallic grids with square openings of 45x45 microm2) was examined in order to compare the ability of these cells to spread in two mutually perpendicular directions and to stretch over the void spaces. Two cell types with typical fibroblastic morphology, the AGO 1523 line of human foreskin fibroblasts and secondary cultures of mouse embryo fibroblasts, and three cell types with typical epithelial morphology, primary mouse hepatocytes, the IAR-2 line of rat liver cells and the MDCK line of canine kidney epithelial cells (clone 20) were used. We also examined the epitheliocytes (MDCK cells, clone 20) transformed to fibroblast-like morphology by treatment with hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). Time-lapse video microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy were used to examine cell reorganizations at various stages of spreading. It was found that early stages of spreading of fibroblasts and epitheliocytes were similar: the cell spread along two bars, perpendicular to each other (bar and crossbar), with the formation of a small triangular lamellar cytoplasm stretched over the opening. Later central parts of the bodies of the fibroblasts retracted from the bars so that the cells remained attached only by their polar lamellae. Successive expansions and partial retractions of these lamellae led to elongation of the cell body crossing several openings of the grid. Epitheliocytes, in contrast to fibroblasts, at the late stages of spreading did not retract their bodies and did not contract polar lamellae. As a result, their central lamellae stretched progressively over the openings. As a result of the treatment of MDCK epitheliocytes with HGF/SF the behaviour of the cells on the grids became similar to that of fibroblasts. It is suggested that these distinct spreading patterns of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts are due to the type-specific differences in the actin-myosin cortex. Experiments with microtubule-specific drugs, colcemid and taxol, indicate that the organization of this cortex is under microtubular control.

Morphogenetic mechanisms of epithelial tubulogenesis: MDCK cell polarity is transiently rearranged without loss of cell-cell contact during scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor-induced tubulogenesis

Many organ systems are composed of networks of epithelial tubes. Recently, molecules that induce development of epithelial tubules and regulate sites of branching have been identified. However, little is known about the mechanisms regulating cell rearrangements that are necessary for tubule formation. In this study we have used a scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor-induced model system of MDCK epithelial cell tubulogenesis to analyze the mechanisms of cell rearrangement during tubule development. We examined the dynamics of cell polarity and cell-cell junctions during tubule formation and present evidence for a multistep model of tubulogenesis in which cells rearrange without loss of cell-cell contacts and tubule lumens form de novo. A three-dimensional analysis of markers for apical and basolateral membrane subdomains shows that epithelial cell polarity is transiently lost and subsequently regained during tubulogenesis. Furthermore, components of cell-cell junctional complexes undergo profound rearrangements: E-cadherin is randomly distributed around the cell surface, desmoplakins I/II accumulate intracellularly, and the tight junction protein ZO-1 remains localized at sites of cell-cell contact. This suggests that differential regulation of cell-cell junctions is important for the formation of tubules. Therefore, during tubulogenesis, cell-cell adhesive contacts are differentially regulated while the polarity and specialization of plasma membrane subdomains reorganize, enabling cells to remain in contact as they rearrange into new structures.

Mammary fibroblast-derived hepatocyte growth factor stimulates growth and morphogenesis of mouse mammary tumor cells in primary culture

We have recently isolated a mammary growth factor from the conditioned medium of mouse mammary stromal fibroblasts and identified it as a mouse homologue of human HGF (hepatocyte growth factor). To elucidate the role of HGF in mouse mammary tumorigenesis, we produced recombinant mouse HGF and examined its effects on primary cultures of mouse mammary tumor cells in this study. HGF at concentrations above 20 ng/ml maximally stimulated the growth of mammary tumor cells in primary monolayer culture. HGF also stimulated the three-dimensional growth and branching morphogenesis of mammary tumor cells cultured inside collagen gels. A comparison of the growth-stimulating activity of HGF with that of EGF (epidermal growth factor) and KGF (keratinocyte growth factor) revealed that HGF is the most potent growth factor among the three. Immunological studies using an antibody against mouse HGF demonstrated that 74% of the growth-stimulating activity present in the mammary fibroblast-conditioned medium was abolished by the antibody, indicating that HGF is the major growth factor produced by the fibroblasts. These observations thus suggest a role for HGF as a mammary stromal fibroblast-derived factor which stimulates growth and morphogenesis of adjacent mammary tumor cells in vivo.

