Faculty Bibliography

The vertebrate vascular system is essential for the delivery and exchange of gases, hormones, metabolic wastes and immunity factors. These essential functions are carried out in large part by two types of anatomically distinct blood vessels, namely arteries and veins. Previously, circulatory dynamics were thought to play a major role in establishing this dichotomy, but recently it has become clear that arterial and venous endothelial cells are molecularly distinct even before the output of the first embryonic heartbeat, thus revealing the existence of genetic programs coordinating arterial-venous differentiation. Here we review some of the molecular mechanisms involved in this process

Mineralization often occurs in areas of apoptotic changes. Our findings indicate that physiological mineralization is mediated by matrix vesicles. These matrix vesicles use mechanisms to induce mineralization that are different from the mechanisms used by apoptotic bodies released from apoptotic cells. Therefore, different therapeutic approaches must be chosen to inhibit pathological mineralization depending on the mechanism of mineralization (matrix vesicles versus apoptotic bodies). INTRODUCTION: Physiological mineralization in growth plate cartilage is restricted to regions of terminally differentiated and apoptotic chondrocytes. Pathological mineralization of tissues also often occurs in areas of apoptosis. We addressed the question of whether apoptotic changes control mineralization events or whether both events are regulated independently. METHODS: To induce mineralization, we treated growth plate chondrocytes with retinoic acid (RA); apoptosis in these cells was induced by treatment with staurosporine, anti-Fas, or TNFalpha. The degrees of mineralization and apoptosis were determined, and the structure and function of matrix vesicles and apoptotic bodies were compared. RESULTS: Release of matrix vesicles and mineralization in vivo in the growth plate occurs earlier than do apoptotic changes. To determine the functional relationship between apoptotic bodies and matrix vesicles, growth plate chondrocytes were treated with RA to induce matrix vesicle release and with staurosporine to induce release of apoptotic bodies. After 3 days, approximately 90% of staurosporine-treated chondrocytes were apoptotic, whereas only 2-4% of RA-treated cells showed apoptotic changes. RA- and staurosporine-treated chondrocyte cultures were mineralized after 3 days. Matrix vesicles isolated from RA-treated cultures and apoptotic bodies isolated from staurosporine-treated cultures were associated with calcium and phosphate. However, matrix vesicles were bigger than apoptotic bodies. Furthermore, matrix vesicles but not apoptotic bodies contained alkaline phosphatase and Ca2+ channel-forming annexins II, V, and VI. Consequently, matrix vesicles but not apoptotic bodies were able to take up Ca2+ and form the first mineral phase inside their lumen. Mineralization of RA-treated cultures was inhibited by antibodies specific for annexin V but not mineralization of staurosporine-treated cultures. CONCLUSION: Physiological mineralization of growth plate chondrocytes is initiated by specialized matrix vesicles and requires alkaline phosphatase and annexins. In contrast, mineral formation mediated by apoptotic bodies occurs by a default mechanism and does not require alkaline phosphatase and annexins

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) spreads genetic diversity by moving genes across species boundaries. By rapidly introducing newly evolved genes into existing genomes, HGT circumvents the slow step of ab initio gene creation and accelerates genome innovation. However, HGT can only affect organisms that readily exchange genes (exchange communities). In order to define exchange communities and understand the internal and external environmental factors that regulate HGT, we analyzed approximately 20,000 genes contained in eight free-living prokaryotic genomes. These analyses indicate that HGT occurs among organisms that share similar factors. The most significant are genome size, genome G/C composition, carbon utilization, and oxygen tolerance.

A considerable body of circumstantial data suggests that cyclin D1 is an attractive candidate to mediate the effects of beta-catenin in mammary tissue. To test the functional significance of these correlative findings, we investigated the genetic interaction between transcriptionally active beta-catenin (DeltaN89beta-catenin) and its target gene cyclin D1 in the mouse mammary gland during pubertal development, pregnancy, and tumorigenesis. Our data demonstrate that cyclin D1 is dispensable for the DeltaN89beta-catenin-stimulated initiation of alveologenesis in virgin females, for the de novo induction of alveoli in males, and for the formation of tumors. Indeed, lack of cyclin D1 accentuates and enhances these hyperplastic and tumorigenic DeltaN89beta-catenin phenotypes. Although alveologenesis is initiated by DeltaN89beta-catenin in a cyclin D1-independent fashion, up-regulation of cyclin D1 occurs in DeltaN89beta-catenin mice and its expression remains essential for the completion of alveolar development during the later stages of pregnancy. Thus, alveologenesis is a two-step process, and cyclin D1 activity during late alveologenesis cannot be replaced by the activity of other beta-catenin target genes that successfully drive proliferation at earlier stages

