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VE-cadherin regulates endothelial actin activating Rac and increasing membrane association of Tiam.
Previously published reports support the concept that, besides promoting homotypic intercellular adhesion, cadherins may transfer intracellular signals. However, the signaling pathways triggered by cadherin clustering and their biological significance are still poorly understood. We report herein that transfection of VE-cadherin (VEC) cDNA in VEC null endothelial cells induces actin rearrangement and increases the number of vinculin positive adhesion plaques. VEC expression augments the level of active Rac but decreases active Rho. Microinjection of a dominant negative Rac mutant altered stress fiber organization, whereas inhibition of Rho was ineffective. VEC expression increased protein and mRNA levels of the Rac-specific guanosine exchange factor Tiam-1 and induced its localization at intercellular junctions. In addition, in the presence of VEC, the amounts of Tiam, Rac, and the Rac effector PAK as well as the level of PAK phosphorylation were found increased in the membrane/cytoskeletal fraction. These observations are consistent with a role of VEC in localizing Rac and its signaling partners in the same membrane compartment, facilitating their reciprocal interaction. Through this mechanism VEC may influence the constitutive organization of the actin cytoskeleton.
Document Type:

Reference

Product Catalog Number:

05-389
Product Catalog Name:

Anti-Rac1 Antibody, clone 23A8
Wnt proteins regulate acetylcholine receptor clustering in muscle cells.
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a cholinergic synapse that rapidly conveys signals from motoneurons to muscle cells and exhibits a high degree of subcellular specialization characteristic of chemical synapses. NMJ formation requires agrin and its coreceptors LRP4 and MuSK. Increasing evidence indicates that Wnt signaling regulates NMJ formation in Drosophila, C. elegans and zebrafish.In the study we systematically studied the effect of all 19 different Wnts in mammals on acetylcholine receptor (AChR) cluster formation. We identified five Wnts (Wnt9a, Wnt9b, Wnt10b, Wnt11, and Wnt16) that are able to stimulate AChR clustering, of which Wnt9a and Wnt11 are expressed abundantly in developing muscles. Using Wnt9a and Wnt11 as example, we demonstrated that Wnt induction of AChR clusters was dose-dependent and non-additive to that of agrin, suggesting that Wnts may act via similar pathways to induce AChR clusters. We provide evidence that Wnt9a and Wnt11 bind directly to the extracellular domain of MuSK, to induce MuSK dimerization and subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation of the kinase. In addition, Wnt-induced AChR clustering requires LRP4.These results identify Wnts as new players in AChR cluster formation, which act in a manner that requires both MuSK and LRP4, revealing a novel function of LRP4.
Document Type:

Reference

Product Catalog Number:

05-1050
Product Catalog Name:

4G10® Platinum, Anti-Phosphotyrosine Antibody (mouse monoclonal cocktail IgG2b)
ZPK/DLK, a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase, is a critical mediator of programmed cell death of motoneurons.
Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways is critically involved in naturally occurring programmed cell death of motoneurons during development, but the upstream mediators remain undetermined. We found that mice deficient in ZPK, also called DLK (ZPK/DLK), an upstream kinase in these pathways, have twice as many spinal motoneurons as do their wild-type littermates. Nuclear HB9/MNX1-positive motoneuron pools were generated similarly in the spinal cord of both ZPK/DLK-deficient and wild-type embryos. Thereafter, however, significantly less apoptotic motoneurons were found in ZPK/DLK-deficient embryos compared with wild-type embryos, resulting in retention of excess numbers of motoneurons after birth. Notably, these excess motoneurons remained viable without atrophic changes in the ZPK/DLK-deficient mice surviving into adulthood. Analysis of the diaphragm and the phrenic nerve revealed that clustering and innervation of neuromuscular junctions were indistinguishable between ZPK/DLK-deficient and wild-type mice, whereas the proximal portion of the phrenic nerve of ZPK/DLK-deficient mice contained significantly more axons than the distal portion. This result supports the hypothesis that some excess ZPK/DLK-deficient motoneurons survived without atrophy despite failure to establish axonal contact with their targets. This study provides compelling evidence for a critical role for ZPK/DLK in naturally occurring programmed cell death of motoneurons and suggests that ZPK/DLK could become a strategic therapeutic target in motor neuron diseases in which aberrant activation of the apoptogenic cascade is involved.
Document Type:

Reference

Product Catalog Number:

Multiple
Product Catalog Name:

Multiple