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Vol. 18, Issue 8, 3131-3143, August 2007
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*Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5091, Institut François Magendie, Université Bordeaux 2, 33077 Bordeaux, France; and
Membrane Traffic in Epithelial and Neuronal Morphogenesis, Equipe Avenir Inserm, Institut Jacques Monod, Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 7592, Universités Paris 6 et 7, 75251 Paris, France
Submitted December 13, 2006;
Revised May 7, 2007;
Accepted May 18, 2007
Monitoring Editor: Paul Forscher
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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L1-family IgCAMs are transmembrane proteins with an ectodomain formed of several FnIII and Ig-like repeats, responsible for parallel and antiparallel associations with a variety of ligands, and a conserved cytoplasmic tail mediating interactions with ankyrin (Tuvia et al., 1997
), ezrin–radixin–moesin members (Dickson et al., 2002
), the clathrin adaptor protein AP-2 (Kamiguchi et al., 1998b
), and postsynaptic density 95/disc-large/zona occludens domain proteins such as syntenin-1 (Koroll et al., 2001
) and SAP-102 (Davey et al., 2005
). By modulating these interactions, neurons can regulate the availability of IgCAMs at their surface and the mobility or anchoring of these receptors. For example, the tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent binding of neurofascin/L1 to ankyrin governs its lateral diffusion and coupling to the actin retrograde flow in growth cones (Garver et al., 1997
; Gil et al., 2003
; Nishimura et al., 2003
). Binding of L1 to AP-2 and the clathrin pathway via an YRSLE motif in its cytoplasmic tail enables L1 to be actively recycled in growth cones, being endocytosed in the central domain and exocytosed at the periphery (Kamiguchi and Lemmon, 2000
). This mechanism generates a density gradient of L1 molecules that helps growth cones to progress over an L1-coated substrate (Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
).
It is well established that L1 adhesiveness is regulated by trafficking, e.g., reducing L1 exocytosis by tetanus neurotoxin-insensitive vesicle-associated membrane protein (TI-VAMP) silencing leads to impaired binding of L1-coated beads on PC-12 cells (Alberts et al., 2003
), whereas preventing L1 endocytosis by removing the neuronal RSLE sequence promotes L1-dependent cell aggregation (Long et al., 2001
). However, the actual interplay between L1 molecule trafficking and L1 homophilic adhesion remains unclear. In particular, does the formation of new L1/L1 bonds absolutely require directed exocytosis, or can it simply involve surface receptors that would diffuse randomly on growth cones? Are L1 adhesions at the tip of growth cones more stable than those formed at the rear? How many binding–unbinding events can occur before L1 molecules are endocytosed?
To answer these questions, we mimicked L1-specific contacts by using microspheres coated with purified L1-Fc in contact with neurons transfected with L1-green fluorescent protein (GFP). Using live imaging experiments, we show that L1 adhesions at growth cones form initially via L1 exocytosis and lateral diffusion, accompanied by a coupling to the actin flow. As they mature, L1 contacts continue to recycle through exchange with the membrane pool and endocytosis of L1 molecules.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Cter. NrCAM-GFP where the FnIII domains are replaced by GFP was a gift from J. Falk and C. Faivre Sarrailh (Institut Jean-Roche, Marseille, France) (Falk et al., 2004
Biochemical Characterization of L1–GFP Proteins
COS-7 cells at a density of 3 x 105/60-mm Petri dishes were transfected with L1–WT, L1–GFP, L1–GFP
Cter, or empty vector by using Lipofectamine (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA), and they were cultured in DMEM containing 10% fetal calf serum. After 2 d, cells were rinsed in ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and scraped in TSE buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 8, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1% Triton, and cocktail protease inhibitors [Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany]) after 30 min at 4°C. Lysates were then centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 20 min, and the supernatant was frozen. Samples were boiled for 5 min in SDS sample buffer and separated on a 4–12% Bis-Tris NuPage gels (Invitrogen). Proteins were transferred onto 0.45-µm nitrocellulose membranes and immunoblotted using rabbit antibodies against the L1 extracellular domain (1/2000; a gift from F. Rathjen, Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany), followed by horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit antibodies (1/10,000; Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratories, West Grove, PA) and developed using the enhanced chemiluminescence method (GE Healthcare, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom).
