title: Synergistic control of keratinocyte adhesion through muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes.
abstract: The biological mechanisms involved in initiating, coordinating, and ultimately terminating cell-cell adhesion in the stratified epithelium are not well understood at present. This study was designed to elucidate the roles of the muscarinic M3, the nicotinic alpha3, and the mixed muscarinic-nicotinic alpha9 acetylcholine receptors in physiologic control of keratinocyte adhesion. Both muscarinic and nicotinic antagonists caused keratinocyte detachment and reversibly increased the permeability of keratinocyte monolayers, indicative of the involvement of both muscarinic and nicotinic pathways in the cholinergic control of keratinocyte adhesion. Since phosphorylation of adhesion proteins plays an important role in rapid assembly and disassembly of intercellular junctions, we measured muscarinic and nicotinic effects on phosphorylation of keratinocyte adhesion molecules. The phosphorylation levels of E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and gamma-catenin increased following pharmacological blockage of muscarinic receptors. Long-term blocking of alpha3, alpha9, and M3 receptor signaling pathways with antisense oligonucleotides resulted in cell-cell detachment and changes in the expression levels of E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and gamma-catenin in cultured human keratinocytes. Simultaneous inhibition of several receptor subtypes with a mixture of antisense oligonucleotides produced intensified abnormalities with cell adhesion. Moreover, altered cell-cell adhesion was found in the stratified epithelium of alpha3, alpha9, and M3 receptor knockout mice. Keratinocytes from these mice exhibited abnormal expression of adhesion molecules at both the protein and the mRNA levels. Thus, our data indicate that the alpha3, alpha9, and M3 acetylcholine receptors play key roles in regulating in a synergistic mode keratinocyte adhesion, most probably by modulating cadherin and catenin levels and activities. These findings may aid in the development of novel methods useful for the treatment of skin adhesion diseases and tumor metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Vu Thuong
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Alexander I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Chernyavsky
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arredondo
authors.forename: Dani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bercovich
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orr-Urtreger
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Vetter
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wess
authors.forename: Arthur L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Beaudet
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitajima
authors.forename: Sergei A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Grando
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051180:Desmoplakins; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000172:deficiency / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D051180:Desmoplakins; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; C495267:CTNNB1 protein, mouse; C495292:JUP protein, human; C495293:Jup protein, mouse; C443079:nAChR alpha9