PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Noam Erez

Publications and source records attributed to Noam Erez.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

DOCK2 regulates chemokine-triggered lateral lymphocyte motility but not transendothelial migration.

Rac GTPases are key regulators of leukocyte motility. In lymphocytes, chemokine-mediated Rac activation depends on the CDM adaptor DOCK2. The present studies addressed the role of DOCK2 in chemokine-triggered lymphocyte adhesion and motility. Rapid chemokine-triggered activation of both LFA-1 and VLA-4 integrins took place normally in DOCK2-/- T lymphocytes under various shear flow conditions. Consequently, DOCK2-/- T cells arrested normally on TNFalpha-activated endothelial cells in response to integrin stimulatory chemokine signals, and their resistance to detachment was similar to that of wild-type (wt) T lymphocytes. Nevertheless, DOCK2-/- T lymphocytes exhibited reduced microvillar collapse and lamellipodium extension in response to chemokine signals, ruling out a role for these events in integrin-mediated adhesion strengthening. Strikingly, arrested DOCK2-/- lymphocytes transmigrated through a CCL21-presenting endothelial barrier with similar efficiency and rate as wt lymphocytes but, unlike wt lymphocytes, could not locomote away from the transmigration site of the basal endothelial side. DOCK2-/- lymphocytes also failed to laterally migrate over multiple integrin ligands coimmobilized with chemokines. This is a first indication that T lymphocytes use 2 different chemokine-triggered actin remodeling programs: the first, DOCK2 dependent, to locomote laterally along apical and basal endothelial surfaces; the second, DOCK2 independent, to cross through a chemokine-bearing endothelial barrier.

Actins↗
PubMed2006

Molecular mapping of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in focal adhesions using fluorescence resonance energy transfer.

Microscopy-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) provides an opportunity to monitor molecular processes in the natural environment in live cells. Here we studied molecular interactions and tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin, Crk-associated substrate (CAS), and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in focal adhesions. For that purpose, these focal adhesion phosphoproteins, fused to cyan or yellow fluorescent proteins (CFP or YFP) were expressed in cultured fibroblasts. To assess the dynamics of tyrosine phosphorylation we used YFP- or CFP-tagged SH2 domain of pp60(src) (dSH2), which specifically binds to phosphotyrosine residues. FRET measurements, combined with immunolabeling with phosphospecific antibodies revealed that FAK, CAS and paxillin are tyrosine phosphorylated in early matrix adhesions and that FAK is in FRET proximity to CAS and paxillin in focal complexes and focal adhesions. Data suggest that paxillin incorporation into nascent focal complexes precedes its tyrosine phosphorylation, which then gradually increases. In cells treated with Rho-kinase inhibitors or expressing constitutively active Rac, focal complexes showed similar levels of paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation as seen in mature focal adhesions. Dynamic FRET-based examination indicated that paxillin phosphorylation occurs in specific areas (hotspots) within focal adhesions, whereas FAK phosphorylation is broadly distributed.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Induction of apoptosis in cultured endothelial cells by a cadherin antagonist peptide: involvement of fibroblast growth factor receptor-mediated signalling.

Cadherins are a family of transmembrane glycoproteins mediating calcium-dependent, homophilic cell-cell adhesion. In addition, these molecules are involved in signaling events, regulating such processes as cell motility, proliferation, and apoptosis. Members of the cadherin subfamily, called either classical or type I cadherins, contain a highly conserved sequence at their homophilic binding site consisting of the three amino acids--histidine-alanine-valine (HAV). Previous studies have shown that peptides containing the HAV motif inhibit cadherin-dependent events such as cell aggregation, compaction, and neurite outgrowth. We report here that a cyclic peptide, N-Ac-CHAVC-NH2 can perturb cadherin-mediated endothelial cell interactions, resulting in a progressive apoptotic cell death. This effect depends on cell density, as it is only observed when dense cultures are treated with the peptide. Adherens junction (AJ)-associated cadherin and catenins are differentially affected by the N-Ac-CHAVC-NH2 treatment, as judged by double immunofluorescence labeling followed by immunofluorescence-ratio imaging. However, cell-cell adhesions are largely retained during the first few hours after addition of the peptide. It was also observed that following treatment, actin filaments partially lose their plasma membrane anchorage at AJs and translocate towards the cell center. Interestingly, addition of basic fibroblast growth factor to confluent, peptide-treated, endothelial cell cultures, completely blocks apoptosis and the inhibitory peptide reduce the phosphorylation of the FGF receptor target protein FRS2, suggesting that the peptide exerts its effect by inhibiting cadherin-mediated activation of fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling. We propose that cadherin-mediated signaling is essential for maintaining viability of confluent endothelial cells, and that its perturbation by N-Ac-CHAVC-NH2 drives these cells to apoptosis.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