Production and Purification of L1–Fc
The L1–Fc construct composed of the full extracellular domain of L1 fused to the constant fragment of human IgG was a gift from T. Brummendorf (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany) (De Angelis et al., 1999
). Human embryonic kidney cells in four flasks of 150 cm2 were transfected with L1–Fc by using FuGENE (Roche Diagnostics) and cultured for 4 d in DMEM containing 1% Ig-free serum (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Conditioned medium was collected, filtrated at 0.2 µm, and incubated overnight at 4°C with 500 µl of protein G-Sepharose (GE Healthcare). Beads were rinsed three times in PBS by centrifugation at 2500 rpm for 10 min, and they were placed in a 0.2-µm column (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). L1–Fc was eluted for 1 min by using 500 µl of 0.1 M glycine, pH 3.0, and fractions of 240 µl were collected into tubes containing 10 µl of 1 M Tris, pH 9.0, to buffer the pH at 7.2. Protein purity was assessed by gel electrophoresis followed by Coomassie staining, or by immunoblots using mouse anti-Fc (Jackson Laboratories) as a primary antibody. Protein concentration of 150 µg/ml was measured by a protein assay (Bio-Rad) using bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Sigma-Aldrich) as a standard.
Microsphere Coating
Latex microspheres (4-µm sulfate; Interfacial Dynamics Corporation, Tualatin, OR) were coated with goat anti-human Fc or anti-rabbit Fc antibodies (Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratories) by using 10 µg of antibody for 10 µl of the 8% solids bead stock solution (overnight incubation at 4°C in 0.2 M borate buffer, pH 8.5). Beads were rinsed in borate buffer containing 0.3% globulin-free BSA (Sigma-Aldrich), and then they were incubated with 2 µg of L1–Fc, human Fc (Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratories), or 5 µl of rabbit anti-L1 for 3 h at room temperature, rinsed, and resuspended in 100 µl of borate–BSA. Coated beads were kept on ice and used within 8 h.
Neuronal Culture, Transfection, and Incubation with Microspheres
Hipoccampal neurons from embryonic day 18 Sprague-Dawley rat embryos were seeded on 15-mm polylysine-coated glass coverslips at a density of 10,000 cells/cm2, and they were cultured on a layer of glial cells in Neurobasal medium supplemented with B27 (Invitrogen), as described previously (Goslin et al., 1991
). Two to 3 d after plating, neurons were transfected with L1–GFP, L1–GFP
Cter, NrCAM–GFP, or GFP by using a phosphate calcium method with 30 µg of DNA for five coverslips (Xia et al., 1996
), and they were processed 48 h later. Cells were placed in 1 ml of culture medium supplemented with 1% BSA, 20 mM HEPES, and 10 µl of the bead solution, left at 37°C for 0.5 h (except for optical tweezers experiments, where cells were processed immediately), and then rinsed three times in warm medium and mounted in an observation chamber, or fixed for bead counting. When scanning a 15-mm coverslip, one can find an average of 50 transfected cells, representing a transfection efficiency of
0.5%. This was enough both in immunocytochemistry and live studies to obtain statistically meaningful samples.
Thrombin Treatment
Cells transfected with L1–GFP were treated with 0.1 µM human thrombin (Sigma-Aldrich) at 20 U/ml for 100 s, and then they were rinsed with culture medium containing 50 µM PPACK (Calbiochem, San Diego, CA), a highly selective thrombin inhibitor. This was done just before mounting cells for optical tweezers experiments, or after 0.5-h incubation with microspheres, in which case a perfusion system on the microscope was used in to follow the fluorescence baseline and recovery. Thrombin-treated cells were also allowed to recover up to 2 h, and then they were processed for L1–GFP surface labeling at various time intervals.
