title: Engagement of the NG2 proteoglycan triggers cell spreading via rac and p130cas.
abstract: Cells that express the NG2 proteoglycan will spread on surfaces coated with monoclonal antibodies against this membrane-spanning protein. On surfaces coated with the N143 monoclonal antibody, this cell spreading occurs by extension of lamellipodia, suggesting that activation of the small GTPase rac is involved in the observed morphological change. Support for this hypothesis comes from the finding of increased levels of GTP-bound rac in cells spreading on N143-coated surfaces. Furthermore, lamellipodia extension is blocked by transfection of cells with the dominant negative rac construct N17rac, but not by transfection with N17cdc42. Formation of lamellipodia on the N143-coated surfaces is also inhibited by transfection of the dominant negative CasdeltaSD construct. This result implicates p130cas as an additional functional player in NG2-mediated cell spreading.
authors.affiliation: The Burnham Institute, Cancer Research Center, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Mousumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Majumdar
authors.forename: Kristiina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vuori
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Stallcup
mesh_terms: D000941:Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism*; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000648:ultrastructure; D050717:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; D050717:Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p130; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins; D000099216:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 4; C493841:BCAR1 protein, human