AP113F Sigma-AldrichGoat Anti-Human IgG Antibody, Fc, FITC conjugate

Directed cell migration in native environments is influenced by multiple migratory cues. These cues may include simultaneously occurring attractive soluble growth factor gradients and repulsive effects arising from cell-cell contact, termed contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL). How single cells reconcile potentially conflicting cues remains poorly understood. Here we show that a dynamic crosstalk between epidermal growth factor (EGF)-mediated chemotaxis and CIL guides metastatic breast cancer cell motility, whereby cells become progressively insensitive to CIL in a chemotactic input-dependent manner. This balance is determined via integration of protrusion-enhancing signalling from EGF gradients and protrusion-suppressing signalling induced by CIL, mediated in part through EphB. Our results further suggest that EphB and EGF signalling inputs control protrusion formation by converging onto regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). We propose that this intricate interplay may enhance the spread of loose cell ensembles in pathophysiological conditions such as cancer, and possibly other physiological settings.

Regulation of the activity of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) at glutamatergic synapses is essential for certain forms of synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory and is also associated with neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases. In this report, we investigate the role of Src-like adaptor protein (Slap) in NMDA receptor signaling. We present data showing that in dissociated neuronal cultures, activation of ephrin (Eph) receptors by chimeric preclustered eph-Fc ligands leads to recruitment of Slap and NMDA receptors at the sites of Eph receptor activation. Interestingly, our data suggest that prolonged activation of EphA receptors is as efficient in recruiting Slap and NMDA receptors as prolonged activation of EphB receptors. Using established heterologous systems, we examined whether Slap is an integral part of NMDA receptor signaling. Our results showed that Slap does not alter baseline activity of NMDA receptors and does not affect Src-dependent potentiation of NMDA receptor currents in Xenopus oocytes. We also demonstrate that Slap reduces excitotoxic cell death triggered by activation of NMDARs in HEK293 cells. Finally, we present evidence showing reduced levels of NMDA receptors in the presence of Slap occurring in an activity-dependent manner, suggesting that Slap is part of a mechanism that homeostatically modulates the levels of NMDA receptors.

Cancer patients often have an activated clotting system and are at increased risk for venous thrombosis. In the present study, we analyzed tissue factor (TF) expression in 4 different human pancreatic tumor cell lines for the purpose of producing derivative tumors in vivo. We found that 2 of the lines expressed TF and released TF-positive microparticles (MPs) into the culture medium. The majority of TF protein in the culture medium was associated with MPs. Only TF-positive cell lines activated coagulation in nude mice, and this activation was abolished by an anti-human TF Ab. Of the 2 TF-positive lines, only one produced detectable levels of human MP TF activity in the plasma when grown orthotopically in nude mice. Surprisingly, less than 5% of human TF protein in plasma from tumor-bearing mice was associated with MPs. Mice with TF-positive tumors and elevated levels of circulating TF-positive MPs had increased thrombosis in a saphenous vein model. In contrast, we observed no difference in thrombus weight between tumor-bearing and control mice in an inferior vena cava stenosis model. The results of the present study using a xenograft mouse model suggest that tumor TF activates coagulation, whereas TF on circulating MPs may trigger venous thrombosis.