Optical Tweezers and Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP)
The setup combining optical tweezers and FRAP was described previously (Falk et al., 2004
; Thoumine et al., 2006
). Briefly, it consists of an inverted microscope (IX 70; Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) fed through its epifluorescence port by a Nd:YAG laser beam (Compass 1064-nm series; Coherent, Santa Clara, CA) and the 488-nm line of an argon laser (Innova 300; Coherent) with appropriate lenses, filter sets, and dichroic mirrors (Chroma Technology, Brattleboro, VT). The laser power at the back of the 100x/1.4 numerical aperture objective is 100 mW for optical trapping and 2.5 mW for photobleaching. Using a motorized stage (MarzHauser, Wetzlar, Germany), microbeads are captured and maintained on neuronal growth cones for 10 s. Images are acquired every 10 s with exposure times of 100–200 ms with a cooled charge-coupled device camera (HQ Cool Snap; Roper Scientific, Tenton, NJ). Using shutters (Uniblitz; Vincent Associates, Rochester, NY), we alternate between bright field and GFP illumination, achieved through a 75-W xenon lamp oriented at a 90° angle and reflected into the epifluorescence port by a infrared dichroic mirror (optical trap) or 70/30 beam splitter (FRAP). The camera and shutters are driven by the MetaMorph software (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA). For FRAP, a region of interest on a neuron expressing L1–GFP is brought to the position of the laser spot. After acquisition of the baseline level, the sample is bleached for 0.3 s on a 4-µm-diameter area, and fluorescence recovery is recorded for 12 min, with progressively decreasing sampling times. Three optical trapping or FRAP sequences were run at best per coverslip, bringing each experiment duration to
45 min. Temperature was maintained at 37°C with an air blower (WPI, Sarasota, FL) and an objective heater (Bioptechs, Butler, PA).
Quantum Dot (QD) Labeling and Tracking
One microliter of 655-nm QD conjugated with goat (Fab')2 anti-mouse immunoglobulin (Ig)G (Quantum Dot Corp., Hayward, CA) was incubated with 1 µl of monoclonal anti-GFP (Roche Diagnostics) for 20 min, blocked with 1% casein (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA), and kept on ice for 1–2 d. After binding to microspheres, cells were incubated with the QD suspension (1:10,000) for 5 min in culture medium containing 0.3% BSA, and they were rinsed before mounting on the microscope. QDs were visualized using a 545- to 580-nm excitation filter, 590-nm dichroic mirror, and BA610-nm emission filter (Chroma Technology). Digital images were recorded at a rate of 10 Hz for 100 s. QD positions were tracked using wavelet transform-based multidimensional analysis algorithms included in the MetaMorph software (Racine et al., 2006
), and trajectories were reconnected using routines written in the MathLab software (MathWorks, Natick, MA) described previously (Tardin et al., 2003
). Traces longer than 6 s were selected. The mean squared displacement was calculated for each trajectory and fit by linear regression on the first 3 s, giving an instantaneous diffusion coefficient.
Immunocytochemistry
For staining of total endogenous L1 or L1–GFP, cells were fixed for 10 min in warm 4% paraformaldehyde–4% sucrose in PBS, and the remaining active sites were saturated with 50 mM NH4Cl in PBS for 15 min. Cells were permeabilized with 0.3% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min, and nonspecific binding sites were blocked with 1% BSA in PBS for 30 min. Cells were incubated in PBS–BSA with 1:400 rabbit anti-GFP (Invitrogen) or 1:100 anti-L1 for 2 h, rinsed extensively, and incubated with 1:800 Alexa 568-conjugated goat anti-rabbit antibody (2 mg/ml; Invitrogen) for 1 h, and mounted in Vectashield (Vector Laboratories). To estimate the amount of endogenous L1 in nontransfected cells, we subtracted the staining obtained with the secondary antibody alone from the anti-L1 staining (Supplemental Figure 1).
To estimate the proportion of surface versus intracellular L1 molecules, L1–GFP-transfected cells were labeled using 1:400 rabbit anti-GFP as a primary antibody under permeabilized or nonpermeabilized conditions, respectively, and the fluorescent signals on growth cones were compared. For surface staining, neurons transfected for L1–GFP were incubated in 50 µl of culture medium containing 1% BSA and 1 µl of monoclonal anti-GFP (Roche) for 10 min at room temperature. The neurons were then rinsed and processed as described above without the permeabilization step.
