mechanisms largely yet uncharacterized. We investigated the role of Rab27b in the terminal release of these secretory vesicles. Confocal fluorescence microscopy analysis of primary cultured rabbit lacrimal gland acinar cells revealed that Rab27b was enriched on the membrane of large subapical vesicles that were significantly colocalized with Rab3D and Myosin 5C. Stimulation of cultured acinar cells with the secretagogue carbachol resulted in apical fusion of these secretory vesicles with the plasma membrane. Evaluation of morphological changes by transmission electron microscopy of lacrimal glands from Rab27b Ϫ/Ϫ and Rab27 ash/ash /Rab27b Ϫ/Ϫ mice, but not ashen mice deficient in Rab27a, showed changes in abundance and organization of secretory vesicles, further confirming a role for this protein in secretory vesicle exocytosis. Glands lacking Rab27b also showed increased lysosomes, damaged mitochondria, and autophagosomelike organelles. In vitro, expression of constitutively active Rab27b increased the average size but retained the subapical distribution of Rab27b-enriched secretory vesicles, whereas dominant-negative Rab27b redistributed this protein from membrane to the cytoplasm. Functional studies measuring release of a cotransduced secretory protein, syncollin-GFP, showed that constitutively active Rab27b enhanced, whereas dominant-negative Rab27b suppressed, stimulated release. Disruption of actin filaments inhibited vesicle fusion to the apical membrane but did not disrupt homotypic fusion. These data show that Rab27b participates in aspects of lacrimal gland acinar cell secretory vesicle formation and release. actin; Rab3d; exocrine secretion; syncollin; mouse models A FUNCTIONING LACRIMAL GLAND (LG) is critical for a healthy ocular surface. This exocrine gland is the primary source of tear proteins and fluid, which, released up on the gland's exposure to sympathetic or parasympathetic agonists provided by innervating nerves, contribute to the middle aqueous layer of the precorneal film. Much of the LG's secretions originate from acinar cells, which constitute over 80% of the mass of the LG (13). These LG acinar cells produce a diverse array of secretory proteins that are internally sorted into large pools of serous and mucous secretory vesicles (SV) sized ϳ1 m in diameter and stored beneath the apical plasma membrane (APM) in preparation for regulated exocytosis. SV contents include nutrients and growth factors (lacritin and EGF), antibacterial and antiviral factors (secretory IgA and lactoferrin), and an array of proteases and lysosomal hydrolases (10, 39, 47). Despite its physiological importance, however, few studies have focused on the mechanisms of secretory membrane trafficking in LG acinar cells, in part due to the fragility and heterogeneity of these LG acinar SV relative to those in other acinar secretory cells, e.g., pancreatic acini (7).The current schematic of exocytosis in the LG acinar cell suggests multiple participants. Mature LG acinar cell SV localize beneath an actin-rich network und...

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Radixin, the dominant ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) protein in hepatocytes, has two important binding domains: an NH(2)-terminal region that binds to plasma membrane and a COOH-terminal region that binds to F-actin after a conformational activation by phosphorylation at Thr564. The present studies were undertaken to investigate the cellular changes in expression of radixin in WIF-B cells and to assess radixin distribution and its influence on cell polarity. We used a recombinant adenoviral expression system encoding radixin wild-type and Thr564 mutants fused to cyan fluorescent protein (CFP), as well as conventional immunostaining procedures. Functional analyses were characterized quantitatively. Similar to endogenous radixin, adenovirus-infected radixin-CFP-wild type and nonphosphorylatable radixin-CFP-T564A were found to be expressed heavily in the compartment of canalicular membrane vacuoles, typically colocalizing with multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp-2). Expression of radixin-CFP-T564D, which mimics constant phosphorylation, was quite different, being rarely associated with canalicular membranes. The WIF-B cells were devoid of a secretory response, T567D radixin became predominantly redistributed to the basolateral membrane, usually in the form of dense, long spikes and fingerlike projections, and the altered cell polarity involved changes in apical membrane markers. Differences in polar distribution of radixin suggest a role for the linker protein in promoting formation and plasticity of membrane surface projections and also suggest that radixin might be an organizer and regulator of Mrp-2 and cell polarity in hepatocytes.

