波形蛋白在非小细胞肺癌组织中的表达及其临床意义

目的:探究波形蛋白在非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)组织中的表达及其与肺癌浸润转移的相关性。方法:收集2012年6月-2014年6月我院手术切除的NSCLC癌组织标本150例及癌旁正常组织(距肿瘤5 cm)79例,提取两组的RNA,采用实时荧光定量聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)检测波形蛋白m RNA表达水平,免疫组化法检测波形蛋白的蛋白表达,分析波形蛋白表达水平与淋巴结转移、TNM分期的相关性。结果:波形蛋白m RNA在NSCLC癌组织中的表达明显高于癌旁正常组织(P0.05)。NSCLC癌组织中波形蛋白m RNA表达水平的上调与淋巴结转移及TNM分期(P0.05)相关。结论:波形蛋白在NSCLC患者中表达异常升高,与NSCLC的发生和浸润转移密切相关。     

神经酰胺在细胞调亡中的作用

本从神经酰胺的代谢,神经酰胺在神经鞘磷酯途径中充当第二信使,神经鞘磷酯途径连接SAPK／JNK（stress-activated Protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase)凋亡信号转导途径,神经酰胺介导的凋亡信号途径与ICE／Ced-3蛋白激酶的相互作用这四个方面阐述了神经酰胺在介导细胞凋亡中所起的中心作用,以利于了解促进,抑制凋亡的机制及其协同机制,为进一步的研究打好理论基础.     

波形蛋白的结构、功能和与肿瘤的关系

波形蛋白是真核细胞骨架系统的组成成分之一,除了对细胞的黏附、迁移、增殖、凋亡等生理功能起重要作用,同时也与间充质细胞来源的肿瘤分化、转移和增殖以及肿瘤微环境有着密切的关系.文章结合近期有关波形蛋白的研究,综述了波形蛋白结构形态、细胞生物学功能上最新的研究进展以及波形蛋白在肿瘤研究中的相关进展.     

氧化修饰在调控细胞凋亡信号转导中的作用

氧化修饰是细胞内的活性氧诱导生物大分子发生氧化反应引起的结构及构象改变,发挥调控信号转导和对应激作出反应的功能。氧化修饰发生在凋亡信号转导中的多个生物大分子,包括凋亡相关蛋白质的氧化,如caspase-9、线粒体通透性转变孔及电压依赖的阴离子通道(voltagedependent anion channel,VDAC),同时也包括膜磷脂的氧化修饰,如磷脂酰丝氨酸及线粒体特异的心磷脂。氧化修饰作用也涉及凋亡诱导因子、促凋亡的凋亡信号调控激酶1(apoptosis signalregulatin gkinasel,ASK1)信号转导途径及抗凋亡的转录因子NF—kB的激活和活性。所以氧化修饰可能是调控凋亡信号转导机制中除磷酸化、泛素化外的另一个新的分子机制。     

细胞凋亡信号转导中的蛋白水解酶

细胞凋亡在体内稳态平衡,机体防御,老化及许多疾病的发生过程中发挥重要作用,尽管对细胞凋亡的研究进展很快,但是凋亡发生的确切机制仍是个谜。参与细胞凋亡的信号转导及调控因素很多。近年来,人们认识到一系列的蛋白水解酶在细胞凋亡过程中起重要作用。其中,ＩＣＥ样半胱氨酸蛋白酶在凋亡信号转导中的作用愈来愈受到重视,许多调控细胞凋亡的因素可通过ＩＣＥ样蛋白水解酶起作用,本文就细胞凋亡信号转导途径中的ＩＣＥ样蛋白     

Caspase的活化及其在细胞凋亡中的作用

Caspase是执行细胞凋亡的主要酶类,目前已鉴定的哺乳动物Caspase有14种。Caspase以酶原的形式合成,催化活性很低,必须激活以后才能发挥作用。活化的Caspase通过特异性的裂解一套底物而导致细胞凋亡。与Caspase有关的细胞凋亡通路至少有三种：线粒体／细胞色素c通路、死亡受体通路和内质网通路。Caspase总是与其抑制剂共存,以防止Caspase酶原意外激活而对正常细胞造成损伤。     

整合素在细胞黏附中的生物学功能

整合素是一种跨膜蛋白,属于黏附分子家族.其主要功能是参与细胞和细胞、细胞和细胞外基质(ECM)的黏附和信号转导.整合素是含有α和β两条肽链的异源二聚体,来源不同的α、β亚基所形成的整合素具有不同的ECM结合能力.阐述了整合素的结构、生物学功能以及生理、病理学意义,并概述了其研究进展.     

