Activin promotes skin carcinogenesis by attraction and reprogramming of macrophages.

Activin has emerged as an important player in different types of cancer, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We show here that activin overexpression is an early event in murine and human skin tumorigenesis. This is functionally important, since activin promoted skin tumorigenesis in mice induced by the human papillomavirus 8 oncogenes. This was accompanied by depletion of epidermal γδ T cells and accumulation of regulatory T cells. Most importantly, activin increased the number of skin macrophages via attraction of blood monocytes, which was prevented by depletion of CCR2-positive monocytes. Gene expression profiling of macrophages from pre-tumorigenic skin and bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that activin induces a gene expression pattern in skin macrophages that resembles the phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages in different malignancies, thereby promoting angiogenesis, cell migration and proteolysis. The functional relevance of this finding was demonstrated by antibody-mediated depletion of macrophages, which strongly suppressed activin-induced skin tumor formation. These results demonstrate that activin induces skin carcinogenesis via attraction and reprogramming of macrophages and identify novel activin targets involved in tumor formation.

Activin enhances skin tumourigenesis and malignant progression by inducing a pro-tumourigenic immune cell response.

Activin is an important orchestrator of wound repair, but its potential role in skin carcinogenesis has not been addressed. Here we show using different types of genetically modified mice that enhanced levels of activin in the skin promote skin tumour formation and their malignant progression through induction of a pro-tumourigenic microenvironment. This includes accumulation of tumour-promoting Langerhans cells and regulatory T cells in the epidermis. Furthermore, activin inhibits proliferation of tumour-suppressive epidermal γδ T cells, resulting in their progressive loss during tumour promotion. An increase in activin expression was also found in human cutaneous basal and squamous cell carcinomas when compared with control tissue. These findings highlight the parallels between wound healing and cancer, and suggest inhibition of activin action as a promising strategy for the treatment of cancers overexpressing this factor.

Beta1 integrin-mediated adhesion signalling is essential for epidermal progenitor cell expansion.

BACKGROUND: There is a major discrepancy between the in vitro and in vivo results regarding the role of beta1 integrins in the maintenance of epidermal stem/progenitor cells. Studies of mice with skin-specific ablation of beta1 integrins suggested that epidermis can form and be maintained in their absence, while in vitro data have shown a fundamental role for these adhesion receptors in stem/progenitor cell expansion and differentiation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To elucidate this discrepancy we generated hypomorphic mice expressing reduced beta1 integrin levels on keratinocytes that developed similar, but less severe defects than mice with beta1-deficient keratinocytes. Surprisingly we found that upon aging these abnormalities attenuated due to a rapid expansion of cells, which escaped or compensated for the down-regulation of beta1 integrin expression. A similar phenomenon was observed in aged mice with a complete, skin-specific ablation of the beta1 integrin gene, where cells that escaped Cre-mediated recombination repopulated the mutant skin in a very short time period. The expansion of beta1 integrin expressing keratinocytes was even further accelerated in situations of increased keratinocyte proliferation such as wound healing. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data demonstrate that expression of beta1 integrins is critically important for the expansion of epidermal progenitor cells to maintain epidermal homeostasis.

Cdc42 is crucial for the establishment of epithelial polarity during early mammalian development.

To study the role of Cdc42 in the establishment of epithelial polarity during mammalian development, we generated murine Cdc42-null embryonic stem cells and analyzed peri-implantation development using embryoid bodies (EBs). Mutant EBs developed endoderm and underlying basement membrane, but exhibited defects of cell polarity, cell-cell junctions, survival, and cavitation. These defects corresponded to a decreased phosphorylation and membrane localization of aPKC, a reduced phosphorylation of GSK3beta, and a diminished activity of Rac1. However, neither Rac1 nor the kinase function of GSK3beta seem to contribute to cell polarization and cell-cell contacts. In contrast, EBs expressing dominant-negative (dn) PKCzeta mimicked well the phenotype of Cdc42-null EBs, suggesting a major role of aPKC in mediating cell polarization downstream of Cdc42. Finally, aggregation experiments with endodermal cell lines suggested that Cdc42 might affect formation of adherens and tight junctions by PKCzeta-dependent regulation of the protein levels of p120 catenin and E-cadherin.

Cdc42 and phosphoinositide 3-kinase drive Rac-mediated actin polymerization downstream of c-Met in distinct and common pathways.