Retinal pigment epithelial cells secrete and respond to hepatocyte growth factor

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is normally expressed by mesenchymal cells while its receptor, c-Met, is expressed in epithelial cells. Since HGF is critically involved in epithelial-mesenchyme interactions and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is present at the interface between the retina and choroid, this study was initiated to determine whether the RPE expresses or responds to HGF in vitro. Cultured adult and fetal human RPE expressed mRNA for HGF and c-Met by RT-PCR. ELISA assay demonstrated the secretion of HGF into RPE culture supernatants. Tyrosine phosphorylation of c-Met was constitutively found in 72 hour RPE cultures and could be rapidly induced in serum-starved cells by concentrated RPE supernatants. HGF was mitogenic for cultured RPE (100 ng/ml.) and stimulated their chemotaxis (maximal response at 50 ng/ml). RPE are one of only a very limited number of epithelia that express both HGF and its receptor, suggesting the possibility of an autocrine action for this growth factor.

Relative microelastic mapping of living cells by atomic force microscopy

The spatial and temporal changes of the mechanical properties of living cells reflect complex underlying physiological processes. Following these changes should provide valuable insight into the biological importance of cellular mechanics and their regulation. The tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) can be used to indent soft samples, and the force versus indentation measurement provides information about the local viscoelasticity. By collecting force-distance curves on a time scale where viscous contributions are small, the forces measured are dominated by the elastic properties of the sample. We have developed an experimental approach, using atomic force microscopy, called force integration to equal limits (FIEL) mapping, to produce robust, internally quantitative maps of relative elasticity. FIEL mapping has the advantage of essentially being independent of the tip-sample contact point and the cantilever spring constant. FIEL maps of living Madine-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells show that elasticity is uncoupled from topography and reveal a number of unexpected features. These results present a mode of high-resolution visualization in which the contrast is based on the mechanical properties of the sample.

Cadherins, catenins and APC protein: interplay between cytoskeletal complexes and signaling pathways

Cadherins play important roles in cell-cell adhesion during tissue differentiation. Cadherins are linked to the actin cytoskeleton by catenins (beta-catenin/armadillo, plakoglobin, and alpha-catenin). Recent results show that beta-catenin also binds to another cytoskeletal complex containing the adenomatous polyposis coli protein and microtubules, and interacts with several signaling pathways that include tyrosine kinases and phosphatases and Wnt/Wingless. Interplay between these cytoskeletal complexes and signaling pathways may regulate morphogenesis.

Dynamics of beta-catenin interactions with APC protein regulate epithelial tubulogenesis

Epithelial tubulogenesis involves complex cell rearrangements that require control of both cell adhesion and migration, but the molecular mechanisms regulating these processes during tubule development are not well understood. Interactions of the cytoplasmic protein, beta-catenin, with several molecular partners have been shown to be important for cell signaling and cell-cell adhesion. To examine if beta-catenin has a role in tubulogenesis, we tested the effect of expressing NH2-terminal deleted beta-catenins in an MDCK epithelial cell model for tubulogenesis. After one day of treatment, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/ SF)-stimulated MDCK cysts initiated tubulogenesis by forming many long cell extensions. Expression of NH2-terminal deleted beta-catenins inhibited formation of these cell extensions. Both DeltaN90 beta-catenin, which binds to alpha-catenin, and DeltaN131 beta-catenin, which does not bind to alpha-catenin, inhibited formation of cell extensions and tubule development, indicating that a function of beta-catenin distinct from its role in cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion is important for tubulogenesis. In cell extensions from parental cysts, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein was localized in linear arrays and in punctate clusters at the tips of extensions. Inhibition of cell extension formation correlated with the colocalization and accumulation of NH2-terminal deleted beta-catenin in APC protein clusters and the absence of linear arrays of APC protein. Continued HGF/ SF treatment of parental cell MDCK cysts resulted in cell proliferation and reorganization of cell extensions into multicellular tubules. Similar HGF/SF treatment of cysts derived from cells expressing NH2-terminal deleted beta-catenins resulted in cells that proliferated but formed cell aggregates (polyps) within the cyst rather than tubules. Our results demonstrate an unexpected role for beta-catenin in cell migration and indicate that dynamic beta-catenin-APC protein interactions are critical for regulating cell migration during epithelial tubulogenesis.

