title: Upregulation of paxillin and focal adhesion signaling follows Dystroglycan Complex deletions and promotes a hypertensive state of differentiation.
abstract: Anchorage to matrix is mediated for many cells not only by integrin-based focal adhesions but also by a parallel assembly of integral and peripheral membrane proteins known as the Dystroglycan Complex. Deficiencies in either dystrophin (mdx mice) or γ-sarcoglycan (γSG(-/-) mice) components of the Dystroglycan Complex lead to upregulation of numerous focal adhesion proteins, and the phosphoprotein paxillin proves to be among the most prominent. In mdx muscle, paxillin-Y31 and Y118 are both hyper-phosphorylated as are key sites in focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the stretch-stimulatable pro-survival MAPK pathway, whereas γSG(-/-) muscle exhibits more erratic hyper-phosphorylation. In cultured myotubes, cell tension generated by myosin-II appears required for localization of paxillin to adhesions while vinculin appears more stably integrated. Overexpression of wild-type (WT) paxillin has no obvious effect on focal adhesion density or the physical strength of adhesion, but WT and a Y118F mutant promote contractile sarcomere formation whereas a Y31F mutant shows no effect, implicating Y31 in striation. Self-peeling of cells as well as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probing of cells with or without myosin-II inhibition indicate an increase in cell tension within paxillin-overexpressing cells. However, prednisolone, a first-line glucocorticoid for muscular dystrophies, decreases cell tension without affecting paxillin at adhesions, suggesting a non-linear relationship between paxillin and cell tension. Hypertension that results from upregulation of integrin adhesions is thus a natural and treatable outcome of Dystroglycan Complex down-regulation.
authors.affiliation: Biophysical Engineering Lab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Shamik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Manorama
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tewari
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zajac
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: H Lee
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: Dennis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Discher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049030:Dystroglycans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D022001:Focal Adhesions / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051419:Paxillin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D051419:Paxillin; D049030:Dystroglycans