Myoepithelial-specific CD44 shedding is mediated by a putative chymotrypsin-like sheddase.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that myoepithelial cells, which surround incipient carcinomas in situ of the breast and other organs, exert antiinvasive and antiangiogenic effects in vitro through the elaboration of a number of different suppressor molecules among which include the shed membrane CD44. The present study addresses the mechanism of this myoepithelial CD44 shedding. This CD44 shedding is enhanced by PMA pretreatment, is specific for myoepithelial CD44, and inhibited by chymotrypsin-like inhibitors (chymostatin, alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin, TPCK, and SCCA-2) but not by trypsin-like inhibitors (TLCK), nor papain-like inhibitors (SCCA-1) nor hydroxamate-based or general metalloproteinase inhibitors (BB2516 (marimastat), 1,10-phenanthroline, and TIMP-1). The effect of PMA can be mimicked by exogenous chymotrypsin but not by other proteases. The CD44 shedding activity cannot be transferred by conditioned media, cell-cell contact, peripheral membrane, or integral membrane fractions. However, cell-free purified integral plasma membrane fractions obtained from myoepithelial cells pretreated with PMA also exhibit CD44 shedding which is inhibited by chymotrypsin-like inhibitors. These findings support the presence and activation of a putative chymotrypsin-like sheddase as the mechanism of CD44 shedding in myoepithelial cells.

Myoepithelial-specific CD44 shedding contributes to the anti-invasive and antiangiogenic phenotype of myoepithelial cells.

Myoepithelial cells surround incipient ductal carcinomas of the breast and exert anti-invasive and antiangiogenic effects in vitro through the elaboration of suppressor molecules. This study examines one putative molecule, solubilized CD44 produced by myoepithelial shedding of membrane CD44. Studies with different human myoepithelial cell lines demonstrate that myoepithelial cells express and shed both the 85-kDa standard (CD44s) and the 130-kDa epithelial (CD44v8-10) isoforms, findings further confirmed by the use of isoform-specific antibodies. PMA pretreatment enhances CD44 shedding detected by two different methods at different time points: a reduction in surface CD44 at 2 h by flow cytometry and a marked decrease in both total cellular CD44 and plasma membrane CD44 at 12 h by Western blot. This shedding is both specific for CD44 and specific for myoepithelial cells. This shedding is inhibited by the chymotrypsin inhibitors chymostatin and alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin but not by general metallo-, cysteine, or other serine proteinase inhibitors. Myoepithelial-cell-conditioned medium and affinity-purified solubilized CD44 from this conditioned medium block hyaluronan adhesion and migration of both human carcinoma cell lines and human umbilical vein endothelial cells.