PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M A Stepp

Publications and source records attributed to M A Stepp.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

Integrins as receptors for laminins.

Laminins are a family of trimeric glycoproteins present in the extracellular matrix and the major constituents of basement membranes. Integrins are alpha beta transmembrane receptors that play critical roles in both cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion. Several members of the integrin family, including alpha 1 beta 1, alpha 2 beta 1, alpha 3 beta 1, alpha 6 beta 1, alpha 7 beta 1 and alpha 6 beta 4 heterodimers serve as laminin receptors on a variety of cell types. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the involvement of individual integrins in cell interactions with laminins and the roles of laminin-binding integrins in adhesion-mediated events in vertebrates, including embryonic development, cell migration and tumor cell invasiveness, cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as basement membrane assembly. We discuss the regulation of integrin function via alternative splicing of cytoplasmic domains of alpha and beta subunits of the integrin receptors for laminins and present examples of functional collaboration between laminin-binding integrins and non-integrin laminin receptors. Advances in our understanding of the laminin-binding integrins continue to demonstrate the essential roles these receptors play in maintaining cell polarity and tissue architecture.

Animals↗

Integrin expression during epithelial migration and restratification in the tenascin-C-deficient mouse cornea.

In the unwounded cornea, tenascin-C localizes to a short stretch of the basement membrane zone at the corneoscleral junction or limbus. To determine whether the function of the limbus is affected by the absence of tenascin-C, mice possessing a deletion of tenascin-C and strain-matched wild-type mice are used in corneal debridement wounding experiments. The expression of integrins (alpha3, alpha9, and beta4) in the tenascin-C knockout corneas is evaluated by producing polyclonal cytoplasmic domain antipeptide sera and performing immunofluorescence microscopy. In addition, we evaluate the localization of several other proteins involved in wound healing, including fibronectin, laminin beta1, nidogen/entactin, and VCAM-1, in both the tenascin knockout and wild-type mice. There are no differences in healing rate, scarring, or neovascularization after corneal debridement wounds. alpha9 integrin is expressed at the limbal border of unwounded tenascin-C knockout animals and is upregulated during migration only after the larger wounds. At 8 weeks after larger wounds, the localization of alpha9 again becomes restricted to the limbal border. Results show that tenascin-C is not required for development or maintenance of the corneal limbus or for normal re-epithelialization of corneal epithelial cells after debridement wounding.

Animals↗

Disruption of the basement membrane after corneal débridement.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the native basement membrane left behind after manual débridement wounding is retained throughout healing in the Balb/c mouse. METHODS: Mouse corneas were subjected to either 1.5 mm (small) or limbus-to-limbus (large) epithelial débridement wounds and allowed to heal for times ranging from 12 hours to 3 days. For the larger wounds, care was taken to leave an approximately 0.5-mm zone of epithelial cells near the limbal border. Unwounded corneas served as control specimens. At each time point, confocal immunofluorescence microscopy was used to localize several proteins found in the basement membrane including laminin-5, entactin, and perlecan. In addition, ultrastructural studies were performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to assess the basement membrane zone (BMZ) of the corneas at various times after injury. RESULTS: The smaller (1.5-mm) wounds healed within 24 hours, and the larger wounds healed at approximately 48 hours. Both wound sizes healed with little scarring or neovascularization. At all time points after 1.5-mm wounding, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and TEM showed that both basement membrane proteins and the lamina densa were retained at the BMZ throughout healing. For the larger wounds, at time points after 24 hours, confocal microscopy showed patches along the denuded corneal stroma where there was a partial or complete loss of basement membrane markers at the BMZ. TEM confirmed that the lamina densa was partly or completely absent along the anterior surface of the exposed cornea at time points of more than 24 hours after the larger wounds. CONCLUSIONS: The denuded epithelial basement membrane was shown to be partially disassembled in response to manual débridement wounds when re-epithelialization took more than 24 hours. Regulated disassembly of the epithelial basement membrane probably plays a role in the healing of large-diameter débridement wounds.

Animals↗

Alpha9 and beta8 integrin expression correlates with the merger of the developing mouse eyelids.