TNF受体家庭介导的细胞凋亡信号转导

肿瘤坏死因子（ＴＮＦ）家庭是一类多功能的细胞因子,具有诱导细胞凋亡、抗病毒、免疫调节等多种生物学活性,其中一些成员可以通过和细胞膜上相应受体结合,启动细胞内的凋亡机制,而诱导细胞凋亡,一些蛋白质（如ＴＲＡＤＤ、ＦＡＤＤ、ＲＩＰ、ＲＡＩＤＤ等）参与这些信号传递过程,越来赵多的ＴＮＦ家庭成员,ＴＮＦ受体以及与细胞凋亡相产在的Ｃａｓｐａｓｅ蛋白酶２成员被人们发现。     

神经酰胺与细胞凋亡

神经酰胺与细胞凋亡叶珉王亚新（上海第二医科大学附属瑞金医院血液学研究所,上海２０００２５）关键词神经酰胺细胞凋亡信号转导细胞凋亡为维持机体内环境稳定所必需,它与有丝分裂相互协调,共同调控胚胎发育、器官的发育和退化、免疫和造血等功能。研究发现,神经酰胺...     

细胞凋亡的信号转导机制与调节

本文综述近年来细胞凋亡信号转导机制的有关研究进展,重点概述了凋亡信号转导的死亡受体途径,线粒体－细胞色素Ｃ途径的信号转导机制及信号转导的有关调节机制的研究进展。     

Induction of vimentin modification and vimentin-HSP72 association by withangulatin A in 9L rat brain tumor cells

Withangulatin A induced cell rounding up and the morphological alteration resulted from the reorganization of all of the major cytoskeletal components, i.e., vimentin, tubulin, and actin, as revealed by immunofluorescence techniques. When the withangulatin A-treated cells changed to a round-up morphology, vimentin intermediate filaments were found to be collapsed and clustered around the nucleus. The alteration was accompanied by characteristic changes of vimentin molecules, including augmentation of phosphorylation, retardation of electrophoretic mobility, and decrease in detergent extractability. The levels of vimentin phosphorylation were augmented by 2.5- and 1.8-fold in cells incubated with 50 μM withangulatin A for 1 and 3 h, respectively. The electrophoretic mobility of vimentin was partially retarded in cells treated with withangulatin A for 1 h at 10 μM and a completely upshift mobility was observed after 5 h treatment at 50 μM. In addition, vimentin molecules became less extractable by nonident P-40 after the cells were treated with withangulatin A and this effect was dose dependent. The decrease in solubility of vimentin was accompanied by the redistribution of HSP72 into the detergent nonextractable fraction and these two events were well correlated. Our results suggest that withangulatin A induced the modification of vimentin, which resulted in the alteration of cell morphology and redistribution of intracellular HSP72, an event that may play an important role in the induction of heat-shock response.     

Endosomal lipid accumulation in NPC1 leads to inhibition of PKC, hypophosphorylation of vimentin and Rab9 entrapment

Background information. Within the group of lysosomal storage diseases, NPC1 [NPC (Niemann‐Pick type C) 1] disease is a lipidosis characterized by excessive accumulation of free cholesterol as well as gangliosides, glycosphingolipids and fatty acids in the late E/L (endosomal/lysosomal) system (Chen et al., 2005 ) due to a defect in late endosome lipid egress. We have previously demonstrated that expression of the small GTPase Rab9 in NPC1 cells can rescue the lipid transport block phenotype (Walter et al., 2003 ), albeit by an undefined mechanism. Results. To investigate further the mechanism by which Rab9 facilitates lipid movement from late endosomes we sought to identify novel Rab9 binding/interacting proteins. In the present study, we report that Rab9 interacts with the intermediate filament phosphoprotein vimentin and this interaction is altered by lipid accumulation in late endosomes, which results in inhibition of PKC (protein kinase C) and hypophosphorylation of vimentin, leading to late endosome dysfunction. Intermediate filament hypophosphorylation, aggregation and entrapment of Rab9 ultimately leads to transport defects and inhibition of lipid egress from late endosomes. Conclusions. These results reveal a previously unappreciated interaction between Rab proteins and intermediate filaments in regulating intracellular lipid transport.     

