Sayoko Ihara

SWAP-70 is a guanine-nucleotide-exchange factor that mediates signalling of membrane ruffling

Phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K), activated through growth factor stimulation, generates a lipid second messenger, phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3). PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 is instrumantal in signalling pathways that trigger cell activation, cytoskeletal rearrangement, survival and other reactions. However, some targets of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 are yet to be discovered. We demonstrate that SWAP-70, a unique signalling protein, specifically binds PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. On stimulation by growth factors, cytoplasmic SWAP-70, which is dependent on PI(3)K but independent of Ras, moved to cell membrane rearrangements known as ruffles. However, mutant SWAP-70 lacking the ability to bind PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 blocked membrane ruffling induced by epidermal growth factor or platelet-derived growth factor. SWAP-70 shows low homology with Rac-guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), and catalyses PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-dependent guanine nucleotide exchange to Rac. SWAP-70-deficient fibroblasts showed impaired membrane ruffling after stimulation with epidermal growth factor, and failed to activate Rac fully. We conclude that SWAP-70 is a new type of Rac-GEF which, independently of Ras, transduces signals from tyrosine kinase receptors to Rac.

Dual control of neurite outgrowth by STAT3 and MAP kinase in PC12 cells stimulated with interleukin-6

IL‐6 induces differentiation of PC12 cells pretreated with nerve growth factor (NGF). We explored the signals required for neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells by using a series of mutants of a chimeric receptor consisting of the extracellular domain of the granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) receptor and the cytoplasmic domain of gp130, a signal‐transducing subunit of the IL‐6 receptor. The mutants incapable of activating the MAP kinase cascade failed to induce neurite outgrowth. Consistently, a MEK inhibitor, PD98059, inhibited neurite outgrowth, showing that activation of the MAP kinase cascade is essential for the differentiation of PC12 cells. In contrast, a mutation that abolished the ability to activate STAT3 did not inhibit, but rather stimulated neurite outgrowth. This mutant did not require NGF pretreatment for neurite outgrowth. Dominant‐negative STAT3s mimicked NGF pretreatment, and NGF suppressed the IL‐6‐induced activation of STAT3, supporting the idea that STAT3 might regulate the differentiation of PC12 cells negatively. These results suggest that neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells is regulated by the balance of MAP kinase and STAT3 signal transduction pathways, and that STAT3 activity can be regulated negatively by NGF.

Phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase is involved in ruffled border formation in osteoclasts

Phosphatidylinositol (PI)‐3 kinase has been implicated in several aspects of intracellular membrane trafficking, although the detailed mechanism is yet to be established. We previously reported that wortmannin (WT), a selective inhibitor of PI‐3 kinase, inhibited the bone‐resorbing activity of osteoclasts (Nakamura et al., 1995, FEBS Lett., 361:79–84). In this study, we examined how PI‐3 kinase was involved in membrane trafficking in osteoclasts which are primary bone‐resorbing cells. Osteoclasts exhibit a highly polarized cytoplasmic organization, the ruffled border. Ruffled borders are formed by numerous deep membrane invaginations, on which vacuolar H+‐ATPase (V‐ATPase) is localized in a high density. Immunoelectron microscopic analyses revealed that PI‐3 kinase was specifically present along ruffled border membranes and the limiting membranes of associated intracellular vacuoles in rat authentic osteoclasts. WT and LY294002, another inhibitor of PI‐3 kinase, caused the accumulation of numerous acidic vacuoles which were stained with acridine orange in murine osteoclast‐like multinucleated cells formed in vitro. An electron microscopic examination showed that these vacuoles contained V‐ATPase along their limiting membranes and appeared to be derived from the Golgi apparatus as ruffled border precursors. A time course study revealed that WT‐induced vacuoles began to accumulate in the region close to the apical membrane and were finally distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Removal of WT from the culture medium resulted in the disappearance of vacuoles in the cytoplasm, leading to the formation of ruffled borders. During the culture period, some vacuoles were observed to fuse with the ruffled border membrane. A pit formation assay on dentine slices also showed that the pit‐forming activity of osteoclast‐like cells was recovered by the removal of WT from the assay. These results suggest that PI‐3 kinase plays an important role in ruffled border formation in osteoclasts, probably in the fusion of membrane vacuoles with the plasma membrane. J. Cell. Physiol. 172:230–239, 1997.

Direct binding of SWAP-70 to non-muscle actin is required for membrane ruffling

Membrane ruffling induced by growth factor stimulation is caused by actin remodeling, which is mediated by various signaling molecules including Rac. We have shown that SWAP-70, which binds phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate, is one such molecule required for membrane ruffling in mouse kidney cells. Here, we show that SWAP-70 directly binds to F-actin. The bacterially expressed C-terminal region of SWAP-70 co-sedimented with non-muscle F-actin, suggesting direct binding of SWAP-70 to F-actin. The binding was much weaker in muscle F-actin. A truncated mutant of SWAP-70 containing only the C-terminal region readily colocalizes with F-actin, supporting this idea. Full-length SWAP-70 does not colocalize with F-actin unless cells are stimulated with growth factors, suggesting the presence of a stimuli-dependent regulatory mechanism for actin-binding activity in vivo. Overexpression of the mutant SWAP-70 lacking this binding domain inhibits the membrane ruffling induced by epidermal growth factor stimulation in COS7 cells. This dominant-negative effect is also observed in membrane ruffling induced by a dominant-active Rac, suggesting that SWAP-70 cooperates with Rac. These results suggest that the binding activity of SWAP-70 to non-muscle F-actin is required for membrane ruffling.

