Exploring signal events elicited by chemotactic
Transcription
Exploring signal events elicited by chemotactic
Exploring signal events elicited by chemotactic-receptor engagement in migrating cells PhD Thesis CO-TUTELA FROM Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences University of Bern and Graduate School in Molecular Medicine, section of Basic and Applied Immunology Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan Submitted by Silvia Volpe from Italy UniSR matric. 002215 Ciclo di dottorato XXII SSD MED/04 Patologia Generale Anno accademico 2008/2009 Thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Marcus Thelen Second Supervisors Prof. Dr. Anne-Catherine Andre Prof. Dr. Ruggero Pardi Copyright Notice This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No derivative works 2.5 Switzerland. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ch/ You are free: to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work Under the following conditions: Attribution. You must give the original author credit. Non-Commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No derivative works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.. For any reuse or distribution, you must take clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights according to Swiss law. The detailed license agreement can be found at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ch/legalcode.de Accepted by the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Science and the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern at the request of the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences and by the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Milano) at the request of the Graduate School in Molecular Medicine, section of Basic and Applied Immunology. Bern, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Bern, Dean of the Faculty of Science Bern, Dean of the Vetsuisse Faculty Bern Milano, Supervisor Prof. Dr. Ruggero Pardi CONSULTAZIONE TESI DI DOTTORATO DI RICERCA La sottoscritta Silvia Volpe n° matr. 002215 nata a L’Aquila il 11/12/1980 autore della tesi di DOTTORATO dal titolo Exploring signal events elicited by chemotactic-receptor engagement in migrating cells AUTORIZZA la consultazione della tesi stessa, fatto divieto di riprodurre, in tutto o in parte, quanto in essa contenuto. Data 06/05/2010 Firma Silvia Volpe ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those people who contribute to this work. The very sincere thanks go to my thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Marcus Thelen for giving me the possibility to begin my scientific career by doing this Ph.D. thesis in the Signal Transduction Laboratory at the Institute for research in Biomedicine. Was an honor to be part of the large Thelen family together with Tiziana, Elisabetta, Sylvia and Ulrike. Being in a sperimental cotutela setting of Ph.D. thesis between the Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bern and the Graduate School in Molecular Medicine, section of Basic and Applied Immunology Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Milan), I am grateful to Prof. Dr. Anne-Catherine Andres, Prof. Dr. Erwin Sigel and Prof. Ruggero Pardi who supervised this work. I wish to extend my gratitude to Dr. Marlene Wolf for the effort made in organizing the cotutela. None of this would have been possible without the strong support of my family. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Abbreviations 2 Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Chemotaxis: cell’s sense of chemoattractant gradient 4 Molecular aspects 8 GPCRs: structure and mechanism of activation 8 GPCR’s transduction signal and trafficking in cell migration 11 PI(3)K 15 PI(3)K structure and classification 15 PI(3)Kγ in cell migration 18 Paper (14 pages) Additional Result 37 Fluorescent chemokine-dependent receptor internalization 37 Dispesable role of PI(3)K activation in cell migration 43 Discussion and Outlook 46 References 50 Curriculum Vitae and Pubblications 70 Declaration of Originality 74 1 ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations 7TMD sevent transmembrane domain DAG diacylglycerol ERK extracellular-signal-regulated kinase ERM ezrin-radixin-moesin fMLP f-Met-Leu-Phe GAP GTPase-activating protein GEF guanine nucleotide exchange factor GM-1 ganglioside GM1 GPCR G protein-coupled receptor GRK G protein-coupled receptor kinase HWT 17-hydroxy-wortmannin ICAM intercellular adhesion molecule 1/3 IP3 inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate JNK c-Jun N-terminal kinase LPA lysophosphatidic acid MAPK mitogen-activated protein kinase MIP macrophage inflammatory protein MTOC microtubule-organizing centre PAK1 p21-activated kinase 1 PLC phosphoinosidite phospholipase C PIP2 phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate PIP3 phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate PI(3)K phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase PKA protein kinase A PKB protein kinase B PKC protein kinase C ROCK Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase SHIP Src homology2-containing inositol phosphatase] TCR T-cell receptor THP-1 human acute monocytic leukemia cell line. 2 ABSTRACT Abstract Leukocyte migration is characterized by morphological changes which manifest in a rapid cell polarization downstream of chemotactic receptor activation. Controversial views of the signaling mechanisms include the localization and distribution of chemotactic receptors within the plasma membrane, the importance of receptor internalization for cell migration and the role of PI(3)K activity in cell polarization. The study describes a novel monocytic cell system to investigate the cell migration process. THP-1 cells stably transfected with the α2A-adrenergic receptor (α2AAR) show comparable signal transduction in response to the agonist UK 14'304 as when stimulated with CCL2/MCP-1 acting on the endogenous CCR2. Time-lapse video microscopy using fluorescent protein tagged variants of the receptor reveals a uniform receptor distribution in resting and polarized cells. In this experimental setting receptor internalization appears to be dispensable for fully motile cells. By taking advantage of the CFP/YFP-based intramolecular FRET reporter in the α2AAR (α2AAR-YFP/CFP) ligand-induced receptor activation can be observed over the entire plasma membrane. However, PI(3)K activation appears to occur only at the leading edge. Freshly isolated monocytes, in contrast to neutrophils, which are known to maintain their polarization axis, can flip the polar axis. Moving the source of chemoattractant from one end to the other of a polarized cell reveals several differences between monocytes and neutrophils.THP-1 cells can similarly revert their polarization axis. Interestingly, PI(3)K activity, measured with a PIP3 specific fluorescent probe, relocates to the newly formed leading edge. Nevertheless, reversion of the polarization axis is apparently independent of PI(3)K activity as it occurs in the presence of wortmannin, which abrogates PIP3 production. 3 INTRODUCTION Chemotaxis: cell’s sense of chemoattractant gradient. Throughout evolution, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have developed a variety of biochemical mechanisms to define the direction and proximity of extracellular stimuli. Such mechanisms are essential for cells to reply properly to the environmental cues that determine cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Chemotaxis is the cellular response to chemical attractants that directs cell movement, a process that plays a central role in many physiological situations, such as host immune responses, angiogenesis, wound healing, embryogenesis, and neuronal patterning, among others. In addition, aberrant cell migration takes part in pathological states, including chronic inflammation and tumor metastasis. To orientate its movement, theoretically a cell might use the spatial aspect of the chemoattractant gradient or the transient intracellular signals that are generated locally while the cell moves in the static gradient. Prokaryotes can only use the latter temporal component as they are too small (1-2 μm) to process spatial information [1]. They undergo a “random walk” with movement steps in all directions that are interrupted by tumbles; when they move up the gradient the frequency of tumbling decreases and movement in one direction is prolonged [2]. Eukaryotic cells are larger (10–20 μm in diameter), which allows them to process both spatial and temporal information. They can measure the difference in chemoattractant concentration between the ends of the cell, and then move up this gradient. [3]. Eukaryotic cells can respond to differences in chemoattractant concentration as small as 2–10% between the front and the back. The ability to sense and respond to shallow gradients of extracellular signals is remarkably similar in amoebae such as Dictyostelium discoideum and mammalian neutrophils [4]. Both cell types use amoeboid cell migration mechanisms which allows for greater speed due to relatively weak adhesive interactions in contrast to mesenchymal or collective cell migration employed by tissue and cancer cells [5]. The capability to sense and integrate signal input from the extracellular environment is a crucial requirement for highly motile amoeboid migration. It was proposed that cells 4 INTRODUCTION amplify the shallow external gradient of the attractant by converting it to a steeper gradient of internal signals, resulting cell polarization with a protruding front that points up toward the external gradient. However protrusions are periodically induced in a nearly random direction, presumably by an internal oscillator. The directional cues stabilizes the sefl-organizing cones pointing toward the leading edge [6]. This polarity may in turn produce asymmetric attractant sensitivity that is greater at the cell’s protruding edge than at the trailing one. Consequently a neutrophil confronted with a 180º reversal in the attractant gradient does not transform a trailing edge into a leading one, instead it follows its highly sensitive ‘nose’ and executes a U-turn [7,8]. While this phenomenon applies to a large fraction (~80%) of migrating neutrophils a small part of the cells can completely reverse their polarity [7,9,10].This last morphological phenotype is more evident by disrupting the cytoskeleton organization, using specific inhibitors (Y-27632 the pharmacological inhibitor of p160-ROCK) for actin-myosin complexes formation, rendering the cell’s posterior as sensitive to attractant as the front; in this case reversing the gradient causes the cells to simply reverse their polarity forming a new pseudopod from the previous tail, rather than walk around in a circle by maintaining their polar axis [9] (Fig 1.). 5 INTRODUCTION Fig 1. Models proposed for cell directional migration toward reversed chemoattractant source. On the left the typical U-turn observed in motile neutrophils, while the right drawing displays a rapid reversal in polarization axis described in different leukocytes subtypes. Leukocyte polarization An efficient immune reaction requires leukocytes to be at the right place at the right time. Nearly all steps, from maturation to activation and effector function, depend upon leukocyte migration and positioning in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissue. After leaving the bone marrow leukocytes reach lymphoid organs or peripheral tissues, by following a chemoattactant cue, move toward their targets and execute effector functions. During this route polarized leukocytes develop a small leading edge, consisting of short-lived pseudopods, followed by the cell body that contains the nucleus, and a posterior nearcylindrical tail of 2 to 10 μm in length, termed the uropod [11]. 6 INTRODUCTION Four steps mediate the amoeboid migration cycle: the leading edge protrudes one or several pseudopds by actin flow, the membrane protrusions and thus here-contained surface receptors interact with a subsrate, actomyosin-mediated contraction of the cell body occurs in the mid-region, and so the rear of the cell is pulled forward. These steps occur in a cyclic manner, generating a net forward movement [5] (Fig 2.). Fig 2. Morphology and surface receptors of amoeboid polarized leukocytes. (A) Round morphology of immobile or freely floating leukocyte; (B) Amoeboid shape after polarization during random migration and chemotaxis. After polarization, the leading edge contains rapidly forming and rebuilding networks of filamentous actin that include abundant membrane ruffles indicative of dynamic probing of the environment. The leading edge is particularly sensitive to receptor engagement, including that by Fc receptor (FcRs), T cell antigen receptors (TCRs), chemokine receptors [12] and β2 integrins. These receptors initiate contact with other cells, induce signal transduction [13] and mediate phagocytosis after binding of opsonised bacteria [14]. However it was demonstrated in neutrophil-like cells PBL-985 and in Dictyostelium cells that even in polarized cells most chemoattractant receptors are homogenously expressed within the 7 INTRODUCTION entire plasma membrane [15,16], in contrast to observations made with lymphocytes [17]. By contrast other receptors, such as β2 integrins, show discrete relocation toward the tips of ruffles [18]. The mid-region of amoeboid cells contains the nucleus and a relatively immobile cell region that maintains the front–rear axis. The trailing edge contains highly glycosylated surface receptors CD43 and CD44, adhesion receptors including intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, ICAM-3, β1 integrins and ERM adaptor proteins, as well as GM-1type cholesterol-rich microdomains [19]. The uropod mediates cell–matrix and cell–cell interactions during migration and has a putative anchoring function [11,20]. In addition to regulating cell adhesion through integrins a motile cell must generate sufficient contractile force to retract its uropod, a process mediated by the motor protein myosin II that is highly enriched in this area [11,21]. Molecular aspects GPCRs: structure and mechanism of activation Polarization and migration of leukocytes are induced by to chemotactic gradients from various compound classes, including chemokines and cytokines, lipid mediators, bacterial factors and ECM degradation products including fragments of collagen, fibronectin and elastin [22–28]. Most chemoattractants transmit signals through heterotrimeric G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The GPCRs represent the largest family of receptor-proteins in the human genome, encoding for more than 1000 different molecules [29]. In addition to chemoattractants molecules different classes of messengers can activate the receptors such as light and pain, hormones, neurotrasmitters, grow factors, paracrine agents and odorants. Due to their typical architecture GPCRs are also known as seven-transmembrane domain (7TMD) receptors. The general organization of the seven-helical bundle was initially determined by biochemical studies of Bacteriorhodopsin, an important landmark in the history of the 7TMD receptors [30–32]. The first mammalian GPCR crystal structure solved was rhodopsin, [33] followed by the structures of the β-adrenergic receptor [34–36] and the A2A adenosine receptor [37]. All GPCRs are predicted to share a common core topology characterized by seven 8 INTRODUCTION membrane-spanning α-helices, an extracellular N-terminus, an intracellular C-terminus and three interhelical loops on each side of the membrane (Fig 3.A). Fig 3. Structure and ligand-dependent conformational changes of GPCRs. (A) Serpentine diagram and top view for a prototypical member of the rhodopsin family of seven transmembrane domain receptors. (B) Sequential binding and conformational stabilization model for the molecular mechanisms of ligand action in GPCRs. 9 INTRODUCTION Based on sequence and functional similarities, GPCRs are commonly divided into five families: rhodopsin (family A), secretin (family B), glutamate (family C), adhesion and Frizzled/Taste2 [38,39]. The rhodopsin family is by far the largest and most diverse of these families, and members are characterized by conserved sequence motifs, such as a DRY motif in the second intracellular loop, and the NPXXY motif in the transmembrane domain VII, implying shared structural features and activation mechanisms. Despite the wide variety of agonists it has been proposed that a common molecular activation mechanism for the 7TMD receptor family exists. According to the toggle switch model, proposed by Schwartz et al., [40] binding of an extracellular ligand to a GPCR induces a positional change of the transmembrane domains VI (TMVI) and possibly VII (TMVII), stabilizing an active receptor conformation. Byond this rigid twostate equilibrium model of receptor activation more flexible models have been proposed, postulating the existence of several receptor microstates stabilized by ligand with modulating efficacy [41,42] (Fig 3.B). The classical role of GPCRs is to couple the binding of the agonists to the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins, leading to the modulation of downstream effector proteins. G proteins are molecular switches that are activated by receptor-catalyzed GTP for GDP exchange on the G protein alpha-subunit which triggers the dissociation of the Gα and Gβγ subunits, the major players in intracellular signal transduction [43]. The quality of the downstream signal is in part determined by interaction with distinct types of G proteins α subunits (Gαs Gαi Gαq Gαo Gα12 and Gα13). Gαs and Gαi stimulate or inhibit the activity of adenylyl cyclase, respectively, regulating cytosolic levels of the second messenger cAMP. Gαi and Gαq proteins also target phospholipase C that generates diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol triphosphate (IP3). Alternatively, several GPCRs such as the type 2 beta adrenergic receptor (β2AR) can signal in a G proteinindependent manner via MAP kinases which are thought to be scaffolded by βarrestins.[44–46]. 10 INTRODUCTION GPCR’s transdcuction signal and trafficking in cell migration The GPCRs able to transduce a chemotactic signal include the fMLP (N-formyl-MetLeu-Phe) receptor, and the complement-derived anaphylotoxin receptors C5a and C3a [47]; chemokine receptors [48]; the platelet activating factor receptor (PAFR) and the leukotriene B4 receptor BLT1 [49]; sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors1-4 (SIP1-4) [50,51] and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receprtors 1-3 [52,53]. Most GPCRs induce chemotaxis through Gi-proteins subtype. The Gi heterotrimeric protein appears essential for chemotaxis: treatment of cells with pertussis toxin, which catalyses the ADP-ribosylation of Gαi and thereby uncoples Gi from GPCR stinulation, completely abolishes pseudopod formation and other leading-edge activities [54,55]. However, the GTP-loaded Gαi subunit is probably not involved in chemotaxis, but instead is necessary to limit the action of Gβγ [56]. Indeed following receptor activation the α subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein exchanges GDP with GTP. The classical paradigm proposes that the GTP-loaded α-subunit then dissociates from the tightly linked βγ complex and the receptor [57–59]. Nevertheless, others reports suggest that in particular for Gi proteins activation occurs without dissociations of the subunits, rather is accompanied by an intramolecular rearrangement [60,61] Stimulation of the receptors with their specific chemotactic agonists activates a number of characteristic signaling pathways, including PI(3)K (phosphatidylinositide-3-kinase), phospholipase C (PLC), the MAPK cascade, Src kinases and the Rho family of small GTPases [62].These signaling events contribute to different degree in the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, polarization and directional cell migration. Following receptor activation the Gβγ subunits stimulate two major signal transduction enzymes, phospholipase C (PLC β2 and β3) and PI(3)Kγ. The phospholipase cleaves phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PIP2) yielding two second messengers, inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG). IP3 induces the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores, leading to a characteristic, transient rise of the cytosolic free calcium concentration, and DAG activates several isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) [63,64]. A direct involvement of PLCβ activity in chemokine stimulated chemotaxis is still debated. Targeted disruption of the genes encoding PLCβ isoforms, which completely abolishes 11 INTRODUCTION chemoattractant-stimulated calcium transients, had no effect on chemokine elicited migration of neutrophils [65]. This implies a dispensable role for calcium signaling in cell migration. On the other hand it was shown that PLCβ-dependent formation of DAG is required for chemotaxis [66]. The PI(3)K competes with the phospholipase C for the substrate PIP2 generating PIP3. The latter is a short lived second messenger which is selectively recognized by plecktrin homology domains of various effector molecules, notably protein kinase B (PKB also known as Akt) [67,68]. PKB is implicated in inducing actin polymerization and pseudopod protrusion, such as the actin binding protein girdin [69,70]. Generally it is assumed that PI(3)Kγ plays a critical role in cell migration [71,72]. Mice lacking PI(3)Kγ show a strong impairment in chemokine-stimulated leukocyte recruitment [65,73]. Furthermore, it was reported that the generation of PIP3 by PI(3)Kγ regulates cell polarity and governs the direction of migration [74,75]. However, the role of PIP3 in cell polarization and directional migration is debated [76–78]. A central yet unanswered question in chemokine-stimulated cell migration is how receptors are linked to actin polymerization. Current knowledge predicts that RhoGTPases (Rac and Cdc42) act upstream of actin polymerization in cell migration. Some studies suggest that PI(3)Kγ and RhoGTPases form a feed-back loop, which amplifies the PIP3 formation above a critical threshold required to initiate directional migration. Briefly, the βγ subunits activate PI(3)Kγ which then, via PIP3, activates RhoGTPases (Cdc42 and/or Rac). The activated GTPases further stimulate PI(3)Kγ [79,80]. The RhoGTPases activation requires functional GTP exchange factors (GEF). About 60 different GEF have been identified so far [81]. Thus the specific RhoGTPase activation in a signal transduction pathway depends on the GEF involved. Among the different Rac-GEFs described member of the Vav, Sos, SWAP-70, Tiam, and P-Rex families have been suggested to be regulated by PI(3)Ks [82–86]. By contrast PI(3)K activity seems to be dispensable for the lymphocyte migration mediated by the Rac-GEF DOCK2 [87] although DOCK2 contains a PIP3 binding domain [88]. In chemokine receptor-mediated signaling it is unclear which GEF mediates Rac activation. A good candidate could be P-Rex1, a GEF protein synergistically activated by βγ subunit and PIP3 [86,89,90]. 