scholarly journals p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase interacts with vinculin at focal adhesions during fatty acid-stimulated cell adhesion

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 404-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret D. George ◽  
Robert N. Wine ◽  
Brad Lackford ◽  
Grace E. Kissling ◽  
Steven K. Akiyama ◽  
...  

Arachidonic acid stimulates cell adhesion by activating α2β1 integrins in a process that depends on protein kinases, including p38 mitogen activated protein kinase. Here, we describe the interaction of cytoskeletal components with key signaling molecules that contribute to the spreading of, and morphological changes in, arachidonic acid-treated MDA-MB-435 human breast carcinoma cells. Arachidonic acid-treated cells showed increased attachment and spreading on collagen type IV, as measured by electric cell-substrate impedance sensing. Fatty acid-treated cells displayed short cortical actin filaments associated with an increased number of β1 integrin-containing pseudopodia, whereas untreated cells displayed elongated stress fibers and fewer clusters of β1 integrins. Confocal microscopy of arachidonic acid-treated cells showed that vinculin and phospho-p38 both appeared enriched in pseudopodia and at the tips of actin filaments, and fluorescence ratio imaging indicated the increase was specific for the phospho-(active) form of p38. Immunoprecipitates of phospho-p38 from extracts of arachidonic acid-treated cells contained vinculin, and GST-vinculin fusion proteins carrying the central region of vinculin bound phospho-p38, whereas fusion proteins expressing the terminal portions of vinculin did not. These data suggest that phospho-p38 associates with particular domains on critical focal adhesion proteins that are involved in tumor cell adhesion and spreading, and that this association can be regulated by factors in the tumor microenvironment.

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 8296-8305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Vomastek ◽  
Marcin P. Iwanicki ◽  
Hans-Joerg Schaeffer ◽  
Adel Tarcsafalvi ◽  
J. Thomas Parsons ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascade is activated in response to a multitude of extracellular signals and converts these signals into a variety of specific biological responses, including cell differentiation, cell movement, cell division, and apoptosis. The specificity of the biological response is likely to be controlled in large measure by the localization of signaling, thus enabling ERK activity to be directed towards specific targets. Here we show that the RACK1 scaffold protein functions specifically in integrin-mediated activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK cascade and targets active ERK to focal adhesions. We found that RACK1 associated with the core kinases of the ERK pathway, Raf, MEK, and ERK, and that attenuation of RACK1 expression resulted in a decrease in ERK activity in response to adhesion but not in response to growth factors. RACK1 silencing also caused a reduction of active ERK in focal adhesions, an increase in focal adhesion length, a decreased rate of focal adhesion disassembly, and decreased motility. Our data further suggest that focal adhesion kinase is an upstream activator of the RACK1/ERK pathway. We suggest that RACK1 tethers the ERK pathway core kinases and channels signals from upstream activation by integrins to downstream targets at focal adhesions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 5635-5646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunliang Chen ◽  
David J. Abraham ◽  
Xu Shi-wen ◽  
Jeremy D. Pearson ◽  
Carol M. Black ◽  
...  

In vivo, CCN2 (connective tissue growth factor) promotes angiogenesis, osteogenesis, tissue repair, and fibrosis, through largely unknown mechanisms. In vitro, CCN2 promotes cell adhesion in a variety of systems via integrins and heparin sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). However, the physiological relevance of CCN2-mediated cell adhesion is unknown. Here, we find that HSPGs and the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade are required for adult human dermal fibroblasts to adhere to CCN2. Endogenous CCN2 directly binds fibronectin and the fibronectin receptors integrins α4 β1 and α5 and syndecan 4. Using Ccn2-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we show that loss of endogenous CCN2 results in impaired spreading on fibronectin, delayed α-smooth muscle actin stress fiber formation, and reduced ERK and focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation. These results suggest that a physiological role of CCN2 is to potentiate the ability of fibroblasts to spread on fibronectin, which may be important in modulating fibroblast adhesion to the provisional matrix during tissue development and wound healing. These results are consistent with the notion that a principal function of CCN2 is to modulate receptor/ligand interactions in vivo.


1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (4) ◽  
pp. F728-F735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Lal ◽  
Pierre R. Proulx ◽  
Richard L. Hébert

Arachidonic acid (AA) release is the rate-limiting step in the production of prostaglandins, an important class of autocrine/paracrine factors that modulate collecting duct function. Previous results from this laboratory have established cytosolic phospholipase A2(cPLA2) as the enzyme responsible for bradykinin (BK)-stimulated AA mobilization in rabbit cortical collecting duct (RCCD) cells, and the present study pursues the intracellular signaling mechanisms responsible for its activation. Pretreatment of cells with Ro-31-8220, an inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC), or PD-98059, an inhibitor of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, resulted in a 50–60% reduction in BK-stimulated AA release. Incubation of RCCD cells with a combination of both Ro-31-8220 and PD-98059 did not achieve a greater inhibition of either BK-stimulated AA release or cPLA2 activity, possibly indicating that MAPK activation was dependent upon prior activation of PKC. This was supported by the observation that BK-induced MAPK activation could be reversed by either inhibitor. Additional experiments dealing with immunoblots for PKC isozymes revealed that RCCD cells express PKC species α, γ, ε, and ζ. Following BK stimulation, only PKCε translocated to the particulate fraction. Based on these results, it appears that PKC is activated and involved in the sequential activation of MAPK and cPLA2 following BK treatment. The results also suggest that PKCε may be the isozyme implicated in the process.


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