For assessment of endocytosed receptors, neurons transfected with L1–GFP, L1–GFP
Cter, or NrCAM–GFP (comparisons made on the same batches) were incubated with 1:50 monoclonal anti-GFP at 4°C for 5 min. The cold condition is used to avoid massive internalization of primary antibody complexes during the labeling period. Cells were then fixed immediately with paraformaldehyde or placed at 37°C for 15 min, allowing endocytosis to proceed. L1–GFP molecules remaining at the cell surface were efficiently blocked with a mixture of 1:20 unconjugated goat anti-mouse Fc (2 mg/ml; Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratories) and 1:20 Alexa 350-conjugated (irrelevant fluorophore) goat antibodies against both heavy and light chains mouse IgG (Invitrogen). Cells were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 for 1 min before labeling with 1:800 Alexa 568-conjugated anti-mouse antibody. We selected neurons with intermediate L1–GFP expression levels, and we took images of the L1–GFP fluorescence and the anti-GFP immunostaining with constant exposure times. The Alexa 568/anti-GFP signal was then divided by the corresponding L1–GFP signal on the same growth cones, and the ratio was averaged.
| RESULTS |
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Cter (Figure 1A), to abolish interactions with the cytoskeleton and the endocytotic pathway. Expression of both constructs in COS cells yielded protein products at the expected molecular weights
200 kDa (Figure 1A). When transfected into rat hippocampal neurons at 3–4 d in vitro (DIV), L1–GFP molecules were distributed at the growth cone surface, and they also were present intracellularly at the base of growth cones (Figure 1B). L1–GFP was also expressed at high levels within the cell body, in a perinuclear area likely corresponding to the synthesis and secretion pathway (Supplemental Figure 1B). By comparing detergent-permeabilized and non-permeabilized L1–GFP-expressing cells immunostained with anti-GFP antibodies, we estimated that 43 ± 9% of L1-GFP (n = 16 cells) and 23 ± 3% of L1-GFP
Cter (n = 10) at growth cones were surface associated. By comparing L1–GFP-positive cells to nontransfected counterparts both immunostained with anti-L1 antibodies (Supplemental Figure 1), we estimate that the ratio of exogenous L1–GFP protein to that of endogenous L1 is 5 ± 1 at the surface (n = 10 cells). Such overexpression does not perturb the correct targeting and axonal compartmentalization of NgCAM, the chick homologue of L1, in the same cultures (Sampo et al., 2003
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Cter mutant was slightly less expressed at the cell surface than wild-type L1, as reflected by a less efficient thrombin cleavage, but it showed a similar export dynamics to the growth cone surface (Figure 1E). This agrees with the finding that mutated NgCAM molecules go to the axonal surface even in the absence of interactions with intracellular partners (Boiko et al., 2007
Intracellular L1 Molecules Undergo Polarized Trafficking in Growth Cones
We further used thrombin to enhance the visualization of internal L1–GFP-rich vesicles in growth cones. Most vesicles were stuck at the base of growth cones, with undetectable motion (Figure 2, A and B, arrowheads). However, we also observed the rapid and highly directed movement of L1–GFP-rich vesicles, in either the retrograde or anterograde directions (Figure 2, A and B, circles). Vesicles were found to move at high speed along neurites and into the central area (Figure 2A), whereas those in the lamellipodium moved more slowly (Figure 2B). Overall, there was a preference for anterograde motion (64% of vesicles) versus retrograde motion (36%), especially in the growth cone lamellipodium (27 vs. 9%, respectively), indicating a selective transport of L1-rich vesicles toward the growth cone periphery (Figure 2D). Indeed, we sometimes saw vesicles originating from the base of growth cones and disappearing at their periphery, possibly by fusion with the plasma membrane (Supplemental Movie 1). Vesicles in the neurite shaft and central domain moved at the same speed in both anterograde and retrograde directions, with an average velocity of 3 µm/s (Figure 2, D and E), which compares well with that of microtubule motors. Furthermore, the very straight trajectories (Figure 2C) suggest that these L1–GFP vesicles are transported along dynamic microtubules, which have been reported to invade the growth cone lamellipodium (Dent and Gertler, 2003
). Indeed, in the presence of the microtubule-depolymerizing drug nocodazole, vesicles seemed to exhibit higher Brownian diffusion, and very few adopted a directed movement (data not shown). Regardless of the direction, vesicles moved more slowly in the lamellipodium than in the neurite shaft, with average velocity around 1 µm/s close to that reported for FM1-43 loaded or VAMP-2–containing vesicles toward the growth cone peripheral domain in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons (Tojima et al., 2007
). This suggested a different transport mechanism or a steric difficulty to progress through a dense actin network moving backward. In support of the latter hypothesis, treatment with the actin-depolymerizing drug cytochalasin D accelerated vesicle motion (Supplemental Movie 2). We observed similar velocities for L1–GFP and L1–GFP
Cter, further indicating that this mutant underwent normal export. We next assessed whether this polarized trafficking of L1 was also present at the cell surface.