12 INTRODUCTION Ultimately Rac stimulates actin polymerization by binding, via intermediates, to WAVE2, a member of the WASP family [91]. WAVE2 binds to monomeric G-Actin and to the Arp2/3 complex, the latter catalyzing sideward branching of actin filaments As a main downstream target/effector of PI(3)K the active RhoGTPase Rac plays an indispensable role in leukocyte migration [92], whereas Cdc42 has been proposed to be involved in consolidation of the leading edge, as a sensor of the chemoattractant gradient [93,94]. Indeed several reports show that without Cdc42, leukocytes exhibit a random walk, rather than directed migration, when placed in a chemotactic gradient [95]. [96–99]. Curiously, a target of Cdc42, PAK1, acts also upstream of it suggesting a feed-back loop mechanism. Activated directly by Gβγ , PAK1 binds α-Pix, a GEF specific for Cdc42, to form a complex that recruits and activates Cdc42 [94]. This signaling complex is responsible for F-actin nucleation via activated Arp2/3 and exclusion of PI3phosphatases, the negative regulators of PIP3, from the leading edge of the cell [94,100]. Thus, promigratory signals received at the leading edge induce the local activation of effector proteins and actin network protrusion, pushing the plasma membrane outward. (Fig 4.). Fig 4. Chemoattractant receptor signaling in migrating cells. Scheme for the establishment of the polar axis: remodeling of actin cytosckeleton and presumtive gradient sensing mechanism downstream pathwayinduced signal. 13 INTRODUCTION Dissociation of G protein facilitates the phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues at the C-terminus and possibly other intracellular domains of activated chemokine receptors by GRKs, as well as by the second messanger protein kinases (PKC, PKA). These processes lead to the desensitization of the receptor, as G protein coupling can no longer occur. The two types of protein kinases differently contribute to receptor phosphorylation, as shown for CCR5 [101]; while GRKs mediate a slow and persistent receptor phosphorylation PKC-mediated phosphorylation is rapid and transient. It is conceivable that the highly dynamic rearrangements of the cytoskeleton at the leading edge, with continuous extensions and retractions of multiple protrusions are the result of the more rapid PKC-dependent receptor phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in motile cells [6]. Receptor phosphorylation enhances the affinity of the agonist occupied-receptor for interaction with β-arrestins, which mediate the association of the receptor complex with clathrin. Driven by the GTPase dynamin, the newly formed clathrin-coated pit pinches off the membrane. This process represents the main internalization route of chemokine receptors [102]. Alternatively, endocytosis through lipid rafts and caveolae has been discussed for a few receptors such as CCR5 [103] and CXCR4 [104] and may take place in certain cell types. Both process lead to receptor down-regulation at the cell membrane. While GRKs can mediate β-arrestin-dependent receptor downregulation [105–107], the role of the second-messanger dependent protein kinase phosphorylation in β-arrestin recruitment is less clear. In addition to their function in endocytosis, arrestins have been implicated in crosstalk with other signaling pathways through the interation with components of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) MAPK cascades [108–110]. Furthermore β-arrestins may also contribute to the spatial control over actin assembly proteins. There is evidence for a role of β-arrestins as scaffold that regulate cofillin activity in PAR-2-mediated chemotaxis. [111]. Once internalized the chemokine receptors are targeted to recycling or degradation pathways. Sorting of the receptor to distinct endocytic pathways is a tightly regulated process with a stong impact on the cell’s responsiveness to further stimulation [112]. 14 INTRODUCTION After short-term incubation and subsequent removal of the agonist, some internalized chemokine receptors can recycle back to the membrane. This type of re-sensitization has been shown for CCR5 [113], CCR7 [114] and CXCR2 [115]. At prolonged chemokine exposure however, delivery to the late endosomes and lysosomes typically leads to downregulation of cell surface receptor [115], and long-term desensitization of the cell to extracellular chemokine. The requirement of receptor internalization for chemotaxis is still controversial. Several reports indicate that internalization of chemokine receptors is necessary for chemotaxis [107,116,117] while others provide evidence that internalization is not required [54], or even can enhance chemokine-mediated cell migration [118]. PI(3)K. PI(3)K and PIP3 formation is an hallmark of Gi-GPCR, however the role of PIP3 in cell migration is far from being clear. Currently PI(3)K is the first detectable asymmetrical event, as visualized by translocation of GFP-tagged probes for the lipid products of PI(3)K activity to the cell membrane facing the chemoattractant source [119]. Considering a uniform distribution of chemokine receptors at the plasma membrane of motile cells, the mechanisms of preferential receptor sensitivity at the leading edge may include local signal amplification mechanisms [120] and the exclusion of counterregulatory proteins. With this strategy chemoattractant-responsive cells are able to translate a shallow extracellular chemical gradient into a steep intracellular gradient of signaling molecules. PI(3)K structure and classification PI(3)Ks consitute a family of lipid kinases that catalyze the phosphorylation of the 3-OH position of the inositol head groups of phosphoinositide (PI) lipids, namely Phosphatidylinositol(PtdIns), Phosphatidylinositol(4)phosphate (PtdIns(4)P), Phosphatidylinositol(5)phosphate (PtdIns(5)P) and Phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) resulting in the formation of PtdIns(3)P, PtdIns(3,4)P2, PtdIns(3,5)P2 and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 respectively, collettively termed 3’-phosphoinositide lipids [121,122] (Fig.5.A). 15 INTRODUCTION Fig 5. Key steps of 3-phosphoinositides synthesis and graphical view of PI(3)K domains. Class IA regulatory subunits have several modular domains that can regulate function of the heterodimer. Each isoform has two SH2 domains selective for binding pTyr-X-X-Met sequences, an interaction that appears critical for enzyme activation. The Rac-binding domain in p85α and p85β is homologous to RacGAPs for Rho family small G proteins but lacks GAP activity. The SH3 and proline-rich motifs can also participate in intramolecular and intermolecular interactions. 16 INTRODUCTION PtdIns(3)P is costitutively present in eukaryotic cells, its levels are largely unaltered upon cell stimulation and it is thought to be involved in the regulation of membrane trafficking [121]. In contrast PI(3,4)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3 are generally absent from resting cells, but their membrane concentration rises markedly upon stimulation via a variety of receptors. PI(3)Ks are evolutionary conserved from yeast eukaryotes and are divided into three main classes I, II and III PI(3)Ks, according to their molecular structure, cellular regulation and sustrate specificities [123] (Fig 5.B). The class I PI(3)Ks can phosphorylate PI, PI(4)P and PI(4,5)P2. The prototypical class IA PI(3)Ks are heterodimers consisting of a catalytic subunit of 110-kDa and a tightly associated regulatory/adaptor subunit of 85-kDa that link them to different upstream signaling events. The existence of multiple isoforms of both the regulatory (e.g. p85α/β, p55γ) and catalytic (e.g. p110 α/β/δ) components indicates the possibility of considerable variation of the hetrodimers between tissues as well as for coupling to different receptors. The class I PI(3)Ks interact with the active GTP-bound Ras [124]. Besides PI3Kδ, which is mainly expressed in leukocytes the expression of the class IA isoforms is ubiquitous [121,125]. The class IA PI(3)Ks are activated by tyrosine-kinase associated receptors, including antigen, co-stimulatory and cytokine receptors. Briefly the tyrosine kinase phosphorylates membrane proteins in specific YXXM motifs. The phosphotyrosine sequence provides the docking sites for the Src-homology2 (SH2) domains of the regulatory subunits of PI(3)K, brings the p110 catalytic subunit to the membrane, where it catalyses the conversion op PIP2 in PIP3 . The direct interaction between p110and activated Ras represent an alternative mechanism of PI(3)K activation [126,127]. P85α and p85β also contain proline-rich regions and SH3 domanis that can facilitate additional proteinprotein interactions, in addition and p85 has been reported to bind Cdc42 and Rac [128– 130]. Specific isoforms of class IA PI3Ks have been implicated in chemotaxis. For example p110α and p110β have been implicated in macrophages chemotaxis to colonystimulated factor 1 [131] and p110δ deficiency strongly affected CXCL13/BCA-1– mediated B cell homing and homeostasis [132,133]. The ability of p110δ to function downstream of chemokine receptors in lymphocyte chemotactic responses is consistent 17 INTRODUCTION with the finding that dominant-negative p85 reduces chemotaxis to CXCL12/SDF1[134,135]. Furthermore a critical requirement of PI3K δ in PIP3 synthesis during neutrophil migration has been reported showing a unique role in directional movement [136]. The 110-kDa catalytic subunit of PI(3)Kγ, the only class IB PI(3)K isoform described so far, associates with one of two regulatory subunits, p101 and p84 that are distinct form any of the p85 subunits [137]; [138]. Typically PI(3)Kγ (class IB) activation is mediated by the βγ subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins and signal downstream the Gi subtype of GPCRs. In addition PI(3)Kγ binds and becomes activated by GTP-bound Ras. The class II and class III PI(3)K are less relevant in sell migration, despite some data suggesting that class II PI(3)Ks may be involved in migration of some cell lines [139,140]. PI(3)Kγ in cell migration The first evidence for the involvement of PI(3)K in chemokine-stimulated cell migration was the demonstration that chemotaxis and polarization of T-cells induced by CCL5/ RANTES could be inhibited by PI(3)K inhibitors such as wortmannin and LY294002 [141] in contrast to the fMLP-stimulated neutrophil migration [77]. Subsequent studies by several groups have shown that other CC chemokines (e.g. CCL20/MIP-3α, CCL2) as well as CXC chemokines (e.g. CXCL8/IL-8 and CXCL12) stimulate wortmanninsensitive chemotaxis of eosinophils, THP-1 cells, as well as neutrophils and T lymphocytes [142–145]. PI(3)K signals at the plasma membrane are interpreted by PIP3binding proteins that traslocate and/or become activated in response to PIP3 binding. Translocation of PH domain-containing proteins to the inner face of the plasma membrane is an early event that marks the directional response of migrating cells, as in Dictyostelium discoideum [68] and neutrophil-like HL-60 cells [146]. From these studies it was concluded that the production and degradation of 3’phosphoinositide lipids is crucial in maintaining asymmetrical signaling gradients. The asymmetric distribution of this lipid seems to be maintained through spatially and temporally controlled positive feedback loops and negative regulation. The assumption 18 INTRODUCTION was supported by experimental evidence that extracellular addiction of PIP3 analogs were shown to be sufficient to cause polarization and subsequent migration in neutrophils and HL-60 cells [147,148]. Furthermore evidence indicated that polarized neutrophil morphology induced by exogenous PIP3 is blocked by wortmannin and LY294002 [80]. A likely mechanisms for this positive feedback involves polymerized actin [75,149] and Rho GTPases (which can act both up and downstream of PI(3)K [150]. Inactivation of the Rho-GTPases Rac, Rho and/or Cdc42 with different Clostridium toxins and dominant-negative mutants, both result in the inhibition of membrane traslocation of GFP-tagged probes for the lipid products of PI(3)Ks. [93]. The second leg of the positive feedback loop, the generation of more PIP3 downstream of Rac activation, is less well defined and controversial. There are reports showing that receptor stimulation enhances subsequent Rac-induced PIP3 production in PC12 cells [151]; while others reports found no significant Rac generated PIP3 [152]. In addition to a positive feedback loop on PI(3)K activity, asymmetric PIP3 accumulation is maintained by actively excluding it from the uropod through regulation by phosphoinositide phosphatases. The phosphoinositide phosphatases PTEN and SHIP catalyse the conversion of PIP3 into PI(4,5)P2 and PI(3,4)P2, respectively, thus acting as negative regulators of PI3K activity [153–155]. During polarization the lipid phosphatase PTEN is proposed to be downstream of activated RhoA and Cdc42. Cdc42 is activated by α-PIX in a complex containing Gβγ subunits the protein kinase PAK [94]. Active Cdc42 is required to localize RhoA; and active RhoA at the back of the cells activates Rock, which then phosphorylates and activates PTEN [156,157]. After chemotactic stimulation, the tumor suppressor PTEN rapidly localizes to the cell membrane [158]. In Dictyostelium it has been shown that the complementary localization of PI(3)Ks and PTEN amplifies the distribution of PIP3 with respect to the gradient [159]. Indeed PTEN does not localize to the leading edge, where PI(3)Ks are recruited, but instead to the sides and the rear of polarized cells. A similar distribution pattern of PTEN has also been noted in mammalian cells [156,160] (Fig 6.). 19 INTRODUCTION Fig 6. Spatial restriction for the phosphoinositide metabolizing enzymes in polarized cells. Unstimulated resting cells have a spherical shape with a uniform distribution of phosphoinositide lipids. When cells are placed in a gradient of chemoattractant the delicate balance between the activation of PI(3)K and PTEN coordinates the local enrichment of PIP3 at the leading edge. Members of the RhoGTPase family of protein are involved in this process. The importance of PTEN as a regulator of chemotaxis of Dictyostelium is unequivocal; in contrast the evidence that neutrophils exposed to fMLP require PTEN as a regulator of the chemotactic response is far less convincing [161,162]. Selective deletion of PTEN in myeloid cells has demonstrated only a minor inhibitory function for PTEN during migration to fMLP [162,163]. These results prompted to investigate the other regulator of PIP3 degradation, the inositol 5-phosphatase SHIP. SHIPs role in cell migration was demonstrated by overexpression of constutively active SHIP resulting in the inhibition of chemotaxis of Jurkat T-cells [164]. Nishio et al. clearly demonstrated that loss of the gene leds to comparable defects observed when Dictyostelium PTEN was knocked out. The ship1-/- neutrophils had a flat, unpolarized phenotype due to an increase in the number of membrane extensions labelled by AKTPH-GFP [163,165]. 20 INTRODUCTION Thus increased mislocalized levels of phosphoinositides have severe effects suggesting that excess amounts of PIP3 can disrupt polarity and directed migration by promoting the extension of lateral pseudopodia (Fig 7.). Fig 7. The effect of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 on chemotaxis. The image emphasizes the marginal effect of PI(3)Kγ downregulation in contrast to SHIP1 deletion on efficient migration and polarization. 21 INTRODUCTION The idea that chemotacting cells orientate by means of PIP3 gradients in their plasma membrane is deduced from genetic and ablation inhibitor studies in Dictyostelium [119], neutrophils [146]and fibroblast [166]. However other reports clearly show a dispensable role for PIP3 gradient and PI(3)Ks activity in directional cell migration [76,167–170]. In particular Ferguson et al. showed that PI(3)Kγ-/- neutrophils have a strong adhesion defect inferring a role for PI(3)Ks in cytoskeletal organization required for cell polarization and movement instead of in direction sensing [170]. In conclusion, a signaling pathway from the receptor to the cytoskeleton, which is able to guide cells independently of polarized PIP3 must exist [171]. 22 Polarization of Migrating Monocytic Cells Is Independent of PI 3-Kinase Activity Silvia Volpe1, Sylvia Thelen1, Thomas Pertel2, Martin J. Lohse3, Marcus Thelen1* 1 Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland, 2 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, 3 Rudolf Virchow Center and Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany Abstract Background: Migration of mammalian cells is a complex cell type and environment specific process. Migrating hematopoietic cells assume a rapid amoeboid like movement when exposed to gradients of chemoattractants. The underlying signaling mechanisms remain controversial with respect to localization and distribution of chemotactic receptors within the plasma membrane and the role of PI 3-kinase activity in cell polarization. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a novel model for the investigation of human leukocyte migration. Monocytic THP-1 cells transfected with the a2A-adrenoceptor (a2AAR) display comparable signal transduction responses, such as calcium mobilization, MAP-kinase activation and chemotaxis, to the noradrenaline homlogue UK 14’304 as when stimulated with CCL2, which binds to the endogenous chemokine receptor CCR2. Time-lapse video microcopy reveals that chemotactic receptors remain evenly distributed over the plasma membrane and that their internalization is not required for migration. Measurements of intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) of a2AAR-YFP/CFP suggest a uniform activation of the receptors over the entire plasma membrane. Nevertheless, PI 3-kinse activation is confined to the leading edge. When reverting the gradient of chemoattractant by moving the dispensing micropipette, polarized monocytes – in contrast to neutrophils – rapidly flip their polarization axis by developing a new leading edge at the previous posterior side. Flipping of the polarization axis is accompanied by re-localization of PI-3-kinase activity to the new leading edge. However, reversal of the polarization axis occurs in the absence of PI 3-kinase activation. Conclusions/Significance: Accumulation and internalization of chemotactic receptors at the leading edge is dispensable for cell migration. Furthermore, uniformly distributed receptors allow the cells to rapidly reorient and adapt to changes in the attractant cue. Polarized monocytes, which display typical amoeboid like motility, can rapidly develop a new leading edge facing the highest chemoattractant concentration at any site of the plasma membrane, including the uropod. The process appears to be independent of PI 3-kinase activity. Citation: Volpe S, Thelen S, Pertel T, Lohse MJ, Thelen M (2010) Polarization of Migrating Monocytic Cells Is Independent of PI 3-Kinase Activity. PLoS ONE 5(4): e10159. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159 Editor: Jean Kanellopoulos, University Paris Sud, France Received December 28, 2009; Accepted March 23, 2010; Published April 15, 2010 Copyright: ß 2010 Volpe et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: The study was co-financed by the European Community through a Marie Curie Action (INTEGRAMM) and the 6th Framework Program, Network of Excellence Grant (MAIN) LSHG-CT-2003-502935 and supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation program R’Equip 316000-117395. The Institute for Research in Biomedicine is supported by the Helmut Horten Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: marcus.thelen@irb.unisi.ch A central downstream regulatory element in receptor-mediated cell migration is the activation of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) [3–5]. The kinase contributes, but is not mandatory to convey extracellular gradients to the intracellular organization of the responses. Furthermore, redundant pathways in chemotaxis exist for which PI 3-kinase activity is dispensable [6–10]. Model systems for the analysis of the signal transduction events in cells undergoing chemotaxis have provided much insight to our current knowledge on leukocyte migration. Monitoring the spatiotemporal activation of pathways has allowed refining different signaling events to the leading and trailing edge, respectively [11]. Currently few suitable systems are available that can easily be interrogated for the specific function of signal transduction components in amoeboid-like migration. Many studies were performed in Dictyostelium where protein expression levels can easily be altered [12,13]. The chemotaxis of primary neutrophils Introduction Cell migration is an essential process for the functional positioning of cells in higher organisms. In most cases cells follow a guidance cue formed by chemoattractants that bind to specific cell surface receptors to promote chemotaxis. While the migration of tissue cells is slow and characterized by strong adhesions, leukocytes have adapted a highly motile amoeboid mechanism of migration which is in many aspects reminiscent of the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum [1]. Leukocyte trafficking is a central regulatory mechanism for immune homeostasis and immune responses [2]. Upon injury neutrophils and monocytes are among the first cells leaving the blood stream to approach the site of lesion. The cells are attracted by a variety of stimuli, such as chemokines, bioactive lipids, anaphylatoxins and bacterial derived peptides, which all bind to Gi-protein-coupled receptors (GiPCR). PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration medium (Invitrogen). After 24 h, the transfection medium was replaced with fresh complete RPMI medium. Forty-eight hours posttransfection, the LVs containing medium was collected and filtered through a 0.45 mm filter (Millipore). THP-1 cells cultured in 6-well plates were treated with 2 ml of VLP. Positive clones were selected by FACS. and monocytes can be monitored by time laps video-microscopy, but manipulation of the expression levels of proteins in these cells is not straightforward. Most commonly neutrophil-like HL-60 cells are used to study molecular events during leukocyte migration [3,14–17]. However, the cells must be differentiated to assume a functional neutrophil-like phenotype and to respond to typical agonists, such as f-Met-Leu-Phe. As a rule, however, differentiation leads to heterogeneous cell populations. In this study we introduce the monocytic THP-1 cells to study chemotaxis. We show that cells stably transfected with the a2Aadrenoceptor (a2AAR) migrate towards the a2AAR agonist UK 14’304 (brimonidine). The efficacy of the chemotactic response is comparable to the stimulation with the chemokine CCL2 which binds to the endogenous CCR2. Measurements of PIP3 formation indicate that the cells promote the local activation of PI 3-kinase at the leading edge in response to an extracellular agonist gradient. In contrast to neutrophils and Dictyostelium, where the cells predominantly maintain their polarization axis and perform a U-turn in response to inversion of the chemotactic gradient, we observed that monocytes and THP-1 cells rapidly switch their polarization axis. PI 3-kinase activity rapidly relocates to what was before the uropod and after reversal of the gradient acts as leading edge. However, PIP3 production appears dispensable for cell polarization. Consistent with the capability of a rapid relocation of the polarization axis, receptors remain evenly distributed over the plasma membrane during cell migration. FACS analysis of receptor expression THP-1 cells (200 ml containing 105cells) were incubated with 200 nM CCL2 [20] or 1mM UK 14’304 at 37uC for the indicated times. Incubations were terminated by the addition of ice cold PBS and washing of the cells. The cells were stained for CCR2 with 5 mg/ml anti CCR2 (MAB150 R&D System) or 5 mg/ml anti HA (12CA5, Roche) for 30 min on ice, washed and incubated with 10 mg/ml goat anti-mouse IgG-RPE (Southern Biotech). Isotype control was performed with 5 mg/ml mouse IgG22b (Southern Biotech). Calcium and Chemotaxis THP-1 cells (ATCC) were cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, HyClone), 1% glutamax, 50 U/ml of penicillin and 50 mg/ml of streptomycin (Pen/Strep, all Invitrogen). Intracellular free calcium was measured as previously described [25]. Chemotaxis assays were performed in triplicate in 48-well Boyden chambers (NeuroProbe, Gaithersburg, MD), using 5mm pore-sized polyvinylpyrrolidone-free polycarbonate membranes. Chemotaxis medium (RPMI-1640 supplemented with 1% FBS, 1% glutamax, Pen/Strep) containing chemoattractants was added to the lower wells. Cells (105 per well) in chemotaxis medium were added to the upper wells and incubated for 40 min at 37uC in 5% CO2 atmosphere. Cells were removed from the upper part of the membrane with a rubber policeman. Cells attached to the lower side of the membrane were fixed and stained. Migrated cells were counted in five randomly selected fields of 100-fold magnification. Where indicated, cells were pretreated at 37uC for 2 h with 2 mg/ ml Bordetella pertussis toxin (Sigma). Transfection Western blot analysis Materials and Methods Cells and cell culture The cells were starved for 6 h in serum-free RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA, Sigma). When indicated pertussis toxin 2 mg/ml (Sigma) was added to the medium. Cells were washed once in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and stimulated at 37uC for 2 min with UK 14’304 300 nM and CCL2 100 nM. Incubations were terminated by the addition of ice-cold trichloro-acetic acid. Processing of cell lysates and ERK phosphorylation was performed as described [20]. Plasmids (pcDNA3) encoding for wild type a2AAR, a2AAR-YFP and a2AAR-YFP/CFP were as previously described [18,19]. All receptor sequences included an HA epitope at their N-terminus. THP-1 cells were transfected by NucleofectionH (Amaxa, Lonza) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfected cells were grown in selection medium containing 0.7 mg/ml G418 (Invitrogen) and subcloned for highest receptor expression by FACS (FACS Aria, BD Biosciences). Transduction Microscopy The PH-PKB sequence [20] was subcloned in frame with a nonapeptide linker sequence (GSGGSGGSG) into pEGFP (Invitrogen) where the GFP was replaced with the sequence of the red fluorescent protein mCherry [21]. The PH-PKB-mCherry sequence was amplified by PCR using primers to incorporate Xba1 and Sma1 sites at the 59 and 39 ends (forward: 59-AAAATCTAGAATGAACGACGTAGCCATTGTGAA; reverse 59-TGAATTCCCGGGTTACTTGTAGAGCTCGTCCATGC). The PCR product was cloned into the pAIP-WPRE-IRES-Puro lentiviral vector [22]. Vesicular stomatitis virus-G (VSV-G)-pseudotype lentiviral vectors (LVs) were generated by co-transfecting pAIPPH-PKB-mCherry, the HIV-1 packaging plasmid psPAX2 and the pMD2.G plasmid encoding the VSV-G envelope glycoprotein into 293T cells as described [23,24]. Briefly, nearly confluent 293T cells in 6-well-plates were co-transfected with pALPS-PHPKB-mCherry, psPAX2, and pMD2.G at a ratio of 4:3:1 (3.3 mg of total plasmid DNA) using 7.5 ml of polyethylenimine 1 mg/ml stock (MW 25000, Polysciences) 250 mL in serum-free OptiMEM PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org Receptor internalization was determined on fixed permeabilized specimens as follows. THP-1 cells were plated on poly-Dlysine coated coverslips in medium. Following adherence the cells were stimulated for 30 min at 37uC. Cells were washed with warm PBS and then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde on PBS for 20 min at room temperature. Cells were washed again with PBS, the reaction quenched with 100 mM glycine in PBS (20 min), and permeabilized for 5 min with PBS containing 0.1% (w/v) TritonX-100 (Sigma). Cells were washed with PBS containing 0.02% Tween 20 (w/v) (PBST) and incubated with primary rabbit anti-CCR2 (Sigma) for one hour. Following washing with PBST the cells were incubated with secondary anti-mouse- or anti-goatIgG conjugated with Alexa488 (Invitrogen), DAPI and phalloidinAlexa594 (Invitrogen). Coverslips were mounted as previously described [20]. Laser scanning confocal microscopy was performed with a Leica DI6000 microscope stand connected to a SP5 scan head equipped 2 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration with a temperature controlled chamber (Cube, LIS, Basel). Live cell cultures were placed in a humidified and CO2-controlled incubator which was mounted on the microscope stage (Brick, LIS, Basel). For time-lapse video microscopy cells (0.56106/ml) were resuspended in D-PBS containing calcium and magnesium (Invitrogen) supplemented with 1% FBS, Pen/Strep, 0.04 mM sodium pyruvate, 1 mg/ml fatty acid free BSA (Sigma), 1 mg/ml glucose (Fluka). Cells were plated on glass bottom petri-dishes (MatTek cultureware) which were coated before with D-polylysine (5 mg/ml) and subsequently overlaid with a 1:80 diluted MatrigelH (BD Biosciences) solution at 4uC for 30 min. Chemoattractants were dispersed with a micropipette (Femtotip II, Eppendorf) controlled by micromanipulator (Eppendorf) at a constant backpressure of 15 hPa (Femtojet, Eppendorf). For CFP/YFP FRET measurements cells were excited with a UV laser (405 nm) at low power setting (,15%), and the emission of CFP (FCFP = 465 nm-505 nm) and the FRET signal (YFP emission, FYFP = 525 nm–600 nm) were measured contemporaneously. Ratio FRET (rFRET) was calculated as FRET/FCFP (FYFP/FCFP) as described [26] using the Metamorph software package (Visitron). Due to the low laser intensity used for excitation fading of CFP and YFP was usually ,5% over 1 min. Results Non-chemokine pertussis toxin-sensitive Gi-protein coupled receptors can mediate chemotaxis [27]. Therefore we reasoned that the Gi-protein-coupled a2A-adrenergic receptor (a2AAR), when expressed in the migration competent THP-1 cells, could induce cell migration. The a2AAR belongs to the group of adrenoceptors that transduce responses to catecholamines during neurotransmission and is known to mediate hypotension, sedation and analgesia [28], but it is not known to stimulate cell migration. THP-1 cells were stably transfected with the a2AAR and tested in chemotaxis assays using modified Boyden chambers. Figure 1 shows the migratory behavior of wild type (top right) and transfected (top left) THP-1 cells in response to the chemokine CCL2, an agonist of the endogenous CCR2, and to UK 14’304, an agonist with high affinity and specificity for a2AAR [29]. In THP-1 cells expressing a2AAR (top left) CCL2 and UK 14’304 induced chemotaxis with similar efficacy, albeit with different Figure 1. Chemotaxis of THP-1 cells mediated by endogenous and transfected receptors. Either wild type (upper right) or transfected cells (panel labeling denotes expressed receptor) were subjected to chemotaxis assays in modified Boyden chambers for 40 min. Chemotaxis was stimulated with UK 14’304 (circles) or CCL2 (triangles) without (open symbols) or with pretreatment with pertussis toxin (closed symbols). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g001 PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 3 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration intracellular loop, appears to be preserved, because the response was abolished by pertussis toxin pretreatment. To continuously monitor migration of THP-1 cells, time-lapse video microscopy was established. Glass bottom culture dishes coated with a monolayer of poly-Lys were incubated with a diluted MatrigelH solution at 4uC for 30 min. Excess of MatrigelH was removed and the dishes rinsed with PBS. Because MatrigelH does not polymerize at low temperatures, the procedure leads to a monolayer like coating of the dishes allowing observation of cell migration at high resolution in a single optical plane. Among different coatings tested, such as fibrinogen, fibronectin and collagen, coating with MatrigelH appeared to provide the optimal substratum to support THP-1 migration. The chemoattractants CCL2 or UK 14’304 were released from a micropipette driven by constant backpressure. Movie S1 shows typical migration sequences of wild type and THP-1 cells expressing the double tagged a2AAR-YFP/CFP in response to UK 14’304 and CCL2. Both agents attracted the cells towards the tip of the dispensing pipette and moving the pipette reoriented the migration of the cells. Analysis of tracks recorded by time-lapse video microscopy from multiple cells stimulated with 10 nM CCL2 or 1 mM UK14’304 indicated that migration towards the chemokine was somewhat more efficient (Figure 2A and B), despite of similar velocity of the movement (Figure 2C). The migratory index (MI), i.e. the distance between the starting point and the end point divided by the total migrated distance, was 0.70460.15 (SD) for CCL2 and 0.61460.17 (SD) for UK 14’304. The mean velocity of THP-1 cell migration on matrigel coated glass appears to be slightly slower than that of mouse neutrophils migrating in EZTaxiscan chambers on fibrinogen coated glass, 0.08 mm/sec vs. 0.11 mm/sec, respectively [10]. Overall the velocity of migration and the MI of THP-1 cells are only moderately less efficient efficiencies. The differences in efficiency was unexpected because both agonist possess comparable affinities for their respective receptors (Kd ,2–3 nM CCL2/CCR2; Kd ,2 nM UK 14’304/ a2AAR) [29–31]. A maximum of the typical bell shape migratory response for CCL2 was obtained between 1–3 nM, whereas the UK 14’304 stimulated response peaked at 100 nM. Wild type THP-1 cells did not respond to UK 14’304 (top right), indicating that chemotaxis observed in the transfected cells was entirely dependent on the newly introduced a2AAR. Pertussis toxin pretreatment fully abrogated cell migration in response to CCL2 and UK 14’304, confirming that both receptors couple to Giproteins. For the study of receptor activity and localization in polarized migrating cells we took advantage of a2AAR variants which were tagged with yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) at the C-terminus (THP-1 a2AAR-YFP) or with yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) at the third intracellular loop and CFP at the C-terminus (THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/CFP). Both constructs were previously characterized for ligand binding and response properties [18,19,32]. After stably transfecting the constructs in THP-1 cells, we tested if the tagged receptors, which bear a considerable increase in molecular mass, were competent in mediating chemotaxis. Figure 1 (bottom right) shows that fusion of YFP to the C-terminus of a2AAR had no major effect on UK 14’304 stimulated chemotaxis. Similarly, the response to CCL2 was also not affected (not shown). Even more critical for receptor function could be the incorporation of two fluorescent proteins. However, THP-1 cells expressing a2AARYFP/CFP showed almost identical chemotactic responses to UK 14’304 and CCL2 as THP-1 a2AAR cells (Figure 1 left panels). Thus, the inclusion of the tags does not appear to compromise coupling of the receptor to downstream elements responsible for mediating cell migration. Moreover signaling via Gia, which requires the interaction of the G-protein with the second and third Figure 2. Velocity of THP-1 cells migrating towards different agonists. THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/CFP cells were plated on glass bottom coverslips coated with poly-D-lysine and MatrigelH. (A) CCL2 (10 nM) and (B) UK 14’304 (1 mM) were dispensed from a micropipette with constant backpressure. Time-lapse videos for each conditions were recorded at 5 sec interval. Tracks were analyzed and plotted aligning their average directional vector with the y-axis (distance in mm). (C) Mean velocity of tracks shown in (A) and (B) were calculated using Metamorph. Data from two independent observations, n = 17 (A) and n = 20 (B). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g002 PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 4 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration The localization of chemotaxis-mediating receptors on the plasma membrane of leukocytes is still contentious. While studies on lymphocytes conclude that receptors are recruited to the leading edge and accumulate at the immunological synapse [43–48], others have shown that in amoebae and neutrophil like cells (PBL-985, HL-60) the receptors remain evenly distributed over the plasma membrane of polarized cells [49–52]. We used the fluorescently tagged receptors to address the question whether the GPCRs distribute uniformly at the plasma membrane in polarized monocytic cells. THP-1 cells expressing a2AAR-YFP/CFP were labeled with the Vybrant DiD cell-labeling solution (DiD) and then subjected to time-lapse video microscopy. Figure 5A shows representative confocal frames at time 0 and after 5 min from movie S2 of cells migrating in response to UK 14’304 taken with high optical resolution (63x) and a narrow pinhole at the confocal unit. Over the total observation period, the (red) dye appeared evenly associated with the plasma membrane and accumulated in intracellular organelles. Similarly, the fluorescence of YFP seemed uniformly distributed over the entire plasma membrane in the confocal images. Ratiometric analysis of DiD/YFP fluorescence intensity shows a homogeneous color marking over the entire plasma membrane in resting and migrating cells. The observation is consistent with the concentration of membrane marker and receptors being constant and suggests that the ratio does not alter when cells polarize and migrate. The quantitative analysis from multiple cells of the DiD/YFP fluorescence intensity ratio of the leading edge and the rear confirms the conclusion (Figure 5B). Thus, the constant ratio over the entire membrane illustrates that the receptors do not re-localize to the membrane of the leading edge in THP-1 cells. Despite the even distribution of chemoattractant receptors in polarized cells in amoebae and leukocytes, local activation of PI 3-kinase occurs solely at the leading edge [4,53,54]. We tested the activation of PI 3-kinase in THP-1 cells stably transformed with a reporter construct specific for the kinase product phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5) triphosphate (PIP3) [53]. The construct consisted of the PH-domain of protein kinase B (PKB) fused to a short linker sequence and cloned in frame to the Nterminus of the red fluorescent protein mCherry (PH-PKBmCherry). THP-1 cells expressing the a2AAR-YFP/CFP and the PH-PKB construct were analyzed by time-lapse video microscopy. Unstimulated cells revealed a moderate red fluorescence in the cytoplasm and at the plasma membrane. When the cells started to polarize and migrated towards the micropipette dispensing UK 14’304 a pronounced accumulation of the reporter construct at the leading edge was observed (Figure 6A and movie S3). Given that the a2AAR-YFP/CFP does not alter its distribution during migration (Figure 5B), the YFP fluorescence was used to normalize the PH-PKB-mCherry fluorescence intensity per voxel. Figure 6A and movie S3 shows a marked increase of the mCherry fluorescence intensity with respect to the YFP signal of the receptor consistent with a pronounced PIP3 formation at the leading edge. The asymmetric distribution of the PKB-PH domain further indicates that PI 3-kinase is almost exclusively activated at the leading edge and that the PIP3 formation occurs concomitantly with the cell becoming polarized (movie S3). When a2AAR-YFP/CFP and PH-PKB-mCherry expressing THP-1 cells were stimulated with CCL2 a similar strong activation of PI 3-kinase at the leading edge was observed (not shown). Figure 6B reports the mean fluorescence intensity in resting non-polarized cells and in UK 14’304-induced polarized cells at the front and the rear. The analysis indicates an average two-fold increase in PIP3 after 30-40 sec at the leading edge compared to the rear (Figure 6B). compared with parameters reported for primary mouse neutrophils migrating in EZ-Taxiscan chambers on fibrinogen