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Summary A newly designated procedure for high‐pressure freezing of primary culture cells provided excellent ultrastructure of rabbit gastric parietal cells. The isolated parietal cells were cultivated on Matrigel‐coated aluminium plates for conventional subsequential cryoimmobilization by high‐pressure freezing. The ultrastructure of different organelles (Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, multivesicular bodies, etc.) was well preserved compared to conventional chemical fixation. In detail, actin filaments were clearly shown within the microvilli and the subapical cytoplasm. Another striking finding on the cytoskeleton system is the abundance of microtubules among the tubulovesicles. Interestingly, some microtubules appeared to be associating with tubulovesicles. A large number of electron‐dense coated pits and vesicles were observed around the apical membrane vacuoles in cimetidine‐treated resting parietal cells, consistent with an active membrane uptake in the resting state. Immunogold labelling of H+/K+‐ATPase was seen on the tubulovesicular membranes. When stimulated with histamine, the cultured parietal cells undergo morphological transformation, resulting in great expansion of apical membrane vacuoles. Immunogold labelling of H+/K+‐ATPase was present not only on the microvilli of expanded apical plasma membrane vacuoles but also in the electron‐dense coated pits. The present findings provide a clue to vesicular membrane trafficking in cultured gastric parietal cells, and assure the utility of the new procedure for high‐pressure freezing of primary culture cells.

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Background and Aims Moesin, an ezrin/radixin/moesin family member, is involved in the regulation of cell adhesion, polarity, and migration by cross‐linking between the actin cytoskeleton and plasma membrane. The primary effector cell in hepatic fibrosis is the hepatic stellate cell (HSC), which undergoes activation during liver injury leading to increased extracellular matrix production. Approach and Results Here, we have hypothesized that moesin plays a critical role in linking the HSC cytoskeleton to the fibrogenic cascade during HSC activation. Moesin phosphorylation was up‐regulated during HSC activation and fibrogenesis. Using moesin wild‐type (WT) and mutant constructs (phosphomimicking T558D and nonphosphorylatable T558A), we found that cellular motility and contraction were increased in moesin WT‐infected and T558D‐infected cells, paralleled by an increase in smooth muscle α‐actin and collagen 1 expression. In contrast, overexpression of nonphosphorylatable moesin and moesin knockout (KO) decreased cellular motility and contraction. Most importantly, moesin KO led to abrogation of liver fibrosis. The mechanism of moesin's effect was a reduction in myocardin‐related transcription factor‐A and serum‐response factor (SRF)–mediated changes in the actin cytoskeleton, which in turn modulated the expression of matrix genes. Conclusions Taken together, our findings suggest that the linkage between cytoskeletal dynamics and the correlated MRTF/SRF signaling pathway has a pivotal role in HSC activation and fibrogenesis.

Syntaxins are differentially localized in polarized cells and play an important role in vesicle trafficking and membrane fusion. These soluble N‐ethylmaleimide‐sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins are believed to be involved in tubulovesicle trafficking and membrane fusion during the secretory cycle of the gastric parietal cell. We examined the cellular localization and distribution of syntaxin‐1 and syntaxin‐3 in rabbit parietal cells. Fractionation of gastric epithelial cell membranes showed that syntaxin‐1 was more abundant in a fraction enriched in apical plasma membranes, whereas syntaxin‐3 was found predominantly in the H,K‐ATPase‐rich tubulovesicle fraction. We also examined the cellular localization of syntaxins in cultured parietal cells. Parietal cells were infected with CFP‐syntaxin‐1 and CFP‐syntaxin‐3 adenoviral constructs. Fluorescence microscopy of live and fixed cells demonstrated that syntaxin‐1 was primarily on the apical membrane vacuoles of infected cells, but there was also the expression of syntaxin‐1 in a subadjacent cytoplasmic compartment. In resting, non‐secreting parietal cells, syntaxin‐3 was distributed throughout the cytoplasmic compartment; after stimulation, syntaxin‐3 translocated to the apical membrane vacuoles, there co‐localizing with H,K‐ATPase, syntaxin‐1 and F‐actin. The differential location of these syntaxin isoforms in gastric parietal cells suggests that these proteins may be critical for maintaining membrane compartment identity and that they may play important, but somewhat different, roles in the membrane recruitment processes associated with secretory activation.