As previously reported, alpha9 integrin is expressed between the merged or fused eyelids of mice at birth, and changes in alpha9 localization occur during lid opening. To determine whether alpha9 and/or additional integrin subunits mediate the emergence and temporary fusion of the eyelids, immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to evaluate the localization of various integrin subunits in the developing ocular surface of the mouse. No detectable beta5, beta6, or beta7 integrins were observed on the epithelia of the ocular surface. alpha2, alpha3, alphav, and beta1 integrins were most abundant in the basal cells beginning at 13.5 days post conception and remained primarily localized to the basal cell layers throughout development. beta4 was localized at the basal surface of the epidermal basal cells beginning at 13.5 days post conception but was not found on the corneal epithelial basal cells until after birth. alpha9 and beta8 integrins were present on suprabasal cells of the epidermis at the leading edge of the eyelid before merger and on the epithelial bridge that forms immediately after these tissues merge, suggesting that they play a role in the initial fusion of the epithelial tissues of the eyelid and in stabilizing the epithelial junction. After birth and into adulthood, beta8 was retained within the suprabasal cell layers of the epidermis, whereas alpha9 became localized to the basal cells of the epidermis, the conjunctiva, and the limbus. The lack of co-localization of beta4 with either alpha9 or beta8 in double-labeling studies suggests that alpha9 and beta8 are restricted to the lateral and apical aspects of those cells in which they are expressed. The presence of tenascin-C and laminin-5 at the epithelial junction site suggests that alpha9: tenascin-C and beta4: laminin-5 interactions may play a role in stabilizing the fusion between lids early on but do not appear to be involved in the movement of the lids across the cornea. The data presented identify specific integrins and matrix proteins that are likely to mediate eyelid fusion.

Animals↗

Modulation of implantation-associated integrin expression but not uteroglobin by steroid hormones in an endometrial cell line.

In order to test the hypothesis that integrin and uteroglobin (UG) expression in cultured endometrial cells are affected by hormone treatment, Ishikawa-CH endometrial cancer cells were cultured and exposed to oestradiol or oestradiol and progesterone regimens and assayed using immunohistochemistry. We evaluated the intensity of immunohistochemical staining for the integrin monomers alpha(v) and beta1, the dimers alpha(v)beta3 and alpha(v)beta6, and for the secretory protein uteroglobin under various experimental conditions. Cells grown in control media stained positively for the integrin monomers alpha(v) and beta1, the dimer alpha(v)beta3, and for UG. Oestradiol and sequential oestradiol/progesterone reversibly suppressed staining for the dimer alpha(v)beta3. Hormone treatment had no effect on the staining of the beta1 and alpha(v) monomers or UG. The alpha(v)beta6 dimer antibody did not stain under any experimental treatment conditions. These data indicate that expression of the integrin complex alpha(v)beta3 is reversibly suppressed by oestradiol in Ishikawa cells and that these cells may be a good model for studying hormone-driven molecular changes in endometrium.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Upregulation of alpha 9 integrin and tenascin during epithelial regeneration after debridement in the cornea.

Stratified epithelia are exposed to abrasive forces and are required to respond rapidly to injury to minimize fluid loss and the risk for microbial infection. Healing involves a cell migratory phase to reestablish barrier function and cell proliferation to restratify the epithelium. Cell migration during re-epithelialization involves cell sliding, termed sheet movement, during which cells retain their cell-cell junctions while dynamically altering their shape and cell-substrate interactions to permit movement across the exposed wound bed. Proteins of the integrin family of receptor molecules modulate cell shape, cell migration, and signal transduction in many cell types. In epithelial cells, integrins of the beta 1 family have been implicated in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation, alpha 9 beta b1 is one of the newer members of the integrin beta family and has been recently shown to function as a tenascin receptor. Although little is known about its function in vivo, studies in developing mouse cornea and eyelid suggest that it may play a role in epithelial differentiation. Using a debridement wound model in the mouse cornea, we show in this study that (a) in response to small debridement wounds that close without cell proliferation, alpha 9 integrin protein and mRNA are not induced during migration but are induced during restratification, (b) larger debridement wounds that require cell proliferation to generate the cells necessary for sheet movement result in a dramatic induction of alpha 9 protein and its mRNA during both migration and restratification, and (c) tenascin, an alpha 9 beta 1 ligand, accumulates beneath epithelial cells during restratification but not during cell migration. Therefore, alpha 9 integrin protein production and tenascin accumulation are dynamically regulated in response to corneal epithelial injury.