coated glass [10]. Next we investigated the ability of a2AAR transfected THP-1 cells to trigger changes in intracellular free calcium [Ca2+]i. Figure 3A (lower left) shows a typical rise in [Ca2+]i upon stimulation of wild type THP-1 cells with CCL2, but as expected from the chemotaxis experiments no response was obtained with UK 14’304 (upper left). In THP-1 a2AAR cells, CCL2 stimulated a similar response, but in addition these cells also displayed a marked rise in [Ca2+]i following stimulation with UK 14’304. Also cells expressing the doubly tagged receptor THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/ CFP exhibited typical calcium elevations in response to CCL2 and UK 14’304 (right panels). When cells were exposed sequentially to either agonist, an almost complete desensitization to a second bolus of the same agonist was observed, but the response to the other stimulus remained normal. Thus, neither CCL2 nor UK 14’304 cross-desensitized each other indicating that the two receptors function autonomously. Following treatment of the cells with pertussis toxin, calcium elevations with either stimulus were abolished (not shown). Rapid phosphorylation of the MAPK kinases ERK1/2 following stimulation with chemokines is amply reported as a measure of receptor-mediated cell activation. We used Western blot analysis to detect dual phosphorylated ERK1/2 (dpERK) and show that in THP-1 cells CCL2 induced a marked activation of ERK1/2 (Figure 3B, lane 2). The addition of UK 14’304 to wild type THP-1 had no effect, further confirming that the cells do not express endogenous functional receptors for this agonist. However, THP-1 a2AAR displayed a marked activation of ERK2 in response to CCL2 and to UK 14’304 (Figure 3B lane 8 and 9). Similarly, THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/CFP responded to both agonists with a marked activation of ERK1/2 (right panel). In all instances phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was prevented if the cells were pretreated with pertussis toxin, confirming that the receptors couple to heterotrimeric Gi-proteins. Taken together these findings indicate that a2AAR and its tagged variants when expressed in THP-1 cells induce similar responses as endogenous chemokine receptors. In general GPCR internalize following agonist stimulation via clathrin-mediated endocytosis [33]. However, the necessity of receptor internalization during cell migration remains controversial. Several reports indicate that internalization of chemokine receptors is required for chemotaxis [34–37], while others provide evidence that internalization is not required [27] or show that lack of internalization can enhance chemokine-mediated cell migration [38]. Stimulation of THP-1 cells with CCL2 resulted in a timedependent down regulation of CCR2 (Figure 4A). By contrast, the a2AAR, either wild type or tagged with fluorescent proteins, was not down regulated from the cell surface even after extended treatment with UK 14’304. Receptor internalization was measured by FACS analysis using the mAb 12CA5 which detects the HA epitope at the N-terminus of the a2AAR constructs. Similarly, confocal microscopy revealed refractoriness of a2AAR-YFP/CFP to become internalized following stimulation, whereas upon activation with CCL2 CCR2 was readily detected on endosomal structures (Figure 4B). Our observation that UK 14’304 does not induce major internalization of a2AAR in the THP-1 cells mirrors findings obtained with the non-hematopoietic HEK293 and COS1 cells transfected with a2AAR [39–42]. Together these data indicate that a2AAR-YFP/CFP-mediated chemotaxis, calcium mobilization and ERK2 phosphorylation, which are comparable with the responses elicited by the endogenous CCR2, do not depend on receptor internalization. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 5 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 3. THP-1 cells-mediated signal transduction by endogenous and transfected receptors. (A) Intracellular calcium mobilization. Wild type and transfected THP-1 cells were loaded with Fura-2 and stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304 (U) or 100 nM CCL2 (C). Fluorescence signals were normalized to maximum calcium influx elicited by the addition of ionomycin (I) as described in Methods. (B) Activation of ERK1/2 in THP-1 cells. Wild type and transfected THP-1 cells non-treated or pretreated with pertussis toxin (PTX) were stimulated for 2 min with 100 nM CCL2 or 300 nM UK14’304. Upper images are Western blots of dual phosphorylated ERK1 and 2, below total ERK2 (loading reference). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g003 PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 6 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 7 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 4. Receptor internalization. (A) FACS analysis. THP-1 cells were incubated with 200 nM CCL2 and CCR2 expression was measured after the indicated times (upper left). Similarly, THP-1 cells stably transfected with a2AAR (upper right), a2AAR-YFP and a2AAR-YFP/CFP (lower panels) were incubated with 1mM UK 14’304. Red lines represent isotype controls (IgG2b). (B) Confocal microscopy images of wild type THP-1 cells (upper panels) and THP-1 transfected with a2AAR-YFP/CFP (lower panels). Cells were untreated (control) or stimulated with 200 nM CCL2 or 1mM UK14’304 (UK) for 30 min fixed and processed as described in Methods. Receptor expression in wild type (CCR2) was revealed with specific anti-CCR2 (left panel, green). For localization of a2AAR-YFP/CFP the fluorescence of receptor associated YFP was measured (left panel, yellow). The middle panels depict F-actin revealed with phalloidin-Alexa594. Right panels are merged images including nuclear staining (DAPI, blue). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g004 reversal of the gradient reorient their leading edge to the source of the gradient by performing U-turns [4,54,57]. However, a small fraction (up to 20%) can revert their polarization [60]. Movie S5 illustrates the typical behavior of most neutrophils stimulated with 10 mM f-Met-Leu-Phe. By contrast, almost all freshly isolated human monocytes fully reverse their polarization axis in less than one minute upon reversal of the gradient produced by 100 nM CCL2. Moreover, movie S5 demonstrates that the polarization axis could be switched several times. Similar results were obtained with THP-1 cells (movie S6 and S7). Figure 8A depicts selected frames from the Movie S6 which demonstrate that PI 3-kinase activity upon the reversal of the polarization axis re-localized to the new leading edge (right panels). Interestingly, reversal of the polarization axis observed in the phase images appears to precede the activation of PI 3-kinase at the new leading edge. When the experiment was performed in the presence of 100 nM Wortmannin, the cells were able to migrate toward the dispensing pipette and to flip their polarization axis following displacement of the source of attractant (movie S7). Moreover, neither polarization nor reversal of the axis was associated with PI3-kinase activation. The frames from the movie shown in Figure 8B illustrate that the PKBPH domain probe in the presence of Wortmannin does not localize at the leading edge, but rather remains diffuse in the cytoplasm. These observations suggest that receptor-mediated activation of PI 3-kinase is not required for monocyte polarization. The observation is consistent with a number of publications that have contested a general requirement of PI 3-kinase activation in cell migration [6,9,10,61–64]. The above observations suggest that receptor-mediated signal transduction leading to PI 3-kinase activation occurs by and large at the leading edge. However, the gradient which is formed by the dispensing pipette should also be sensed at the back of the cells albeit at up to 30% lower concentration. The exact chemoattractant concentration over the cell is difficult to determine in this experimental set up. The flow rate from the micropipette cannot accurately be determined due to the non-linear flow conditions imposed by the narrow orifice of the pipette and the free diffusion of the ligand. However, cell migration can be induced with a wide range of concentrations of the filling solution, such as 30 nM– 3 mM UK 14’304 or CCL2 with similar efficiencies. Given the dissociation constant of UK 14’304 for a2AAR-YFP/CFP being 3– 4 nM [19] and an estimated concentration difference between the front and the rear of a migrating cell of ,30%, this indicates that at any of the above conditions the concentration of the attractant at the rear of the cells is sufficiently high to occupy the receptors. Taking these reflections into account it is unclear why PIP3 production occurs only at the leading edge. It has been proposed that at the rear of a polarized cell the signal transduction from GPCRs is offset at the Gi-protein level through a global inhibitory process [55]. To test receptor activity at the front and the rear we took advantage of the intramolecular FRET of the a2AAR-YFP/ CFP as an indicator. The stoichiometry of the donor (CFP) and acceptor (YFP) of the construct is constant, therefore the FRET signal is independent of the local concentration of the receptor [26,56]. Ligand-induced a2AAR-YFP/CFP activation causes a conformational change leading to the reduction of the FRET efficiency between CFP and YFP [19]. The maximum change in FRET efficiency measured as normalized ratio FRET (FYFP/FCFP) of the a2AAR-YFP/CFP expressed in THP-1 exposed to 1 mM UK 14’304 was ,10%, similar to the changes reported in HEK293 cells [19]. Figure 7A depicts frames from a time lapsevideo at time 0 and 152 sec of THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/CFP cells stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304 from a pipette. At both times the FRET efficiency is continuous over the entire plasma membrane. However, markedly different ratios were observed, showing a high FRET efficiency at time 0 and a reduced efficiency after 152 sec (false color scale) indicating homogeneous receptor activation over the entire membrane. Movie S4 displays the complete sequence of the gradual change in FRET efficiency over time. Importantly, although a clear net change in FRET was obtained, we observed at no time a difference in FRET efficiency between the leading edge and the rear of the cells. A quantitative analysis of the FRET efficiency measured at the front and the rear of polarized cells exposed for 2 min to 30 nM, 300 nM and 3 mM UK 14’304 is shown in Figure 7B. The data reveal within the limits of the accuracy of the measurements that there was no significant difference in FRET efficiency between the leading edge and the posterior side. Amoeboid migrating cells, such as neutrophils and Dictyostelium, once polarized in a gradient, largely maintain their polarization axis [54,57]. Dictyostelium when stimulated with a relatively large concentration of cAMP (100 mM) or upon rapid reversal of flowinduced hydrodynamic shear stress can, however, reverse its polarization axis [58,59]. The vast majority of neutrophils upon PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org Discussion Only few model systems for the study of leukocyte migration are currently available. The here described monocytic THP-1 cells bear some advantage over the classical neutrophil-like HL-60 cells. THP-1 can easily be transfected or virally transduced and do not need to be differentiated to reach a chemotaxis-competent phenotype. The relatively homogenous cell populations of wild type or transformed cells uniformly respond to ligands of endogenous chemotactic receptors such as CCL2 (CCR2) or CXCL12 (CXCR4, not shown). In addition the cells are capable to migrate in response to stimulation of ectopically expressed receptors such as the a2AAR. Interestingly the highly conserved DRY(L/I)AI(V/I) motif of chemokine receptors that is considered critical for chemoattractant-induced and Gi-protein-mediated cell migration is only partially conserved in the DRYWSIT sequence of the a2AAR. Nevertheless the present data demonstrate that the structural properties of the a2AAR suffice to mediate efficient chemokine receptor-like signal transduction and cellular responses in THP-1 cells stimulated with the a2AAR agonist UK 14’304. Following global stimulation most chemokine receptors internalize and become down regulated by an b-arrestin depended pathway [65,65,66]. In THP-1 cells CCR2 follows this paradigm; upon stimulation its appearance at the plasma membrane becomes punctuated, consistent with ligand-induced lateral segregation of the receptor, as initial step in clathrin-mediated endocytosis leading to the localization of the receptor in large endosomal 8 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 5. Receptor localization in resting and polarized cells. (A) Selected frames from Movies S2 just after insertion of the micropipette dispensing 300 nM UK 14’304 (0 sec, upper images) and after 5 min (300 sec, lower images). Red fluorescence derives from the membrane marker DiD (594 nm excitation/620–680 nm emission), yellow fluorescence derives from the YFP tag of a2AAR CFP/YFP (514 nm excitation/525–590 nm emission). Both fluorescences were recorded contemporaneously. The false color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Gray, corresponding phase image. The bar in the phase images represents 5 mm. (B) Average ratio-intensity analysis of regions of interest (ROI) measured in resting cells (white bar, non polarized) and polarized cells stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304 at the front (black) or rear (grey). Data represent the mean values from multiple frames from 3 different cells each from 3 independent experiments. The threshold for data inclusion was set equal in all experiments. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g005 PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 9 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 6. PIP3 formation occurs exclusively at the leading edge. (A) Selected frames from Movies S3 just after insertion of the micropipette dispensing 300 nM UK 14’304 (0 sec, upper images) and after 5 min (250 sec, lower images). The emission of THP-1 cells transduced with PH-PKBmCherry (red fluorescence, 594 nm excitation/610–680 nm emission) and expressing a2AAR-YFP/CFP (yellow fluorescence YFP, 514 nm excitation/ 525–580 nm emission) was recorded contemporaneously (right panels). The false color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Gray, corresponding phase image. The bar in the phase images represents 5 mm. (B) Average ratio-intensity analysis of regions of interest (ROI) measured in resting cells (white bar, non polarized) and polarized cells stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304 at the front (black) or rear (grey). Data represent the mean values from multiple frames from 3 different cells each from 3 independent experiments. The threshold for data inclusion was set equal in all experiments. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g006 structures [67]. By contrast, neither wild type nor fluorescent protein tagged a2AAR expressed on THP-1 cells appear to segregate or internalize. Previous studies in COS-1 cells indicated that a2AAR requires b-arrestin2 for internalization [41]. Our observation indicates that for efficient migration receptor internalization might be dispensable. However, we can not exclude that during migration at the leading edge, rapid recycling of the receptors may occur, which does not go beyond the formation of very early endosomes and does not lead to fusion with large endosomes [68]. Such early endosomes must remain close to the plasma membrane and can therefore not be visualized by confocal microscopy. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org Our data provide strong evidence that chemotactic receptors in THP-1 cells remain uniformly distributed in the plasma membranes and do not accumulate in the membrane forming the leading edge. In polarized cells we observed a net increase in plasma membrane towards the front of the cells which is caused by ruffling and lamellipodia formation. Macroscopically this would indicate a relative increase in receptor density at the front versus the sides and the rear of the cells where the membrane appears to be more smooth. As a consequence, through a feedback mechanism more signal transduction events could be engaged at the front leading the stabilization of the polarization axis. However, the fact that the polarization axis of monocytic cells can 10 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 7. FRET efficiency of a2AAR-YFP/CFP in migrating cells. (A) Selected frames from Movies S4 just after insertion of the micropipette dispensing 300 nM UK 14’304 (0 sec, upper images) and after 152 sec (2:32, lower images). Ratio FRET of THP-1 cells expressing a2AAR-YFP/CFP was measured as described in Methods. The false color shows FRET efficiencies. Gray, corresponding phase image. (B) Quantitative analysis of FRET efficiencies at the beginning (Cont., white bar) and 2–3 min after stimulation measured at the front (black bar) and rear (grey bar). Mean values of 3 cells from 3 independent experiments (30 nM and 300 nM UK 14’304) and 3 cells from 2 experiments for 3 mM UK 14’304. Stars indicate statistical relevance of p,0.0001 (T-test). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g007 PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 11 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 12 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration Figure 8. Role of PIP3 formation during reversal of polarization. Selected frames from Movies S6 just after insertion of the micropipette dispensing 300 nM UK 14’304 (0 sec, upper images) and after 5:40 min (lower images). The emission of THP-1 cells transduced with PH-PKB-mCherry (red fluorescence, 594 nm excitation/610–680 nm emission) and expressing a2AAR-YFP/CFP (yellow fluorescence YFP, 514 nm excitation/525– 580 nm emission) was recorded contemporaneously. The false color shows the ratio of red/yellow (right panels). Gray, corresponding phase image. (A) control cells, (B) cell pretreated for 10 min with 100 nM Wortmannin. (514 nm excitation/525–590 nm emission), (Phase) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio) False color shows the ratio of red/yellow. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.g008 was recorded at 6 sec interval with DIC optics at 206magnification. In the second part the cells were stimulated with 1 mM UK 14’304. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s001 (9.18 MB WMV) rapidly reverse impinges on the model. In movie S5 we show the repeated rapid reversal of the polarization axis in monocytes which were attracted with 10 mM CCL2. Thus, the reorientation initiates at a site with markedly lower membrane density suggesting that the relative receptor density may not be sufficient to maintain the polarization axis in monocytes. Furthermore, flipping of the polarization was observed with different agonist concentrations (30 nM–10 mM). In Movie S5 we applied 10 mM CCL2, a concentration sufficiently high to saturate CCR2 at the front and presumably also at the rear. Considering the slow dissociation rate of the CCL2 from the CCR2 (half life .200 min) [69], it is conceivable that the receptors remain ligated during the entire recording period. Taken together, the observations suggest that chemotactic receptors presumably sense small differences in the relative agonist concentration rather than the absolute amount [52]. The conclusion is consistent with our FRET-based receptor activation measurements and would predict that differences in receptor activity are minimal and below the detection limit of the probe. Extracellular gradients are assumed to translate into steep intracellular ramps of enzymatic reactions. Local activation of PI 3-kinase at the leading edge has been proposed as hallmark of polarized cells [54,62]. Several downstream effectors which are directly or indirectly regulated by 3-phosphoinositides and are involved in chemotaxis have been identified [3,4]. In agreement with these observations we show that PI 3-kinase is rapidly activated during THP-1 cell polarization where PIP3 accumulation is restricted to the leading edge. The two-fold increase is probably a cautious estimate considering the basal membrane association of the reporter construct in non-polarized cells (Figure 6B). The absence of PIP3 at the posterior end of the cell may reflect several points of interference with agonist-stimulated PI 3-kinase activation. Besides the potential direct inhibition of any signal transduction step leading to PIP3 formation local activation of phosphatases such as PTEN or SHIP-1 could account for the absence. Both phosphatases have been implicated in restricting PIP3 to the leading edge and preventing the lateral diffusion [70,71]. It was also proposed that in polarized cells feedback loops enhance PIP3 formation at the leading edge even in the absence of receptor activation [3,62]. On the other hand time-lapse video microscopy showed that efficient chemotaxis can occur in the absence of PI 3-kinase activation [9]. It was proposed that PI 3kinase activity is involved in integrin mediated neutrophil adhesion and F-action accumulation at the leading edge [10]. Here we provide evidence (Movie S6) that cells can migrate towards the dispensing pipette and that polarization occurs in the absence of the activation of PI 3-kinase. Moreover, in the presence of wortmannin the polarization axis can be reversed further underlining that polarization per se is independent of PI 3-kinase activity. Movie S2 Receptor localization in resting and polarized cells. Frames were taken at 4 sec interval with a 636magnification. (DiD) Red fluorescence derives from the membrane marker DiD (594 nm excitation/620–680 nm emission), (YFP) yellow fluorescence derives from the YFP tag of a2AAR-YFP/CFP (514 nm excitation/ 525–590 nm emission), (Phase) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio) False color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s002 (7.71 MB WMV) Movie S3 PIP3 formation occurs exclusively at the leading edge. Frames were taken at 5 sec interval with a 636 magnification. (PH) Red fluorescence derives from PH-PKB-mCherrry probe which binds to PIP3, (YFP) yellow fluorescence derives from the YFP tag of a2AAR-YFP/CFP (514 nm excitation/525–590 nm emission), (Phase) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio) False color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s003 (5.94 MB WMV) Movie S4 FRET efficiency of a2AAR-YFP/CFP in migrating cells. Frames were taken from THP-1 cells expressing a2AAR-YFP/ CFP and stimulated with 1 mM UK 14’304 at 4 sec interval with a 636 magnification. (FRET YFP) FRET signal (YFP emission, FYFP = 525 nm–600 nm), (CFP) CFP emission (FCFP = 465 nm– 505 nm), (PHASE) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio FRET) Ratio FRET (rFRET) was calculated as FRET/ FCFP (FYFP/FCFP). The false color shows FRET efficiencies. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s004 (4.68 MB WMV) Movie S5 Migration of freshly isolated human neutrophils and monocytes. Neutrophils were prepared as previously described [64], frames were taken at 3 sec interval with DIC optics. Cells were stimulated with 10 mM f-Met-Leu-Phe. Monocytes were prepared as described [65] were taken at 3 sec interval with DIC optics. Cells were stimulated with 100 nM CCL2. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s005 (10.01 MB WMV) Supporting Information Movie S6 Role of PIP3 formation during reversal of polarization. Frames were taken at 5 sec interval with a 636magnification from control THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/CFP cells stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304. (PH) Red fluorescence derives from PH-PKB-mCherrry probe which binds to PIP3, (YFP) yellow fluorescence derives from the YFP tag of a2AAR-YFP/CFP (514 nm excitation/525–590 nm emission), (Phase) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio) False color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s006 (6.46 MB WMV) Movie S1 CCR2-mediated migration of THP-1 a2AAR-YFP/ CFP cells. Cells were plated on glass bottom coverslips coated with poly-D-lysine and MatrigelH. CCL2 (100nM) was dispensed from a micropipette (center) with constant backpressure. Time-lapse video Movie S7 Role of PIP3 formation during reversal of polarization. Frames were taken at 5 sec interval with a 636magnification from THP-1 a2AAAR-YFP/CFP cells pretreated for 10 min with 100 nM Wortmannin and stimulated with 300 nM UK 14’304. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 13 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration (PH) Red fluorescence derives from PH-PKB-mCherrry probe which binds to PIP3, (YFP) yellow fluorescence derives from the YFP tag of a2AAR-YFP/CFP (514 nm excitation/525–590 nm emission), (Phase) phase images taken with DIC settings, and (Ratio) False color shows the ratio of red/yellow. Found at: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010159.s007 (6.31 MB WMV) Acknowledgments We would like to thank Drs. E. Cameroni and J. Luban for helpful discussions. Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: SV MT. Performed the experiments: SV ST. Analyzed the data: SV ST. Contributed reagents/ materials/analysis tools: TP MJL. Wrote the paper: MT. References 1. Friedl P, Weigelin B (2008) Interstitial leukocyte migration and immune function. Nat Immunol 9: 960–969. 2. Baggiolini M (1998) Chemokines and leukocyte traffic. Nature 392: 565–568. 3. Inoue T, Meyer T (2008) Synthetic activation of endogenous PI3K and Rac identifies an AND-gate switch for cell polarization and migration. PLoS ONE 3: e3068. 10.1371/journal.pone.0003068 [doi]. 4. Stephens L, Milne L, Hawkins P (2008) Moving towards a better understanding of chemotaxis. Curr Biol 18: R485–R494. 5. Thelen M (2001) Dancing to the tune of chemokines. Nat Immunol 2: 129–134. 6. Thelen M, Uguccioni M, Bösiger J (1995) PI 3-kinase-dependent and independent chemotaxis of human neutrophil leukocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 217: 1255–1262. 7. Chen L, Iijima M, Tang M, Landree MA, Huang YE, et al. (2007) PLA2 and PI3K/PTEN pathways act in parallel to mediate chemotaxis. Dev Cell 12: 603–614. 8. Van Haastert PJ, Keizer-Gunnink I, Kortholt A (2007) Essential role of PI3kinase and phospholipase A2 in Dictyostelium discoideum chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 177: 809–816. 9. Hoeller O, Kay RR (2007) Chemotaxis in the absence of PIP3 gradients. Curr Biol 17: 813–817. 10. Ferguson GJ, Milne L, Kulkarni S, Sasaki T, Walker S, et al. (2007) PI(3)Kgamma has an important context-dependent role in neutrophil chemokinesis. Nat Cell Biol 9: 86–91. 11. Dormann D, Weijer CJ (2006) Imaging of cell migration. EMBO J 25: 3480–3493. 12. Janetopoulos C, Firtel RA (2008) Directional sensing during chemotaxis. FEBS Lett 582: 2075–2085. 13. Van Haastert PJ, Devreotes PN (2004) Chemotaxis: signalling the way forward. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 5: 626–634. 14. Chen S, Lin F, Shin ME, Wang F, Shen L, et al. (2008) RACK1 Regulates Directional Cell Migration by Acting on G{beta}{gamma} at the Interface with its Effectors PLC{beta} and PI3K{gamma}. Mol Biol Cell 19: 3909–3922. 15. Chen Y, Corriden R, Inoue Y, Yip L, Hashiguchi N, et al. (2006) ATP release guides neutrophil chemotaxis via P2Y2 and A3 receptors. Science 314: 1792–1795. 16. Neel NF, Barzik M, Raman D, Sobolik-Delmaire T, Sai J, et al. (2009) VASP is a CXCR2-interacting protein that regulates CXCR2-mediated polarization and chemotaxis. J Cell Sci 122: 1882–1894. jcs.039057 [pii];10.1242/jcs.039057 [doi]. 17. Xu J, Wang F, Van KA, Rentel M, Bourne HR (2005) Neutrophil microtubules suppress polarity and enhance directional migration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102: 6884–6889. 0502106102 [pii];10.1073/pnas.0502106102 [doi]. 18. Hein P, Frank M, Hoffmann C, Lohse MJ, Bunemann M (2005) Dynamics of receptor/G protein coupling in living cells. EMBO J 24: 4106–4114. 19. Vilardaga JP, Bunemann M, Krasel C, Castro M, Lohse MJ (2003) Measurement of the millisecond activation switch of G protein-coupled receptors in living cells. Nat Biotechnol 21: 807–812. 20. Ogilvie P, Thelen S, Moepps B, Gierschik P, Da Silva Campos AC, et al. (2004) Unusual chemokine receptor antagonism involving a mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. J Immunol 172: 6715–6722. 21. Shaner NC, Campbell RE, Steinbach PA, Giepmans BN, Palmer AE, et al. (2004) Improved monomeric red, orange and yellow fluorescent proteins derived from Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol 22: 1567–1572. 22. Neagu MR, Ziegler P, Pertel T, Strambio-De-Castillia C, Grutter C, et al. (2009) Potent inhibition of HIV-1 by TRIM5-cyclophilin fusion proteins engineered from human components. J Clin Invest 39354: [pii];10.1172/JCI39354 [doi]. 23. Ory DS, Neugeboren BA, Mulligan RC (1996) A stable human-derived packaging cell line for production of high titer retrovirus/vesicular stomatitis virus G pseudotypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 93: 11400–11406. 24. Lois C, Hong EJ, Pease S, Brown EJ, Baltimore D (2002) Germline transmission and tissue-specific expression of transgenes delivered by lentiviral vectors. Science 295: 868–872. 10.1126/science.1067081 [doi];1067081 [pii]. 25. von Tscharner V, Prod’hom B, Baggiolini M, Reuter H (1986) Ion channels in human neutrophils activated by a rise in free cytosolic calcium concentration. Nature 324: 369–372. 26. Gordon GW, Berry G, Liang XH, Levine B, Herman B (1998) Quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements using fluorescence microscopy. Biophys J 74: 2702–2713. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 27. Neptune ER, Bourne HR (1997) Receptors induce chemotaxis by releasing the bgamma subunit of Gi, not by activating Gq or Gs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 14489–14494. 28. Knaus AE, Muthig V, Schickinger S, Moura E, Beetz N, et al. (2007) Alpha2adrenoceptor subtypes–unexpected functions for receptors and ligands derived from gene-targeted mouse models. Neurochem Int 51: 277–281. S01970186(07)00163-5 [pii];10.1016/j.neuint.2007.06.036 [doi]. 29. Rommelspacher H, Strauss S, Fahndrich E, Haug HJ (1987) [3H] UK-14,304, a new agonist ligand of alpha 2-adrenoceptors: a comparative study with human and rat tissue. J Neural Transm 69: 85–96. 30. Zhang YJ, Rutledge BJ, Rollins BJ (1994) Structure/activity analysis of human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) by mutagenesis. Identification of a mutated protein that inhibits MCP-1-mediated monocyte chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 269: 15918–15924. 31. Yoshimura T, Leonard EJ (1990) Identification of high affinity receptors for human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 on human monocytes. J Immunol 145: 292–297. 32. Vilardaga JP, Steinmeyer R, Harms GS, Lohse MJ (2005) Molecular basis of inverse agonism in a G protein-coupled receptor. Nat Chem Biol 1: 25–28. 33. Neel NF, Schutyser E, Sai J, Fan GH, Richmond A (2005) Chemokine receptor internalization and intracellular trafficking. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 16: 637–658. 34. Richardson RM, Pridgen BC, Haribabu B, Ali H, Snyderman R (1998) Differential cross-regulation of the human chemokine receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2. Evidence for time-dependent signal generation. J Biol Chem 273: 23830–23836. 35. Fan GH, Yang W, Sai J, Richmond A (2002) Hsc/Hsp70 interacting protein (hip) associates with CXCR2 and regulates the receptor signaling and trafficking. J Biol Chem 277: 6590–6597. 36. Fan GH, Yang W, Wang XJ, Qian Q, Richmond A (2001) Identification of a motif in the carboxyl terminus of CXCR2 that is involved in adaptin 2 binding and receptor internalization. Biochemistry 40: 791–800. 37. Downing JR, Shurtleff SA, Sherr CJ (1991) Peptide antisera to human colonystimulating factor 1 receptor detect ligand-induced conformational changes and a binding site for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Mol Cell Biol 11: 2489– 2495. 38. Balabanian K, Lagane B, Pablos JL, Laurent L, Planchenault T, et al. (2005) WHIM syndromes with different genetic anomalies are accounted for by impaired CXCR4 desensitization to CXCL12. Blood 105: 2449–2457. 39. Pierce KL, Maudsley S, Daaka Y, Luttrell LM, Lefkowitz RJ (2000) Role of endocytosis in the activation of the extracellular signal- regulated kinase cascade by sequestering and nonsequestering G protein- coupled receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97: 1489–1494. 40. Daunt DA, Hurt C, Hein L, Kallio J, Feng F, et al. (1997) Subtype-specific intracellular trafficking of alpha2-adrenergic receptors. Mol Pharmacol 51: 711–720. 41. DeGraff JL, Gagnon AW, Benovic JL, Orsini MJ (1999) Role of arrestins in endocytosis and signaling of alpha2-adrenergic receptor subtypes. J Biol Chem 274: 11253–11259. 42. Schramm NL, Limbird LE (1999) Stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase by G protein-coupled alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors does not require agonist-elicited endocytosis. J Biol Chem 274: 24935–24940. 43. Nieto M, Frade JMR, Sancho D, Mellado M, Martinez C, et al. (1997) Polarization of chemokine receptors to the leading edge during lymphocyte chemotaxis. J Exp Med 186: 153–158. 44. Sánchez-Madrid F, Del Pozo MA (1999) Leukocyte polarization in cell migration and immune interactions. EMBO J 18: 501–511. 45. Sanchez-Madrid F, Serrador JM (2009) Bringing up the rear: defining the roles of the uropod. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10: 353–359. nrm2680 [pii];10.1038/ nrm2680 [doi]. 46. Contento RL, Molon B, Boularan C, Pozzan T, Manes S, et al. (2008) CXCR4CCR5: a couple modulating T cell functions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105: 10101–10106. 0804286105 [pii];10.1073/pnas.0804286105 [doi]. 47. Molon B, Gri G, Bettella M, Gomez-Mouton C, Lanzavecchia A, et al. (2005) T cell costimulation by chemokine receptors. Nat Immunol 6: 465–471. 48. Gomez-Mouton C, Abad JL, Mira E, Lacalle RA, Gallardo E, et al. (2001) Segregation of leading-edge and uropod components into specific lipid rafts during T cell polarization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98: 9642–9647. 14 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 THP-1 Cell Migration 61. Srinivasan S, Wang F, Glavas S, Ott A, Hofmann F, et al. (2003) Rac and Cdc42 play distinct roles in regulating PI(3,4,5)P3 and polarity during neutrophil chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 160: 375–385. 62. Wang F, Herzmark P, Weiner OD, Srinivasan S, Servant G, et al. (2002) Lipid products of PI(3)Ks maintain persistent cell polarity and directed motility in neutrophils. Nat Cell Biol 4: 513–518. 63. Turner SJ, Domin J, Waterfield MD, Ward SG, Westwick J (1998) The CC chemokine monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 activates both the class I p85/p110 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and the class II PI3K- C2alpha. J Biol Chem 273: 25987–25995. 64. Funamoto S, Meili R, Lee S, Parry L, Firtel RA (2002) Spatial and temporal regulation of 3-phosphoinositides by PI 3-kinase and PTEN mediates chemotaxis. Cell 109: 611–623. 65. Thelen M, Stein JV (2008) How chemokines invite leukocytes to dance. Nat Immunol 9: 953–959. 66. Lefkowitz RJ, Rajagopal K, Whalen EJ (2006) New roles for beta-arrestins in cell signaling: not just for seven-transmembrane receptors. Mol Cell 24: 643–652. S1097-2765(06)00772-6 [pii];10.1016/j.molcel.2006.11.007 [doi]. 67. Le Roy C, Wrana JL (2005) Clathrin- and non-clathrin-mediated endocytic regulation of cell signalling. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 6: 112–126. nrm1571 [pii];10.1038/nrm1571 [doi]. 68. Hanyaloglu AC, von ZM (2008) Regulation of GPCRs by endocytic membrane trafficking and its potential implications. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 48: 537–568. 10.1146/annurev.pharmtox.48.113006.094830 [doi]. 69. Sohy D, Parmentier M, Springael JY (2007) Allosteric trans-inhibition by specific antagonists in CCR2/CXCR4 heterodimers. J Biol Chem 282: 30062–30069. 70. Nishio M, Watanabe K, Sasaki J, Taya C, Takasuga S, et al. (2007) Control of cell polarity and motility by the PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) phosphatase SHIP1. Nat Cell Biol 9: 36–44. 71. Heit B, Robbins SM, Downey CM, Guan Z, Colarusso P, et al. (2008) PTEN functions to ‘prioritize’ chemotactic cues and prevent ‘distraction’ in migrating neutrophils. Nat Immunol 9: 743–752. 49. Xiao Z, Zhang N, Murphy DB, Devreotes PN (1997) Dynamic distribution of chemoattractant receptors in living cells during chemotaxis and persistent stimulation. J Cell Biol 139: 365–374. 50. Parent CA, Devreotes PN (1999) A cell’s sense of direction. Science 284: 765–770. 51. Servant G, Weiner OD, Neptune ER, Sedat JW, Bourne HR (1999) Dynamics of a chemoattractant receptor in living neutrophils during chemotaxis. Mol Biol Cell 10: 1163–1178. 52. Herzmark P, Campbell K, Wang F, Wong K, El-Samad H, et al. (2007) Bound attractant at the leading vs. the trailing edge determines chemotactic prowess. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104: 13349–13354. 53. Servant G, Weiner OD, Herzmark P, Balla T, Sedat JW, et al. (2000) Polarization of chemoattractant receptor signaling during neutrophil chemotaxis. Science 287: 1037–1040. 54. Iijima M, Huang YE, Devreotes P (2002) Temporal and spatial regulation of chemotaxis. Dev Cell 3: 469–478. 55. Devreotes P, Janetopoulos C (2003) Eukaryotic chemotaxis: distinctions between directional sensing and polarization. J Biol Chem 278: 20445–20448. 56. Lohse MJ, Bunemann M, Hoffmann C, Vilardaga JP, Nikolaev VO (2007) Monitoring receptor signaling by intramolecular FRET. Curr Opin Pharmacol 7: 547–553. S1471-4892(07)00140-3 [pii];10.1016/j.coph.2007.08.007 [doi]. 57. Bourne HR, Weiner O (2002) A chemical compass. Nature 419: 21. 58. Dalous J, Burghardt E, Muller-Taubenberger A, Bruckert F, Gerisch G, et al. (2008) Reversal of cell polarity and actin-myosin cytoskeleton reorganization under mechanical and chemical stimulation. Biophys J 94: 1063–1074. 59. Gerisch G, Albrecht R, Heizer C, Hodgkinson S, Maniak M (1995) Chemoattractant-controlled accumulation of coronin at the leading edge of Dictyostelium cells monitored using a green fluorescent protein-coronin fusion protein. Curr Biol 5: 1280–1285. 60. Zigmond SH, Levitsky HI, Kreel BJ (1981) Cell polarity: an examination of its behavioral expression and its consequences for polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 89: 585–592. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 15 April 2010 | Volume 5 | Issue 4 | e10159 ADDITIONAL RESULTS Additional results The following section contains data which are not shown in the included paper. Fluorescent chemokine-dependent receptor internalization. To further investigate chemokine receptors during migration experiments were performed using fluorescent labeled CC-chemokines engineered in the laboratory. Briefly, human chemokines were tagged at the C-terminus with different fluorescent proteins and expressed in insect cells under the control of the insect-specific PH promoter. Secretion of the recombinant proteins was efficienty mediated by the human leader sequences, allowing recovery of the recombinant proteins from the cell supernatants (14417; Cameroni E., and Thelen M., unpublished). Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated to undergo CCL2-mediated cell migration acting on the endogenous receptor. For time-lapse video microscopy of moving cells recombinant CCL2 fused to the red fluorescent protein mCherry was employed [217] (Fig 1.). 37 ADDITIONAL RESULTS F 38 ADDITIONAL RESULTS Fig 1. Uptake of fluorescently labeled chemokine by moving cells. Selected frames from time-lapse video microscopy of migrating monocytes at different intervals (min) after insertion of the micropipette dispensing the agonist CCL2-mCherry 100nM. Gray (left column) corresponding phase image. Red fluorescence (middle column) derives from the recombinant chemokine mCherry-tagged (ex 594 nm excitation/620680 nm emission). The overlay color (right column) corresponding merge image. The data recapitulates the traditional paradigm of chemokine receptor internalization following agonist-induced activation [112,194]. The rapid (after 85 sec) initial ligandreceptor interaction is visualized by the red rim surrounding the cell body. The appearance of red-stained intracellular vesicles (after 180 sec) might be the consequence of the clathrin-mediated cargo endocytosis flowing the ligand-induced lateral segregation of the receptor [212]. Fusion of small endosomal vesicles, probably starting from the leading edge, leads to the formation of large intracellular compartments (starting at 355 sec and subsequent) which appear to be stored at the trailing edge of migranting cells. Moreover, cells remain fully motile suggesting that internalized receptors are efficiently resorted to the plasma membrane through a rapid recycling pathway [112]. In order to prove that the observed phenomenon was receptor-mediated the same experiment was performed in the presence of an irrelevant recombinant chemokine CCL20 tagged with GFP (Fig 2.). 