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Cter mutant was shifted to higher diffusion values, with a mean diffusion coefficient of 0.29 ± 0.01 µm2/s (n = 689 trajectories). Setting a threshold of 0.05 µm2/s, we defined an immobile fraction which reaches 30% for L1–GFP and 40% for L1–GFP
cter. A fraction of immobile QDs (roughly 50%) was distributed at the base of growth cones (Figure 3E) and partially colocalized with clathrin-DsRed clusters (data not shown), suggesting that they were associated with endocytotic compartments. However, the colocalization of immobile QD with clathrin-coated pits was not total, because QDs may sterically restrict the accessibility of L1–GFP to these compartments, or because L1–GFP molecules are trapped in other compartments (e.g., by interaction with immobile cytoskeletal components).
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2 times more L1–Fc and anti-L1–coated microspheres than untransfected cells or cells transfected with GFP alone (Figure 4, A and B), indicating that the L1–GFP protein was expressed at the cell surface and could form homophilic interactions with L1–Fc ligands. Moreover, both anti-L1–coated and L1–Fc-coated microspheres recruited L1–GFP molecules (Figure 4A). Only a fraction of microspheres (roughly 30%) showed significant accumulation of L1–GFP molecules: this heterogeneity may reflect variability in L1–Fc ligand coating or availability of L1–GFP molecules. For example, beads at the cell body generally recruited less L1–GFP than at the growth cones (Figure 4A), possibly owing to, respectively, a lower concentration of L1–GFP at the cell surface (Supplemental Figure 1C) or a reduced binding due to a lack of selective L1–GFP export (see next paragraph). We quantified an enrichment factor as the fluorescence level within bead contacts divided by the control level on adjacent regions, which reaches a value of
2 at equilibrium.
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The steady-state fluorescence accumulation was similar in the absence and presence of thrombin, but we cannot directly compare these equilibrium values because the normalization is based on a different internal control for each condition (total vs. intracellular receptors outside bead contacts). More informative are the accumulation rates. Indeed, L1–GFP molecules accumulated approximately twofold slower at L1–Fc beads in the presence of thrombin but still much faster than the baseline export rate outside bead contacts (Table 1), indicating preferential exocytosis at L1–Fc adhesions. The effect was less pronounced for anti-L1–coated beads (Table 1), suggesting some ligand specificity in this export of L1 molecules. If one considers membrane diffusion and trafficking as two parallel pathways, the overall accumulation rate in the absence of thrombin should be the sum of that due to exocytosis (in the presence of thrombin) and that due to lateral motion. We can thus deduce that lateral diffusion and exocytosis contribute equally to L1 molecule recruitment at L1–Fc contacts.
