Summary Mechanotransduction, a key determinant of tissue homeostasis and tumor progression, is driven by intercellular adhesions, cell contractility and forces generated with the microenvironment, dependent on extracellular matrix composition, organization and compliance. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) favors cell elongation in 3D cultures and promotes Rho-and force-dependent contraction, matrix alignment and microenvironment stiffening through regulation of p190RhoGAP. In turn, microenvironment remodeling by Cav1-fibroblasts forces cell elongation. Cav1-deficient mice have disorganized stromal tissue architecture. Stroma associated with human carcinomas and melanoma metastases is enriched in Cav1-expressing carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Cav1 expression in breast CAFs correlates with low survival, and Cav1 depletion in CAFs decreases CAF contractility. Consistently, fibroblast expression of Cav1, through p190RhoGAP regulation, favors directional migration and invasiveness of carcinoma cells in vitro. In vivo, stromal Cav1 remodels peri- and intratumoral microenvironments to facilitate tumor invasion, correlating with increased metastatic potency. Thus, Cav1 modulates tissue responses through force-dependent architectural regulation of the microenvironment.

Rho/ROCK signaling and caveolin-1 (Cav1) are implicated in tumor cell migration and metastasis; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly defined. Cav1 was found here to be an independent predictor of decreased survival in breast and rectal cancer and significantly associated with the presence of distant metastasis for colon cancer patients. Rho/ROCK signaling promotes tumor cell migration by regulating focal adhesion (FA) dynamics through tyrosine (Y14) phosphorylation of Cav1. Phosphorylated Cav1 is localized to protrusive domains of tumor cells and Cav1 tyrosine phosphorylation is dependent on Src kinase and Rho/ROCK signaling. Increased levels of phosphorylated Cav1 were associated with elevated GTP-RhoA levels in metastatic tumor cells of various tissue origins. Stable expression and knockdown studies of Cav1 in tumor cells showed that phosphorylated Cav1 expression stimulates Rho activation, stabilizes FAK association with FAs, and promotes cell migration and invasion in a ROCK-dependent and Srcdependent manner. Tyrosine-phosphorylated Cav1, therefore, functions as an effector of Rho/ROCK signaling in the regulation of FA turnover and, thereby, tumor cell migration and invasion. These studies define a feedback loop between Rho/ROCK, Src, and phosphorylated Cav1 in tumor cell protrusions, identifying a novel function for Cav1 in tumor metastasis that may contribute to the poor prognosis of some Cav1-expressing tumors. [Cancer Res 2008;68(20):8210-20]

The plasma membrane is organized into various subdomains of clustered macromolecules. Such domains include adhesive structures (cellular synapses, substrate adhesions, and cell–cell junctions) and membrane invaginations (clathrin-coated pits and caveolae), as well as less well-defined domains such as lipid rafts and lectin-glycoprotein lattices. Domains are organized by specialized scaffold proteins including the intramembranous caveolins, which stabilize lipid raft domains, and the galectins, a family of animal lectins that cross-link glycoproteins forming molecular lattices. We review evidence that these heterogeneous microdomains interact to regulate substratum adhesion and cytokine receptor dynamics at the cell surface.

Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is a multifunctional scaffolding protein with multiple binding partners that is associated with cell surface caveolae and the regulation of lipid raft domains. Cav1 regulates multiple cancer-associated processes including cellular transformation, tumor growth, cell migration and metastasis, cell death and survival, multidrug resistance and angiogenesis. However, Cav1 has been reported to impact both positively and negatively on various aspects of tumor progression and while reported to function as a tumor suppressor, it has also been identified as a poor prognostic factor in various human cancers. In this review, we survey the functional roles of Cav1 in cancer and argue that Cav1 function is interdependent on tumor stage and the expression of molecular effectors that impact on its role during tumor progression.

Macromolecular complexes exhibit reduced diffusion in biological membranes; however, the physiological consequences of this characteristic of plasma membrane domain organization remain elusive. We report that competition between the galectin lattice and oligomerized caveolin-1 microdomains for epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) recruitment regulates EGFR signaling in tumor cells. In mammary tumor cells deficient for Golgi β1,6N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (Mgat5), a reduction in EGFR binding to the galectin lattice allows an increased association with stable caveolin-1 cell surface microdomains that suppresses EGFR signaling. Depletion of caveolin-1 enhances EGFR diffusion, responsiveness to EGF, and relieves Mgat5 deficiency–imposed restrictions on tumor cell growth. In Mgat5+/+ tumor cells, EGFR association with the galectin lattice reduces first-order EGFR diffusion rates and promotes receptor interaction with the actin cytoskeleton. Importantly, EGFR association with the lattice opposes sequestration by caveolin-1, overriding its negative regulation of EGFR diffusion and signaling. Therefore, caveolin-1 is a conditional tumor suppressor whose loss is advantageous when β1,6GlcNAc-branched N-glycans are below a threshold for optimal galectin lattice formation.

The pattern of blood flow has long been thought to play a significant role in vascular morphogenesis, yet the flow-sensing mechanism that is involved at early embryonic stages, when flow forces are low, remains unclear. It has been proposed that endothelial cells use primary cilia to sense flow, but this has never been tested in vivo. Here we show, by noninvasive, high-resolution imaging of live zebrafish embryos, that endothelial cilia progressively deflect at the onset of blood flow and that the deflection angle correlates with calcium levels in endothelial cells. We demonstrate that alterations in shear stress, ciliogenesis, or expression of the calcium channel PKD2 impair the endothelial calcium level and both increase and perturb vascular morphogenesis. Altogether, these results demonstrate that endothelial cilia constitute a highly sensitive structure that permits the detection of low shear forces during vascular morphogenesis.

Highlights d Single endogenous EVs can be live-visualized in the zebrafish embryo with CD63-pHluorin d Syntenin in the YSL regulates exosome release into the blood for further dissemination d YSL exosomes are taken up by macrophages and endothelial cells in the tail of the embryo d Uptake is scavenger receptor-and dynamin-dependent and provides trophic support

Graphical Abstract Highlights d MemBright allows for bright and specific staining of EVs d The zebrafish embryo allows tracking of tumor EVs at high spatiotemporal resolution d Circulating tumor EVs are mostly taken up by endothelial cells and patrolling macrophages d Zebrafish melanoma EVs favor metastatic outgrowth in zebrafish embryos