The ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) family of proteins is involved in a variety of cellular interactions, including cell adhesion and ecto- domain shedding. Here we show that ADAM 12 binds to cell surface syndecans. Three forms of recombinant ADAM 12 were used in these experiments: the cys-teine-rich domain made in Escherichia coli (rADAM 12-cys), the disintegrin-like and cysteine-rich domain made in insect cells (rADAM 12-DC), and full-length human ADAM 12-S tagged with green fluorescent protein made in mammalian cells (rADAM 12-GFP). Mesenchymal cells specifically and in a dose-dependent manner attach to ADAM 12 via members of the syndecan family. After binding to syndecans, mesenchymal cells spread and form focal adhesions and actin stress fibers. Integrin β1 was responsible for cell spreading because function-blocking monoclonal antibodies completely inhibited cell spreading, and chondroblasts lacking β1 integrin attached but did not spread. These data suggest that mesenchymal cells use syndecans as the initial receptor for the ADAM 12 cysteine-rich domain–mediated cell adhesion, and then the β1 integrin to induce cell spreading. Interestingly, carcinoma cells attached but did not spread on ADAM 12. However, spreading could be efficiently induced by the addition of either 1 mM Mn2+ or the β1 integrin–activating monoclonal antibody 12G10, suggesting that in these carcinoma cells, the ADAM 12–syndecan complex fails to modulate the function of β1 integrin.

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T cell antigen recognition involves the formation of a structured interface between antigen-presenting and T cells that facilitates the specific transmission of activating and desensitizing stimuli. The molecular machinery that organizes the signaling molecules and controls their disposition in response to activation remains poorly understood. We show here that in T cells Discs large (Dlg1), a PDZ domain-containing protein, is recruited upon activation to cortical actin and forms complexes with early participants in T cell activation. Transient overexpression of Dlg1 attenuates basal and Vav1-induced NFAT reporter activation. Reduction of Dlg1 expression by RNA interference enhances both CD3- and superantigen-mediated NFAT activation. Attenuation of antigen receptor signaling appears to be a complex, highly orchestrated event that involves the mutual segregation of important elements of the early signaling complex.

BackgroundThe distal esophagus harbors a complex bacterial population. We hypothesized that a better understanding of bacterial communities in the esophagus would facilitate understanding of the role of bacteria in esophageal disease. Here, we investigated bacterial composition in the distal esophagus in subjects with a normal esophagus, reflux esophagitis, and Barrett’s esophagus.MethodsTwo biopsy specimens were obtained from the distal esophagus at 1 cm above the gastroesophageal junction under endoscopic examination in 18 patients (6 each with normal esophagus, reflux esophagitis, and Barrett’s esophagus) and used for histological examination and DNA extraction. Fragments of 16S rDNA genes were amplified by PCR using general bacterial primers, and bacterial populations were examined. A third biopsy specimen was taken from the patients with Barrett’s esophagus to histologically confirm the replacement of squamous epithelium with columnar epithelium in the distal esophagus.ResultsEndoscopic diagnoses of normal esophagus, esophagitis, and Barrett’s esophagus were confirmed by histological findings. The total amount of bacterial DNA detected did not significantly differ among groups (p > 0.1). On average, each of the 18 subjects yielded about 350 clones, of which 40 were randomly picked and sequenced. Analysis of 147 16S rDNA sequences from 240 clones of 6 subjects with normal esophagus yielded four phyla, Proteobacteria (49%), Firmicutes (40%), Bacteroidetes (8%), and Actinobacteria (3%). Similar analysis of 139 16S rDNA sequences from 240 clones of 6 patients with reflux esophagitis yielded 6 phyla, Proteobacteria (43%), Firmicutes (33%), Bacteroidetes (10%), Fusobacteria (10%), Actinobacteria (2%), and TM7 (2%). while that of 138 16S rDNA sequences from 240 clones of 6 cases of Barrett’s esophagus yielded 5 phyla, Firmicutes (55%), Proteobacteria (20%), Bacteroidetes (14%), Fusobacteria (9%), and Actinobacteria (2%). Thus, microbial communities differed among patients with a normal esophagus, reflux esophagitis and Barrett’s esophagus.ConclusionsEsophageal bacterial composition differs under conditions of normal esophagus, reflux esophagitis, and Barrett’s esophagus. Diverse bacterial communities may be associated with esophageal disease.

