Background
Zizimin2, also called Dock11 (dedicator of cytokinesis 11), has been reported as one of the human Dock180 super-family proteins [
1]. We recently identified Zizimin2 as a 238-kDa protein that is highly expressed in germinal center B lymphocytes after T-cell-dependent antigen immunization [
2]. The expression of this gene is regulated in lymphocytes and organs, such as spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes [
2,
3]. It has been shown that Zizimin2 binds and activates nucleotide-free Cdc42 via its CZH2 [CDM(ced5/DOCK180/myoblast city)-Zizimin homology 2] domain [
4] and mediates positive feedback on the active form, GTP-bound Cdc42 [
5]. Cdc42, one of the well-known Rho family members, regulates signaling pathways that control diverse cellular functions including morphology, migration, endocytosis, and cell cycle progression [
6‐
8]. These reports suggest that Zizimin2 has a role in regulating the pathway downstream of Cdc42, leading to cellular functions.
Cdc42 affects the formation of highly dynamic finger-like actin-rich protrusions known as filopodia. Filopodia contain parallel bundles of filamentous F-actin, and are thought to be important for sensing the environment, for example, guidance toward chemoattractants [
9,
10]. Cdc42 induces filopodia and lamellipodia in activated B cells [
11]. Microinjection of constitutively active Cdc42 stimulates filopodial extension in immature dendritic cells [
12]. Another isoform of Zizimin subfamily, Zizimin1 (Dock9) is also known to be capable to interact with Cdc42 through the CZH2 domain, and this interaction induces the formation of filopodia in NIH-3T3 cells expressing exogenous murine Zizimin1, although their tissue distribution is remarkably different [
2,
13]. DOCK2-deficient plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) failed to migrate into the periarteriolar lymphoid sheaths of the spleen [
14]. In DOCK-deficient pDCs, chemokine-induced Rac activation was severely impaired, resulting in the reduction of motility and the loss of polarity during chemotaxis [
14].
Although upstream effectors for Cdc42, which activates the pathway to filopodial formation, especially receptors located in plasma membrane, have not been identified yet, Fc receptor and Toll-like receptor (TLR) are candidates for the receptors because they are involved in many immune responses. Fc receptor is a protein found on the surface of certain cells, including natural killer cells, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, and mast cells, and contributes to the protective functions of not only the innate but also acquired immune system. There are several different types of Fc receptor, which are classified on the basis of the type of antibody that they recognize. For example, Fcγ receptors (FcγR) recognize IgG. They interact with an IgG-coated antigen so they are involved in acquired immunity [
15]. TLR belongs to the family of pattern recognition receptors that are used to recognize microbial products from several classes of microbes, as well as endogenous ligands. TLR4 is a receptor for gram-negative lipopolysaccharide (LPS), respiratory syncytial virus protein F, and other endogenous ligands, such as surfactant protein A and fibronectin fragment [
16].
These findings led us to clarify Zizimin2 function regarding the signaling pathway leading to cell migration. In this study, we show that Zizimin2 facilitates filopodial formation via activation of Cdc42 as a downstream effector of Fcγ receptor or TLR4 in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDC) and that Zizimin2 CZH2 domain has dominant negative effects on cell migration.
Conclusions
These data suggest that Zizimin2 is a novel immune-system-related and age-regulated guanine nucleotide exchange factor, which accelerates filopodial formation through activation of Cdc42 in response to extracellular stimulation, which leads to activation of lymphocyte migration.
Methods
Cell culture and transfection
293T cells were grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM, Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Osaka, Japan) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, EQUITECH-BIO, Ingram, TX). For transfection, 293T cells in 6-well tissue-culture plates at approximately 70% confluence were transfected with a total of 1 μg of plasmid vector DNA using the Fugene 6 transfection reagent (Roche, Mannheim, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
DNA constructs
Constructs described below were used for over-expression of full-length Zizimin2 or its CZH2 domain. DNA coding full-length Zizimin2 or its CZH2 domain was cloned into pCNX2-HA using NotI site for full-length or EcoRI and XhoI for its CZH2 domain, which are referred to as HA-Zizimin2 expression vector, pCNX2-HA-Zizimin2, and HA-CZH2 domain expression vector, pCNX2-HA-CZH2.