Microtubule dynamic turnover is suppressed during polarization and stimulated in hepatocyte growth factor scattered Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells

The dynamic behavior of microtubules has been measured in non-polarized, polarized, and hepatocyte growth factor treated Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells. In a nocodazole disassembly assay, microtubules in polarized cells were more resistant to depolymerization than microtubules in non-polarized cells; microtubules in scattered cells were nearly completely disassembled. Analysis of fluorescent microtubules in living cells further revealed that individual microtubules in polarized cells were kinetically stabilized and microtubules in scattered cells were highly dynamic. Individual microtubule behavior in polarized cells was characterized by a suppression of the average rate of shortening, an increase in the average duration of pause, a decrease in the frequency of catastrophe transitions, and an increase in the frequency of rescue transitions, when compared with microtubules in non-polarized cells. In contrast, microtubule behavior in epithelial cells treated with hepatocyte growth factor was characterized by increase in the average rates of microtubule growth and shortening, a decrease in the frequency of rescue transitions, and an increase in the frequency of catastrophe transitions, when compared with polarized cells. Dynamicity, a measure of the gain and loss of subunits from microtubule plus ends, was 2.7 microns/min in polarized cells and 11.1 microns/min in scattered cells. These results demonstrate that individual microtubule dynamic behavior is markedly suppressed in polarized epithelial cells. Our results further demonstrate that in addition to its previously characterized effects on cell locomotion, hepatocyte growth factor stimulates microtubule dynamic turnover in lamellar regions of living cells.

The hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) receptor, met, transduces a morphogenetic signal in renal glomerular fibromuscular mesangial cells

Previous studies have demonstrated that hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is secreted by mesenchymal cells and that it elicits motility, morphogenesis and proliferation of epithelia expressing the met receptor. We now report that HGF/SF may act as an autocrine factor in fibromuscular renal mesangial cells. These cells mechanically support glomerular endothelia, control the rate of plasma ultrafiltration and are implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of chronic renal diseases. We detected met protein in the vascular stalk of metanephric glomeruli and in the mature mesangium. Mesangial lines from a mouse transgenic for a temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 T antigen expressed met mRNA and protein, and recombinant HGF/SF phosphorylated the met receptor tyrosine kinase. Cells were immortal in the permissive condition and HGF/SF enhanced proliferation in a defined medium. In the absence of the immortalising protein, division ceased and recombinant HGF/SF caused multipolar cells to become bipolar. The factor diminished stress fibres, their focal contacts and immunostaining for extracellular fibronectin, hence suggesting reduced substratum adhesion and enhanced motility. Mesangial lines also expressed HGF/SF mRNA and secreted bioactive factor; immunocytochemistry showed both ligand and receptor in individual cells. HGF/SF blocking antibody aggregated the cells, suggesting that mesangial-derived factor affects basal cell conformation in an autocrine manner. We conclude that mesangial cells express both HGF/SF and met, and the factor induces morphogenesis of cultured mesangial cells. Therefore HGF/SF may have an autocrine role in mesangial biology but further studies are now required to investigate the potential importance of the factor in vivo.