L1 Molecule Exocytosis Does Not Occur at Mature L1 Adhesions
To assess whether exocytosis was also occurring in stable L1-based adhesions, we incubated L1–GFP-transfected neurons with L1–Fc and anti-L1–coated beads for 0.5 h. We then selected areas with beads showing L1–GFP accumulation, perfused cells with thrombin for 1 min, and monitored L1–GFP distribution at bead contacts after washing (Figure 6A and Supplemental Movie 6). Treatment with thrombin caused a rapid 60% drop of fluorescence signal around beads, corresponding to the cleavage of the GFP-tag on L1–GFP-associated with beads at the cell surface (Figure 6B). After washing, the fluorescence at bead contacts recovered very slowly for both types of beads, revealing almost no detectable exocytosis of L1–GFP molecules. We took care to image at a sufficiently slow rate and with high pixel binning so as to cause minimal photobleaching during image acquisition. Furthermore, the lack of recovery was not due to the presence of persistent thrombin, because we added in the washing buffer a highly selective thrombin inhibitor (PPACK), which totally blocks the GFP cleavage (Figure 6B). Thus, L1 molecules are no longer exocytosed at stable L1-contact sites. This begged the question of whether receptor recycling could still occur in mature L1 adhesions.
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Cter protein, which carries the proper signal peptide, was correctly addressed to the cell surface (Figure 8, A and B), and it was recruited around L1–Fc-coated microspheres (enrichment factor = 1.9 ± 0.1; n = 20 beads), showing that it retained homophilic binding activity, as reported previously (Wong et al., 1995
Cter molecules. After a 15-min internalization period, the typical time course of a FRAP experiment, newly endocytosed L1–GFP molecules were found as discrete spots localizing mainly in the central region of the growth cone (Figure 8, C and D). There was a significant 30% decrease in the internalization of L1–GFP
Cter molecules in this region, compared with wild-type L1–GFP molecules (Figure 8, C–E).
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Cter construct at L1–Fc bead contacts (Figure 7C). L1–GFP
Cter molecules recycled approximately threefold more slowly than wild-type counterparts (Table 2). This effect may implicate differences in lateral mobility, surface expression, or endocytosis rate, which all potentially contribute to the recycling of L1 adhesions. The fact that L1-GFP
Cter shows increased surface diffusion should increase the L1–GFP
Cter renewal rate and not the contrary. In addition, the lower availability of L1–GFP
Cter mutant at the cell surface should accelerate the adhesion turnover rate, by displacing the ligand–receptor binding reaction toward faster dissociation. Thus, the reduced endocytosis of L1–GFP
Cter caused by a lack of interaction with the endocytotic pathway may be the primary mechanism of its reduced turnover rate at L1–Fc contacts. The fact that the modest 30% decrease in endocytosis rate for L1–GFP
Cter measured outside bead contacts is paralleled by a threefold decrease in turnover rate suggests a nonlinear response, in which L1 molecules trapped at L1–Fc microspheres, could undergo higher endocytosis than free molecules, as reported to occur for ligand-bound L1 in a phosphorylation-dependent manner (Schaefer et al., 2002
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Cter (Figure 8C). We also measured the adhesion turnover rate of NrCAM–GFP by reanalyzing previous FRAP experiments using TAG-1–Fc coated beads (Falk et al., 2004| DISCUSSION |
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Exocytosis of L1 Molecules Contribute to the Initiation of L1 Homophilic Adhesions
Using these tools, we detailed the respective contributions of diffusion/trapping versus membrane trafficking in the formation and renewal of L1 adhesions (Figure 9). It was previously shown in DRG neurons that polarized trafficking of L1 molecules through endosomal compartments within the growth cone, allows growth cone migration on an L1 substrate (Kamiguchi and Lemmon, 2000
; Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
). However, how exo/endocytosis events were linked to the formation and dissociation of L1 adhesions at the plasma membrane remained unclear. Our experiments with L1–Fc or anti-L1–coated microsphere bring an answer to this question. When L1–Fc-coated microspheres were initially presented to the growth cone, we measured a very rapid increase in L1–GFP receptor accumulation, reaching equilibrium in
