Tumor-Stroma Mechanics Coordinate Amino Acid Availability to Sustain Tumor Growth and Malignancy

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Role of the Bullous Pemphigoid Antigen 180 (BP180) in the Assembly of Hemidesmosomes and Cell Adhesion—Reexpression of BP180 in Generalized Atrophic Benign Epidermolysis Bullosa Keratinocytes

Bullous pemphigoid antigen 180 (BP180) is a transmembrane component of hemidesmosomes (HD), cell–substrate attachment complexes in stratified and complex epithelia. To determine the role of BP180 in the assembly of HD and cell adhesion, using SV40 virions we have immortalized BP180-deficient keratinocytes derived from a patient with the inherited skin blistering disorder generalized atrophic benign epidermolysis bullosa (GABEB). The GABEB keratinocytes form HD-like structures, which contain α6β4 integrin and HD1/plectin, but not the bullous pemphigoid antigen 230 (BP230). The expression of integrin subunits by GABEB keratinocytes was comparable to that of an immortalized normal human keratinocyte cell line (NHK), except for α6 and β4, which were less strongly expressed in GABEB cells. In short-term adhesion assays, both GABEB keratinocytes and NHK bound strongly and to a similar extent to laminin-1, laminin-5, fibronectin, and type IV and V collagens, which suggests that BP180 is not involved in promoting the initial adhesion to these ligands. Transfection of GABEB keratinocytes with cDNAs for wild-type or a mutant of BP180 lacking the collagenous extracellular domain resulted in the expression of recombinant BP180 proteins that were correctly polarized at the basal cell surface together with α6β4. In addition, restored synthesis of BP180 affected the subcellular localization of BP230, which was no longer diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm, but was found in HD-like structures. In contrast, a BP180 mutant with a 36-amino-acid deletion from the amino terminus of the cytoplasmic domain failed to localize to HD-like structures. These results demonstrate that a region within the cytoplasmic domain of BP180 is essential for its localization into HD and that BP180 may play a critical role in coordinating the subcellular distribution of BP230.     

Plasmidial maintenance in rodent fibroblasts of a BPV1-pBR322 shuttle vector without immediately apparent oncogenic transformation of the recipient cells.

A recombinant plasmid was constructed (pV69) which comprises a subgenomic fragment of bovine papilloma virus type 1 (BPV1) DNA, part of plasmid pBR322 DNA and a drug resistance gene expressed in both mammalian fibroblasts and Escherichia coli. This gene (vv2) is a modified form of the bacterial neomycin resistance gene (neo) linked to the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (tk) promoter (plasmid pAG60), to which the original bacterial neo promoter from transposon Tn5 was added back, upstream of the eukaryotic promoter. It induced kanamycin resistance in E. coli, as well as resistance to the drug G418 in rat and mouse fibroblasts. Its expression in FR3T3 rat cells was enhanced as compared with the original tk-neo construction. After transfer of plasmid pV69 into C127 mouse cells or FR3T3 rat cells, the number of resistant colonies selected in medium containing G418 was one to two orders of magnitude higher than that of transformed foci in normal medium. In eight independent cell lines selected by drug resistance, pV69 DNA was found to be maintained in a plasmidial state, without any detectable rearrangement or deletion and could be transferred back in E. coli. In contrast, cell lines selected by focus formation in normal medium maintained deleted forms of the original plasmid DNA, and only part of them were resistant to G418. Most of the drug-resistant clones had kept the morphology and growth control of the normal fibroblasts. However, with further passages in culture, these cells spontaneously produced transformed foci with increasing frequencies.     