Animals↗

Changes in beta 4 integrin expression and localization in vivo in response to corneal epithelial injury.

PURPOSE: To determine whether production and localization of beta 4 integrin is altered during in vivo corneal epithelial cell migration in response to debridement wounding. METHODS: Rat corneas were wounded and animals were killed at times ranging from 3 hours to 14 days. At various time points, corneal epithelial integrins were quantitated by gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting of epithelial extracts and then were localized by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: As early as 6 hours after wounding, an increase in the amount of the beta 4 integrin subunit expressed per microgram of total protein was observed. The level of beta 4 continued to increase until wound closure. By 14 days after wounding, beta 4 expression returned to control levels. The level of expression of beta 1 and alpha (v) integrins were found not to change significantly throughout migration. Immunohistochemical analyses using antibodies against either the beta 4 integrin subunit or HD1, a hemidesmosomal plaque component, showed that in control sections, beta 4 integrin and HD1 codistributed in a linear staining pattern above the basement membrane. As early as 4 hours after wounding, beta 4 was present in both basal and suprabasal epithelial cells, and HD1 was retained at the basal aspect of the epithelial basal cells. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that changes in expression and localization of beta 4 integrin occur in the corneal epithelium in response to debridement wounding in vivo. Previously, we had shown that quantitative changes in beta 4 integrin expression do not occur in an in vitro organ culture model used for the study of corneal epithelial cell migration. Increased beta 4 expression may not be required for migration per se, but it may be play a role in either stabilizing cell:cell or cell:substrate adhesion in vivo or in preparing cells to undergo mitosis during restratification.

Animals↗

Localized distribution of alpha 9 integrin in the cornea and changes in expression during corneal epithelial cell differentiation.

A recently characterized integrin alpha-chain, alpha 9, forms heterodimers with the integrin beta 1-chain and is present in the skin with a distribution similar to that of alpha 2 and alpha 3, other beta 1 integrins. To determine whether alpha 9 is expressed in the stratified squamous epithelium of the cornea, we used immunohistochemical techniques to compare the distribution of alpha 9 in the adult mouse cornea with that of alpha 3. Abundant alpha 9 was expressed in the lateral and basal membranes of the basal cells of the conjunctiva and corneal limbus, but very little alpha 9 was present in the basal cells of the central corneal epithelium. In contrast, alpha 3 was present in the membranes of basal cells of the conjunctiva, limbus, and central cornea. To determine when during postnatal maturation of the corneal epithelium alpha 9 becomes restricted to the limbus, we looked at the distribution of alpha 9 and alpha 3 in the developing mouse eye from birth to eyelid opening. At birth, the basal cells of the cornea and developing limbal region did not express alpha 9, but there was abundant alpha 9 expressed in suprabasal cells between the fused lids and in the basal cells of the skin and conjunctiva. In contrast, alpha 3, integrin was expressed uniformly in the basal cells across the surface of the conjunctiva, limbus, and cornea and was present only in the basal cells of the epithelium between the fused eyelids. In the central cornea, alpha 9 expression increased in basal cells up until Day 10 after birth. After Day 10, alpha 9 expression in the central cornea began to decrease; after the lids were open, alpha 9 expression in the central cornea became restricted to the limbus. In the basal and suprabasal cells between the fused eyelids expression of alpha 9 became increasingly restricted over time to the basal cells. Recent data suggest that alpha 9 beta 1 can interact with tenascin. Our dual labeling confocal microscopy studies indicate that localization of alpha 9 and tenascin are not coordinated in the developing mouse cornea. Many recent studies have shown an important role for beta 1 integrins in mediating epithelial cell differentiation in vitro; in vivo, changes in integrin expression have been found in wound healing, psoriasis, and in basal and squamous cell carcinomas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Age Factors↗

Expression of alpha 4 integrin mRNA and protein and fibronectin in the early chicken embryo.

