Identification and profiling of CXCR3-CXCR4 chemokine receptor heteromer complexes.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The C-X-C chemokine receptors 3 (CXCR3) and C-X-C chemokine receptors 4 (CXCR4) are involved in various autoimmune diseases and cancers. Small antagonists have previously been shown to cross-inhibit chemokine binding to CXCR4, CC chemokine receptors 2 (CCR2) and 5 (CCR5) heteromers. We investigated whether CXCR3 and CXCR4 can form heteromeric complexes and the binding characteristics of chemokines and small ligand compounds to these chemokine receptor heteromers. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: CXCR3-CXCR4 heteromers were identified in HEK293T cells using co-immunoprecipitation, time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer, saturation BRET and the GPCR-heteromer identification technology (HIT) approach. Equilibrium competition binding and dissociation experiments were performed to detect negative binding cooperativity. KEY RESULTS: We provide evidence that chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CXCR4 form heteromeric complexes in HEK293T cells. Chemokine binding was mutually exclusive on membranes co-expressing CXCR3 and CXCR4 as revealed by equilibrium competition binding and dissociation experiments. The small CXCR3 agonist VUF10661 impaired binding of CXCL12 to CXCR4, whereas small antagonists were unable to cross-inhibit chemokine binding to the other chemokine receptor. In contrast, negative binding cooperativity between CXCR3 and CXCR4 chemokines was not observed in intact cells. However, using the GPCR-HIT approach, we have evidence for specific ß-arrestin2 recruitment to CXCR3-CXCR4 heteromers in response to agonist stimulation. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study indicates that heteromeric CXCR3-CXCR4 complexes may act as functional units in living cells, which potentially open up novel therapeutic opportunities.

Quantitative expression profiling of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in metastatic melanoma: the constitutively active orphan GPCR GPR18 as novel drug target.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been implicated in the tumorigenesis and metastasis of human cancers and are considered amongst the most desirable targets for drug development. Utilizing a robust quantitative PCR array, we quantified expression of 94 human GPCRs, including 75 orphan GPCRs and 19 chemokine receptors, and 36 chemokine ligands, in 40 melanoma metastases from different individuals and benign nevi. Inter-metastatic site comparison revealed that orphan GPR174 and CCL28 are statistically significantly overexpressed in subcutaneous metastases, while P2RY5 is overexpressed in brain metastases. Comparison between metastases (all three metastatic sites) and benign nevi revealed that 16 genes, including six orphan receptors (GPR18, GPR34, GPR119, GPR160, GPR183 and P2RY10) and chemokine receptors CCR5, CXCR4, and CXCR6, were statistically significantly differentially expressed. Subsequent functional experiments in yeast and melanoma cells indicate that GPR18, the most abundantly overexpressed orphan GPCR in all melanoma metastases, is constitutively active and inhibits apoptosis, indicating an important role for GPR18 in tumor cell survival. GPR18 and five other orphan GPCRs with yet unknown biological function may be considered potential novel anticancer targets in metastatic melanoma.

Hyperosmotic stress response and regulation of cell wall integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae share common functional aspects.

The osmosensitive phenotype of the hog1 strain is suppressed at elevated temperature. Here, we show that the same holds true for the other commonly used HOG pathway mutant strains pbs2 and sho1ssk2ssk22, but not for ste11ssk2ssk22. Instead, the ste11ssk2ssk2 strain displayed a hyperosmosensitive phenotype at 37 degrees C. This phenotype is suppressed by overexpression of LRE1, HLR1 and WSC3, all genes known to influence cell wall composition. The suppression of the temperature-induced hyperosmosensitivity by these genes prompted us to investigate the role of STE11 and other HOG pathway components in cellular integrity and, indeed, we were able show that HOG pathway mutants display sensitivity to cell wall-degrading enzymes. LRE1 and HLR1 were also shown to suppress the cell wall phenotypes associated with the HOG pathway mutants. In addition, the isolated multicopy suppressor genes suppress temperature-induced cell lysis phenotypes of PKC pathway mutants that could be an indication for shared targets of the PKC pathway and high-osmolarity response routes.

An evaluation of the accuracy of shallow water matched field inversion results.

