Catarina Brás-Pereira

Actin-Capping Protein and the Hippo pathway regulate F-actin and tissue growth in Drosophila

The conserved Hippo tumor suppressor pathway is a key kinase cascade that controls tissue growth by regulating the nuclear import and activity of the transcription co-activator Yorkie. Here, we report that the actin-Capping Protein αβ heterodimer, which regulates actin polymerization, also functions to suppress inappropriate tissue growth by inhibiting Yorkie activity. Loss of Capping Protein activity results in abnormal accumulation of apical F-actin, reduced Hippo pathway activity and the ectopic expression of several Yorkie target genes that promote cell survival and proliferation. Reduction of two other actin-regulatory proteins, Cofilin and the cyclase-associated protein Capulet, cause abnormal F-actin accumulation, but only the loss of Capulet, like that of Capping Protein, induces ectopic Yorkie activity. Interestingly, F-actin also accumulates abnormally when Hippo pathway activity is reduced or abolished, independently of Yorkie activity, whereas overexpression of the Hippo pathway component expanded can partially reverse the abnormal accumulation of F-actin in cells depleted for Capping Protein. Taken together, these findings indicate a novel interplay between Hippo pathway activity and actin filament dynamics that is essential for normal growth control.

Actin stress fiber organization promotes cell stiffening and proliferation of pre-invasive breast cancer cells

Studies of the role of actin in tumour progression have highlighted its key contribution in cell softening associated with cell invasion. Here, using a human breast cell line with conditional Src induction, we demonstrate that cells undergo a stiffening state prior to acquiring malignant features. This state is characterized by the transient accumulation of stress fibres and upregulation of Ena/VASP-like (EVL). EVL, in turn, organizes stress fibres leading to transient cell stiffening, ERK-dependent cell proliferation, as well as enhancement of Src activation and progression towards a fully transformed state. Accordingly, EVL accumulates predominantly in premalignant breast lesions and is required for Src-induced epithelial overgrowth in Drosophila. While cell softening allows for cancer cell invasion, our work reveals that stress fibre-mediated cell stiffening could drive tumour growth during premalignant stages. A careful consideration of the mechanical properties of tumour cells could therefore offer new avenues of exploration when designing cancer-targeting therapies.

A dual function of Drosophila capping protein on DE-cadherin maintains epithelial integrity and prevents JNK-mediated apoptosis

E-cadherin plays a pivotal role in epithelial cell polarity, cell signalling and tumour suppression. However, how E-cadherin dysfunction promotes tumour progression is poorly understood. Here we show that the actin-capping protein heterodimer, which regulates actin filament polymerization, has a dual function on DE-cadherin in restricted Drosophila epithelia. Knocking down capping protein in the distal wing disc epithelium disrupts DE-cadherin and Armadillo localization at adherens junctions and upregulates DE-cadherin transcription. In turn, DE-cadherin provides an active signal, which prevents Wingless signalling and promotes JNK-mediated apoptosis. However, when cells are kept alive with the Caspase inhibitor P35, the activity of the JNK pathway and of the Yorkie oncogene trigger massive proliferation of cells that fail to stably retain associations with their neighbours. Moreover, loss of capping protein cooperates with the Ras oncogene to induce massive tissue overgrowth. Taken together, our findings argue that in some epithelia, the dual effect of capping protein loss on DE-cadherin triggers the elimination of mutant cells, preventing them from proliferating. However, the appearance of a second mutation that blocks cell death may allow for the development of some epithelial tumours.

The retinal determination gene dachshund restricts cell proliferation by limiting the activity of the Homothorax-Yorkie complex

The Drosophila transcriptional co-activator protein Yorkie and its vertebrate orthologs YAP and TAZ are potent oncogenes, whose activity is normally kept in check by the upstream Hippo kinase module. Upon its translocation into the nucleus, Yorkie forms complexes with several tissue-specific DNA-binding partners, which help to define the tissue-specific target genes of Yorkie. In the progenitor cells of the eye imaginal disc, the DNA-binding transcription factor Homothorax is required for Yorkie-promoted proliferation and survival through regulation of the bantam microRNA (miRNA). The transit from proliferating progenitors to cell cycle quiescent precursors is associated with the progressive loss of Homothorax and gain of Dachshund, a nuclear protein related to the Sno/Ski family of co-repressors. We have identified Dachshund as an inhibitor of Homothorax-Yorkie-mediated cell proliferation. Loss of dachshund induces Yorkie-dependent tissue overgrowth. Conversely, overexpressing dachshund inhibits tissue growth, prevents Yorkie or Homothorax-mediated cell proliferation of disc epithelia and restricts the transcriptional activity of the Yorkie-Homothorax complex on the bantam enhancer in Drosophila cells. In addition, Dachshund collaborates with the Decapentaplegic receptor Thickveins to repress Homothorax and Cyclin B expression in quiescent precursors. The antagonistic roles of Homothorax and Dachshund in Yorkie activity, together with their mutual repression, ensure that progenitor and precursor cells are under distinct proliferation regimes. Based on the crucial role of the human dachshund homolog DACH1 in tumorigenesis, our work suggests that DACH1 might prevent cellular transformation by limiting the oncogenic activity of YAP and/or TAZ. SUMMARY: Dachshund controls tissue growth in the Drosophila eye disc by limiting Yorkie/Homothorax-dependent bantam expression and by cooperating with Decapentaplegic signaling to repress homothorax expression.