alpha 4 integrins (alpha 4 beta 1 and alpha 4 beta 7) have been shown to mediate both cell-matrix adhesion to fibronectin and cell-cell adhesion to VCAM-1. These interactions have been suggested to contribute to hematopoiesis, lymphocyte homing, recruitment of inflammatory cells, neural crest cell migration and myogenesis. We report here the cloning of chicken alpha 4 cDNA and its use to define the patterns of expression of alpha 4 mRNA and protein in early chicken embryos (19-22 somite pairs), a stage at which neural crest cells can be examined at various points in their migration and somitic development and differentiation can also be observed at various stages. We observe widespread expression of both alpha 4 mRNA and protein, although the patterns of steady state expression do not conform precisely. Many neural crest cells contain significant levels of alpha 4 mRNA. Some neural crest cells express alpha 4 protein but its expression is transient and/or limited to a subset of these cells. alpha 4 is strongly expressed at both mRNA and protein levels by somitic cells and their derivatives in the sclerotome, dermatome and myotome and is also expressed in neural tube, otic placode, heart, gut endoderm and some other tissues. Comparison with the distributions of fibronectin shows that, although some alpha 4 expression occurs in locations consistent with a role in cell-matrix adhesion to fibronectin, alpha 4 is also expressed in other places where fibronectin is low or absent and a role for alpha 4 in cell-cell interactions appears more likely.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Integrin overexpression induced by high glucose and by human diabetes: potential pathway to cell dysfunction in diabetic microangiopathy.

The nature of the process leading to the acellular nonperfused capillaries of diabetic microangiopathy remains unknown. Because these capillaries manifest thickened basement membranes, we asked whether the process causing deposition of excess extracellular matrix in diabetes modifies cell-matrix interactions in a direction that would compromise cell renewal. In 44 individual isolates of human umbilical vein endothelial cells we observed that high glucose concentrations (30 mM) induce coordinate increases in the levels of mRNAs encoding fibronectin and the fibronectin-specific integrin receptor alpha 5 beta 1 as well as in the cognate proteins. Expression of the integrin subunit alpha 3, component of the alpha 3 beta 1 polyspecific receptor for fibronectin, laminin, and collagen, was also up-regulated by high glucose. Overexpression of integrins correlated with increased cell attachment to exogenous fibronectin and laminin as well as to complex matrix. Moreover, cells exhibited firmer steady-state adhesion to their own matrix. To correlate these in vitro observations with events in human diabetic retinopathy we measured integrin levels in retinal trypsin digests prepared from 10 patients with 8.2 +/- 1.6 (mean +/- SE) years of diabetes and 10 age- and sex-matched nondiabetic controls. Microvessels of diabetic patients showed increased immunostaining for beta 1 integrin (P = 0.025) when compared with control microvessels. These data show that high glucose and diabetes increase integrin expression and thus alter the interaction of vascular endothelial cells with their basement membranes in the direction of firmer cell-matrix adhesion. This could compromise the migration and replication critical to the reendothelialization process and contribute to microvascular occlusion.

Cell Adhesion↗

Redistribution of the hemidesmosome components alpha 6 beta 4 integrin and bullous pemphigoid antigens during epithelial wound healing.

