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*
Institut für Prophylaxe und Epidemiologie der Kreislaufkrankheiten and
Max von Pettenkofer-Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany;
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
§
Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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The protein mutated in WAS, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp) (4), is expressed exclusively in hematopoietic cells but has also more widely expressed homologues like N-WASp (5) or Scar/WAVE (6). WASp features several functional domains, allowing the molecule to interact with a variety of cellular factors. Besides other functional motifs, WASp contains a binding site for the Rho-GTPase CDC42Hs (7, 8, 9), actin regulatory domains (9), and a short C-terminal stretch of acidic residues (4), which constitutes a binding site for the actin-nucleating Arp2/3 complex (10). This interaction of WASp family proteins with the Arp2/3 complex, especially in the case of N-WASp, has emerged as a link between CDC42 signaling and actin assembly (11).
WAS neutrophils (12), dendritic cells (13), and primary macrophages (14, 15) have been shown to have defects in cell motility, with the dysfunction lying in chemotaxis (because the cells fail to orient themselves correctly) but not in chemokinesis (as the speed of moving cells is unimpaired) (6, 14, 15). The chemotaxis defect thereby seems to stem from the inability of WAS immune cells to answer to stimuli such as chemoattractants with correct polarization of the cell body (14, 15).
In this paper, we investigate the role of the Arp2/3 complex in the formation of podosomal adhesion structures and the consequences of its dislocalization for chemoattractant-induced cell polarization of primary human macrophages.
| Materials and Methods |
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Human peripheral blood monocytes were isolated by centrifugation of heparinized blood in Ficoll (Seromed, Munich, Germany) as described earlier (17). Briefly, purified monocytic cells were seeded onto Cellocate cover slips (Eppendorf, Westbury, NY) at a density of 5 x 104 cells and cultured in RPMI 1640 containing 20% autologous serum at 37°C, 5% CO2, and 90% humidity. Medium was changed every 34 days.
WAS macrophages
Patient 1 has a deletion at nucleotide position 482, leading to a frame shift starting from amino acid position 161 and resulting in a premature stop codon at amino acid position 260; patient 2 has a nonsense mutation C to T at nucleotide position 631 leading to a premature stop codon at amino acid position 211 (first counted nucleotide in each case: A of start codon ATG). For both patients, no signal for WASp protein or mRNA was detected on Western or Northern blots. However, a week signal for WASp mRNA was detected in RT-PCR. Thus, the mutations described seem to result in unstable mRNA and virtual null mutations. Mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood (patient 1) and bone marrow (patient 2) and cultured in monocyte-specific RPMI 1640 containing 20% human serum. Cells from WAS patients have been used for this study with the explicit permission of the patients parents.
Cell polarization
Coverslips with macrophages (57 days) were placed into wells of 24-well plates (Nunc, Naperville, IN) containing 500 µl of medium. Polarization was induced by exposing the cells to a gradient of fMLP (17) or by adding 1 µl of fMLP-solution (1 mg/ml, Sigma, St. Louis, MO) to the medium. The phenotypes of single polarized cells gained with both methods were indistinguishable. After a 6-h incubation, coverslips were removed and fixed in 3.7% formaldehyde.
Generation of WASp constructs and protein expression
WASp domain constructs were created by cloning PCR-generated inserts into the EcoRI and BamHI sites (in the case of construct A) or into the BamHI site (in the case of construct VC) of vector pGEX-2T (Pharmacia, Piscataway, NJ). Inserts of constructs were checked for correct orientation and fully sequenced. Proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli as GST fusions as described earlier (18). Purity was tested by SDS-PAGE and Coomassie staining.
Immunofluorescence microscopy
Cells were fixed for 10 min in 3.7% formaldehyde solution and permeabilized for 10 min in ice-cold acetone. Samples were processed as described previously (17). Briefly, actin was stained with Alexa 568-labeled phalloidine (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR), WASp with Ab 3D8.H5 (19), and Arp2/3 p34-Arc and p41-Arc with affinity-purified polyclonal Abs raised against whole recombinant p34-Arc and the C-terminal 10 residues of p41-Arc. (Note: all stainings and experiments described for p41-Arc have also been conducted for p34-Arc, yielding virtually identical results. Because of the redundancy of information, only the results concerning p41-Arc are shown.)
Microinjection of proteins
Cells for microinjection experiments were cultured for 510 days. Microinjection was performed using transjector 5246 (Eppendorf) and a Compic Inject micromanipulator (Cell Biology Trading, Hamburg, Germany). Proteins were injected into the cytoplasm at 300 µg/ml in the case of V12CDC42Hs, and 0.52 mg/ml in the case of WASp domains. Injected cells were identified by coinjected, lysine-fixable FITC dextran (100 µg/ml; Molecular Probes). Control injections were performed with GST.
Immunoblotting
Western blots were prepared as described previously (17). Actin was detected with mAb MAB 1501 (Chemicon, Temecula, CA), WASp with mAb 3D8.H5, and Arp2/3 p34-Arc and p41-Arc by using the above-mentioned Abs.