39 ADDITIONAL RESULTS 40 ADDITIONAL RESULTS Fig 2. CCR2-specific CCL2 uptake in moving monocytes. Selected frames from time-lapse video microscopy of migrating monocytes at different intervals (min) after insertion of the micropipette dispensing a mix solution of CCL2-mCherry agonist 1μM together with CCL20-GFP 1μM. The emission of mCherry-CCL2 (594 nm excitation/620-680 nm emission) and CCL20-GFP (488 nm exitation 500-520nm emission) was recorded contemporaneously. Only the effective red fluorescence was reported (middle column). Gray (left column) corresponding phase image. The overlay color (right column) corresponding merge image including the GFP emission signal for the irrelevant chemokine (CCL20-GFP). CCL20 (also known as LARC/MIP3α/Exodus) is a unique ligand for CCR6 whose expression is restricted to lymphocytes and dendritic cells (DC) [218,219]. When cells were exposed to a mixture of CCL2-mCherry/CCL20-GFP only the red emission signal from CCL2-mCherry was detected at the surfaces (after 25 sec) and intracellularly at the level of the large endosomal compartments (starting at 195 sec and subsequent). The observation is consistent with a CCR2-specific CCL2 uptake in directionally migrating monocytes and makes pinocytosis less probable. The contribution of the chemokine decoy receptors in this process was also assessed. It is known that the chemokine scavenging receptors bind, internalize and target their ligands for lysosomal degradation [220–222]. In particular the receptor D6 was reported to be expressed by primary monocytes [223] and its engagement by inflammatory CC chemokine resulted in efficient agonist internalization [220,224]. The role of D6 in CCL2 endocytosis during monocyte migration was investigated using a combination of two D6 ligands CCL2-mCherry (10nM) and CCL22/MDC in 100 fold excess (10μM). If CCL2 uptake was mediated by the decoy receptor D6 the addition of unlabelled ligand in large excess would compete with CCL2-mCherry for D6 receptor occupancy. A marked decrease in the intracellular fluorescent signal would be expected. The result shown in Fig 3. clearly demonstrates that the CCL2 uptake is not affected by the presence of CCL22, strongly indicating that CCL2 uptake is independent of D6 activity. 41 ADDITIONAL RESULTS 42 ADDITIONAL RESULTS Fig 3. CCR2-specific CCL2 uptake is D6-independent. Selected frames from timelapse video microscopy of migrating monocytes at different intervals (min) after insertion of the micropipette dispensing the agonist CCL2-mCherry 100nM in combination with two fold higher CCL22 concentration (10μM). Gray (left column) corresponding phase image. Red fluorescence (middle column) derives from the recombinant chemokine mCherry-tagged (ex 594 nm excitation/620-680 nm emission). The overlay color (right column) corresponding merge image Dispensable role of PI(3)K activation in cell migration. To further support the findings that regulation of migration is independent of the PI(3)K activation chemotaxis was recorded by time-lapse video microscopy using freshly isolated monocytes from peripheral blood. Cells were treated with wortmannin (100nM), a concentration that fully blocks PI(3)K [225,226]. Fig 4. clearly shows that the migration of monocytes is not perturbed by the PI(3)K inhibitor, neither their polarization nor the CCR2-meiated CCL2 endocytosis. 43 ADDITIONAL RESULTS 44 ADDITIONAL RESULTS Fig 4. Irrelevant effect of wortmannin to the migratory response of monocytes. Selected frames from time-lapse video microscopy of migrating monocytes at different intervals (min) after insertion of the micropipette dispensing the agonist CCL2-mCherry 100nM. Cells were under HWT treatment (100nM) during the migratory assay. Gray (left column) corresponding phase image. Red fluorescence (middle column) derives from the recombinant chemokine mCherry-tagged (ex 594 nm excitation/620-680 nm emission). The overlay color (right column) corresponding merge image. Similar results were obtained by measuring the migratory response of THP-1 using modified Boyden chambers. The Fig 5. shows the effect of wortmannin (100 nM), on the migratory behavior of THP-1 cells elicited by the optimum concentration of CCL2 (3nM). Fig 5. Chemotactic response of THP-1 cells to CCL2 is unaffected by HWT treatment. THP-1 cells were subjected to chemotaxis assays in modified Boyden chambers for 40 min. Chemotaxis was stimulated at the CCL2 peak value of 3nM without (black bars) or with (grey bars) pretreatment with wortmannin (100 nM for 30 min). The data are representative of three independent observations determined in triplicate. Two independent experiments are shown. The data demonstrate that, at least for monocytic cells, the chemoattractant-stimulated migration is completely insensitive to PI(3)K inhibitor, as already published for other cell types [77,170,227]. 45 DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK Discussion and outlook The present study introduces THP-1 cells as a suitable model system to investigate the complex machinery underlying leukocyte migration. THP-1 cells offer several advantages over currently available model systems such as the neutrophilic-like HL60 cells. The cells are more permissive to transfection and transduction protocols, furthermore their inherent chemotaxis-competent phenotype eliminates the requirement to induce in differentiation, a process resulting in inhomogeneous cell populations. THP1 cells show fast and prominent chemotactic responses which can be elicited by different ligands such as CCL2 or CXCL12 acting on the endogenous receptors CCR2 and CXCR4, respectively. Moreover, exogenously expressed Gi-coupling α2A adrenoreceptor (α2AAR) mediates efficient chemokine receptor-like signal transduction and cellular responses upon stimulation with the α2AAR agonist UK 14’304, indicating that THP-I cells are suitable to the chemotactic potential of diverse receptors. The fluorescent protein labeled variants of the α2AAR (α2AAR-YFP and α2AARYFP/CFP) are suitable tools to investigate the controversial issue about the localization and distribution of chemoattractant receptors in responding cells [15–17]. By normalizing the fluorescence emission of the receptor and an evenly distributing plasma membrane marker we observed an unequivocally homogenous distribution of the receptor in polarized cells. In other words functional receptors are not specifically recruited at the leading edge of migrating cells. However our data do not rule out a local receptor enrichment due to the net increase of plasma membrane at front of the cells which is caused by ruffling and lamellipodia formation. This macroscopically polarized distribution of chemosensory receptors might contribute to an asymmetric amplification of signal transduction events through a positive feedback mechanism leading to the stabilization of the polarization axis. However the observation that the polarization axis of monocytic cells can be rapidly (~90 sec) reversed argues against the rigid polarization axis implied by this model mechanism. Indeed timelapse video microscopy data of migrating monocytes and THP-1 cells towards the CCL2 gradient show high flexibility in the polar axis organization in response to a change in the relative position of the chemokine source. The rapid rebuilding of a new leading edge on 46 DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK the preexistent uropod, which has a markedly lower membrane density, suggests that an increased relative receptor density may not be sufficient to maintain the polarization axis in monocytic cells. The homogenous membrane receptor distribution is consistent with the uniform receptor activation observed by monitoring agonist-induced intramolecular FRET variations, which reflect the receptor conformational states. Taken together, these observations suggest that the driving force for cell polarization might reside in the intrinsic ability of the chemotactic receptor to respond to and to transduce small differences in the relative agonist concentration rather than in the absolute amount of receptors being activated by the chemoattractant. Subtle differences in receptor activity along the front-rear axis could be below the detection limit of our experimental setting. In general most chemokine receptors following prolonged agonist stimulation are internalized by a β-arrestin dependent pathway [48,211]. Briefly, ligand binding induces GRK-mediated receptor phosphorylation and the phosphorylated motifs operate as docking sites for β-arrestin, which subsequently coordinates clathrin-coated pit mediated endocytosis. As expected in THP-1 cells CCR2 was efficiently removed from the plasma membrane upon CCL2 stimulation. Conversely neither WT nor the fluorescently tagged protein constructs of the α2AAR appeared to follow this paradigm, as already demonstrated for COS-1 cells which require cotransfection of α2AAR and β-arrestin2 to sustain a modest agonist-depend α2AAR internalization [198]. Given that cells readily polarized and migrated in response to the agonist UK 14’304 suggests a dispensable role of receptor internalization for directional cell migration. However our data do not rule out rapid recycling of the internalized α2AAR. Such rapid receptor traffic route might exploit the formation of very early endosomes which are smaller in size and may not proceed in the fusion with large endosomes, but may rather remain in the immediate vicinity of the plasma membrane and therefore can not be visualized by confocal microscopy. Theoretically by using selective inhibitors for this critical step in the maturation of the endosome by applying electron microscopy it might be possible to investigate the hypothesis. 47 DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK A transient and rapid process of receptor desensitization not involving internalization may be postulated [6]. It was elegantly demonstrated for CCR5 that protein kinases differently contribute to receptor phosphorylation, while GRKs mediate a slow and persistent receptor phosphorylation, the second messenger-dependent protein kinases (PKA, PKC) mediate a rapid and transient phosphorylation of the receptor [101]. Thus it is conceivable that the highly dynamic rearrangements of the cytoskeleton at the leading edge of motile cells, with continuous extensions and retractions of multiple protrusions are the result of the more rapid phosphorylation events mediated by second messengerdependent protein kinase. Assuming a uniform distribution of chemokine receptors at the plasma membrane of motile cells, preferential agonist responsiveness at the leading edge may be supported by local signal amplification mechanisms [120] as well as by the exclusion of counterregulatory proteins. With this strategy chemoattractant-responsive cells are able to translate a shallow extracellular chemical gradient into a steep intracellular gradient of signaling molecules. A great deal of evidence suggests that PI(3)K has an important role in establishing and maintaining cell polarity by regulating the subcellular localization and activation of downstream effectors that are essential for proper chemotaxis [79,228–230]. The catalytic activity of PI(3)K has been assayed by using probes detecting its phosphorylated product PIP3 which is found to be highly enriched at the inner surface of the plasma membrane at the front of migrating cells. Our data using a fluorescent sensor for PIP3 support this observation showing that PI(3)K is rapidly activated during THP-1 cell polarization inducing a PIP3 accumulation restricted to the leading edge. The asymmetric distribution of phosphoinositide lipids is achieved by spatially segregated antagonistic reactions: positive feedback loops sustains the PI(3)K activity while counter-regulatory proteins confines the PIP3 production [72,80]. Negative regulators of PIP3 accumulation include the 3’ lipid phosphatase PTEN and the 5’ lipid phosphatase SHIP which have been implicated in restricting PIP3 to the leading edge and preventing lateral diffusion [161,163]. It has been also demonstrated the existence of feedback loops which enhance the PIP3 formation even in the absence of 48 DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK receptor activation [75,152]. However our data clearly show that the impaired accumulation of PIP3 at the up-gradient front of migrating THP-1 cells does not affect the chemotactic response, neither at the level of gradient sensing nor at the polarization stage, being the cells able to reverse the polar axis. This result is in agreement with observations proposed in other reports postulating a dispensable role for PIP3 gradient formation and PI(3)K activity in directional cell migration [76,77,167–170]. Indeed alternative pathways which cooperate with the canonical PI(3)K-mediated signal have been shown to exist for polarization and migration [163,171,173]. However it would be worth investigate new role of other potential factors indirectly involved in the PI(3)K regulation such as the small Rho-GTPase Rac, known to be part of the positive feedback loop which modulate the PI3K activity [79,80]. 49 REFERENCES Reference List 1. Van Haastert PJ, Devreotes PN (2004) Chemotaxis: signalling the way forward. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 5: 626-634. 2. Bourret RB, Stock AM (2002) Molecular information processing: lessons from bacterial chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 277: 9625-9628. 3. Zigmond SH (1977) Ability of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to orient in gradients of chemotactic factors. J Cell Biol 75: 606-616. 4. Devreotes PN, Zigmond SH (1988) Chemotaxis in eukaryotic cells: a focus on leukocytes and Dictyostelium. Annu Rev Cell Biol 4: 649-686. 5. Friedl P, Weigelin B (2008) Interstitial leukocyte migration and immune function. Nat Immunol 9: 960-969. 6. Meinhardt H (1999) Orientation of chemotactic cells and growth cones: models and mechanisms. J Cell Sci 112: 2867-2874. 7. Zigmond SH, Levitsky HI, Kreel BJ (1981) Cell polarity: an examination of its behavioral expression and its consequences for polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 89: 585-592. 8. Bourne HR, Weiner O (2002) A chemical compass. Nature 419: 21. 9. Xu J, Wang F, Van Keymeulen A, Herzmark P, Straight A, Kelly K, Takuwa Y, Sugimoto N, Mitchison T, Bourne HR (2003) Divergent signals and cytoskeletal assemblies regulate self-organizing polarity in neutrophils. Cell 114: 201-214. 10. Ramsey WS (1972) Analysis of individual leucocyte behavior during chemotaxis. Exp Cell Res 70: 129-139. 11. Sanchez-Madrid F, Serrador JM (2009) Bringing up the rear: defining the roles of the uropod. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10: 353-359. nrm2680 [pii];10.1038/nrm2680 [doi]. 12. Wei X, Tromberg BJ, Cahalan MD (1999) Mapping the sensitivity of T cells with an optical trap: polarity and minimal number of receptors for Ca(2+) signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96: 8471-8476. 13. Negulescu PA, Krasieva TB, Khan A, Kerschbaum HH, Cahalan MD (1996) Polarity of T cell shape, motility, and sensitivity to antigen. Immunity 4: 421-430. 50 REFERENCES 14. Beemiller P, Hoppe AD, Swanson JA (2006) A phosphatidylinositol-3-kinasedependent signal transition regulates ARF1 and ARF6 during Fcgamma receptor-mediated phagocytosis. PLoS Biol 4: e162. 15. Servant G, Weiner OD, Neptune ER, Sedat JW, Bourne HR (1999) Dynamics of a chemoattractant receptor in living neutrophils during chemotaxis. Mol Biol Cell 10: 1163-1178. 16. Xiao Z, Zhang N, Murphy DB, Devreotes PN (1997) Dynamic distribution of chemoattractant receptors in living cells during chemotaxis and persistent stimulation. J Cell Biol 139: 365-374. 17. Nieto M, Frade JMR, Sancho D, Mellado M, Martinez C, Sánchez-Madrid F (1997) Polarization of chemokine receptors to the leading edge during lymphocyte chemotaxis. J Exp Med 186: 153-158. 18. Fernandez-Segura E, Garcia JM, Campos A (1996) Topographic distribution of CD18 integrin on human neutrophils as related to shape changes and movement induced by chemotactic peptide and phorbol esters. Cell Immunol 171: 120-125. 19. Friedl P, Entschladen F, Conrad C, Niggemann B, Zanker KS (1998) CD4+ T lymphocytes migrating in three-dimensional collagen lattices lack focal adhesions and utilize beta1 integrin-independent strategies for polarization, interaction with collagen fibers and locomotion. Eur J Immunol 28: 2331-2343. 20. Wolf K, Muller R, Borgmann S, Brocker EB, Friedl P (2003) Amoeboid shape change and contact guidance: T-lymphocyte crawling through fibrillar collagen is independent of matrix remodeling by MMPs and other proteases. Blood 102: 3262-3269. 21. Eddy RJ, Pierini LM, Matsumura F, Maxfield FR (2000) Ca2+-dependent myosin II activation is required for uropod retraction during neutrophil migration. J Cell Sci 113 ( Pt 7): 1287-1298. 22. Baggiolini M (1998) Chemokines and leukocyte traffic. Nature 392: 565-568. 23. Tan J, Deleuran B, Gesser B, Maare H, Deleuran M, Larsen CG, ThestrupPedersen K (1995) Regulation of human T lymphocyte chemotaxis in vitro by T cell-derived cytokines IL-2, IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13. J Immunol 154: 3742-3752. 24. Allen RA, Jesaitis AJ, Sklar LA, Cochrane CG, Painter RG (1986) Pysicochemical properties of the N-formyl peptide receptor on human neutrophils. J Biol Chem 261: 1854-1857. 51 REFERENCES 25. Ford-Hutchinson AW, Bray MA, Doig MV, Shipley ME, Smith MJ (1980) Leukotriene B, a potent chemokinetic and aggregating substance released from polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Nature 286: 264-265. 26. Laskin DL, Kimura T, Sakakibara S, Riley DJ, Berg RA (1986) Chemotactic activity of collagen-like polypeptides for human peripheral blood neutrophils. J Leukoc Biol 39: 255-266. 27. Senior RM, Gresham HD, Griffin GL, Brown EJ, Chung AE (1992) Entactin stimulates neutrophil adhesion and chemotaxis through interactions between its Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) domain and the leukocyte response integrin. J Clin Invest 90: 2251-2257. 28. Adair-Kirk TL, Atkinson JJ, Broekelmann TJ, Doi M, Tryggvason K, Miner JH, Mecham RP, Senior RM (2003) A site on laminin alpha 5, AQARSAASKVKVSMKF, induces inflammatory cell production of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and chemotaxis. J Immunol 171: 398-406. 29. Fredriksson R, Lagerstrom MC, Lundin LG, Schioth HB (2003) The G-proteincoupled receptors in the human genome form five main families. Phylogenetic analysis, paralogon groups, and fingerprints. Mol Pharmacol 63: 1256-1272. 30. Henderson R, Unwin PN (1975) Three-dimensional model of purple membrane obtained by electron microscopy. Nature 257: 28-32. 31. Hayward SB, Grano DA, Glaeser RM, Fisher KA (1978) Molecular orientation of bacteriorhodopsin within the purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 75: 4320-4324. 32. Khorana HG, Gerber GE, Herlihy WC, Gray CP, Anderegg RJ, Nihei K, Biemann K (1979) Amino acid sequence of bacteriorhodopsin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 76: 5046-5050. 33. Palczewski K, Kumasaka T, Hori T, Behnke CA, Motoshima H, Fox BA, Le T, I, Teller DC, Okada T, Stenkamp RE, Yamamoto M, Miyano M (2000) Crystal structure of rhodopsin: A G protein-coupled receptor. Science 289: 739-745. 34. Cherezov V, Rosenbaum DM, Hanson MA, Rasmussen SG, Thian FS, Kobilka TS, Choi HJ, Kuhn P, Weis WI, Kobilka BK, Stevens RC (2007) HighResolution Crystal Structure of an Engineered Human β2-Adrenergic G Protein Coupled Receptor. Science 318: 1258-1265. 35. Rasmussen SG, Choi HJ, Rosenbaum DM, Kobilka TS, Thian FS, Edwards PC, Burghammer M, Ratnala VR, Sanishvili R, Fischetti RF, Schertler GF, Weis WI, Kobilka BK (2007) Crystal structure of the human beta2 adrenergic G-protein-coupled receptor. Nature 450: 383-387. 52 REFERENCES 36. Rosenbaum DM, Cherezov V, Hanson MA, Rasmussen SG, Thian FS, Kobilka TS, Choi HJ, Yao XJ, Weis WI, Stevens RC, Kobilka BK (2007) GPCR Engineering Yields High-Resolution Structural Insights into {beta}2 Adrenergic Receptor Function. Science 318: 1266-1273. 37. Jaakola VP, Griffith MT, Hanson MA, Cherezov V, Chien EY, Lane JR, Ijzerman AP, Stevens RC (2008) The 2.6 angstrom crystal structure of a human A2A adenosine receptor bound to an antagonist. Science 322: 1211-1217. 38. Bockaert J, Pin JP (1999) Molecular tinkering of G protein-coupled receptors: an evolutionary success. EMBO J 18: 1723-1729. 39. Rosenbaum DM, Rasmussen SG, Kobilka BK (2009) The structure and function of G-protein-coupled receptors. Nature 459: 356-363. 40. Schwartz TW, Frimurer TM, Holst B, Rosenkilde MM, Elling CE (2006) Molecular mechanism of 7TM receptor activation--a global toggle switch model. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 46: 481-519. 41. Kenakin T (2002) Drug efficacy at G protein-coupled receptors. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 42: 349-379. 42. Park PS, Lodowski DT, Palczewski K (2008) Activation of G protein-coupled receptors: beyond two-state models and tertiary conformational changes. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 48: 107-141. 43. Oldham WM, Hamm HE (2008) Heterotrimeric G protein activation by Gprotein-coupled receptors. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9: 60-71. 44. Shenoy SK, Drake MT, Nelson CD, Houtz DA, Xiao K, Madabushi S, Reiter E, Premont RT, Lichtarge O, Lefkowitz RJ (2006) beta-arrestin-dependent, G protein-independent ERK1/2 activation by the beta2 adrenergic receptor. J Biol Chem 281: 1261-1273. 45. Violin JD, Lefkowitz RJ (2007) Beta-arrestin-biased ligands at seventransmembrane receptors. Trends Pharmacol Sci 28: 416-422. 46. Shenoy SK, Lefkowitz RJ (2005) Seven-transmembrane receptor signaling through beta-arrestin. Sci STKE 2005: cm10. 47. Fernandez HN, Henson PM, Otani A, Hugli TE (1978) Chemotactic response to human C3a and C5a anaphylatoxins. I. Evaluation of C3a and C5a leukotaxis in vitro and under simulated in vivo conditions. J Immunol 120: 109-115. 