Plakoglobin provides a key linkage in protein chains that connect desmosomal and classical cadherins to the cytoskeleton. It is also present in a significant cytosolic pool that has the capacity to impact on canonical Wnt signaling by competing for interaction with partner proteins of beta-catenin. The closely related protein, beta-catenin, is rapidly targeted for proteasomal degradation by phosphorylation of a 'destruction box' within the N-terminal domain. Inhibition of this process forms the basis of Wnt signaling. This destruction box is also found in the N-terminal domain of plakoglobin. We report that plakoglobin is modified by the addition of O-GlcNAc at a single site in close proximity to the destruction box. O-GlcNAc modification has been proposed to counteract phosphorylation, provide protection from proteasomal degradation, mediate signal transduction, silence transcription, and regulate multimolecular protein assembly. This finding has potential implications for understanding the roles of plakoglobin

Vpu, a membrane protein from human immunodeficiency virus-1, folds into two distinct structural domains with different biological activities: a transmembrane (TM) helical domain involved in the budding of new virions from infected cells, and a cytoplasmic domain encompassing two amphipathic helices, which is implicated in CD4 degradation. The molecular mechanism by which Vpu facilitates virion budding is not clear. This activity of Vpu requires an intact TM helical domain. And it is known that oligomerization of the VPU TM domain results in the formation of sequence-specific, cation-selective channels. It has been shown that the channel activity of Vpu is confined to the TM domain, and that the cytoplasmic helices regulate the lifetime of the Vpu channel in the conductive state. Structure-function correlates based on the convergence of information about the channel activity of Vpu reconstituted in lipid bilayers and on its 3-D structure in membranes by a combination of solution and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy may provide valuable insights to understand the role of Vpu in the pathogenesis of AIDS and for drug design aimed to block channel activity.

NF-kappaB is known to exert its antiviral innate immune response via the IFN-beta-induced Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription pathway. However, our current studies have demonstrated that activated NF-kappaB is capable of directly establishing an antiviral state independent of IFN or secreted soluble factor(s) against two highly pathogenic respiratory RNA viruses. Human parainfluenza virus type 3, a mildly cytopathic virus that induced NF-kappaB very early during infection was converted to a virulent virus after NF-kappaB inhibition. In contrast, a highly cytopathic virus, human respiratory syncytial virus that induced NF-kappaB late during infection, was converted to a mildly cytopathic virus after NF-kappaB induction before virus replication. This interconversion of cytopathic phenotypes of viruses after NF-kappaB modulation was further shown to be independent of IFN and soluble secreted factors(s). Moreover, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and IL-1beta elicited an antiviral response, which was NF-kappaB-dependent. Thus, NF-kappaB induction directly confers an essential innate antiviral response against human parainfluenza virus type 3 and respiratory syncytial virus, which is independent of IFN-inducible factor(s).

Ionizing radiation (IR) is a known human breast carcinogen. Although the mutagenic capacity of IR is widely acknowledged as the basis for its action as a carcinogen, we and others have shown that IR can also induce growth factors and extracellular matrix remodeling. As a consequence, we have proposed that an additional factor contributing to IR carcinogenesis is the potential disruption of critical constraints that are imposed by normal cell interactions. To test this hypothesis, we asked whether IR affected the ability of nonmalignant human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) to undergo tissue-specific morphogenesis in culture by using confocal microscopy and imaging bioinformatics. We found that irradiated single HMEC gave rise to colonies exhibiting decreased localization of E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and connexin-43, proteins necessary for the establishment of polarity and communication. Severely compromised acinar organization was manifested by the majority of irradiated HMEC progeny as quantified by image analysis. Disrupted cell-cell communication, aberrant cell-extracellular matrix interactions, and loss of tissue-specific architecture observed in the daughters of irradiated HMEC are characteristic of neoplastic progression. These data point to a heritable, nonmutational mechanism whereby IR compromises cell polarity and multicellular organization

Receptors of diverse primary structure and with diverse ligands have been reported to be capable of stimulating apoptosis in the absence of ligand binding. These receptors are called dependence receptors, and the newest member of this family appears to be the Sonic hedgehog receptor Patched, which has been reported to stimulate apoptosis when expressed in the absence of its ligand. The signaling mechanisms that account for this type of receptor activity are unknown. Several theories behind how dependence receptors may trigger cell death are described