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Research Paper

Identification of guanine nucleotide exchange factors that increase Cdc42 activity in primary human endothelial cells

, , , , , & ORCID Icon show all
Pages 226-240 | Received 06 Feb 2019, Accepted 08 Aug 2019, Published online: 30 Aug 2019

Figures & data

Figure 1. Protein domain structure of potential Cdc42 GEFs

Size of GEF structure relates to number of amino acids. Scale bar = 200 amino acids (aa). SH3 = Src homology 3; DH = Dbl homology; PH = Pleckstrin homology; CC = coiled coil; FV = FYVE domain; EH = Eps 15 homology; C2 = Protein kinase C conserved region 2; DEP = domain found in Dishevelled, EGL-10 and pleckstrin; PDZ = domain present in PSD-95, Dlg homologous region and ZO-1/2; Sec14 = domain in homologous of a S. serevisiae phosphatidylinositol transfer protein; SPEC = spectrin repeat; BAR = Bin-Amphiphysin-Rvs; CH = Calponin homology domain; C1 = Protein kinase C conserved region 1; and SH2 = Src homology 2.
Figure 1. Protein domain structure of potential Cdc42 GEFs

Figure 2a. Ectopic expression of potential Cdc42 GEFs induces specific phenotypes in ECs

(a)ECs were transiently transfected with mTq2-fused α-Pix, Asef2, β-Pix, FGD1, FGD5, ITSN1, ITSN2, PLEKHG1, PLEKHG2, PLEKHG4, PREX1, TrioN, TUBA or Vav2. ECs were grown to a monolayer and stained for F-actin and VE-cadherin. Arrowheads highlight specific phenotypes: arrowhead #1 contractile phenotype, arrowhead #2 protruding phenotype, arrowhead #3 cortical actin, arrowhead #4 vesicle-like structures, arrowhead #5 linear VE-cadherin. Except for the zoomed images, image acquisition and processing are equal between all conditions. (b) ECs were transiently transfected with Cdc42-G14V, grown to a semi-confluent monolayer and stained for F-actin and VE-cadherin. Arrowhead #2 indicates protruding phenotype, Arrowhead #3 indicates cortical actin. Scale bars of A and B are 20 μm.
Figure 2a. Ectopic expression of potential Cdc42 GEFs induces specific phenotypes in ECs

Figure 2b. (Continued)

Figure 2b. (Continued)

Figure 3. Workflow of GEF-mediated Cdc42 activation measurements in single ECs

Data points are part of an actual experiment included in this paper. ECs were transiently transfected with the YFP/CFP-based Cdc42-FRET sensor, and either C1-mCherry- or a mCherry-GEF. YFP and CFP images were acquired to generate the YFP/CFP ratio images and to quantify these values per cell. The median YFP/CFP value is depicted in the graphs as a vertical line. Subsequently, the mCherry intensity was used to convert the YFP/CFP ratio data into values of ‘relative activity’. The median activity is depicted as a circle and the 95% confidence interval determined by bootstrapping is indicated as a horizontal bar. For a detailed explanation see supplementary Figure S1.
Figure 3. Workflow of GEF-mediated Cdc42 activation measurements in single ECs

Figure 4. Ectopic expression of GEFs induce distinct Cdc42 and Rac1 activation patterns