Two domains of fibronectin deliver two different but cooperative signals required for focal adhesion formation. The signal from the cell-binding domain is mediated by integrins, whereas the signal from the heparinbinding domain is recognized by heparan sulfate proteoglycans, of which syndecan-4 has been hypothesized to be involved in focal adhesion formation. We generated mice deficient in syndecan-4 to study its role directly. Even in fibroblasts from syndecan-4-deficient mice, focal adhesions were formed, and actin fibers terminated normally at focal adhesions when they were cultured on coverslips coated with fibronectin or with a mixture of its cell-binding and heparin-binding fragments. However, when the cells were cultured on the cell-binding fragment and the heparin-binding fragment was added to the medium, focal adhesion formation was impaired in the syndecan-4 null fibroblasts as compared with that in wild-type cells. Therefore, syndecan-4 is essential for promoting focal adhesion formation only when the signal of the heparin-binding domain of fibronectin is delivered as a soluble form, most probably from the apical surface. When the signal is delivered as a substratum-bound form, other molecule(s) also participate(s) in the signal reception.Interactions between cells and extracellular matrices are highly important in the regulation of various biological processes such as development, growth, and repair. Focal adhesions are macromolecular complexes found at the sites of cell adhesion to extracellular matrices (1, 2). Focal adhesions are linked to actin stress fibers and also serve as signaling complexes involved in triggering intracellular signaling cascades.When cells are plated on fibronectin, focal adhesion formation requires two independent signals delivered from the cellbinding domain and the heparin-binding domain of the molecule (2-4). The signal from the RGD-containing cell-binding domain is mediated through integrins (5, 6), whereas the heparin-binding domain is recognized by heparan sulfate proteoglycan(s) (2-4). Among these, syndecan-4 (also called ryudocan or amphiglycan; see Refs. 7-9) is believed to be important, because this transmembrane protein is a component of focal adhesions (10, 11) and antibodies directed against the ectodomain of syndecan-4 cooperate with the cell-binding fragment of fibronectin to form focal adhesions (12). To evaluate the precise role of syndecan-4 in focal adhesion formation, we generated mice deficient in the syndecan-4 gene (Synd4) 1 and examined fibroblasts from these animals. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESMaterials-Intact human fibronectin and its cell-binding fragment (CBF) were purchased from Wako Chemical Co. Heparin-binding fragment of fibronectin (HBF), tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC)-conjugated phalloidin, anti-vinculin monoclonal antibody, fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody, and TRITC-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody were obtained from SigmaAldrich. Anti-syndecan-4 ectodomain antibody (@-Synd4) was prepared as descri...

Background: Midkine (MK) is a growth factor implicated in the development and repair of various tissues, especially neural tissues. However, its in vivo function has not been clarified.

Syndecan-4 is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan belonging to the syndecan family. Following intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), syndecan-4-deficient mice exhibited high mortality compared with wild-type controls. Severe endotoxin shock was observed in the deficient mice: systolic blood pressure and left ventricular fractional shortening were lower in the deficient mice than in the wild-type controls 9 h after LPS injection. Although histological examinations revealed no apparent differences between two groups, the plasma level of interleukin (IL)-1␤ was higher in the deficient mice than in the wild-type controls 9 h after LPS injection. Consistent with the regulatory roles of syndecan-4, its expression in monocytes and endothelial cells of microvasculature increased in the wild-type mice after LPS administration. Although IL-1␤ was produced to the same extent by macrophages from syndecan-4-deficient and wild-type mice after LPS stimulation, inhibition of its production by transforming growth factor-␤1 was impaired in the syndecan-4-deficient macrophages. These results indicate that syndecan-4 could be involved in prevention of endotoxin shock, at least partly through the inhibitory action of transforming growth factor-␤1 on IL-1␤ production.

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