GST pull-down assay
A total of 6 x 10 6 cells cultured for 6 days in six-well plates (Nunc) at a density of 1 x 10 6 cells/well were washed with ice-cold PBS and lysed by addition of 200 µl/well of RIPA buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 1% Triton X-100, 140 mM NaCl) containing protease inhibitors. Cells were scraped on ice, and the resulting suspension was incubated for 30 min at 4°C with mixing. After centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 15 min, 4°C), aliquots of the supernatant were added to 400-µl aliquots of a 50% slurry of glutathione Sepharose beads, previously incubated for 1 h with 100 µg of GST-fusion proteins. Beads were incubated with lysate for 2 h at 4°C, washed two times with 1 ml of washing buffer (10 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.5, 0.1% Triton X-100, 10% glycerol), and finally with 1 ml of washing buffer for 15 min at 4°C with mixing. Beads were pelleted, 100 µl of SDS-sample buffer was added, and an aliquot was run on a 12.5% SDS gel. Binding of proteins was tested by Western blot using the above-mentioned specific Abs. No binding of actin, Arp2/3 p34-Arc, or p41-Arc was detected when GST alone was bound to beads.
| Results and Discussion |
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To test this hypothesis, we first performed immunofluorescence
stainings of primary macrophages from healthy donors using Abs against
p41-Arc and p34-Arc, two subunits of the Arp2/3 complex
(23). Evidenced by costaining with actin and WASp, p41-Arc
and p34-Arc specifically localized to the core of podosomes (Fig. 1
). This suggests that the complete
Arp2/3 complex is present in podosomes of human macrophages (see also
Materials and Methods). Interestingly, another region of
quiescent macrophages rich in actin filaments, the subcortical actin
ring, is seemingly void of the Arp2/3 complex (Fig. 1
C).
Instead, in quiescent macrophages the Arp2/3 complex is also present in
the cytoplasm-rich but F-actin-poor region around the nucleus (see also
Fig. 2
, C and
D).
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Additional evidence for this conclusion comes from microinjetion
experiments with proteins of podosome-disruptive ability.
Microinjection of primary human macrophages with constitutively active
V12CDC42Hs, which also leads to filopodia formation, or of a C-terminal
WASp fragment encompassing the verprolin-like and central C-terminal
domains (termed "VC domain"; Fig. 3
A), resulted in the release
of p41-Arc and p34-Arc from podosomes (Fig. 2
, C and
D). In most cases, the p41-Arc and p34-Arc staining became
diffuse in the cytoplasm and was not associated with either
filopodia or actin clumps. Dislocation of the podosomal
components WASp, actin, and vinculin by microinjection of V12CDC42Hs or
a C domain (17) is therefore also accompanied by
dislocation of the Arp2/3 complex.
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WAS monocytes and macrophages have been reported to show defects in the response to chemoattractants (15). In fact, it has been speculated that WAS may be a cell-trafficking disorder in which immune cells fail to translocate efficiently in response to inflammatory signals (16). The chemotaxis defect seems to stem from the inability of WAS immune cells to answer to chemotactic stimuli with correct polarization of the cell body (16), resulting in unoriented movement. We reported that polarization of primary macrophages involves elongation of the cell body and compartmentalization of podosomes and filopodia to the trailing and to the leading edge, respectively (17).
To elucidate the potential role of the actin-nucleating Arp2/3 complex
in macrophage polarization, we microinjected the GST-A domain and then
stimulated these cells with the chemoattractant fMLP. In parallel,
uninjected control cells were fMLP-stimulated. Control cells and
GST-A-injected cells were checked for typical signs of polarization: 1)
presence of podosomes at the trailing edge, 2) elongated cell shape
(ratio of length to breadth
2), and 3) presence of filopodia
(Fig. 4
A). We found that
microinjection of GST-A not only reduced the number of cells containing
podosomes (22% of GST-A-injected cells vs 94% of uninjected and 93%
of GST-injected cells) but also the number of cells developing
filopodia (18% of injected cells vs 58% of uninjected and 53% of
GST-injected cells), whereas the number of elongated cells was not
significantly altered (40% of injected cells vs 32% of uninjected and
30% of GST-injected cells; Fig. 4
F). Therefore, macrophages
injected with GST-A seem to be able to answer to fMLP stimulation with
cell elongation to the same degree as control cells. However, their
ability to form and reorient podosomes and filopodia was greatly
reduced (Fig. 4
C). The latter phenotype is reminiscent of
fMLP-stimulated WAS macrophages that can still elongate but contain no
podosomes and are at best able to form a few filopodia per cell (Fig. 4
B). Additionally, the strong ruffling activity induced by
injection of GST-A into primary macrophages is consistent with a
well-preserved ruffling response observed in WAS macrophages (Fig. 4
B) and WAS dendritic cells, the latter also being unable to
develop a fully polarized cell morphology upon fMLP stimulation
(13). The still existing potential of WAS macrophages for
ruffling is not contradictory to a former study reporting a general
smoothing of the surface of WAS lymphocytes (25).
Generation of abnormally short and few microvilli on the apical surface
of WAS lymphocytes can be compared with the loss of podosomal
protrusions on the ventral surface of WAS macrophages, as both
phenomena are results of a defective actin cytoarchitecture. Concurrent
with this, in quiescent WAS macrophages also the apical surface seems
to display fewer protrusions when compared with the apical surface of
macrophages from healthy donors.
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Taken together, our data provide evidence that WAS macrophages are unable to target the Arp2/3 complex to a podosomal localization, which very likely contributes to their failure to assemble these adhesion structures. In addition, the effect of the isolated Arp2/3-binding GST-A domain on stimulated macrophages resembles the known phenotypes of stimulated WAS macrophages and WAS dendritic cells. These observations point to a critical role of the Arp2/3 complex in cell polarization of immune cells and a pivotal part of the Arp2/3 complex in the clinical manifestations of WAS.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Stefan Linder, Institut für Prophylaxe und Epidemiologie der Kreislaufkrankheiten, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Pettenkoferstrasse 9, 80336 München, Germany. ![]()
3 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Martin Aepfelbacher, Max von Pettenkofer-Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Pettenkoferstrasse 9a, 80336 München, Germany. ![]()
4 Abbreviations used in this paper: WAS, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome; WASp, WAS protein. ![]()
Received for publication January 14, 2000. Accepted for publication April 13, 2000.
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