Novel and recurrent mutations in the laminin-5 genes causing lethal junctional epidermolysis bullosa: molecular basis and clinical course of Herlitz disease

Herlitz disease (H-JEB), the lethal form of junctional epidermolysis bullosa, is a rare genodermatosis presenting from birth with widespread erosions and blistering of skin and mucosae because of tissue cleavage within the epidermal basement membrane. Mutations in any of the three genes encoding the 3, 3 and 2 chains of laminin-5 underlie this recessively inherited disorder. Here, we report the molecular basis and clinical course of H-JEB in 12 patients. Two novel nonsense mutations in the gene LAMA3 (E281X and K1299X) and a novel frame-shift mutation in the gene LAMB3 (1628insG) leading to a premature termination codon were identified by DNA sequencing and confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In the four patients affected, neither the resulting truncated polypeptide chains nor assembled laminin-5 protein were detectable by immunofluorescence. Three patients were found to be heterozygous for the known hotspot mutation R635X and the recurrent mutations Q373X or 29insC in the gene LAMB3, whereas five others were homozygous for R635X. Significant variations in the disease progression and survival times between 1 and 30 months in this group of H-JEB patients emphasised the impact of modifying factors and the importance of immunostaining or mRNA assessment as parallel diagnostic methods. Interestingly, the only patients who survived for longer than 6 months were four females carrying the mutation R635X homozygously. In one of them, the clinical course may have been improved by treatment with artificial skin equivalents. These data may stimulate further investigation of genotype–phenotype correlations and facilitate mutation analysis and genetic counselling of affected families.     

Suppression of laminin-5 expression leads to increased motility, tumorigenicity, and invasion

Laminin-5 (Ln-5) is expressed in several human carcinomas and hypothesized to contribute to tumor invasion. To understand the role of Ln-5 in human cancers, we stably delivered small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) directed against the Ln-5 gamma2 chain into JHU-022-SCC cells (022), a non-invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell line which secretes Ln-5. Lysates from gamma2 siRNA cells (022-sigamma2) had nearly undetectable levels of the gamma2 chain while the alpha3 and beta3 subunits of Ln-5 remained unchanged compared to parental and control. In conditioned medium from 022-sigamma2 cells, the gamma2 chain and the Ln-5 heterotrimer were barely detectable, similar to an invasive OSCC cell line. Conditioned medium from 022-sigamma2 cells contained less alpha3 and beta3 subunits than both parental and control. Although the proliferation and adhesive properties of the 022-sigamma2 cells remained similar to parental and control cells, 022-sigamma2 cells showed increased detachment and a fibroblastic morphology similar to invasive cells. Moreover, migration, in vitro invasion, and in vivo tumorigenicity were enhanced in 022-sigamma2 cells. Our results suggest that the Ln-5 gamma2 chain regulates the secretion of the alpha3 and beta3 subunits. More importantly, suppression of Ln-5 results in a phenotype that is representative of invasive tumor cells.     

Different heparan sulfate proteoglycans serve as cellular receptors for human papillomaviruses

Papillomaviruses replicate in stratified epithelia of skin and mucosa. Infection with certain human papillomavirus (HPV) types is the main cause of anogenital neoplasia, in particular cervical cancer. Early events of papillomavirus infectivity are poorly understood. While heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) mediate initial binding to the cell surface, the class of proteins carrying heparan sulfates has not been defined. Here we examined two processes of papillomavirus infection, attachment of virus-like particles (VLP) to cells and infection with authentic HPV type 11 (HPV11) virions. Of the HSPGs, syndecan-1 is the major epithelial form and is strongly upregulated in wound edge keratinocytes. We employed K562 cells, which lack HSPGs except minor amounts of endogenous betaglycan, and stable clones that express cDNAs of syndecan-1, syndecan-4, or glypican-1. Binding of VLP correlated with levels of heparan sulfate on the cell surface. Parental K562 bound HPV16 VLP weakly, whereas all three K562 transfectants demonstrated enhanced binding, with the highest binding capacity observed for syndecan-1-transfected cells, which also expressed the most HSPG. For HPV11 infectivity assays, a high virion inoculum was required to infect K562 cells, whereas ectopic expression of syndecan-1 increased permissiveness eightfold and expression of syndecan-4 or glypican-1 fourfold. Infection of keratinocytes was eliminated by treatment with heparitinase, but not phospholipase C, further implicating the syndecan family of integral membrane proteins as receptor proteins. Human keratinocytes with a homozygous deletion of alpha6 integrin are permissive for HPV11 infection. These results indicate that several HSPGs can serve as HPV receptors and support a putative role for syndecan-1, rather than alpha6 integrin, as a primary receptor protein in natural HPV infection of keratinocytes.