48. Thelen M, Stein JV (2008) How chemokines invite leukocytes to dance. Nat Immunol 9: 953-959. 53 REFERENCES 49. Tager AM, Bromley SK, Medoff BD, Islam SA, Bercury SD, Friedrich EB, Carafone AD, Gerszten RE, Luster AD (2003) Leukotriene B4 receptor BLT1 mediates early effector T cell recruitment. Nat Immunol 4: 982-990. 50. Matloubian M, Lo CG, Cinamon G, Lesneski MJ, Xu Y, Brinkmann V, Allende ML, Proia RL, Cyster JG (2004) Lymphocyte egress from thymus and peripheral lymphoid organs is dependent on S1P receptor 1. Nature 427: 355-360. 51. Maeda Y, Matsuyuki H, Shimano K, Kataoka H, Sugahara K, Chiba K (2007) Migration of CD4 T cells and dendritic cells toward sphingosine 1phosphate (S1P) is mediated by different receptor subtypes: S1P regulates the functions of murine mature dendritic cells via S1P receptor type 3. J Immunol 178: 3437-3446. 52. Van Corven EJ, Hordijk PL, Medema RH, Bos JL, Moolenaar WH (1993) Pertussis toxin-sensitive activation of p21ras by G protein- coupled receptor agonists in fibroblasts. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90: 1257-1261. 53. Van Leeuwen FN, Olivo C, Grivell S, Giepmans BN, Collard JG, Moolenaar WH (2003) Rac activation by lysophosphatidic acid LPA1 receptors through the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Tiam1. J Biol Chem 278: 400-406. 54. Neptune ER, Bourne HR (1997) Receptors induce chemotaxis by releasing the βgamma subunit of Gi, not by activating Gq or Gs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 14489-14494. 55. Thelen M, Peveri P, Kernen P, von Tscharner V, Walz A, Baggiolini M (1988) Mechanism of neutrophil activation by NAF, a novel monocyte-derived peptide agonist. FASEB J 2: 2702-2706. 56. Neptune ER, Iiri T, Bourne HR (1999) Gαi is not required for chemotaxis mediated by Gi-coupled receptors. J Biol Chem 274: 2824-2828. 57. Hepler JR, Gilman AG (1992) G proteins. Trends Biochem Sci 17: 383-387. 58. Dohlman HG, Thorner J, Caron MG, Lefkowitz RJ (1991) Model systems for the study of seven-transmembrane-segment receptors. Annu Rev Biochem 60: 653-688. 59. Janetopoulos C, Jin T, Devreotes P (2001) Receptor-mediated activation of heterotrimeric G-proteins in living cells. Science 291: 2408-2411. 60. Bunemann M, Frank M, Lohse MJ (2003) Gi protein activation in intact cells involves subunit rearrangement rather than dissociation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100: 16077-16082. 54 REFERENCES 61. Frank M, Thumer L, Lohse MJ, Bunemann M (2005) G Protein activation without subunit dissociation depends on a G{alpha}(i)-specific region. J Biol Chem 280: 24584-24590. 62. Thelen M (2001) Dancing to the tune of chemokines. Nat Immunol 2: 129-134. 63. Pettit EJ, Fay FS (1998) Cytosolic free calcium and the cytoskeleton in the control of leukocyte chemotaxis. Physiol Rev 78: 949-967. 64. Feske S (2009) ORAI1 and STIM1 deficiency in human and mice: roles of storeoperated Ca2+ entry in the immune system and beyond. Immunol Rev 231: 189-209. 65. Li Z, Jiang H, Xie W, Zhang Z, Smrcka AV, Wu D (2000) Roles of PLC-beta2 and -beta3 and PI3Kgamma in chemoattractant-mediated signal transduction. Science 287: 1046-1049. 66. McLeod SJ, Li AH, Lee RL, Burgess AE, Gold MR (2002) The Rap GTPases regulate B cell migration toward the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12): potential role for Rap2 in promoting B cell migration. J Immunol 169: 1365-1371. 67. Tilton B, Andjelkovic M, Didichenko SA, Hemmings BA, Thelen M (1997) Gprotein-coupled receptors and Fcgamma-receptors mediate activation of Akt protein kinase B in human phagocytes. J Biol Chem 272: 2809628101. 68. Meili R, Ellsworth C, Lee S, Reddy TB, Ma H, Firtel RA (1999) Chemoattractant-mediated transient activation and membrane localization of Akt/PKB is required for efficient chemotaxis to cAMP in Dictyostelium. EMBO J 18: 2092-2105. 69. Stambolic V, Woodgett JR (2006) Functional distinctions of protein kinase B/Akt isoforms defined by their influence on cell migration. Trends Cell Biol 16: 461-466. 70. Enomoto A, Murakami H, Asai N, Morone N, Watanabe T, Kawai K, Murakumo Y, Usukura J, Kaibuchi K, Takahashi M (2005) Akt/PKB regulates actin organization and cell motility via Girdin/APE. Dev Cell 9: 389-402. 71. Sancho D, Montoya MC, Monjas A, Gordon-Alonso M, Katagiri T, Gil D, Tejedor R, Alarcon B, Sanchez-Madrid F (2002) TCR engagement induces proline-rich tyrosine kinase-2 (Pyk2) translocation to the T cellAPC interface independently of Pyk2 activity and in an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif-mediated fashion. J Immunol 169: 292300. 55 REFERENCES 72. Weiner OD (2002) Regulation of cell polarity during eukaryotic chemotaxis: the chemotactic compass. Curr Opin Cell Biol 14: 196-202. 73. Hirsch E, Katanaev VL, Garlanda C, Azzolino O, Pirola L, Silengo L, Sozzani S, Mantovani A, Altruda F, Wymann MP (2000) Central role for G proteincoupled phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma in inflammation. Science 287: 1049-1053. 74. Hannigan M, Zhan L, Li Z, Ai Y, Wu D, Huang CK (2002) Neutrophils lacking phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma show loss of directionality during Nformyl-Met-Leu-Phe-induced chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99: 3603-3608. 75. Wang F, Herzmark P, Weiner OD, Srinivasan S, Servant G, Bourne HR (2002) Lipid products of PI(3)Ks maintain persistent cell polarity and directed motility in neutrophils. Nat Cell Biol 4: 513-518. 76. Hoeller O, Kay RR (2007) Chemotaxis in the absence of PIP3 gradients. Curr Biol 17: 813-817. 77. Thelen M, Uguccioni M, Bösiger J (1995) PI 3-kinase-dependent and independent chemotaxis of human neutrophil leukocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 217: 1255-1262. 78. Chen L, Janetopoulos C, Huang YE, Iijima M, Borleis J, Devreotes PN (2003) Two Phases of Actin Polymerization Display Different Dependencies on PI(3,4,5)P3 Accumulation and Have Unique Roles during Chemotaxis. Mol Biol Cell 14: 5028-5037. 79. Stephens L, Ellson C, Hawkins P (2002) Roles of PI3Ks in leukocyte chemotaxis and phagocytosis. Curr Opin Cell Biol 14: 203-213. 80. Weiner OD, Neilsen PO, Prestwich GD, Kirschner MW, Cantley LC, Bourne HR (2002) A PtdInsP(3)- and Rho GTPase-mediated positive feedback loop regulates neutrophil polarity. Nat Cell Biol 4: 509-513. 81. Schmidt A, Hall A (2002) Guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rho GTPases: turning on the switch. Genes Dev 16: 1587-1609. 82. Welch HC, Coadwell WJ, Stephens LR, Hawkins PT (2003) Phosphoinositide 3kinase-dependent activation of Rac. FEBS Lett 546: 93-97. 83. Han JW, Luby-Phelps K, Das B, Shu XD, Xia Y, Mosteller RD, Krishna UM, Falck JR, White MA, Broek D (1998) Role of substrates and products of PI3-kinase in regulating activation of Rac-related guanosine triphosphatases by Vav. Science 279: 558-560. 56 REFERENCES 84. Nimnual AS, Yatsula BA, Bar-Sagi D (1998) Coupling of Ras and Rac guanosine triphosphatases through the Ras exchanger Sos. Science 279: 560-563. 85. Fleming IN, Gray A, Downes CP (2000) Regulation of the Rac1-specific exchange factor Tiam1 involves both phosphoinositide 3-kinasedependent and -independent components. Biochem J 351: 173-182. 86. Welch HC, Coadwell WJ, Ellson CD, Ferguson GJ, Andrews SR, ErdjumentBromage H, Tempst P, Hawkins PT, Stephens LR (2002) P-Rex1, a PtdIns(3,4,5)P3- and Gbetagamma-regulated guanine-nucleotide exchange factor for Rac. Cell 108: 809-821. 87. Nombela-Arrieta C, Lacalle RA, Montoya MC, Kunisaki Y, Megias D, Marques M, Carrera AC, Manes S, Fukui Y, Martinez A, Stein JV (2004) Differential requirements for DOCK2 and phosphoinositide-3-kinase gamma during T and B lymphocyte homing. Immunity 21: 429-441. 88. Kunisaki Y, Nishikimi A, Tanaka Y, Takii R, Noda M, Inayoshi A, Watanabe K, Sanematsu F, Sasazuki T, Sasaki T, Fukui Y (2006) DOCK2 is a Rac activator that regulates motility and polarity during neutrophil chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 174: 647-652. 89. Weiner OD (2002) Rac Activation: P-Rex1 - A Convergence Point for PIP(3) and Gbetagamma? Curr Biol 12: R429-R431. 90. Hill K, Krugmann S, Andrews SR, Coadwell WJ, Finan P, Welch HC, Hawkins PT, Stephens LR (2005) Regulation of P-Rex1 by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and Gbeta gamma subunits. J Biol Chem 280: 4166-4173. 91. Takenawa T, Miki H (2001) WASP and WAVE family proteins: key molecules for rapid rearrangement of cortical actin filaments and cell movement. J Cell Sci 114: 1801-1809. 92. Roberts AW, Kim C, Zhen L, Lowe JB, Kapur R, Petryniak B, Spaetti A, Pollock JD, Borneo JB, Bradford GB, Atkinson SJ, Dinauer MC, Williams DA (1999) Deficiency of the hematopoietic cell-specific Rho family GTPase Rac2 is characterized by abnormalities in neutrophil function and host defense. Immunity 10: 183-196. 93. Srinivasan S, Wang F, Glavas S, Ott A, Hofmann F, Aktories K, Kalman D, Bourne HR (2003) Rac and Cdc42 play distinct roles in regulating PI(3,4,5)P3 and polarity during neutrophil chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 160: 375-385. 94. Li Z, Hannigan M, Mo Z, Liu B, Lu W, Wu Y, Smrcka AV, Wu G, Li L, Liu M, Huang CK, Wu D (2003) Directional sensing requires G beta gammamediated PAK1 and PIX alpha-dependent activation of Cdc42. Cell 114: 215-227. 57 REFERENCES 95. Weber KS, Klickstein LB, Weber PC, Weber C (1998) Chemokine-induced monocyte transmigration requires cdc42-mediated cytoskeletal changes. Eur J Immunol 28: 2245-2251. 96. Haddad E, Zugaza JL, Louache F, Debili N, Crouin C, Schwarz K, Fischer A, Vainchenker W, Bertoglio J (2001) The interaction between Cdc42 and WASP is required for SDF-1-induced T-lymphocyte chemotaxis. Blood 97: 33-38. 97. Allen WE, Zicha D, Ridley AJ, Jones GE (1998) A role for Cdc42 in macrophage chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 141: 1147-1157. 98. Jones GE (2000) Cellular signaling in macrophage migration and chemotaxis. J Leukoc Biol 68: 593-602. 99. Etienne-Manneville S, Hall A (2002) Rho GTPases in cell biology. Nature 420: 629-635. 100. Comer FI, Parent CA (2002) PI 3-Kinases and PTEN. How Opposites Chemoattract. Cell 109: 541-544. 101. Pollok-Kopp B, Schwarze K, Baradari VK, Oppermann M (2003) Analysis of ligand-stimulated CC Chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) phosphorylation in intact cells using phosphosite-specific antibodies. J Biol Chem 278: 21902198. 102. Wolfe BL, Trejo J (2007) Clathrin-dependent mechanisms of G protein-coupled receptor endocytosis. Traffic 8: 462-470. 103. Mueller A, Kelly E, Strange PG (2002) Pathways for internalization and recycling of the chemokine receptor CCR5. Blood 99: 785-791. 104. Sbaa E, Dewever J, Martinive P, Bouzin C, Frerart F, Balligand JL, Dessy C, Feron O (2006) Caveolin plays a central role in endothelial progenitor cell mobilization and homing in SDF-1-driven postischemic vasculogenesis. Circ Res 98: 1219-1227. 105. Aragay AM, Mellado M, Frade JMR, Martin AM, Jimenez-Sainz MC, MartinezA C, Mayor F, Jr. (1998) Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1-induced CCR2B receptor desensitization mediated by the G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 2985-2990. 106. Barlic J, Khandaker MH, Mahon E, Andrews J, DeVries ME, Mitchell GB, Rahimpour R, Tan CM, Ferguson SS, Kelvin DJ (1999) beta-arrestins regulate interleukin-8-induced CXCR1 internalization. J Biol Chem 274: 16287-16294. 58 REFERENCES 107. Fan GH, Yang W, Wang XJ, Qian Q, Richmond A (2001) Identification of a motif in the carboxyl terminus of CXCR2 that is involved in adaptin 2 binding and receptor internalization. Biochemistry 40: 791-800. 108. McDonald PH, Chow CW, Miller WE, Laporte SA, Field ME, Lin FT, Davis RJ, Lefkowitz RJ (2000) Beta-arrestin 2: a receptor-regulated MAPK scaffold for the activation of JNK3. Science 290: 1574-1577. 109. Cheung R, Malik M, Ravyn V, Tomkowicz B, Ptasznik A, Collman RG (2009) An arrestin-dependent multi-kinase signaling complex mediates MIP1beta/CCL4 signaling and chemotaxis of primary human macrophages. J Leukoc Biol 86: 833-845. 110. Ge L, Ly Y, Hollenberg M, DeFea K (2003) A beta-arrestin-dependent scaffold is associated with prolonged MAPK activation in pseudopodia during protease-activated receptor-2-induced chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 278: 34418-34426. 111. Zoudilova M, Kumar P, Ge L, Wang P, Bokoch GM, DeFea KA (2007) Betaarrestin-dependent regulation of the cofilin pathway downstream of protease-activated receptor-2. J Biol Chem 282: 20634-20646. 112. Hanyaloglu AC, von ZM (2008) Regulation of GPCRs by endocytic membrane trafficking and its potential implications. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 48: 537-568. 10.1146/annurev.pharmtox.48.113006.094830 [doi]. 113. Signoret N, Pelchen-Matthews A, Mack M, Proudfoot AE, Marsh M (2000) Endocytosis and recycling of the HIV coreceptor CCR5. J Cell Biol 151: 1281-1294. 114. Otero C, Groettrup M, Legler DF (2006) Opposite fate of endocytosed CCR7 and its ligands: recycling versus degradation. J Immunol 177: 2314-2323. 115. Fan GH, Lapierre LA, Goldenring JR, Richmond A (2003) Differential regulation of CXCR2 trafficking by Rab GTPases. Blood 101: 2115-2124. 116. Fan GH, Yang W, Sai J, Richmond A (2002) Hsc/Hsp70 interacting protein (hip) associates with CXCR2 and regulates the receptor signaling and trafficking. J Biol Chem 277: 6590-6597. 117. Downing JR, Shurtleff SA, Sherr CJ (1991) Peptide antisera to human colonystimulating factor 1 receptor detect ligand-induced conformational changes and a binding site for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Mol Cell Biol 11: 2489-2495. 118. Balabanian K, Lagane B, Pablos JL, Laurent L, Planchenault T, Verola O, Lebbe C, Kerob D, Dupuy A, Hermine O, Nicolas JF, Latger-Cannard V, Bensoussan D, Bordigoni P, Baleux F, Le DF, Virelizier JL, Arenzana59 REFERENCES Seisdedos F, Bachelerie F (2005) WHIM syndromes with different genetic anomalies are accounted for by impaired CXCR4 desensitization to CXCL12. Blood 105: 2449-2457. 119. Parent CA, Blacklock BJ, Froehlich WM, Murphy DB, Devreotes PN (1998) G protein signaling events are activated at the leading edge of chemotactic cells. Cell 95: 81-91. 120. Charest PG, Firtel RA (2006) Feedback signaling controls leading-edge formation during chemotaxis. Curr Opin Genet Dev 16: 339-347. 121. Vanhaesebroeck B, Leevers SJ, Ahmadi K, Timms J, Katso R, Driscoll PC, Woscholski R, Parker PJ, Waterfield MD (2001) Synthesis and function of 3-phosphorylated inositol lipids. Annu Rev Biochem 70: 535-602. 122. Deane JA, Fruman DA (2004) Phosphoinositide 3-kinase: diverse roles in immune cell activation. Annu Rev Immunol 22: 563-598. 123. Foster FM, Traer CJ, Abraham SM, Fry MJ (2003) The phosphoinositide (PI) 3kinase family. J Cell Sci 116: 3037-3040. 124. Rubio I, Rodriguez-Viciana P, Downward J, Wetzker R (1997) Interaction of Ras with phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma. Biochem J 326: 891-895. 125. Fruman DA, Cantley LC (2002) Phosphoinositide 3-kinase in immunological systems. Semin Immunol 14: 7-18. 126. Rodriguez-Viciana P, Warne PH, Dhand R, Vanhaesebroeck B, Gout I, Fry MJ, Waterfield MD, Downward J (1994) Phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase as a direct target of Ras. Nature 370: 527-532. 127. Kodaki T, Woscholski R, Hallberg B, Rodriguez-Viciana P, Downward J, Parker PJ (1994) The activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase by Ras. Curr Biol 4: 798-806. 128. Tolias KF, Cantley LC, Carpenter CL (1995) Rho family GTPases bind to phosphoinositide kinases. J Biol Chem 270: 17656-17659. 129. Zheng Y, Bagrodia S, Cerione RA (1994) Activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity by Cdc42Hs binding to p85. J Biol Chem 269: 18727-18730. 130. Chan TO, Rodeck U, Chan AM, Kimmelman AC, Rittenhouse SE, Panayotou G, Tsichlis PN (2002) Small GTPases and tyrosine kinases coregulate a molecular switch in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase regulatory subunit. Cancer Cell 1: 181-191. 131. Vanhaesebroeck B, Jones GE, Allen WE, Zicha D, Hooshmand-Rad R, Sawyer C, Wells C, Waterfield MD, Ridley AJ (1999) Distinct PI(3)Ks mediate 60 REFERENCES mitogenic signalling and cell migration in macrophages. Nat Cell Biol 1: 69-71. 132. Reif K, Okkenhaug K, Sasaki T, Penninger JM, Vanhaesebroeck B, Cyster JG (2004) Cutting edge: differential roles for phosphoinositide 3-kinases, p110gamma and p110delta, in lymphocyte chemotaxis and homing. J Immunol 173: 2236-2240. 133. Matheu MP, Deane JA, Parker I, Fruman DA, Cahalan MD (2007) Class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase modulates basal lymphocyte motility in the lymph node. J Immunol 179: 2261-2269. 134. Curnock AP, Sotsios Y, Wright KL, Ward SG (2003) Optimal Chemotactic Responses of Leukemic T Cells to Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 Requires the Activation of Both Class IA and IB Phosphoinositide 3Kinases. J Immunol 170: 4021-4030. 135. Vicente-Manzanares M, Rey M, Jones DR, Sancho D, Mellado M, RodriguezFrade JM, Del Pozo MA, Yanez-Mo M, de Ana AM, Martinez-A C, Merida I, Sanchez-Madrid F (1999) Involvement of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase in Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1alpha-Induced Lymphocyte Polarization and Chemotaxis. J Immunol 163: 4001-4012. 136. Sadhu C, Masinovsky B, Dick K, Sowell CG, Staunton DE (2003) Essential Role of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase delta in Neutrophil Directional Movement. J Immunol 170: 2647-2654. 137. Stephens LE, Eguinoa A, Erdjument-Bromage H, Lui M, Cooke F, Coadwell J, Smrcka A, Thelen M, Cadwallader K, Tempst P, Hawkins PT (1997) The Gβgamma-sensitivity of a PI3K is dependent upon a tightly-associated adaptor, p101. Cell 89: 105-114. 138. Suire S, Coadwell J, Ferguson GJ, Davidson K, Hawkins P, Stephens L (2005) p84, a new Gbetagamma-activated regulatory subunit of the type IB phosphoinositide 3-kinase p110gamma. Curr Biol 15: 566-570. 139. Maffucci T, Cooke FT, Foster FM, Traer CJ, Fry MJ, Falasca M (2005) Class II phosphoinositide 3-kinase defines a novel signaling pathway in cell migration. J Cell Biol 169: 789-799. 140. Domin J, Harper L, Aubyn D, Wheeler M, Florey O, Haskard D, Yuan M, Zicha D (2005) The class II phosphoinositide 3-kinase PI3K-C2beta regulates cell migration by a PtdIns3P dependent mechanism. J Cell Physiol 205: 452-462. 141. Turner L, Ward SG, Westwick J (1995) RANTES-activated human T lymphocytes: A role for phosphoinositide 3-kinase. J Immunol 155: 24372444. 61 REFERENCES 142. Sullivan SK, McGrath DA, Liao F, Boehme SA, Farber JM, Bacon KB (1999) MIP-3alpha induces human eosinophil migration and activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (p42/p44 MAPK). J Leukoc Biol 66: 674-682. 143. Sotsios Y, Whittaker GC, Westwick J, Ward SG (1999) The CXC chemokine stromal cell-derived factor activates a Gi-coupled phosphoinositide 3kinase in T lymphocytes. J Immunol 163: 5954-5963. 144. Turner SJ, Domin J, Waterfield MD, Ward SG, Westwick J (1998) The CC chemokine monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 activates both the class I p85/p110 phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and the class II PI3K- C2alpha. J Biol Chem 273: 25987-25995. 145. Knall C, Worthen GS, Johnson GL (1997) Interleukin 8-stimulated phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase activity regulates the migration of human neutrophils independent of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38 mitogen- activated protein kinases. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 30523057. 146. Servant G, Weiner OD, Herzmark P, Balla T, Sedat JW, Bourne HR (2000) Polarization of chemoattractant receptor signaling during neutrophil chemotaxis. Science 287: 1037-1040. 147. Derman MP, Toker A, Hartwig JH, Spokes K, Falck JR, Chen CS, Cantley LC, Cantley LG (1997) The lipid products of phosphoinositide 3-kinase increase cell motility through protein kinase C. J Biol Chem 272: 64656470. 148. Niggli V (2000) A membrane-permeant ester of phosphatidylinositol 3,4, 5trisphosphate (PIP(3)) is an activator of human neutrophil migration. FEBS Lett 473: 217-221. 149. Peyrollier K, Hajduch E, Gray A, Litherland GJ, Prescott AR, Leslie NR, Hundal HS (2000) A role for the actin cytoskeleton in the hormonal and growthfactor-mediated activation of protein kinase B. Biochem J 352 Pt 3: 617622. 150. Barber MA, Welch HC (2006) PI3K and RAC signalling in leukocyte and cancer cell migration. Bull Cancer 93: E44-E52. 151. Aoki K, Nakamura T, Inoue T, Meyer T, Matsuda M (2007) An essential role for the SHIP2-dependent negative feedback loop in neuritogenesis of nerve growth factor-stimulated PC12 cells. J Cell Biol 177: 817-827. 152. Inoue T, Meyer T (2008) Synthetic activation of endogenous PI3K and Rac identifies an AND-gate switch for cell polarization and migration. PLoS ONE 3: e3068. 10.1371/journal.pone.0003068 [doi]. 62 REFERENCES 153. Feuerstein N, Liisa Lindsberg M, Tung L, Francis ML, Mond JJ (1991) Identification of a prominent 85-kDa cAMP-dependent phosphoprotein associated with late G1 phase in mitogen-stimulated B lymphocytes. J Biol Chem 266: 4746-4751. 