| 1. |
- Malinverno, Matteo, et al.
(författare)
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Endothelial cell clonal expansion in the development of cerebral cavernous malformations
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2041-1723. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) is a neurovascular familial or sporadic disease that is characterised by capillary-venous cavernomas, and is due to loss-of-function mutations to any one of three CCM genes. Familial CCM follows a two-hit mechanism similar to that of tumour suppressor genes, while in sporadic cavernomas only a small fraction of endothelial cells shows mutated CCM genes. We reported that in mouse models and in human patients, endothelial cells lining the lesions have different features from the surrounding endothelium, as they express mesenchymal/stem-cell markers. Here we show that cavernomas originate from clonal expansion of few Ccm3-null endothelial cells that express mesenchymal/stem-cell markers. These cells then attract surrounding wild-type endothelial cells, inducing them to express mesenchymal/stem-cell markers and to contribute to cavernoma growth. These characteristics of Ccm3-null cells are reminiscent of the tumour-initiating cells that are responsible for tumour growth. Our data support the concept that CCM has benign tumour characteristics.
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| 2. |
- Kakogiannos, Nikolaos, et al.
(författare)
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JAM-A Acts via C/EBP-alpha to Promote Claudin-5 Expression and Enhance Endothelial Barrier Function
- 2020
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Ingår i: Circulation Research. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0009-7330 .- 1524-4571. ; 127:8, s. 1056-1073
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rationale: Intercellular tight junctions are crucial for correct regulation of the endothelial barrier. Their composition and integrity are affected in pathological contexts, such as inflammation and tumor growth. JAM-A (junctional adhesion molecule A) is a transmembrane component of tight junctions with a role in maintenance of endothelial barrier function, although how this is accomplished remains elusive.Objective: We aimed to understand the molecular mechanisms through which JAM-A expression regulates tight junction organization to control endothelial permeability, with potential implications under pathological conditions.Methods and Results: Genetic deletion of JAM-A in mice significantly increased vascular permeability. This was associated with significantly decreased expression of claudin-5 in the vasculature of various tissues, including brain and lung. We observed that C/EBP-α (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α) can act as a transcription factor to trigger the expression of claudin-5 downstream of JAM-A, to thus enhance vascular barrier function. Accordingly, gain-of-function for C/EBP-α increased claudin-5 expression and decreased endothelial permeability, as measured by the passage of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran through endothelial monolayers. Conversely, C/EBP-α loss-of-function showed the opposite effects of decreased claudin-5 levels and increased endothelial permeability. Mechanistically, JAM-A promoted C/EBP-α expression through suppression of β-catenin transcriptional activity, and also through activation of EPAC (exchange protein directly activated by cAMP). C/EBP-α then directly binds the promoter of claudin-5 to thereby promote its transcription. Finally, JAM-A–C/EBP-α–mediated regulation of claudin-5 was lost in blood vessels from tissue biopsies from patients with glioblastoma and ovarian cancer.Conclusions: We describe here a novel role for the transcription factor C/EBP-α that is positively modulated by JAM-A, a component of tight junctions that acts through EPAC to up-regulate the expression of claudin-5, to thus decrease endothelial permeability. Overall, these data unravel a regulatory molecular pathway through which tight junctions limit vascular permeability. This will help in the identification of further therapeutic targets for diseases associated with endothelial barrier dysfunction.
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| 3. |
- Kang, Peiyuan, et al.
(författare)
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Transient Photoinactivation of Cell Membrane Protein Activity without Genetic Modification by Molecular Hyperthermia
- 2019
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1936-0851 .- 1936-086X. ; 13:11, s. 12487-12499
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Precise manipulation of protein activity in living systems has broad applications in biomedical sciences. However, it is challenging to use light to manipulate protein activity in living systems without genetic modification. Here, we report a technique to optically switch off protein activity in living cells with high spatiotemporal resolution, referred to as molecular hyperthermia (MH). MH is based on the nanoscale-confined heating of plasmonic gold nanoparticles by short laser pulses to unfold and photoinactivate targeted proteins of interest. First, we show that protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), a G-protein-coupled receptor and an important pathway that leads to pain sensitization, can be photoinactivated in situ by MH without compromising cell proliferation. PAR2 activity can be switched off in laser-targeted cells without affecting surrounding cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate the molecular specificity of MH by inactivating PAR2 while leaving other receptors intact. Second, we demonstrate that the photoinactivation of a tight junction protein in brain endothelial monolayers leads to a reversible blood-brain barrier opening in vitro. Lastly, the protein inactivation by MH is below the nanobubble generation threshold and thus is predominantly due to the nanoscale heating. MH is distinct from traditional hyperthermia (that induces global tissue heating) in both its time and length scales: nanoseconds versus seconds, nanometers versus millimeters. Our results demonstrate that MH enables selective and remote manipulation of protein activity and cellular behavior without genetic modification.
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| 4. |
- Monzo, Pascale, et al.
(författare)
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Adaptive mechanoproperties mediated by the formin FMN1 characterize glioblastoma fitness for invasion
- 2021
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Ingår i: Developmental Cell. - : Elsevier. - 1534-5807 .- 1878-1551. ; 56:20, s. 2841-2855.e8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glioblastoma are heterogeneous tumors composed of highly invasive and highly proliferative clones, Heterogeneity in invasiveness could emerge from discrete biophysical properties linked to specific molecular expression. We identified clones of patient-derived glioma propagating cells that were either highly proliferative or highly invasive and compared their cellular architecture, migratory, and biophysical properties. We discovered that invasiveness was linked to cellular fitness. The most invasive cells were stiffer, developed higher mechanical forces on the substrate, and moved stochastically. The mechano-chemical-induced expression of the formin FMN1 conferred invasive strength that was confirmed in patient samples. Moreover, FMN1 expression was also linked to motility in other cancer and normal cell lines, and its ectopic expression increased fitness parameters. Mechanistically, FMN1 acts from the microtubule lattice and promotes a robust mechanical cohesion, leading to highly invasive motility.
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| 5. |
- Savorani, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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A dual role of YAP in driving TGF beta-mediated endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Cell Science. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0021-9533 .- 1477-9137. ; 134:15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is the biological process through which endothelial cells transdifferentiate into mesenchymal cells. During embryo development, EndMT regulates endocardial cushion formation via TGF beta/BMP signaling. In adults, EndMT is mainly activated during pathological conditions. Hence, it is necessary to characterize molecular regulators cooperating with TGF beta signaling in driving EndMT, to identify potential novel therapeutic targets to treat these pathologies. Here, we studied YAP, a transcriptional co-regulator involved in several biological processes, including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). As EndMT is the endothelial-specific form of EMT, and YAP (herein referring to YAP1) and TGF beta signaling cross-talk in other contexts, we hypothesized that YAP contributes to EndMT by modulating TGF beta signaling. We demonstrate that YAP is required to trigger TGF beta-induced EndMT response, specifically contributing to SMAD3-driven EndMT early gene transcription. We provide novel evidence that YAP acts as SMAD3 transcriptional co-factor and prevents GSK3 beta-mediated SMAD3 phosphorylation, thus protecting SMAD3 from degradation. YAP is therefore emerging as a possible candidate target to inhibit pathological TGF beta-induced EndMT at early stages.
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