11 research outputs found
Plakophilin 1 deficiency in prostatic tumours is correlated with immune cell recruitment and controls the upâregulation of cytokine expression postâtranscriptionally
Plakophilin (PKP1) 1 is a member of the armârepeat family of catenins and acts as a structural component of desmosomes, which are important stabilizers of cellâcell adhesion. Besides this, PKP1 also occurs in a nonâjunctional, cytoplasmic form contributing to postâtranscriptional regulation of gene expression. Moreover, PKP1 is expressed in the prostate epithelium but its expression is frequently downregulated in prostate cancers with a more aggressive phenotype. This observation may imply a tumourâsuppressive role of PKP1. We found that, in prostatic adenocarcinomas with PKP1 deficiency, the occurrence of Tâcells, Bâcells, macrophages and neutrophils were significantly increased. In a PKP1âdeficient prostatic cancer cell line expressing IL8, these levels were statistically meaningfully reduced upon PKP1 reâexpression. When analysing prostatic PKP1 knockdown cell lines, the mRNA and protein levels of additional cytokines, namely CXCL1 and IL6, were upregulated. The effect was rescued upon reâexpression of a PKP1 RNAiâresistant form. The corresponding mRNAs were coâprecipitated with cytoplasmic PKP1, indicating that they are components of PKP1âcontaining mRNA ribonucleoprotein particles. Moreover, the mRNA halfâlives of CXCL1, IL8 and IL6 were significantly increased in PKP1âdeficient cells, showing that these mRNAs were stabilized by PKP1. In an inâvitro migration assay, the higher cytokine concentrations led to higher migration rates of THP1 and PBMC cells. This finding implies that PKP1 loss of expression inâvivo correlates with the recruitment of immune cells into the tumour area to set up a tumourâspecific environment. One may speculate that this newly established tumour environment has tumourâsuppressive characteristics and thereby accelerates tumour progression and metastasis
Protein Tpr is required for establishing nuclear pore-associated zones of heterochromatin exclusion
Amassments of heterochromatin in somatic cells occur in close contact with the nuclear envelope (NE) but are gapped by channel- and cone-like zones that appear largely free of heterochromatin and associated with the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). To identify proteins involved in forming such heterochromatin exclusion zones (HEZs), we used a cell culture model in which chromatin condensation induced by poliovirus (PV) infection revealed HEZs resembling those in normal tissue cells. HEZ occurrence depended on the NPC-associated protein Tpr and its large coiled coil-forming domain. RNAi-mediated loss of Tpr allowed condensing chromatin to occur all along the NE's nuclear surface, resulting in HEZs no longer being established and NPCs covered by heterochromatin. These results assign a central function to Tpr as a determinant of perinuclear organization, with a direct role in forming a morphologically distinct nuclear sub-compartment and delimiting heterochromatin distribution
Cadherin-Catenin Complexes During Zebrafish Oogenesis: Heterotypic Junctions Between Oocytes and Follicle Cells
13 pages, 9 figuresDuring vertebrate oogenesis, the germ cells and associated somatic cells remain connected by a variety of adhering junctional complexes. However, the molecular composition of these cellular structures is largely unknown. To identify the proteins forming the heterotypic adherens junctions between oocytes and follicle cells in the zebrafish (Danio rerio), the cDNAs encoding αE-catenin and plakoglobin were isolated. Using these cDNAs, in combination with the previously isolated ÎČ-catenin cDNA, and antibodies specific for α- and ÎČ-catenin, plakoglobin, and N- and E-cadherin, we found differences in catenin and plakoglobin gene expression during oogenesis. The immunolocalization of these plaque proteins, as well as of cadherins, in the ovarian follicle indicated an enrichment of α- and ÎČ-catenin and of E-cadherin-like protein(s) in the oocyte cortex, notably at sites of oocyte-follicle cell contacts, suggesting the presence of hitherto unknown heterotypic adherens junctions between these cells. By contrast, plakoglobin and N-cadherin localization was restricted to cell-cell contacts in the follicle cell layer. During oocyte maturation, mRNAs for αE- and ÎČ-catenin and plakoglobin accumulated, and all three plaque-forming proteins were stored in unfertilized eggs, either in complexed forms with cadherins or as free cytoplasmic pools. These findings suggest possible roles of these junctional proteins during early embryogenesisPeer reviewe
Desmosomal Plakophilins in the Prostate and Prostatic Adenocarcinomas : Implications for Diagnosis and Tumor Progression
The plakophilins, members of the armadillo-repeat family, consist of three different proteins (PKP1-3) that are specifically recruited to desmosomal plaques in a highly cell type-specific manner. Using immunofluorescence, immunoelectron microscopy, and immunoblot, we found that all three plakophilins occurred in luminal and basal cells of the pseudostratified prostate epithelium. The analysis of 135 cases of prostatic adenocarcinomas grouped into tumors with low (Gleason score †6), intermediate (Gleason score 7), and high Gleason score (8 †Gleason score †10) showed that the expression of PKP1 was reduced or lost in adenocarcinomas with high Gleason scores. The expression of PKP2 was unchanged in all prostatic adenocarcinomas analyzed. In contrast, PKP3 expression was increased in carcinomas with high Gleason scores in comparison with carcinomas with low Gleason scores. In DU 145 cell lines with either overexpression or knockdown of PKP3, both imbalances resulted in fewer desmosomal cell contacts. In addition, overexpression of PKP3 in DU 145 cells led to an augmentation in proliferation rate. Our data imply that both loss of PKP1 and up-regulation of PKP3 expression are biologically important events in prostate cancer and are associated with a more aggressive phenotype