2 min. We calculated that half of the accumulated receptors came from passive membrane diffusion, which we directly visualized in some experiments by the selective trapping of QD-labeled L1–GFP molecules at L1–Fc bead contacts (data not shown). The other half came from freshly exocytosed L1 molecules, likely via the selective transport and delivery of L1–GFP-rich vesicles at the growth cone periphery (Figure 9A). This process was selective of the L1–Fc ligand, because beads coated with anti-L1 (this study) or anti-GFP (Thoumine et al., 2005
) recruited essentially surface receptors, with a slower rate. Thus, there must be a signaling process specific of the L1–Fc ligand. Accordingly, in DRG neurons the selective addressing of L1 at the growth cone extremity is specific of cells migrating on an L1 substrate, and it does not occur on an N-cadherin substrate (Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
). Overall, L1 molecules accumulate at L1–Fc contacts threefold faster than N-cadherin receptors at Ncad–Fc contacts (Thoumine et al., 2006
), revealing both a faster homophilic interaction kinetics, and a selective addressing by exocytosis. How is this achieved? It is possible that L1 ligation initiates a signaling pathway that triggers exocytosis of L1-rich vesicles to the nascent contact (for a review of L1 and NCAM-based signaling pathways, see Maness and Schachner, 2007
). For example, calcium transients were found to activate VAMP-2–mediated exocytosis involved in growth cone turning on L1–Fc-coated substrates (Tojima et al., 2007
). We recently reported a close association between L1 adhesions, the SNARE protein TI-VAMP and the actin cytoskeleton in growth cones (Alberts et al., 2006
). In particular, we showed that TI-VAMP silencing reduces L1 adhesiveness without affecting L1 cell surface expression (Alberts et al., 2003
). Thus, TI-VAMP could mediate the selective delivery of L1-rich vesicles to the plasma membrane, through a specific association with the actin cytoskeleton recruited at initial L1 contacts. However, this cannot be directly tested in neurons because silencing TI-VAMP's expression also impairs neuritogenesis (Alberts et al., 2003
).
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It was intriguing that individual L1–GFP molecules labeled with quantum dots moved randomly on the surface of growth cones, with no apparent retrograde component. One explanation can be that cell adhesion molecules require a certain degree of clustering to engage in various functions, e.g., trimers of L1 are more potent than monomers in terms of adhesiveness and promotion of neurite outgrowth (Hall et al., 2000
), whereas integrin trimerization is required for the anchoring to actin (Coussen et al., 2002
). Due to their small size (i.e., roughly 25 nm in diameter), QDs are presumably attached to one or very few L1 molecules, apparently not enough to trigger their connection to the actin flow. Indeed, beads of intermediate size coated with anti-L1 or L1–Fc ligands show a complex behavior, with a fraction of them moving rearward, some diffusing, and others staying associated with static components of the cytoskeleton (Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
; Gil et al., 2003
; Falk et al., 2004
). Ligand activation of L1 molecules may be necessary to further engage L1 into cytoskeletal binding (Nishimura et al., 2003
), and this was not achieved using single molecule detection with a nonperturbing anti-GFP antibody.
The immobilization of individual L1 molecules may also involve several interacting proteins. L1 can bind ankyrin, this interaction being promoted by the dephosphorylation of the tyrosine in a FIGQY motif situated in the L1 intracellular region (Garver et al., 1997
; Tuvia et al., 1997
) and regulated through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (Whittard et al., 2006
). Growth cones are enriched in ankyrin B (Nishimura et al., 2003
) and poorly stained by an antibody against phosphorylated FIGQY, suggesting that L1 is mainly in a dephosphorylated form thus available for ankyrin binding (Boiko et al., 2007
). Indeed, ankyrin was shown to mediate the coupling of L1 with a static actin network in neuroblastoma cells (Gil et al., 2003
). Therefore, the increase in mobility observed here for the L1
Cter mutant can be partly explained by a lack of interaction with ankyrin B. The relatively mild phenotype may be due to the formation of cis-dimers between L1
Cter and endogenous L1, e.g., involving the third FnIII domain (Silletti et al., 2000
). However, using NrCAM molecules in which the FnIII domains were replaced by GFP, we also observed a very small increase in NrCAM lateral mobility upon truncation of the C-tail upstream of the ankyrin binding sequence (Thoumine et al., 2005
). Together, these findings indicate that ankyrin is a mild regulator of L1 stabilization in our experimental model. Interactions of L1 with ERM or the clathrin adaptor AP-2 might be more important.