Immunoblotting analysis
Tissues or cells were lysed by the addition of RIPA buffer (25 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.6, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1% NP-40, 1% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS) with protease inhibitors (Roche, Mannheim, Germany) and homogenized on ice with a homogenizer. Insoluble materials were pelleted by centrifugation at 15,000 g for 20 min at 4°C, and protein in the supernatant was quantified by bicinchoninic acid protein assay (Pierce, Rockford, IL). Protein dissolved in SDS sample loading buffer (62.5 mM Tris-HCl (pH6.8), 5% 2-mercaptoethanol, 2% SDS, 5% sucrose, 0.002% bromophenol blue) was boiled for 5 min, subjected to SDS-PAGE using 5-20% or 8% polyacrylamide gel, and transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride membrane. Membrane was blocked in PBS containing 0.1% Tween-20 (PBST) and 1% non-fat milk for Zizimin1 and Zizimin2 or 5% non-fat milk for α-tubulin overnight at 4°C. Then, the membrane was probed for 2 h with Zizimin2 antibody (1:100) (214I9, [
3]), Zizimin1 antibody (1:1000) (NB500-265, Novus Biologicals, Littleton, CO), and anti-α-tubulin antibody (1:2000) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) in PBST containing 1% non-fat milk, washed three times with PBST, and incubated with peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (1:2000) (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA) for 2 h at room temperature (RT). After several washes with PBST, reaction was visualized with Immobilon Western (MILLPORE, Billerica, MA) for detection of Zizimin2, Zizimin1, and Cdc42 or ECL (ECL plus Western blotting Detection System, GE Healthcare, Piscataway, NJ) for α-tubulin.
Quantitative real-time RT-PCR
Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was carried out as described previously [
29]. The following gene-specific primers were used: mouse Zizimin2, 5'-TTG CCT TTT ATG GCC AGT CT-3' (sense) and 5'-GAG CGA ATT TTG GAT CAA GC-3' (antisense), mouse GAPDH, 5'-AAT GGT GAA GGT CGG TGT G-3' (sense) and 5'-GAA GAT GGT GAT GGG CTT CC-3' (antisense).
Cdc42 activation assay
For Cdc42 activation assay, we used the Cdc42 activation kit (Cytoskeleton, Denver, CO) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Immunofluorescence microscopy
293T cells and BMDC cultured on poly-lysine-coated coverslips were washed three times in PBS, fixed for 15 min in 4% paraformaldehyde at 37°C, washed in PBS, and permeabilized with 0.1% TritonX-100 in PBS for 5 min at RT. The coverslips were washed three times in PBS, blocked for 1 h with 0.2% bovine serum albumin in PBS, washed three times in PBS, and incubated for 1 h with 214I9 hybridoma culture supernatant (1:1) or 214I9 (1:100) [
3] for Zizimin2 staining, Alexa488-conjugated phalloidin (1:500) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) for actin staining, or sheep anti-cdc42 (1:100) (Cytoskeleton, Denver, CO) for Cdc42 staining. Following three washes in PBS, coverslips were incubated for 1 h with Cy3-labeled secondary antibodies (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA), washed three times in PBS, and mounted onto microscope slides using Vectashield containing 4',6-diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI, Vector Labs, Burlingame, CA) for nucleus detection. Images were acquired using a Fluoview laser scanning microscope (OLYMPUS, Tokyo, Japan).
Isolation of BMDC, pDC, and mDC
Bone marrow cells obtained from C57/BL6 mouse were maintained in RPMI1640 supplemented with 10% X63-GM cell culture supernatants as a source of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or 50 ng/ml FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) (R&D SYSTEMS, Minneapolis, MN) for 6 days to induce BMDC. On the 6th day, the cells were stimulated with 1 μg/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cultured for 2 more days. On the 8th day, the cells were stained with FITC-conjugated anti-CD11c antibody (BD Bioscience, Franklin Lakes, NJ) and CD11c-positive cells were sorted using a cell sorter, JSAN (Bay Bioscience, Kobe, Japan), which were defined as BMDC in this study. pDC (CD11c+, B220+, mPDCA-1+, Ly-6C+) and mDC (CD11c+, B220-) were sorted from BMDC using a cell sorter, JSAN (Bay Bioscience, Kobe, Japan). All animal procedures were approved by institutional reviews board at National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology followed the guideline issued by Japanese Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare.
Isolation of B cells and T cells
Splenocyte suspension was prepared from mouse spleen and splenic B cells or T cells were isolated with MACS beads (Miltenyi Biotec, Gladbach, Germany), according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to Y. Yamasaki for valuable suggestions and advice on immunofluorescence microscopy or to S. Tanaka and T. Ishizaki for providing pCNX2 or Cdc42 expression vectors, respectively. We thank our colleagues, especially, Y. Naoe, M. Sugimoto, L. Tsuda, T. Harada, and Y. Lim for stimulatory discussions and H. Kimura and T. Hayakawa for technical help. This work was supported in part by The Research Funding for Longevity Sciences (22-11) from National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG).
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
Isamu Sakabe carried out isolation of B cells and T cells, western blot shown in Figure
1B, immunofluorescence microscopy shown in Figure
3A and Additional file
2: Figure S2, and drafted the manuscript. Azusa Asai designed the study and performed preparation of BMDC, cdc42 activation assay shown in Figure
4A, western blot shown in Figure
1B and Additional file
3: Figure S3, immunofluorescence microscopy shown in Figure
4C, and data analyses. Junko Iijima carried out western blot shown in Figure
1A,
2B, and Additional file
1: Figure S1, and statistical analysis for Figure
2C, and quantitative real-time PCR shown in Figure
2A. Mitsuo Maruyama participated in the design and coordination of the study, and helped to draft the manuscript.