Local microvascular leakage promotes trafficking of activated neutrophils to remote organs.

Increased microvascular permeability to plasma proteins and neutrophil emigration are hallmarks of innate immunity and key features of numerous inflammatory disorders. Although neutrophils can promote microvascular leakage, the impact of vascular permeability on neutrophil trafficking is unknown. Here, through the application of confocal intravital microscopy, we report that vascular permeability-enhancing stimuli caused a significant frequency of neutrophil reverse transendothelial cell migration (rTEM). Furthermore, mice with a selective defect in microvascular permeability enhancement (VEC-Y685F-ki) showed reduced incidence of neutrophil rTEM. Mechanistically, elevated vascular leakage promoted movement of interstitial chemokines into the bloodstream, a response that supported abluminal-to-luminal neutrophil TEM. Through development of an in vivo cell labeling method we provide direct evidence for the systemic dissemination of rTEM neutrophils, and showed them to exhibit an activated phenotype and be capable of trafficking to the lungs where their presence was aligned with regions of vascular injury. Collectively, we demonstrate that increased microvascular leakage reverses the localization of directional cues across venular walls, thus causing neutrophils engaged in diapedesis to reenter the systemic circulation. This cascade of events offers a mechanism to explain how local tissue inflammation and vascular permeability can induce downstream pathological effects in remote organs, most notably in the lungs.

Interfering with VE-PTP stabilizes endothelial junctions in vivo via Tie-2 in the absence of VE-cadherin.

Vascular endothelial (VE)-protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) associates with VE-cadherin, thereby supporting its adhesive activity and endothelial junction integrity. VE-PTP also associates with Tie-2, dampening the tyrosine kinase activity of this receptor that can support stabilization of endothelial junctions. Here, we have analyzed how interference with VE-PTP affects the stability of endothelial junctions in vivo. Blocking VE-PTP by antibodies, a specific pharmacological inhibitor (AKB-9778), and gene ablation counteracted vascular leak induction by inflammatory mediators. In addition, leukocyte transmigration through the endothelial barrier was attenuated. Interference with Tie-2 expression in vivo reversed junction-stabilizing effects of AKB-9778 into junction-destabilizing effects. Furthermore, lack of Tie-2 was sufficient to weaken the vessel barrier. Mechanistically, inhibition of VE-PTP stabilized endothelial junctions via Tie-2, which triggered activation of Rap1, which then caused the dissolution of radial stress fibers via Rac1 and suppression of nonmuscle myosin II. Remarkably, VE-cadherin gene ablation did not abolish the junction-stabilizing effect of the VE-PTP inhibitor. Collectively, we conclude that inhibition of VE-PTP stabilizes challenged endothelial junctions in vivo via Tie-2 by a VE-cadherin-independent mechanism. In the absence of Tie-2, however, VE-PTP inhibition destabilizes endothelial barrier integrity in agreement with the VE-cadherin-supportive effect of VE-PTP.

Similarities and differences in the regulation of leukocyte extravasation and vascular permeability.

Leukocyte extravasation is regulated and mediated by a multitude of adhesion and signaling molecules. Many of them enable the capturing and docking of leukocytes to the vessel wall. Others allow leukocytes to crawl on the apical surface of endothelial cells to appropriate sites of exit. While these steps are well understood and the adhesion molecules mediating these interactions are largely identified, a still growing number of adhesion receptors mediate the diapedesis process, the actual migration of leukocytes through the endothelial cell layer, and the underlying basement membrane. In most cases, it is not known which molecular processes they actually mediate, whether they enable the migration of leukocytes through the endothelial cell layer or whether they are involved in the destabilization of endothelial junctions. In addition, leukocytes are able to circumvent junctions and transcytose directly through the body of endothelial cells. While this latter route indeed exists, recent work has highlighted in vivo the junctional pathway as the prevalent way of leukocyte exit in various inflamed tissues. Recent work elucidating molecular mechanisms that regulate endothelial junctions and thereby leukocyte extravasation and vascular permeability will be discussed.

Dissociation of VE-PTP from VE-cadherin is required for leukocyte extravasation and for VEGF-induced vascular permeability in vivo.

We have recently shown that vascular endothelial protein tyrosine phosphatase (VE-PTP), an endothelial membrane protein, associates with VE-cadherin and is required for optimal VE-cadherin function and endothelial cell contact integrity. The dissociation of VE-PTP from VE-cadherin is triggered by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and by the binding of leukocytes to endothelial cells in vitro, suggesting that this dissociation is a prerequisite for the destabilization of endothelial cell contacts. Here, we show that VE-cadherin/VE-PTP dissociation also occurs in vivo in response to LPS stimulation of the lung or systemic VEGF stimulation. To show that this dissociation is indeed necessary in vivo for leukocyte extravasation and VEGF-induced vascular permeability, we generated knock-in mice expressing the fusion proteins VE-cadherin-FK 506 binding protein and VE-PTP-FRB* under the control of the endogenous VE-cadherin promoter, thus replacing endogenous VE-cadherin. The additional domains in both fusion proteins allow the heterodimeric complex to be stabilized by a chemical compound (rapalog). We found that intravenous application of the rapalog strongly inhibited VEGF-induced (skin) and LPS-induced (lung) vascular permeability and inhibited neutrophil extravasation in the IL-1ß inflamed cremaster and the LPS-inflamed lung. We conclude that the dissociation of VE-PTP from VE-cadherin is indeed required in vivo for the opening of endothelial cell contacts during induction of vascular permeability and leukocyte extravasation.