title: The Rac activator Tiam1 controls tight junction biogenesis in keratinocytes through binding to and activation of the Par polarity complex.
abstract: The GTPases Rac and Cdc42 play a pivotal role in the establishment of cell polarity by stimulating biogenesis of tight junctions (TJs). In this study, we show that the Rac-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor Tiam1 (T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis) controls the cell polarity of epidermal keratinocytes. Similar to wild-type (WT) keratinocytes, Tiam1-deficient cells establish primordial E-cadherin-based adhesions, but subsequent junction maturation and membrane sealing are severely impaired. Tiam1 and V12Rac1 can rescue the TJ maturation defect in Tiam1-deficient cells, indicating that this defect is the result of impaired Tiam1-Rac signaling. Tiam1 interacts with Par3 and aPKCzeta, which are two components of the conserved Par3-Par6-aPKC polarity complex, and triggers biogenesis of the TJ through the activation of Rac and aPKCzeta, which is independent of Cdc42. Rac is activated upon the formation of primordial adhesions (PAs) in WT but not in Tiam1-deficient cells. Our data indicate that Tiam1-mediated activation of Rac in PAs controls TJ biogenesis and polarity in epithelial cells by association with and activation of the Par3-Par6-aPKC polarity complex.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alexander E E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.forename: Tomasz P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Rygiel
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olivo
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van der Kammen
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Collard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016764:Cell Polarity; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000075684:T-Lymphoma Invasion and Metastasis-inducing Protein 1; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099221:Protein Kinase C zeta
chemical_list: D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D011506:Proteins; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin; D000075684:T-Lymphoma Invasion and Metastasis-inducing Protein 1; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins; D000099221:Protein Kinase C zeta; C513260:Tiam1 protein, mouse; C105295:protease-activated receptor 3