Understanding how a cell moves in response to environmental signals is a fundamental challenge in biology. Mena, VASP and EVL, highly related proteins that comprise the Ena/VASP family, play pivotal roles in movement and shape change1 for a variety of cells, including fibroblasts, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and neurons;Ena/VASP directly regulates actin filament network assembly, modulate morphology and behavior of membrane protrusions, and influences cell motility. One major goal for the current proposal is to study how Ena/VASP function contributes to chemotactic responses in carcinoma cells. Chemotactic cues trigger second messenger pathways that activate kinases, and phosphorylate Ena/VASP proteins. Specific Mena isoforms play key roles in tumor cell invasion and motility in response to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) signaling. Thus, we propose that Ena/VASP proteins integrate signals from second messenger pathways to execute required motile responses, and are thus not only well positioned to control chemotactic motility, but are in fact generally involved in systems that require guided motility. The study of Mena tumor invasion-specific isoforms is particularly relevant to understanding how tumor cells acquire the ability to move and respond to a chemotactic cue. A second major goal for the current proposal is to examine the requirements for Ena/VASP function in epidermal morphogenesis and wound repair using newly generated conditional knockout mice. Several lines of evidence indicate that Ena/VASP function is required for epithelial morphogenesis and epithelial sheet fusion. Throughout development, there are many morphogenetic episodes involving fusion of two epithelial sheets or shelves of tissue. The most fully explored of these events are fusion and zippering closed of the neural tube, of the two secondary palates, and of the eyelids as the eyes close part way through gestation;embryos deficient in Ena/VASP exhibit all of these defects. While the forces driving these tissues together have been partially described, very little is known about the genetics or cell biology of the final fusion events for any of these processes;if this final knitting together event fails, the consequences can be devastating, resulting in congenital abnormalities as severe as cleft palate or spina bifda. Epithelial sheet migration and fusion is also required during wound repair, another process we will examine in this proposal. Together, these studies will provide valuable insight into the mechanisms controlling cell motility in both normal development and disease.

Public Health Relevance

Drugs that block the EGFR pathway are widely used to treat a variety of cancers; thus, by understanding how invasion-specific Mena isoforms sensitizes carcinoma cells to EGF and amplifies their response, valuable insight into how certain cancers become resistant to therapies that attenuate EGFR signaling will be gained. Epithelial sheet movements during process such as eyelid closure and wound healing are dependent of EGF and EGF-related factors, thus studies of Ena/VASP in epithelial migration and sheet fusion should prove valuable in developing new ways to enhance treatment of wounds.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM058801-13
Application #
8197624
Study Section
Cell Structure and Function (CSF)
Program Officer
Gindhart, Joseph G
Project Start
1999-02-01
Project End
2013-02-28
Budget Start
2011-12-01
Budget End
2013-02-28
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$363,310
Indirect Cost
$142,787
Name
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
001425594
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02139
Vidaki, Marina; Drees, Frauke; Saxena, Tanvi et al. (2017) A Requirement for Mena, an Actin Regulator, in Local mRNA Translation in Developing Neurons. Neuron 95:608-622.e5
Oudin, Madeleine J; Hughes, Shannon K; Rohani, Nazanin et al. (2016) Characterization of the expression of the pro-metastatic Mena(INV) isoform during breast tumor progression. Clin Exp Metastasis 33:249-61
Balsamo, Michele; Mondal, Chandrani; Carmona, Guillaume et al. (2016) The alternatively-included 11a sequence modifies the effects of Mena on actin cytoskeletal organization and cell behavior. Sci Rep 6:35298
Hughes, Shannon K; Oudin, Madeleine J; Tadros, Jenny et al. (2015) PTP1B-dependent regulation of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling by the actin-binding protein Mena. Mol Biol Cell 26:3867-78
Lee, Soo Young; Gertler, Frank B; Goldberg, Marcia B (2015) Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein restricts cell-to-cell spread of Shigella flexneri at the cell periphery. Microbiology 161:2149-60
Su, Wenjuan; Wynne, Joseph; Pinheiro, Elaine M et al. (2015) Rap1 and its effector RIAM are required for lymphocyte trafficking. Blood 126:2695-703
Zervantonakis, Ioannis K; Hughes-Alford, Shannon K; Charest, Joseph L et al. (2012) Three-dimensional microfluidic model for tumor cell intravasation and endothelial barrier function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:13515-20
Oktay, Maja H; Gertler, Frank B; Liu, Yi-Fang et al. (2012) Correlated immunohistochemical and cytological assays for the prediction of hematogenous dissemination of breast cancer. J Histochem Cytochem 60:168-73
Gupton, Stephanie L; Riquelme, Daisy; Hughes-Alford, Shannon K et al. (2012) Mena binds ýý5 integrin directly and modulates ýý5ýý1 function. J Cell Biol 198:657-76
Mouneimne, Ghassan; Hansen, Scott D; Selfors, Laura M et al. (2012) Differential remodeling of actin cytoskeleton architecture by profilin isoforms leads to distinct effects on cell migration and invasion. Cancer Cell 22:615-30

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