Homeostasis of the Drosophila adult retina by actin-capping protein and the Hippo pathway

The conserved Hippo signalling pathway regulates multiple cellular events, including tissue growth, cell fate decision and neuronal homeostasis. While the core Hippo kinase module appears to mediate all the effects of the pathway, various upstream inputs have been identified depending on tissue context. We have recently shown that, in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc, actin-Capping Protein and Hippo pathway activities inhibit F-actin accumulation. In turn, the reduction in F-actin sustains Hpo pathway activity, preventing Yorkie nuclear translocation and the upregulation of proliferation and survival genes. Here, we investigate the role of Capping Protein in growth-unrelated events controlled by the Hippo pathway. We provide evidence that loss of Capping Protein induces degeneration of the adult Drosophila retina through misregulation of the Hippo pathway. We propose a model by which F-actin dynamics might be involved in all processes that require the activity of the core Hippo kinase module.

An antennal-specific role for bowl in repressing supernumerary appendage development in Drosophila.

In Drosophila, antennae and legs are serially homologous appendages, and yet they develop into organs of very different structure and function. This implies that different genetic mechanisms operate onto a common developmental ground state to produce antennae and legs. Still few such mechanisms have been uncovered. During leg development, bowl, a member of the odd-skipped gene family, has been shown to participate in the formation of the leg segmental joints. Here we report that, in the antennal disc, bowl has a dramatically different role: bowl is expressed in the ventral antennal disc to prevent inappropriate expression of wg early during development. The removal of bowl function leads to the activation of wg in the dpp-expressing domain. This ectopic expression of wg, together with dpp, results in a new proximo-distal axis that promotes non-autonomous antennal duplications. The role of bowl in suppressing a supernumerary PD axis is maintained even when the antennal disc is homeotically transformed into a leg-like appendage. Therefore, bowl is part of a genetic program that suppresses the formation of supernumerary appendages specifically in the flys head.

E-cadherin-defective gastric cancer cells depend on Laminin to survive and invade

Epithelial-cadherin (Ecad) deregulation affects cell-cell adhesion and results in increased invasiveness of distinct human carcinomas. In gastric cancer, loss of Ecad expression is a common event and is associated with disease aggressiveness and poor prognosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the invasive process associated to Ecad dysfunction are far from understood. We hypothesized that deregulation of cell-matrix interactions could play an important role during this process. Thus, we focussed on LM-332, which is a major matrix component, and in Ecad/LM-332 crosstalk in the process of Ecad-dependent invasion. To verify whether matrix deregulation was triggered by Ecad loss, we used the Drosophila model. To dissect the key molecules involved and unveil their functional significance, we used gastric cancer cell lines. The relevance of this relationship was then confirmed in human primary tumours. In vivo, Ecad knockdown induced apoptosis; nonetheless, at the invasive front, cells ectopically expressed Laminin A and βPS integrin. In vitro, we demonstrated that, in two different gastric cancer cell models, Ecad-defective cells overexpressed Laminin γ2 (LM-γ2), β1 and β4 integrin, when compared with Ecad-competent ones. We showed that LM-γ2 silencing impaired invasion and enhanced cell death, most likely via pSrc and pAkt reduction, and JNK activation. In human gastric carcinomas, we found a concomitant decrease in Ecad and increase in LM-γ2. This is the first evidence that ectopic Laminin expression depends on Ecad loss and allows Ecad-dysfunctional cells to survive and invade. This opens new avenues for using LM-γ2 signalling regulators as molecular targets to impair gastric cancer progression.

dachshund Potentiates Hedgehog Signaling during Drosophila Retinogenesis.

Proper organ patterning depends on a tight coordination between cell proliferation and differentiation. The patterning of Drosophila retina occurs both very fast and with high precision. This process is driven by the dynamic changes in signaling activity of the conserved Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, which coordinates cell fate determination, cell cycle and tissue morphogenesis. Here we show that during Drosophila retinogenesis, the retinal determination gene dachshund (dac) is not only a target of the Hh signaling pathway, but is also a modulator of its activity. Using developmental genetics techniques, we demonstrate that dac enhances Hh signaling by promoting the accumulation of the Gli transcription factor Cubitus interruptus (Ci) parallel to or downstream of fused. In the absence of dac, all Hh-mediated events associated to the morphogenetic furrow are delayed. One of the consequences is that, posterior to the furrow, dac- cells cannot activate a Roadkill-Cullin3 negative feedback loop that attenuates Hh signaling and which is necessary for retinal cells to continue normal differentiation. Therefore, dac is part of an essential positive feedback loop in the Hh pathway, guaranteeing the speed and the accuracy of Drosophila retinogenesis.

Mechanical cell competition

Maintenance of tissue organization is crucial to ensure normal organ function and organism viability. Tissues are loaded with the ability to sense the available space, measuring cell density and adapting their behaviour accordingly. To keep homeostasis, compression pressure generated by local cell density increment triggers cell elimination. During mechanical cell competition, winner cells compress the neighbouring cells, promoting tissue crowding, which leads to cell elimination. Thus, the hypersensitivity to crowding may confer a loser status, whereas resistance to mechanical-induced elimination may favour a winner status. Here we analyse the emerging field of mechanical cell competition, describing the mechanotransducers implicated in cell elimination. Furthermore, we highlight the dual role of mechanical cell competition (MCC) as tumour suppression or expansion mechanisms.