Activation of c-Met, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/scatter factor receptor induces reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, which drives epithelial cell scattering and motility and is exploited by pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes to invade nonepithelial cells. However, the precise contributions of distinct Rho-GTPases, the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases, and actin assembly regulators to c-Met-mediated actin reorganization are still elusive. Here we report that HGF-induced membrane ruffling and Listeria invasion mediated by the bacterial c-Met ligand internalin B (InlB) were significantly impaired but not abrogated upon genetic removal of either Cdc42 or pharmacological inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-kinase). While loss of Cdc42 or PI3-kinase function correlated with reduced HGF- and InlB-triggered Rac activation, complete abolishment of actin reorganization and Rac activation required the simultaneous inactivation of both Cdc42 and PI3-kinase signaling. Moreover, Cdc42 activation was fully independent of PI3-kinase activity, whereas the latter partly depended on Cdc42. Finally, Cdc42 function did not require its interaction with the actin nucleation-promoting factor N-WASP. Instead, actin polymerization was driven by Arp2/3 complex activation through the WAVE complex downstream of Rac. Together, our data establish an intricate signaling network comprising as key molecules Cdc42 and PI3-kinase, which converge on Rac-mediated actin reorganization essential for Listeria invasion and membrane ruffling downstream of c-Met.

Analysis of integrin functions in peri-implantation embryos, hematopoietic system, and skin.

Integrins mediate cell adhesion, permit traction forces important for cell migration, and cross-talk with growth factor receptors to regulate cell proliferation, cell survival, and cell differentiation. The plethora of functions explains their central role for development and disease. The progress in mouse genetics and the ease with which the mouse genome can be manipulated enormously contributed to our understanding of how integrins exert their functions at the molecular level. In the present chapter, we describe tests that are routinely used in our laboratory to investigate embryos, organs, and cells (peri-implantation embryos, hematopoietic system, epidermis, and hair follicles) that lack the expression of integrins or integrin-associated proteins.

Genetic analysis of beta1 integrin "activation motifs" in mice.

Akey feature of integrins is their ability to regulate the affinity for ligands, a process termed integrin activation. The final step in integrin activation is talin binding to the NPXY motif of the integrin beta cytoplasmic domains. Talin binding disrupts the salt bridge between the alpha/beta tails, leading to tail separation and integrin activation. We analyzed mice in which we mutated the tyrosines of the beta1 tail and the membrane-proximal aspartic acid required for the salt bridge. Tyrosine-to-alanine substitutions abolished beta1 integrin functions and led to a beta1 integrin-null phenotype in vivo. Surprisingly, neither the substitution of the tyrosines with phenylalanine nor the aspartic acid with alanine resulted in an obvious defect. These data suggest that the NPXY motifs of the beta1 integrin tail are essential for beta1 integrin function, whereas tyrosine phosphorylation and the membrane-proximal salt bridge between alpha and beta1 tails have no apparent function under physiological conditions in vivo.

Cdc42 controls progenitor cell differentiation and beta-catenin turnover in skin.

Differentiation of skin stem cells into hair follicles (HFs) requires the inhibition of beta-catenin degradation, which is controlled by a complex containing axin and the protein kinase GSK3beta. Using conditional gene targeting in mice, we show now that the small GTPase Cdc42 is crucial for differentiation of skin progenitor cells into HF lineage and that it regulates the turnover of beta-catenin. In the absence of Cdc42, degradation of beta-catenin was increased corresponding to a decreased phosphorylation of GSK3beta at Ser 9 and an increased phosphorylation of axin, which is known to be required for binding of beta-catenin to the degradation machinery. Cdc42-mediated regulation of beta-catenin turnover was completely dependent on PKCzeta, which associated with Cdc42, Par6, and Par3. These data suggest that Cdc42 regulation of beta-catenin turnover is important for terminal differentiation of HF progenitor cells in vivo.

Cdc42 is not essential for filopodium formation, directed migration, cell polarization, and mitosis in fibroblastoid cells.

Cdc42 is a small GTPase involved in the regulation of the cytoskeleton and cell polarity. To test whether Cdc42 has an essential role in the formation of filopodia or directed cell migration, we generated Cdc42-deficient fibroblastoid cells by conditional gene inactivation. We report here that loss of Cdc42 did not affect filopodium or lamellipodium formation and had no significant influence on the speed of directed migration nor on mitosis. Cdc42-deficient cells displayed a more elongated cell shape and had a reduced area. Furthermore, directionality during migration and reorientation of the Golgi apparatus into the direction of migration was decreased. However, expression of dominant negative Cdc42 in Cdc42-null cells resulted in strongly reduced directed migration, severely reduced single cell directionality, and complete loss of Golgi polarization and of directionality of protrusion formation toward the wound, as well as membrane blebbing. Thus, our data show that besides Cdc42 additional GTPases of the Rho-family, which share GEFs with Cdc42, are involved in the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity during directed migration.