We propose a conceptual model for the cytoskeletal organization of endothelial cells (ECs) based on a major dichotomy in structure and function at basal and apical aspects of the cells. Intracellular distributions of filamentous actin (F-actin), vinculin, paxillin, ZO-1, and Cx43 were analyzed from confocal micrographs of rat fat-pad ECs after 5 h of shear stress. With intact glycocalyx, there was severe disruption of the dense peripheral actin bands (DPABs) and migration of vinculin to cell borders under a uniform shear stress (10.5 dyne͞cm 2 ; 1 dyne ‫؍‬ 10 N). This behavior was augmented in corner flow regions of the flow chamber where high shear stress gradients were present. In striking contrast, no such reorganization was observed if the glycocalyx was compromised. These results are explained in terms of a ''bumper-car'' model, in which the actin cortical web and DPAB are only loosely connected to basal attachment sites, allowing for two distinct cellular signaling pathways in response to fluid shear stress, one transmitted by glycocalyx core proteins as a torque that acts on the actin cortical web (ACW) and DPAB, and the other emanating from focal adhesions and stress fibers at the basal and apical membranes of the cell. mechanotransduction ͉ actin cortical web ͉ dense peripheral actin band H emodynamic shearing stresses on endothelial cells (ECs) are widely recognized as playing a vital role in the regulation of vessel wall remodeling, cellular signaling, mass transport, red and white cell interaction, and atherogenesis (1-3). The possible roles of the endothelial glycocalyx (EG) in this regulation as a molecular sieve, as a barrier and modulator of interactions between blood cells and ECs, and as a mechanotransducer of fluid shear stress have been studied more recently (4-7). Relatively little is known about the specific proteins in the EG, although hyaluronan, chondroitin, and heparan sulfate play a significant role in its assembly (8, 9). In the early 1990s, investigators first observed that the shear-induced dilation of small arteries was abolished when sialic acids were removed from the EG by neuraminidase (10). Florian et al. (11) recently verified the presence of heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) in the glycocalyx of cultured bovine aortic ECs and demonstrated that partial removal of HSPG with heparinase completely blocked shear-induced NO release. A puzzling and still not understood consequence of EG degradation was the observation that shear-induced NO production was greatly inhibited without apparent effect on shear-dependent vasodilation due to prostaglandin I 2 release (12). Squire et al. (13) showed that the ultrastructural organization of the EG was quasiperiodic, anchored to a geodesic-like scaffold of hexagonally arranged filamentous actin (F-actin) filaments forming an actin cortical web (ACW) (14) just beneath the plasmalemma. A fundamental question addressed in ref. 7 is how fluid shear stresses acting at the surface of the EG are transmitted to this ACW if there is essentially ...

Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), a cellular process that contributes to protein quality control through targeting of a subset of cytosolic proteins to lysosomes for degradation, undergoes a functional decline with age. We have used a mouse model with liver-specific defective CMA to identify changes in proteostasis attributable to reduced CMA activity in this organ with age. We have found that other proteolytic systems compensate for CMA loss in young mice which helps to preserve proteostasis. However, these compensatory responses are not sufficient for protection against proteotoxicity induced by stress (oxidative stress, lipid challenges) or associated with aging. Livers from old mice with CMA blockage exhibit altered protein homeostasis, enhanced susceptibility to oxidative stress and hepatic dysfunction manifested by a diminished ability to metabolize drugs, and a worsening of the metabolic dysregulation identified in young mice. Our study reveals that while the regulatory function of CMA cannot be compensated for in young organisms, its contribution to protein homeostasis can be handled by other proteolytic systems. However, the decline in the compensatory ability identified with age explains the more severe consequences of CMA impairment in older organisms and the contribution of CMA malfunction to the gradual decline in proteostasis and stress resistance observed during aging.

Osteocytes in the lacunar-canalicular system of the bone are thought to be the cells that sense mechanical loading and transduce mechanical strain into biomechanical responses. The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which focal mechanical stimulation of osteocyte cell body and process led to activation of the cells, and determine whether integrin attachments play a role in osteocyte activation. We use a novel Stokesian fluid stimulus probe to hydrodynamically load osteocyte processes vs. cell bodies in murine long bone osteocyte Y4 (MLO-Y4) cells with physiologicallevel forces <10 pN without probe contact, and measured intracellular Ca 2+ responses. Our results indicate that osteocyte processes are extremely responsive to piconewton-level mechanical loading, whereas the osteocyte cell body and processes with no local attachment sites are not. Ca 2+ signals generated at stimulated sites spread within the processes with average velocity of 5.6 μm/s. Using the near-infrared fluorescence probe IntegriSense 750, we demonstrated that inhibition of α V β 3 integrin attachment sites compromises the response to probe stimulation. Moreover, using apyrase, an extracellular ATP scavenger, we showed that Ca 2+ signaling from the osteocyte process to the cell body was greatly diminished, and thus dependent on ATP-mediated autocrine signaling. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that osteocytes in situ are highly polarized cells, where mechanotransduction occurs at substrate attachment sites along the processes at force levels predicted to occur at integrin attachment sites in vivo. We also demonstrate the essential role of α V β 3 integrin in osteocyte-polarized mechanosensing and mechanotransduction. intracellular calcium | cell process attachment | fluid flow activation | purinergic signaling A dynamic and complex structure such as bone has the ability to adapt and to adjust to changes in its functional environment. Emerging evidence suggests that osteocytes play an important role in regulating bone mechanoadaptation and in adjusting and maintaining bone mass (1-6). Osteocytes, which account for ∼90% of the entire bone cell population, are viewed as the main mechanosensing cells that detect whole tissue mechanical loading due to their unique distribution throughout the mineralized matrix and to their connection to the neighboring osteocytes and osteoblasts via gap junctions (7).To sense and respond to mechanical loading and thus maintain bone homeostasis, the osteocyte must be properly anchored to its extracellular surroundings (reviewed in ref. 8). In vivo, the osteocyte cell processes in the lacunar-canalicular system (LCS) are surrounded by transverse tethering elements (9-11) and are directly connected to the canalicular wall at discrete attachment sites (12, 13) that contain β 3 integrin (12). Integrins are transmembrane proteins that link the cell's cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix and are recognized for their key roles in mechanosensory transduction (14, 15). All bone cells express...