As basal cells of stratified squamous epithelia become migratory in response to wounding, they lose their cell-substrate adhesion junctions, the hemidesmosomes. We report here studies to determine the fate of the hemidesmosome components, alpha 6 beta 4 integrin and the bullous pemphigoid antigens (BPAGs), as recognized by bullous pemphigoid autoantisera (BPA), in migrating epithelium. In addition, we report studies to determine whether relative synthesis and amount of alpha 6 beta 4 is altered during migration. Mouse corneas with 1.5- to 2-mm-diameter central epithelial debridements were allowed to heal in vitro or in vivo for 1-18 h. In order to do preembedding immunoelectron microscopic localization of alpha 6 beta 4, sheets of stationary and migrating corneal epithelium were removed from their basal laminae after organ culture. BPA and antibodies to alpha 6 and beta 4 were used for immunofluorescence microscopy on frozen sections of intact corneas healing in vivo 1-18 h. Both alpha 6 and beta 4 were found to redistribute from their clustered location within hemidesmosomes to a more even distribution within the substrate-associated membrane of basal cells of the tip of the leading edge of migrating epithelium. Behind the tip of the leading edge, basal cells bound the integrin antibodies around their entire membrane. BPAGs moved from their location along the basal cell membrane of stationary epithelium to a diffuse location within the cytoplasm of migrating cells at the leading edge of migration. Quantitative immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting of alpha 6 beta 4 as well as beta 1 integrin from stationary and migrating epithelium were done to determine whether the synthesis or total amount of the integrins were altered during migration. The relative syntheses of alpha 6 beta 4 and beta 1 per milligram of protein or per cell do not appear to differ between stationary and migrating epithelium and the total amount of the beta 4 and beta 1 does not change despite increased rates of protein synthesis in migrating epithelium. Taken together, these studies suggest that as hemidesmosomes disassemble, their clustered integrin component distributes more evenly in the basal cell membrane, the components recognized by BPA and associated with intermediate filaments are released from the membrane, and these events occur in the absence of any measurable change in the synthesis or total amount of the alpha 6 beta 4 component.

Animals↗

Integrins in the wounded and unwounded stratified squamous epithelium of the cornea.

PURPOSE: The authors determined the synthesis, cell surface expression, and localization of integrins in the rat corneal epithelium to detect whether any changes in integrins occur during epithelial migration in response to simple debridement wounding. METHODS: Immunoprecipitation analysis of extracts from either metabolically or surface-labeled rat epithelia was done to assess the synthesis and cell surface expression of integrins in the normal cornea. The localization of integrins was determined by indirect immunofluorescence of frozen sections obtained from control corneas and from those after debridement wounding. Immunoblotting of extracts from time course experiments was done on organ cultures of rat corneas after debridement to determine if any changes in the amounts of integrins occurred. The cell adhesion function of integrins on control and migrating epithelial cells was evaluated by cell adhesion assays. RESULTS: The data indicated that the corneal epithelium has a variety of distinct integrin subunits including beta 1, beta 4, beta 5, alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha 5, alpha 6, and alpha v. Although beta 1, beta 5, alpha 2, alpha 3, and alpha v were localized to sites of apparent cell-cell contact, alpha 5, alpha 6, and beta 4 were localized specifically to the basal membrane of the basal cells. Little change occurred in the localization of integrins in the migrating epithelial sheets. At 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 hr after wounding, the amount of the beta 1, beta 4, alpha 3, alpha 5, and alpha 6 integrin subunits (as measured by immunoblots) was not altered relative to that of the control corneas. Adhesion assays also showed no differences in adhesion of stationary versus migrating corneal epithelial cells to fibronectin and laminin. CONCLUSIONS: Integrin localization, production, and cell adhesion function in the stratified squamous epithelium of the cornea are not dramatically altered during epithelial cell migration over simple debridement wounds. Integrins in the cell membrane at sites of cell-cell interaction and as components of the hemidesmosomes in stationary epithelia may be available for rapid recruitment as epithelial cell migration proceeds.

Animals↗

Proteolytic processing of endogenous and recombinant beta 4 integrin subunit.

The alpha 6 beta 4 integrin is a receptor involved in the interaction of epithelial cells with basement membranes. This integrin is unique among the known integrins in that its beta 4 subunit has a large cytoplasmic domain. The function of this cytoplasmic domain is not known. In this paper we show that the beta 4 subunit undergoes proteolytic processing in cultured cells and provide evidence that this also happens in tissues. Immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that the cytoplasmic domain of beta 4 is susceptible to a calcium-dependent protease present in cellular extracts. In vitro assays with purified calpain showed that this enzyme can cleave beta 4 at two distinct sites in the cytoplasmic domain, generating truncated molecules of 165 and 130 kD. Immunoblotting experiments performed on cultured epithelial cells using an antibody to a peptide modeled after the COOH-terminus of the beta 4 subunit showed 70-kD fragments and several fragments of molecular masses between 185 and 115 kD. Similar fragments were detected in CHO cells transfected with the full-length beta 4 cDNA, but not in control transfected cells or in cells transfected with a mutant cDNA lacking the epitope of the cytoplasmic peptide antibody. The sizes of the fragments indicated that both the intracellular and extracellular domains of beta 4 are proteolytically processed. To examine the processing of the beta 4 subunit in epithelial tissues in vivo, human skin frozen sections were stained with antibodies to the ectodomain or the cytoplasmic domain of beta 4. The distinct staining patterns obtained with the two types of antibodies provided evidence that beta 4 is proteolytically processed in vivo in skin. Analogous experiments performed on sections of the cornea suggested that beta 4 is not proteolytically processed at a detectable level in this tissue. Thus, cleavage of the beta 4 subunit occurs in a tissue-specific fashion. These results suggest a potential mechanism of modulating the activities of the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Alpha 6 beta 4 integrin heterodimer is a component of hemidesmosomes.