154. Tamura M, Gu J, Matsumoto K, Aota S, Parsons R, Yamada KM (1998) Inhibition of cell migration, spreading, and focal adhesions by tumor suppressor PTEN. Science 280: 1614-1617. 155. Damen JE, Liu L, Rosten P, Humphries RK, Jefferson AB, Majerus PW, Krystal G (1996) The 145-kDa protein induced to associate with Shc by multiple cytokines is an inositol tetraphosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5trisphosphate 5-phosphatase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93: 1689-1693. 156. Li Z, Dong X, Wang Z, Liu W, Deng N, Ding Y, Tang L, Hla T, Zeng R, Li L, Wu D (2005) Regulation of PTEN by Rho small GTPases. Nat Cell Biol 7: 399-404. 157. Sanchez T, Thangada S, Wu MT, Kontos CD, Wu D, Wu H, Hla T (2005) PTEN as an effector in the signaling of antimigratory G protein-coupled receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102: 4312-4317. 158. Funamoto S, Meili R, Lee S, Parry L, Firtel RA (2002) Spatial and temporal regulation of 3-phosphoinositides by PI 3-kinase and PTEN mediates chemotaxis. Cell 109: 611-623. 159. Iijima M, Devreotes P (2002) Tumor suppressor PTEN mediates sensing of chemoattractant gradients. Cell 109: 599-610. 160. Wu Y, Hannigan MO, Kotlyarov A, Gaestel M, Wu D, Huang CK (2004) A requirement of MAPKAPK2 in the uropod localization of PTEN during FMLP-induced neutrophil chemotaxis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 316: 666-672. 161. Heit B, Robbins SM, Downey CM, Guan Z, Colarusso P, Miller BJ, Jirik FR, Kubes P (2008) PTEN functions to 'prioritize' chemotactic cues and prevent 'distraction' in migrating neutrophils. Nat Immunol 9: 743-752. 162. Subramanian KK, Jia Y, Zhu D, Simms BT, Jo H, Hattori H, You J, Mizgerd JP, Luo HR (2007) Tumor suppressor PTEN is a physiologic suppressor of chemoattractant-mediated neutrophil functions. Blood 109: 4028-4037. 163. Nishio M, Watanabe K, Sasaki J, Taya C, Takasuga S, Iizuka R, Balla T, Yamazaki M, Watanabe H, Itoh R, Kuroda S, Horie Y, Forster I, Mak TW, Yonekawa H, Penninger JM, Kanaho Y, Suzuki A, Sasaki T (2007) Control of cell polarity and motility by the PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) phosphatase SHIP1. Nat Cell Biol 9: 36-44. 63 REFERENCES 164. Wain CM, Westwick J, Ward SG (2005) Heterologous regulation of chemokine receptor signaling by the lipid phosphatase SHIP in lymphocytes. Cell Signal 17: 1194-1202. 165. Franca-Koh J, Kamimura Y, Devreotes PN (2007) Leading-edge research: PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and directed migration. Nat Cell Biol 9: 15-17. 166. Haugh JM, Codazzi F, Teruel M, Meyer T (2000) Spatial sensing in fibroblasts mediated by 3' phosphoinositides. J Cell Biol 151: 1269-1280. 167. Heit B, Liu L, Colarusso P, Puri KD, Kubes P (2008) PI3K accelerates, but is not required for, neutrophil chemotaxis to fMLP. J Cell Sci 121: 205-214. 168. Loovers HM, Postma M, Keizer-Gunnink I, Huang YE, Devreotes PN, Van Haastert PJ (2006) Distinct roles of PI(3,4,5)P3 during chemoattractant signaling in Dictyostelium: a quantitative in vivo analysis by inhibition of PI3-kinase. Mol Biol Cell 17: 1503-1513. 169. Takeda K, Sasaki AT, Ha H, Seung HA, Firtel RA (2007) Role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases in chemotaxis in Dictyostelium. J Biol Chem 282: 11874-11884. 170. Ferguson GJ, Milne L, Kulkarni S, Sasaki T, Walker S, Andrews S, Crabbe T, Finan P, Jones G, Jackson S, Camps M, Rommel C, Wymann M, Hirsch E, Hawkins P, Stephens L (2007) PI(3)Kgamma has an important contextdependent role in neutrophil chemokinesis. Nat Cell Biol 9: 86-91. 171. Chen L, Iijima M, Tang M, Landree MA, Huang YE, Xiong Y, Iglesias PA, Devreotes PN (2007) PLA2 and PI3K/PTEN pathways act in parallel to mediate chemotaxis. Dev Cell 12: 603-614. 172. Stephens L, Milne L, Hawkins P (2008) Moving towards a better understanding of chemotaxis. Curr Biol 18: R485-R494. 173. Van Haastert PJ, Keizer-Gunnink I, Kortholt A (2007) Essential role of PI3kinase and phospholipase A2 in Dictyostelium discoideum chemotaxis. J Cell Biol 177: 809-816. 174. Dormann D, Weijer CJ (2006) Imaging of cell migration. EMBO J 25: 34803493. 175. Janetopoulos C, Firtel RA (2008) Directional sensing during chemotaxis. FEBS Lett 582: 2075-2085. 176. Chen S, Lin F, Shin ME, Wang F, Shen L, Hamm HE (2008) RACK1 Regulates Directional Cell Migration by Acting on G{beta}{gamma} at the Interface with its Effectors PLC{beta} and PI3K{gamma}. Mol Biol Cell 19: 39093922. 64 REFERENCES 177. Chen Y, Corriden R, Inoue Y, Yip L, Hashiguchi N, Zinkernagel A, Nizet V, Insel PA, Junger WG (2006) ATP release guides neutrophil chemotaxis via P2Y2 and A3 receptors. Science 314: 1792-1795. 178. Neel NF, Barzik M, Raman D, Sobolik-Delmaire T, Sai J, Ham AJ, Mernaugh RL, Gertler FB, Richmond A (2009) VASP is a CXCR2-interacting protein that regulates CXCR2-mediated polarization and chemotaxis. J Cell Sci 122: 1882-1894. jcs.039057 [pii];10.1242/jcs.039057 [doi]. 179. Xu J, Wang F, Van KA, Rentel M, Bourne HR (2005) Neutrophil microtubules suppress polarity and enhance directional migration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102: 6884-6889. 0502106102 [pii];10.1073/pnas.0502106102 [doi]. 180. Hein P, Frank M, Hoffmann C, Lohse MJ, Bunemann M (2005) Dynamics of receptor/G protein coupling in living cells. EMBO J 24: 4106-4114. 181. Vilardaga JP, Bunemann M, Krasel C, Castro M, Lohse MJ (2003) Measurement of the millisecond activation switch of G protein-coupled receptors in living cells. Nat Biotechnol 21: 807-812. 182. Ogilvie P, Thelen S, Moepps B, Gierschik P, Da Silva Campos AC, Baggiolini M, Thelen M (2004) Unusual chemokine receptor antagonism involving a mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. J Immunol 172: 6715-6722. 183. Shaner NC, Campbell RE, Steinbach PA, Giepmans BN, Palmer AE, Tsien RY (2004) Improved monomeric red, orange and yellow fluorescent proteins derived from Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein. Nat Biotechnol 22: 1567-1572. 184. Neagu MR, Ziegler P, Pertel T, Strambio-De-Castillia C, Grutter C, Martinetti G, Mazzucchelli L, Grutter M, Manz MG, Luban J (2009) Potent inhibition of HIV-1 by TRIM5-cyclophilin fusion proteins engineered from human components. J Clin Invest . 39354 [pii];10.1172/JCI39354 [doi]. 185. Ory DS, Neugeboren BA, Mulligan RC (1996) A stable human-derived packaging cell line for production of high titer retrovirus/vesicular stomatitis virus G pseudotypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 93: 11400-11406. 186. Lois C, Hong EJ, Pease S, Brown EJ, Baltimore D (2002) Germline transmission and tissue-specific expression of transgenes delivered by lentiviral vectors. Science 295: 868-872. 10.1126/science.1067081 [doi];1067081 [pii]. 187. von Tscharner V, Prod'hom B, Baggiolini M, Reuter H (1986) Ion channels in human neutrophils activated by a rise in free cytosolic calcium concentration. Nature 324: 369-372. 65 REFERENCES 188. Gordon GW, Berry G, Liang XH, Levine B, Herman B (1998) Quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements using fluorescence microscopy. Biophys J 74: 2702-2713. 189. Knaus AE, Muthig V, Schickinger S, Moura E, Beetz N, Gilsbach R, Hein L (2007) Alpha2-adrenoceptor subtypes--unexpected functions for receptors and ligands derived from gene-targeted mouse models. Neurochem Int 51: 277-281. S0197-0186(07)00163-5 [pii];10.1016/j.neuint.2007.06.036 [doi]. 190. Rommelspacher H, Strauss S, Fahndrich E, Haug HJ (1987) [3H] UK-14,304, a new agonist ligand of alpha 2-adrenoceptors: a comparative study with human and rat tissue. J Neural Transm 69: 85-96. 191. Zhang YJ, Rutledge BJ, Rollins BJ (1994) Structure/activity analysis of human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) by mutagenesis. Identification of a mutated protein that inhibits MCP-1-mediated monocyte chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 269: 15918-15924. 192. Yoshimura T, Leonard EJ (1990) Identification of high affinity receptors for human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 on human monocytes. J Immunol 145: 292-297. 193. Vilardaga JP, Steinmeyer R, Harms GS, Lohse MJ (2005) Molecular basis of inverse agonism in a G protein-coupled receptor. Nat Chem Biol 1: 25-28. 194. Neel NF, Schutyser E, Sai J, Fan GH, Richmond A (2005) Chemokine receptor internalization and intracellular trafficking. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 16: 637-658. 195. Richardson RM, Pridgen BC, Haribabu B, Ali H, Snyderman R (1998) Differential cross-regulation of the human chemokine receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2. Evidence for time-dependent signal generation. J Biol Chem 273: 23830-23836. 196. Pierce KL, Maudsley S, Daaka Y, Luttrell LM, Lefkowitz RJ (2000) Role of endocytosis in the activation of the extracellular signal- regulated kinase cascade by sequestering and nonsequestering G protein- coupled receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97: 1489-1494. 197. Daunt DA, Hurt C, Hein L, Kallio J, Feng F, Kobilka BK (1997) Subtype-specific intracellular trafficking of alpha2-adrenergic receptors. Mol Pharmacol 51: 711-720. 198. DeGraff JL, Gagnon AW, Benovic JL, Orsini MJ (1999) Role of arrestins in endocytosis and signaling of alpha2-adrenergic receptor subtypes. J Biol Chem 274: 11253-11259. 66 REFERENCES 199. Schramm NL, Limbird LE (1999) Stimulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase by G protein-coupled alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors does not require agonist-elicited endocytosis. J Biol Chem 274: 24935-24940. 200. Sánchez-Madrid F, Del Pozo MA (1999) Leukocyte polarization in cell migration and immune interactions. EMBO J 18: 501-511. 201. Contento RL, Molon B, Boularan C, Pozzan T, Manes S, Marullo S, Viola A (2008) CXCR4-CCR5: a couple modulating T cell functions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105: 10101-10106. 0804286105 [pii];10.1073/pnas.0804286105 [doi]. 202. Molon B, Gri G, Bettella M, Gomez-Mouton C, Lanzavecchia A, Martinez A, Manes S, Viola A (2005) T cell costimulation by chemokine receptors. Nat Immunol 6: 465-471. 203. Gomez-Mouton C, Abad JL, Mira E, Lacalle RA, Gallardo E, Jimenez-Baranda S, Illa I, Bernad A, Manes S, Martinez A (2001) Segregation of leading-edge and uropod components into specific lipid rafts during T cell polarization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98: 9642-9647. 204. Parent CA, Devreotes PN (1999) A cell's sense of direction. Science 284: 765770. 205. Herzmark P, Campbell K, Wang F, Wong K, El-Samad H, Groisman A, Bourne HR (2007) Bound attractant at the leading vs. the trailing edge determines chemotactic prowess. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104: 13349-13354. 206. Iijima M, Huang YE, Devreotes P (2002) Temporal and spatial regulation of chemotaxis. Dev Cell 3: 469-478. 207. Devreotes P, Janetopoulos C (2003) Eukaryotic chemotaxis: distinctions between directional sensing and polarization. J Biol Chem 278: 20445-20448. 208. Lohse MJ, Bunemann M, Hoffmann C, Vilardaga JP, Nikolaev VO (2007) Monitoring receptor signaling by intramolecular FRET. Curr Opin Pharmacol 7: 547-553. S1471-4892(07)00140-3 [pii];10.1016/j.coph.2007.08.007 [doi]. 209. Dalous J, Burghardt E, Muller-Taubenberger A, Bruckert F, Gerisch G, Bretschneider T (2008) Reversal of cell polarity and actin-myosin cytoskeleton reorganization under mechanical and chemical stimulation. Biophys J 94: 1063-1074. 210. Gerisch G, Albrecht R, Heizer C, Hodgkinson S, Maniak M (1995) Chemoattractant-controlled accumulation of coronin at the leading edge of Dictyostelium cells monitored using a green fluorescent protein-coronin fusion protein. Curr Biol 5: 1280-1285. 67 REFERENCES 211. Lefkowitz RJ, Rajagopal K, Whalen EJ (2006) New roles for beta-arrestins in cell signaling: not just for seven-transmembrane receptors. Mol Cell 24: 643652. S1097-2765(06)00772-6 [pii];10.1016/j.molcel.2006.11.007 [doi]. 212. Le Roy C., Wrana JL (2005) Clathrin- and non-clathrin-mediated endocytic regulation of cell signalling. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 6: 112-126. nrm1571 [pii];10.1038/nrm1571 [doi]. 213. Sohy D, Parmentier M, Springael JY (2007) Allosteric trans-inhibition by specific antagonists in CCR2/CXCR4 heterodimers. J Biol Chem 282: 3006230069. 214. Amatruda TT, Gautam N, Fong HK, Northup JK, Simon MI (1988) The 35- and 36-kDa beta subunits of GTP-binding regulatory proteins are products of separate genes. J Biol Chem 263: 5008-5011. 215. Muta T, Kurosaki T, Misulovin Z, Sanchez M, Nussenzweig MC, Ravetch JV (1994) A 13-amino-acid motif in the cytoplasmic domain of FcgammaRIIB modulates B-cell receptor signalling. Nature 368: 70-73. 216. Hafsi N, Voland P, Schwendy S, Rad R, Reindl W, Gerhard M, Prinz C (2004) Human dendritic cells respond to Helicobacter pylori, promoting NK cell and Th1-effector responses in vitro. J Immunol 173: 1249-1257. 217. Shaner NC, Steinbach PA, Tsien RY (2005) A guide to choosing fluorescent proteins. Nat Methods 2: 905-909. 218. Varona R, Zaballos A, Gutiérrez J, Martín P, Roncal F, Albar JP, Ardavín C, Márquez G (1998) Molecular cloning, functional characterization and mRNA expression analysis of the murine chemokine receptor CCR6 and its specific ligand MIP-3α. FEBS Lett 440: 188-194. 219. Liao F, Rabin RL, Smith CS, Sharma G, Nutman TB, Farber JM (1999) CCchemokine receptor 6 is expressed on diverse memory subsets of T cells and determines responsiveness to macrophage inflammatory protein 3α. J Immunol 162: 186-194. 220. Fra AM, Locati M, Otero K, Sironi M, Signorelli P, Massardi ML, Gobbi M, Vecchi A, Sozzani S, Mantovani A (2003) Cutting edge: scavenging of inflammatory CC chemokines by the promiscuous putatively silent chemokine receptor D6. J Immunol 170: 2279-2282. 221. Comerford I, Milasta S, Morrow V, Milligan G, Nibbs R (2006) The chemokine receptor CCX-CKR mediates effective scavenging of CCL19 in vitro. Eur J Immunol 36: 1904-1916. 222. Weber M, Blair E, Simpson CV, O'Hara M, Blackburn PE, Rot A, Graham GJ, Nibbs RJ (2004) The chemokine receptor D6 constitutively traffics to and 68 REFERENCES from the cell surface to internalize and degrade chemokines. Mol Biol Cell 15: 2492-2508. 223. McKimmie CS, Fraser AR, Hansell C, Gutierrez L, Philipsen S, Connell L, Rot A, Kurowska-Stolarska M, Carreno P, Pruenster M, Chu CC, Lombardi G, Halsey C, McInnes IB, Liew FY, Nibbs RJ, Graham GJ (2008) Hemopoietic cell expression of the chemokine decoy receptor D6 is dynamic and regulated by GATA1. J Immunol 181: 8171-8181. 224. Galliera E, Jala VR, Trent JO, Bonecchi R, Signorelli P, Lefkowitz RJ, Mantovani A, Locati M, Haribabu B (2004) beta-Arrestin-dependent constitutive internalization of the human chemokine decoy receptor D6. J Biol Chem 279: 25590-25597. 225. Thelen M, Wymann MP, Langen H (1994) Wortmannin binds specifically to 1phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase while inhibiting guanine nucleotide-binding protein- coupled receptor signaling in neutrophil leukocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91: 4960-4964. 226. Arcaro A, Wymann MP (1993) Wortmannin is a potent phosphatidylinositol 3kinase inhibitor. The role of phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)P3 in neutrophil responses. Biochem J 296: 297-301. 227. Higaki M, Sakaue H, Ogawa W, Kasuga M, Shimokado K (1996) Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-independent signal transduction pathway for platelet-derived growth factor-induced chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 271: 29342-29346. 228. Mitchell FM, Mullaney I, Godfrey PP, Arkinstall SJ, Wakelam MJO, Milligan G (1991) Widespread distribution of Gqα/G11α detected immunologically by an antipeptide antiserum directed against the predicted C-terminal decapeptide. FEBS Lett 287: 171-174. 229. Ward SG (2004) Do phosphoinositide 3-kinases direct lymphocyte navigation? Trends Immunol 25: 67-74. 230. Wymann MP, Sozzani S, Altruda F, Mantovani A, Hirsch E (2000) Lipids on the move: phosphoinositide 3-kinases in leukocyte function. Immunol Today 21: 260-264. 69 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBBLICATIONS • Contact Silvia Volpe IRB (Institute For Research in Biomedicine) Via Vincenzo Vela 6, 6500, Bellinzona Switzerland Phone: +41 91 820 0337 Mobile: +41 77 431 5568 (CH); +39 349 763 5365 (IT) E-mail: silvia.volpe@irb.unisi.ch • Education March 2006 to April 2010 PhD supervised by Prof. Marcus Thelen at the Institute for research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzeland (Phd fellowship within the Europian commission “Marie Curie Programme” for early stage researchers training) Second Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Anne-Catherine Andres, Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland; Prof. Dr. Ruggero Pardi at the Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Section of Basic and Applied Immunology of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy October 2005 MSc in Biology at the University of L’ Aquila (Italy) 1999-2005 Biology studies at the University of L’Aquila (Italy) 1986-1999 Primary and Secondary education, graduation from the Liceo Classico “D.Cotugno”, L’Aquila, Italy 70 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBBLICATIONS • Appointments and Experience Institute for Research in Biomedicine since 2006 PhD student project entitled “GPCR activation during cell migration determined by FRET” in the Signal Transduction Lab headed by Prof. Marcus Thelen University of L’Aquila 2004-2006 Graduate assinstant in the Biochemestry lab University of L’Aquila, Italy headed by Prof. Giuseppina Pitari. The lab also hosted the master thesis project entitled “The Effect of Cysteamine on Activity of Detoxifying and Antioxidative Enzymes in Vanin-1 NullMice” • Experimental Skills Biochemical techniques: protein biochemistry, electrophoretichal analysis, chromatography, spectroscopical UV-Vis and spettrofluorimetric techniques Molecular Biology. Cell biology methods: cell culture, primary human blood cells and FACS. Imaging: confocal microscopy (FRET, FRAP analysis, Metamorph and IMARIS softwares for image processing) • Training and courses November 2006 Imaging Platform Course on “Dynamic Imaging of DCs and Associated Molecules”, sponsored by Dendritic Cells and New Immunotherapies (DC THERA), Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy November 2007 International Workshop “Inflammation and Cancer”, Humanitas, Rozzano, Milan, Italy September 2008 “Innovative chemochine-based therapeutic-strategies for autoimmunity and chronic inflammation (INNOCHEM) Practical Course on “Pharmacology of 7-transmembrane 71 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBBLICATIONS domain receptors”, sponsored by the Europian commission sixth framework programme, Copenhagen, Denmark August 2009 EMBO meeting, Amsterdam, Holland • Conferences and presentations November 2006 The second “MAINNOE Targeting cell Migration in Chronic inflammation” Annual Conference”, Castelnuovo del Garda Verona (Italy) Poster “Potential mechanisms of G-protein coupled-receptor mediated cell migration” INNOCHEM Annual meeting in Bellinzona, Switzerland. Poster “Potential mechanisms of G-protein coupled-receptor mediated cell migration” May 2007 MAINNOE meeting, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Oral presentation “Characterization of a potential tool to study the activity of GPCRs during cell migration” September 2007 INNOCHEM meeting in San Lorenzo De El Escorial, Spain Poster “GPCR activity during cell migration determined by FRET” May 2008 MAINNOE meeting, Certosa di Pontignano, Siena, Italy. Oral presentation “GPCR activity during cell migration determined by FRET” January 2009 USGEB meeting in Iterlaken, Switzerland Poster “GPCR activity during cell migration determined by FRET” February 2010 USGEB meeting in Lugano, Switzerland 72 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBBLICATIONS Poster “Study of GPCR activation in polarized cells: while receptors remain evenly distributed cellular responses are localized in migrating cells” • Publications Silvia Volpe, Sylvia Thelen, Thomas Pertel, Martin J. Lohse and Marcus Thelen “Polarization of migrating monocytic cells is independent of PI 3-kinase activity” PLoS One. 2010 Apr 15;5(4):e10159 73 DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY Declaration of Originality Last name, first name: Volpe, Silvia Matriculation number: 06-128-995 I hereby declare that this thesis represents my original work and that I have used no other sources except as noted by citations. All data, tables, figures and text citations which have been reproduced from any other source, including the internet, have been explicitly acknowledged as such. I am aware that in case of non-compliance, the Senate is entitled to divest me of the doctorate degree awarded to me on the basis of the present thesis, in accordance with the “Statut der Universität Bern (Universitätsstatut; UniSt)”, Art. 20, of 17 December 1997. Place, date Signature …………………………………………… …………………………………………… 74