Evidence that 3′-phosphorylated polyphosphoinositides are generated at the nuclear surface: use of immunostaining technique with monoclonal antibodies specific for PI 3,4-P2

Phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3,4‐P2 is a phosphoinositide that has been shown to be important for signal transduction in growth factor stimulation. We have produced monoclonal antibodies specific for PI 3,4‐P2, which were able to detect PI 3,4‐P2 generated in 293T cells treated with H2O2, or in MKN45/BD110 cells expressing activated PI 3‐kinase in immunostaining. Prolonged treatment with 0.05% Tween 20 resulted in detection of staining not only at the plasma membrane, but also at the nuclear surface, indicating that 3′‐phosphorylated phosphoinositides can be generated and function in the nucleus.

Amino acid coevolution reveals three-dimensional structure and functional domains of insect odorant receptors

Insect Odorant Receptors (ORs) comprise an enormous protein family that translates environmental chemical signals into neuronal electrical activity. These heptahelical receptors are proposed to function as ligand-gated ion channels and/or to act metabotropically as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Resolving their signalling mechanism has been hampered by the lack of tertiary structural information and primary sequence similarity to other proteins. We use amino acid evolutionary covariation across these ORs to define restraints on structural proximity of residue pairs, which permit de novo generation of three-dimensional models. The validity of our analysis is supported by the location of functionally important residues in highly constrained regions of the protein. Importantly, insect OR models exhibit a distinct transmembrane domain packing arrangement to that of canonical GPCRs, establishing the structural unrelatedness of these receptor families. The evolutionary couplings and models predict odour binding and ion conduction domains, and provide a template for rationale structure-activity dissection.

Activation of ErbB3-PI3-kinase pathway is correlated with malignant phenotypes of adenocarcinomas.

Signet-ring cell carcinomas are malignant dedifferentiated carcinomas, which are frequently found in the stomach. We previously demonstrated that a 200 kDa protein is often constitutively phosphorylated on tyrosine and bound to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) in signet-ring cell carcinoma cells. In this study, we purified the 200 kDa protein from an extract of NUGC-4 cells, a cell line of signet-ring cell carcinoma, and identified it as ErbB3. ErbB3 was found to be phosphorylated selectively in dedifferentiated adenocarcinoma cell lines among various gastric cancer cell lines. Expression of a constitutively active chimeric receptor consisting of ErbB2 and ErbB3 in HCC2998 cells, a highly differentiated adenocarcinoma cell line, revealed that the signaling triggered by phosphorylation of ErbB3 was important for dedifferentiated phenotypes such as loss of cell–cell interaction and high expression of MUC1/DF3 antigen, a marker of the malignant tumors. Taken together, activation of ErbB3 pathway may contribute to the development of dedifferentiated carcinomas.

Chemosensory signals and their receptors in the olfactory neural system

Chemical communication is widely used among various organisms to obtain essential information from their environment required for life. Although a large variety of molecules have been shown to act as chemical cues, the molecular and neural basis underlying the behaviors elicited by these molecules has been revealed for only a limited number of molecules. Here, we review the current knowledge regarding the signaling molecules whose flow from receptor to specific behavior has been characterized. Discussing the molecules utilized by mice, insects, and the worm, we focus on how each organism has optimized its reception system to suit its living style. We also highlight how the production of these signaling molecules is regulated, an area in which considerable progress has been recently made.

Cooperation of DEF6 with Activated Rac in Regulating Cell Morphology

Rho-family GTPases have been implicated in actin remodeling and subsequent morphologic changes in various cells. DEF6, a pleckstrin homology domain-containing protein, has been reported to regulate Rho-family GTPases as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor. Here, we demonstrate that DEF6 also has the property of cooperating with activated Rac1. DEF6 bound selectively to Rac1 loaded with GTP. The interaction is mediated by the effector domain of Rac1. Overexpression of GFP-DEF6 together with constitutively active Rac1 in COS-7 cells significantly changed their cell shape; this was not seen in the absence of activated Rac1. This effect of DEF6 on cellular morphology was shown to be independent of its guanine nucleotide exchange activity. Because DEF6 does not contain any sequences previously known to interact with Rac, we explored the domain necessary for the binding. The amino-terminal portion and central parts of DEF6 were required for the binding. Finally, we succeeded in creating mutants of DEF6 with point mutations in the amino-terminal portion, which abrogate the binding to activated Rac1. These mutants did not exhibit the morphologic change in COS-7 cells when they were co-expressed with activated Rac1. These results suggest that DEF6 not only activates Rho-family GTPases but also cooperates with activated Rac1 to exert its cellular function.

Mutational analysis on the function of the SWAP-70 PH domain

SWAP-70 is a phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3)-binding protein, which is suggested to be involved in membrane ruffling, cooperating with activated Rac. Various point mutations were introduced in the PH domain. Substitutions of alanines for the positively charged amino acids within the first loop abolished the binding activity of the PH domains to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. The PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding activity was required for translocation of SWAP-70 to the membrane, enhancement of membrane ruffling by the overexpressed protein, or the dominant-negative effect of a mutant lacking the carboxyl terminal region in membrane ruffling. When Rac was overexpressed, the above mutants were translocated to the membrane and exhibited a dominant-negative effect on membrane ruffling without PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-binding activity. These results suggest that the PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-binding activity is dispensable for these events when SWAP-70 and Rac interacts efficiently. These results implicate that binding of SWAP-70 to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 may facilitate the recruitment of SWAP-70 to activated Rac.