In this article the accuracy of geo-acoustic and geometric parameter estimates obtained through matched field inversion (MFI) was assessed. Multi-frequency MFI was applied to multi-tone data (200-600 Hz) received at a 2-km source/receiver range. The acoustic source was fixed and the signals were received at a vertical array. Simultaneously with the acoustic transmissions, a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth)-chain was towed along the acoustic track. A genetic algorithm was used for the global optimization, whereas a normal mode model was applied for the forward acoustic calculations. Acoustic data received at consecutive times were inverted and the stability of the inverted parameters was determined. Also, the parameter estimates were compared with independent measurements, such as multi-channel seismic surveys (for geo-acoustic parameters). The obtained uncertainty in the inversion results was assumed to have two distinct origins. The first origin is the inversion method itself, since each optimization will come up with some solution close to the exact optimum. Parameter coupling and the fact that some parameters hardly influence the acoustic propagation further contribute to this uncertainty. The second is due to oceanographic variability. Both contributions were evaluated through simulation. The contribution of oceanographic variability was evaluated through synthetic inversions that account for the actual sound speed variations as measured by the towed CTD-chain.

Candidate osmosensors from Candida utilis and Kluyveromyces lactis: structural and functional homology to the Sho1p putative osmosensor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, increases in external osmolarity evoke osmostress-induced signalling via the HOG MAP kinase pathway. One of the upstream components of this signal transduction route is the putative osmosensor, Sho1p. With the aim to elucidate the molecular basis of osmosensing in budding yeast, we have cloned SHO1 homologues from Candida utilis and Kluyveromyces lactis which allowed determination of conserved domains of Sho1p. Results obtained from sequence comparisons, confirmed the importance of the transmembrane domains and the SH3 domain for Sho1p function. The K. lactis and S. cerevisiae Sho1p show the highest degree of homology, the isoform from C. utilis is a shorter protein. SHO1 from C. utilis, however, did complement the osmosensitivity of the sho1ssk2ssk22 strain by restoring HOG pathway function, since Hog1p dual phosphorylation after high osmotic challenge was restored in this strain after transformation with a plasmid bearing this SHO1 homologue.

The control of intracellular glycerol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae influences osmotic stress response and resistance to increased temperature.

Glycerol has been demonstrated to serve as the major osmolyte of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Consistently, mutant strains gpd1gpd2 and gpp1gpp2, which are devoid of the main glycerol biosynthesis pathway, have been shown to be osmosensitive. In addition, the primary hyperosmotic stress response is affected in these strains. Hog1p phosphorylation turned out to be prolonged and osmostress-induced gene expression is delayed compared with the kinetics observed in wild-type cells. A hog1 deletion strain was previously found to contain lower internal glycerol and therefore displays an osmosensitive phenotype. Here, we show that the osmosensitivity of hog1 is suppressed by growth at 37 degrees C. We reasoned that this temperature-remedial osmoresistance might be caused by a higher intracellular glycerol level at the elevated temperature. This hypothesis was confirmed by measurement of the glycerol concentration, which was shown to be similar for wild type and hog1 cells only at elevated growth temperatures. In agreement with this finding, hog1 cells containing an fps1 allele, encoding a constitutively open glycerol channel, have lost their temperature-remedial osmoresistance. Furthermore, gpd1gpd2 and gpp1gpp2 strains were found to be temperature sensitive. The growth defect of these strains could be suppressed by adding external glycerol. In conclusion, the ability to control glycerol levels influences proper osmostress-induced signalling and the cellular potential to grow at elevated temperatures. These data point to an important, as yet unidentified, role of glycerol in cellular functioning.

Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to severe osmotic stress: evidence for a novel activation mechanism of the HOG MAP kinase pathway.