(a) Average YFP/CFP ratios of ECs that were transiently transfected with the Cdc42-FRET sensor and either C1-mCherry (Control, n = 296) or mCherry-fused GEFs (α-Pix n = 30, Asef2 n = 33, β-Pix n = 38, FGD1 n = 55, FGD5 n = 29, ITSN1 n = 20, ITSN2 n = 49, PLEKHG1 n = 88, PLEKHG2 n = 70, PLEKHG4 n = 82, PREX1 n = 18, SGEF n = 33, TrioN n = 31, TUBA n = 52 and Vav2 n = 36). (b) Average YFP/CFP ratios of ECs that were transiently transfected with the Rac1 FRET sensor and either C1-mCherry (Control, n = 271) or mCherry-fused GEFs (α-Pix n = 33, Asef2 n = 31, β-Pix n = 38, FGD1 n = 31, FGD5 n = 22, ITSN1 n = 21, ITSN2 n = 28, PLEKHG1 n = 64, PLEKHG2 n = 81, PLEKHG4 n = 61, PREX1 n = 24, SGEF n = 41, TrioN n = 24, TUBA n = 61 and Vav2 n = 50). (c&d) The relative activity calculated from the YFP/CFP ratios and the mCherry intensities quantified from single cells. The median and 95% confidence interval are indicated by a circle and horizontal bar, respectively. The green, blue and red colours define no activation, intermediate activation and strong activation, respectively. Online, interactive plots are available for panel C and panel D.
Figure 4. Ectopic expression of GEFs induce distinct Cdc42 and Rac1 activation patterns

Figure 5. Ectopic expression of TIAM exclusively activates Rac1

(a) YFP/CFP ratios of ECs that were transiently transfected with the Cdc42 FRET sensor and either C1-mCherry (Control, n = 22) or mCherry-TIAM (n = 21). (b) YFP/CFP ratios of ECs that were transiently transfected with the Rac1 FRET sensor and either C1-mCherry (Control, n = 14) or mCherry-TIAM (n = 18). (c) The relative activity observed with the Cdc42 sensor based on the YFP/CFP ratios shown in panel A and mCherry intensity. (d) The relative activity observed with the Rac1 sesnor based on the YFP/CFP ratios shown in panel B and mCherry intensity. In C and D the median and 95% confidence interval are indicated with a circle and bar, respectively.
Figure 5. Ectopic expression of TIAM exclusively activates Rac1

Figure 6. Alignment of GEF DHPH domains

Alignment is performed on FGD1, FGD5, ITSN1, ITSN2, PLEKHG1, PLEKHG2, PLEKHG4 and PREX1. Numbers indicate corresponding amino acid position of the FL protein. Dark grey represents the DH domain, light grey represents the PH domain. * represents single, fully conserved residue, : represents conserved residues between groups of strongly similar properties, . represents conserved residues between groups of weakly similar properties.
Figure 6. Alignment of GEF DHPH domains

Figure 7. Catalytic GEF domains induce distinct Cdc42 activation profiles. For each of the indicated GEFs the relative activity of membrane-targeted (Lck) Lck-DHPH, soluble DHPH, Lck-DH, soluble DH or full-length (FL) on the Cdc42 biosensor was quantified relative to the control (mCherry). The median activity and 95% confidence intervals are indicated with a circle and a horizontal bar, respectively (except for the ‘DH’ condition of FGD1, where only the median is indicated due to low sample size). The corresponding YFP/CFP data are represented in Supplemental Figure S3

Figure 7. Catalytic GEF domains induce distinct Cdc42 activation profiles. For each of the indicated GEFs the relative activity of membrane-targeted (Lck) Lck-DHPH, soluble DHPH, Lck-DH, soluble DH or full-length (FL) on the Cdc42 biosensor was quantified relative to the control (mCherry). The median activity and 95% confidence intervals are indicated with a circle and a horizontal bar, respectively (except for the ‘DH’ condition of FGD1, where only the median is indicated due to low sample size). The corresponding YFP/CFP data are represented in Supplemental Figure S3

Table 1. Generation of FL mTq2/mCherry-GEF constructs. RE = restriction enzyme, Fw = Forward primer, Rv = Reverse primer. Restriction sites are underlined in the primer sequences. Restriction sites for Asef2, PREX1 and SGEF are not present in the Fw primer

Table 2. Generation of (Lck-)mCherry-DH(PH) GEF constructs. RE = restriction enzyme, Fw = Forward primer, Rv = Reverse primer. Restriction sites are underlined in the primer sequences

Supplemental material

Supplemental Material

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