RabGEF1/Rabex-5 Regulates TrkA-Mediated Neurite Outgrowth and NMDA-Induced Signaling Activation in NGF-Differentiated PC12 Cells.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) binds to its cognate receptor TrkA and induces neuronal differentiation by activating distinct downstream signal transduction events. RabGEF1 (also known as Rabex-5) is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rab5, which regulates early endosome fusion and vesicular trafficking in endocytic pathways. Here, we used the antisense (AS) expression approach to induce an NGF-dependent sustained knockdown of RabGEF1 protein expression in stable PC12 transfectants. We show that RabGEF1 is a negative regulator of NGF-induced neurite outgrowth and modulates other cellular and signaling processes that are activated by the interaction of NGF with TrkA receptors, such as cell cycle progression, cessation of proliferation, and activation of NGF-mediated downstream signaling responses. Moreover, RabGEF1 can bind to Rac1, and the activation of Rac1 upon NGF treatment is significantly enhanced in AS transfectants, suggesting that RabGEF1 is a negative regulator of NGF-induced Rac1 activation in PC12 cells. Furthermore, we show that RabGEF1 can also interact with NMDA receptors by binding to the NR2B subunit and its associated binding partner SynGAP, and negatively regulates activation of nitric oxide synthase activity induced by NMDA receptor stimulation in NGF-differentiated PC12 cells. Our data suggest that RabGEF1 is a negative regulator of TrkA-dependent neuronal differentiation and of NMDA receptor-mediated signaling activation in NGF-differentiated PC12 cells.

Reduced mast cell and basophil numbers and function in Cpa3-Cre; Mcl-1fl/fl mice.

It has been reported that the intracellular antiapoptotic factor myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (Mcl-1) is required for mast cell survival in vitro, and that genetic manipulation of Mcl-1 can be used to delete individual hematopoietic cell populations in vivo. In the present study, we report the generation of C57BL/6 mice in which Cre recombinase is expressed under the control of a segment of the carboxypeptidase A3 (Cpa3) promoter. C57BL/6-Cpa3-Cre; Mcl-1(fl/fl) mice are severely deficient in mast cells (92%-100% reduced in various tissues analyzed) and also have a marked deficiency in basophils (58%-78% reduced in the compartments analyzed), whereas the numbers of other hematopoietic cell populations exhibit little or no changes. Moreover, Cpa3-Cre; Mcl-1(fl/fl) mice exhibited marked reductions in the tissue swelling and leukocyte infiltration that are associated with both mast cell- and IgE-dependent passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (except at sites engrafted with in vitro-derived mast cells) and a basophil- and IgE-dependent model of chronic allergic inflammation, and do not develop IgE-dependent passive systemic anaphylaxis. Our findings support the conclusion that Mcl-1 is required for normal mast cell and basophil development/survival in vivo in mice, and also suggest that Cpa3-Cre; Mcl-1(fl/fl) mice may be useful in analyzing the roles of mast cells and basophils in health and disease.

Mast cells contribute to the stromal microenvironment in mammary gland branching morphogenesis.

The stromal microenvironment regulates mammary gland branching morphogenesis. We have observed that mast cells are present in the mammary gland throughout its postnatal development and, in particular, are found around the terminal end buds and ductal epithelium of the pubertal gland. Mast cells contribute to allergy, inflammatory diseases, and cancer development but have not been implicated in normal development. Genetic and pharmacological disruption of mast cell function in the mammary gland revealed that mast cells are involved in rapid proliferation and normal duct branching during puberty, and this effect is independent of macrophage recruitment, which also regulates mammary gland development. For mast cells to exert their effects on normal morphogenesis required activation of their serine proteases and degranulation. Our observations reveal a novel role for mast cells during normal pubertal development in the mammary gland.

Active plasma kallikrein localizes to mast cells and regulates epithelial cell apoptosis, adipocyte differentiation, and stromal remodeling during mammary gland involution.

The plasminogen cascade of serine proteases directs both development and tumorigenesis in the mammary gland. Plasminogen can be activated to plasmin by urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), and plasma kallikrein (PKal). The dominant plasminogen activator for mammary involution is PKal, a serine protease that participates in the contact activation system of blood coagulation. We observed that the prekallikrein gene (Klkb1) is expressed highly in the mammary gland during stromal remodeling periods including puberty and postlactational involution. We used a variant of ecotin (ecotin-PKal), a macromolecular inhibitor of serine proteases engineered to be highly specific for active PKal, to demonstrate that inhibition of PKal with ecotin-PKal delays alveolar apoptosis, adipocyte replenishment, and stromal remodeling in the involuting mammary gland, producing a phenotype resembling that resulting from plasminogen deficiency. Using biotinylated ecotin-PKal, we localized active PKal to connective tissue-type mast cells in the mammary gland. Taken together, these results implicate PKal as an effector of the plasminogen cascade during mammary development.

Plasminogen activation independent of uPA and tPA maintains wound healing in gene-deficient mice.

Simultaneous ablation of the two known activators of plasminogen (Plg), urokinase-type (uPA) and the tissue-type (tPA), results in a substantial delay in skin wound healing. However, wound closure and epidermal re-epithelialization are significantly less impaired in uPA;tPA double-deficient mice than in Plg-deficient mice. Skin wounds in uPA;tPA-deficient mice treated with the broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor galardin (N-[(2R)-2-(hydroxamido-carbonylmethyl)-4-methylpentanoyl]-L-tryptophan methylamide) eventually heal, whereas skin wounds in galardin-treated Plg-deficient mice do not heal. Furthermore, plasmin is biochemically detectable in wound extracts from uPA;tPA double-deficient mice. In vivo administration of a plasma kallikrein (pKal)-selective form of the serine protease inhibitor ecotin exacerbates the healing impairment of uPA;tPA double-deficient wounds to a degree indistinguishable from that observed in Plg-deficient mice, and completely blocks the activity of pKal, but not uPA and tPA in wound extracts. These findings demonstrate that an additional plasminogen activator provides sufficient plasmin activity to sustain the healing process albeit at decreased speed in the absence of uPA, tPA and galardin-sensitive MMPs and suggest that pKal plays a role in plasmin generation.