Intermediate vimentin filaments and their role in intracellular organelle distribution

Intermediate filaments (IF) represent one of three main cytoskeletal structures in most animal cells. The human IF protein family includes about 70 members divided into five main groups. The characteristic feature of IF is that in various cells and tissues they are formed by proteins of different groups. Structures of all IF proteins follow a unique scheme: a central α-helical part is flanked at the N and C ends by positively charged polypeptide chains devoid of a clear secondary structure. The central part is highly conserved for all proteins in all animals, whereas the N and C termini strongly differ both in size and amino acid composition. This review covers the broad spectrum of recent investigations of IF structure and diverse functions. Special attention is paid to the regulatory mechanisms of IF functions, mainly to phosphorylation by different protein kinases whose role is well studied. The review gives examples of hereditary diseases associated with mutations of some IF proteins, which point to an important physiological role of these cytoskeletal structures.     

Deletion mutagenesis of the amino-terminal head domain of vimentin reveals dispensability of large internal regions for intermediate filament assembly and stability

Previous studies have shown that the non-alpha-helical head domain of vimentin is required for polymerization of intermediate filaments (IFs) and, furthermore, a nonapeptide highly conserved among type III IF subunit proteins at their extreme amino-terminus is essential for this process. Recombinant DNA technology was employed to produce specific vimentin deletion mutant proteins (for in vitro studies) or vimentin protein expression plasmids (for in vivo studies), which were used to identify other regions of the vimentin head domain important for polymerization. Various vimentin proteins lacking either residues 25-38, 44-95, or 40-95 polymerized into wild-type or largely normal IFs, both in vitro and in vivo. Vimentin proteins lacking residues 44-69 or 25-63 failed to form IFs in vitro, but assembled into IFs in vivo. Vimentin proteins lacking residues 25-68, 44-103, or 88-103 failed to form IFs in vitro or in vivo. Taken together with previous results, these data demonstrate that the middle of the vimentin non-alpha-helical head domain, which is known to be the site of nucleic acid binding, is completely dispensable for IF formation, whereas both ends of the vimentin non-alpha-helical head domain are required for IF formation. The simplest explanation for these results is that the middle of the vimentin non-alpha-helical head domain loops out, thereby permitting the juxtaposition of the ends of the head domain and their productive interaction with other protein domains (probably the C-terminus of the rod domain) during IF polymerization. The ability of some of the mutant proteins to form IFs in vivo, but not in vitro, suggests that as-yet-unknown cellular proteins may interact with and, in some cases, enable polymerization of IFs, even though they are not absolutely required for IF formation by wild-type vimentin.     

Engagement of vimentin intermediate filaments in hypotonic stress

Intermediate filaments (IFs) play a key role in the control of cell structure and morphology, cell mechano-responses, migration, proliferation, and apoptosis. However, the mechanisms regulating IFs organization in motile adhesive cells under certain physical/pathological conditions remain to be fully understood. In this study, we found hypo-osmotic–induced stress results in a dramatic but reversible rearrangement of the IF network. Vimentin and nestin IFs are partially depolymerized as they are redistributed throughout the cell cytoplasm after hypo-osmotic shock. This spreading of the IFs requires an intact microtubule network and the motor protein associated transportation. Both nocodazole treatment and depletion of kinesin-1 (KIF5B) block the hypo-osmotic shock–induced rearrangement of IFs showing that the dynamic behavior of IFs largely depends on microtubules and kinesin-dependent transport. Moreover, we show that cell survival rates are dramatically decreased in response to hypo-osmotic shock, which was more severe by vimentin IFs depletion, indicating its contribution to osmotic endurance. Collectively, these results reveal a critical role of vimentin IFs under hypotonic stress and provide evidence that IFs are important for the defense mechanisms during the osmotic challenge.     