The HOG/p38 MAP kinase route is an important stress-activated signal transduction pathway that is well conserved among eukaryotes. Here, we describe a novel mechanism of activation of the HOG pathway in budding yeast. This mechanism operates upon severe osmostress conditions (1.4 M NaCl) and is independent of the Sln1p and Sho1p osmosensors. The alternative input feeds into the HOG pathway MAPKK Pbs2p and requires activation of Pbs2p by phosphorylation. We show that, upon severe osmotic shock, Hog1p nuclear accumulation and phosphorylation is delayed compared with mild stress. Moreover, both events lost their transient pattern, presumably because of the absence of negative feedback mediated by Ptp2p tyrosine phosphatase, which we found to be localized in the nucleus. Under severe osmotic stress conditions, the delayed nuclear accumulation correlates with a delay in stress-responsive gene expression. Severe osmoshock leads to a situation in which active and nuclear-localized Hog1p is transiently unable to induce transcription of osmotic stress-responsive genes. It also appeared from our studies that the Sho1p osmosensor is less active under severe osmotic stress conditions, whereas the Sln1p/Ypd1p/Ssk1p sensor and signal transducer functions normally under these circumstances.

Characterisation and cloning of a calmodulin-like domain protein kinase from Chlamydomonas moewusii (Gerloff).

Calcium-stimulated protein kinase activity in the flagella of the green alga Chlamydomonas moewusii (Gerloff) was characterised. Using SDS-PAGE and an on-blot phosphorylation assay, a 65-kDa protein was identified as the major calcium-stimulated protein kinase. Its activity was directly stimulated by calcium, a characteristic of the calmodulin-like domain protein kinases (CDPKs). Monoclonal antibodies raised against the CDPK alpha from soybean cross-reacted with the 65-kDa protein in the flagella, and also with other proteins in the flagellum and cell body. The same monoclonal antibodies were used to screen a C. moewusii cDNA expression library in order to isolate CDPK cDNAs from C. moewusii. The CCK1 cDNA encodes a protein with a kinase and calmodulin-like domain linked by a junction domain typical of CDPKs. From Southern analyses, evidence was obtained for a CDPK gene family in C. moewusii and C. reinhardtii.

A calcium and free fatty acid-modulated protein kinase as putative effector of the fusicoccin 14-3-3 receptor.

A protein kinase that is activated by calcium and cis-unsaturated fatty acids has been characterized from oat (Avena sativa L.) root plasma membranes. The kinase phosphorylates a synthetic peptide with a motif (-R-T-L-S-) that can be phosphorylated by both protein kinase C (PKC) and calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK)-type kinases. Calphostin C and chelerythrine, two PKC inhibitors, completely inhibited the kinase activity with values of inhibitor concentration for 50% inhibition of 0.7 and 30 microns, respectively. At low Ca2+ concentrations cis-unsaturated fatty acids (linolenic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, and oleic acid) stimulated the kinase activity almost 10-fold. The two inhibitors of the kinase, calphostin C and chelerythrin, strongly reduced the fusicoccin (FC)-induced H+ extrusion, and the activators of the kinase, the cis-unsaturated fatty acids, prevented [3H]FC binding to the FC 14-3-3 receptor. CDPK antibodies cross-reacted with a 43-kD band in the plasma membrane and in a purified FC receptor fraction. A polypeptide with the same apparent molecular mass was recognized by a synthetic peptide that has a sequence homologous to the annexin-like domain from barely 14-3-3. The possibility of the involvement of a kinase, with properties from both CDPK and PKC, and a phospholipase A2 in the FC Signal transduction pathway is discussed.

Tyrosine phosphatase signalling in a lower plant: cell-cycle and oxidative stress-regulated expression of the Chlamydomonas eugametos VH-PTP13 gene.

The first evidence for tyrosine phosphatase signalling pathways in plants is presented by characterizing a putative protein tyrosine phosphatase gene from the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas eugametos. This cDNA, referred to as VH-PTP13, contains an open reading frame specifying a protein with a molecular weight of 30.3 kDa, that has significant homology with a distinct group of dual-specificity phosphatases. The highest homology is found with CL-100, a human stress-response gene that regulates MAPkinase activity. The purified VH-PTP13 protein expressed in E. coli had phosphatase activity and inactivated MAPkinases from alfalfa and tobacco. Nondividing C. eugametos gametes did not express the VH-PTP13 gene whereas synchronously dividing vegetative cells only expressed VH-PTP13 in the early G1-phase of the cycle, implying a function there. When vegetative cells were subjected to oxidative stress, expression of the VH-PTP13 gene was strongly induced, analogous to the human CL-100 gene. Its potential role in plant signalling pathways is discussed.