Contribution of Endocytosis in the Fast Turnover of Mature L1 Adhesions
Although reaching equilibrium, L1–L1 adhesions stayed highly dynamic as revealed by FRAP experiments (Figure 9C). The turnover of L1 homophilic adhesions was twice as large as that measured previously for N-cadherin adhesions (Thoumine et al., 2006
), and it was 30-fold higher than the adhesions formed between TAG-1 and NrCAM (Falk et al., 2004
). Such fast renewal of L1–L1 bonds implicated an exchange with unbleached L1–GFP molecules that could come either by diffusion at the plasma membrane or from trafficking events. Exocytosis was not involved in this latter case, because no recovery of L1–GFP fluorescence was observed around stable L1–Fc bead contacts after thrombin treatment. Thus, exocytosis is specific of the initial phase of L1–L1 bond formation at the growth cone periphery, and no longer acts in more mature adhesions in the central region. In contrast, the central domain is a region of preferential endocytosis, as revealed by antibody feeding assay and in agreement with previous studies using DRG neurons (Kamiguchi and Lemmon, 2000
; Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
). Such internalization of L1 molecules may be due to a specific interaction of L1 with endocytotic clathrin-coated pits, e.g., through the AP-2 complex that can interact specifically with an YRSLE sequence located on the neuronal L1 cytoplasmic tail (Kamiguchi et al., 1998b
; Kamiguchi and Yoshihara, 2001
). This suggested a role of endocytosis in the renewal of L1 adhesions at the base of growth cones.
Indeed, the truncated receptor L1–GFP
Cter showed a significantly reduced turnover rate in FRAP experiments at stable L1–Fc bead contacts. It was previously shown that L1 molecules deleted of the RSLE internalization sequence increase cell aggregation compared with wild-type counterparts, while keeping a similar surface expression (Long et al., 2001
). This surprising effect was proposed to be due to fast attachment/detachment kinetics of L1–L1 adhesions, making free wild-type receptors readily endocytosed. Here, we directly demonstrate that L1–L1 homophilic bonds are indeed very labile and that L1–GFP
Cter molecules that are less endocytosed have a smaller turnover rate, contributing to more stable L1 adhesions. An increase in L1–L1 affinity for the L1–
Cter mutant, similar to that reported recently for N-cadherin (Thoumine et al., 2006
), is unlikely, because the L1 cytoplasmic tail is dispensable for homophilic adhesion (Wong et al., 1995
). Immobilization and endocytosis of L1–
Cter molecules were not totally prevented, possibly because of a clathrin-independent endocytotic pathway, or the role of lateral association of mutated receptors with endogenous receptors in the plasma membrane, e.g., L1 itself, other IgCAMs, or integrins (Silletti et al., 2000
; Brummendorf and Lemmon, 2001
; Cheng et al., 2005
). Indeed, the replacement of the FnIII domains by GFP in the homologue molecule NrCAM (Falk et al., 2004
), thus preventing cis-oligomerization (Silletti et al., 2000
), was accompanied by an important decrease in endocytosis rate. It is not clear what triggers the transition between L1 coupling to the actin flow and L1 endocytosis, but it may involve the coordinated phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events of critical tyrosine residues in the L1 cytoplasmic tail. Indeed, phosphorylation of Y1229 induces uncoupling of neurofascin and L1 from ankyrin (Garver et al., 1997
; Needham et al., 2001
; Gil et al., 2003
), whereas dephosphorylation of Y1176 after L1 liganding or cross-linking allows binding to AP-2 (Schaefer et al., 2002
). A switch from ezrin to AP-2 binding, which compete for the same site on the juxtamembrane domain of L1 (Cheng et al., 2005
), is also possible.
| CONCLUSIONS |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| Footnotes |
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The online version of this article contains supplemental material at MBC Online (http://www.molbiolcell.org). ![]()
Address correspondence to: Olivier Thoumine (olivier.thoumine{at}pcs.u-bordeaux2.fr).
Abbreviations used: DIV, days in vitro; DRG, dorsal root ganglion; L1–Fc, L1 extracellular domain fused to human Fc; L1–GFP, L1 fused to GFP; MSD, mean squared displacement; QD, quantum dot.
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