Antisera that recognize the alpha 6 and beta 4 subunits of integrins were found by immunoelectron microscopy to localize to hemidesmosomes in the basal cells of mouse corneal epithelium. Immunoprecipitation experiments using extracts of metabolically labeled corneal epithelial cells indicate that the primary alpha 6-subunit-containing integrin heterodimer present is alpha 6 beta 4 and not alpha 6 beta 1. Here we extend previous studies to report that by immunofluorescence microscopy the alpha 6 integrin subunit colocalizes with bullous pemphigoid antigen and type VII collagen in newly forming hemidesmosomes in the developing 17-day fetal rabbit eye. Neither the composition of the anchoring filaments, which span the region between the hemidesmosomal plaque and the lamina densa of basement membrane where the globular domain of type VII collagen is located, nor the extracellular ligand of alpha 6 beta 4 is known. Once anchoring filament proteins are identified, it will be of interest to determine whether any bind to alpha 6 beta 4.

Animals↗

Integrin heterodimer and receptor complexity in avian and mammalian cells.

We report data showing that the integrin receptor complex in chickens contains several discrete heterodimers all sharing the beta 1-integrin subunit combined separately with different alpha-subunits. Using antisera to synthetic peptides based on cDNA sequences of chicken and human alpha-integrin subunits to analyze the integrin complement of avian and mammalian cells, we show that band 2 of the chicken integrin complex contains alpha-subunits related to both alpha 3- and alpha 5-subunits of human integrins. alpha 3 beta 1 and alpha 5 beta 1 have both previously been shown in human cells to be fibronectin receptors and alpha 3 beta 1 can also act as a receptor for laminin and collagen. We also provide evidence for the presence, in band 1 of the chicken integrin complex, of a third integrin alpha-subunit which is also alpha 5 related. This integrin subunit exists in a separate heterodimer complex with beta 1 and binds to fibronectin-affinity columns. These results provide explanations for published data showing that the avian integrin complex contains receptor activity for a variety of extracellular matrix proteins. We conclude that the chicken integrin complex comprises a set of beta 1-integrin heterodimers equivalent to the human VLA antigens and includes at least two fibronectin receptors. Finally, we show that chicken embryo fibroblasts also contain a beta 3-class integrin related to the RGD receptors defined in various human cells.

Animals↗

Complex regulation of collagen gene expression in cultured bovine aortic smooth muscle cells.

Cultured bovine aortic smooth muscle cells display an increase in production of type I and type III collagen as a function of the number of days in second passage (Beldekas, J. C., Gerstenfeld, L. C., Sonenshein, G. E., and Franzblau, C. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 12552-12556). In this study, we report that the regulation of these events is highly complex and relates to the growth state of the cells. Cultures, seeded at 1.5 X 10(6) cells/75-cm2 flask, produced very little collagenous protein early when the cells were proliferating rapidly. As they approached confluence at day 6, collagen synthesis began to increase. Maximal collagen synthesis was observed at day 14. In contrast, the levels of the mRNAs for type I and type III collagen increased only up to the 10th day and thereafter decreased. Cell-free translation analyses indicated that the translational activity of the collagen mRNAs was increasing over the time course. These results suggest that both translational and pretranslational sites are involved in the control of collagen production by aortic smooth muscle cells, and that collagen synthesis is inversely related to the proliferative state of the cells in culture.

Animals↗