Retaining of the assembly capability of vimentin phosphorylated by mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase-2

Intermediate filament (IF) networks can be regulated by phosphorylation of unit proteins, such as vimentin, by specific kinases leading to reorganization of the IF filamentous structure. Recently, we identified mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase-2 (MAPKAP kinase-2) as a vimentin kinase (Cheng and Lai [1998] J. Cell. Biochem. 71:169-181). Herein we describe the results of further in vitro studies investigating the effects of MAPKAP kinase-2 phosphorylation on vimentin and the effects of the phosphorylation on the filamentous structure. We show that MAPKAP kinase-2 mainly phosphorylates vimentin at Ser-38, Ser-50, Ser-55, and Ser-82, residues all located in the head domain of the protein. Surprisingly, and in stark contrast to phosphorylation by most other kinases, phosphorylation of vimentin by MAPKAP kinase-2 has no discernable effect on its assembly. It suggested that structure disassembly is not the only obligated consequence of phosphorylated vimentin as regulated by other kinases. Finally, a mutational analysis of each of the phosphorylated serine residues in vimentin suggested that no single serine site was primarily responsible for structure maintenance, implying that the retention of filamentous structure may be the result of the coordinated action of several phosphorylated serine sites. This also shed new lights on the functional task(s) of vimentin that is intermediate filament proteins might provide a phosphate reservoir to accommodate the phosphate surge without any structural changes.     

Regulation of the association of alpha 6 beta 4 with vimentin intermediate filaments in endothelial cells

The adhesion of microvascular endothelial cells to their underlying basement membrane is important for the maintenance of vascular integrity. Most integrins function in endothelial cell adhesion by forming a transmembrane link between their basement membrane ligand and the actin microfilament cytoskeleton. The alpha 6 beta 4 laminin-binding integrin, however, associates with vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs) in microvascular endothelial cells and therefore is likely to uniquely contribute to the barrier function of the endothelium. In this study, we examined the regulation of alpha 6 beta 4-vimentin IF association. We first tested the requirement for alpha 6 beta 4-laminin interactions and actin microfilament assembly. We found that alpha 6 beta 4 associated with vimentin IFs when cells were adherent to either laminin 5 or fibronectin, indicating that this association can occur independent of alpha 6 beta 4-ligand interactions. Additionally, we found that alpha 6 beta 4 was associated with vimentin IFs prior to cell spreading, indicating that changes in the microfilament cytoskeleton associated with changes in cell shape are also not required. Thus, although the association of alpha 6 beta 4 with vimentin IFs may strengthen cell adhesion by providing endothelial cells with an additional transmembrane linkage between the basement membrane and the cytoskeleton, this association is not itself regulated by alpha 6 beta 4-mediated adhesion. Finally, we tested the role of plectin in the association of alpha 6 beta 4 with vimentin IFs. Plectin is known to bind in vitro to both IFs and the beta 4 cytoplasmic domain (beta 4 tail), suggesting that it may be important for this linkage. Therefore, we generated deletion mutants of the beta 4 tail and compared the ability of alpha 6 beta 4 containing these deletions to associate with vimentin IFs. We targeted the two regions of the beta 4 tail known to bind to plectin IN VITRO: the N-terminal and C-terminal plectin binding sites. We found that deletion of the N-terminal binding site inhibited the association of alpha 6 beta 4 with vimentin IFs. Thus, plectin-beta 4 tail interactions may play an important role in connecting alpha 6 beta 4 with vimentin IFs and may prove to be important targets in the regulation of this association in endothelial cells.     

Vimentin serves as a phosphate sink during the apparent activation of protein kinases by okadaic acid in mammalian cells

The vimentin contents of four mammalian cell lines originating from rat and human tissues were determined by immunoblotting and scanning densitometry. On per cell volume basis, vimentin content in 9L, KD, and HeLa cells was found to be 206.6, 151.6, and 19.1 ng/μl, respectively. A431 cells were devoid of vimentin. Protein phosphorylation was augmented by treatment of 600 nM okadaic acid for 1 h in these cells. During the apparent activation of protein kinases, vimentin became hyperphosphorylated and the phosphorylation level of other nonvimentin phosphoproteins was relatively little affected in 9L and KD cells. In contrast, cytokeratins and other nonvimentin proteins were heavily phosphorylated in OA-treated HeLa and A431 cells. Regression analysis indicated that the relative increase in phosphorylation level of nonvimentin phosphoproteins was inversely correlated to the contents of vimentin in the four cell lines [r² = ?0.985]. These observations strongly suggest that vimentin acts as a phosphate sink by which the effects of “excess kinase activity” inflicted by phosphatases inhibition was attenuated.