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Notch activation in aortic endothelial cells (ECs) takes place at embryonic stages during cardiac valve formation and induces endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). Using aortic ECs, we show here that active Notch expression promotes EndMT, resulting in downregulation of vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) and upregulation of mesenchymal genes such as those for fibronectin and Snail1/2. In these cells, transforming growth factor β1 exacerbates Notch effects by increasing Snail1 and fibronectin activation. When Notch-downstream pathways were analyzed, we detected an increase in glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) phosphorylation and inactivation that facilitates Snail1 nuclear retention and protein stabilization. However, the total activity of Akt was downregulated. The discrepancy between Akt activity and GSK-3β phosphorylation is explained by a Notch-induced switch in the Akt isoforms, whereby Akt1, the predominant isoform expressed in ECs, is decreased and Akt2 transcription is upregulated. Mechanistically, Akt2 induction requires the stimulation of the β-catenin/TCF4 transcriptional complex, which activates the Akt2 promoter. Active, phosphorylated Akt2 translocates to the nucleus in Notch-expressing cells, resulting in GSK-3β inactivation in this compartment. Akt2, but not Akt1, colocalizes in the nucleus with lamin B in the nuclear envelope. In addition to promoting GSK-3β inactivation, Notch downregulates Forkhead box O1 (FoxO1), another Akt2 nuclear substrate. Moreover, Notch protects ECs from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis through an Akt2- and Snail1-dependent mechanism.

The product of the Snail1 gene is a transcriptional repressor required for triggering the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, ectopic expression of Snail1 in epithelial cells promotes resistance to apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrate that this resistance to gamma radiation-induced apoptosis caused by Snail1 is associated with the inhibition of PTEN phosphatase. In MDCK cells, mRNA levels of the p53 target gene PTEN are induced after gamma radiation; the transfection of Snail1 prevents this up-regulation. Decreased mRNA levels of PTEN were also detected in RWP-1 cells after the ectopic expression of this transcriptional factor. Snail1 represses and associates to the PTEN promoter as detected both by the electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments performed with either endogenous or ectopic Snail1. The binding of Snail1 to the PTEN promoter increases after gamma radiation, correlating with the stabilization of Snail1 protein, and prevents the association of p53 to the PTEN promoter. These results stress the critical role of Snail1 in the control of apoptosis and demonstrate the regulation of PTEN phosphatase by this transcriptional repressor.

Activation of the Wnt pathway promotes the progressive phosphorylation of coreceptor LRP5/6 (low-density lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5 and 6), creating a phosphorylated motif that inhibits glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β), which in turn stabilizes β-catenin, increasing the transcription of β-catenin target genes. Casein kinase 1 (CK1) kinase family members play a complex role in this pathway, either as inhibitors or as activators. In this report, we have dissected the roles of CK1 isoforms in the early steps of Wnt signaling. CK1e is constitutively bound to LRP5/6 through its interaction with p120-catenin and E-cadherin or N-cadherin and is activated upon Wnt3a stimulation. CK1α also associates with the LRP5/6/p120-catenin complex but, differently from CK1e, only after Wnt3a addition. Binding of CK1α is dependent on CK1e and occurs in a complex with axin. The two protein kinases function sequentially: whereas CK1e is required for early responses to Wnt3a stimulation, such as recruitment of Dishevelled 2 (Dvl-2), CK1α participates in the release of p120-catenin from the complex, which activates p120-catenin for further actions on this pathway. Another CK1, CK1γ, acts at an intermediate level, since it is not necessary for Dvl-2 recruitment but for LRP5/6 phosphorylation at Thr1479 and axin binding. Therefore, our results indicate that CK1 isoforms work coordinately to promote the full response to Wnt stimulus.

E-cadherin function is controlled posttranslationally by a family of proteins, named catenins, that bind to its cytosolic tail. Two members of this family, p120-catenin and β-catenin, interact at different sites of the E-cadherin molecule and are engaged in distinct functions. Whereas β-catenin is required for recruiting the actin cytoskeleton, p120-catenin is necessary for the stabilization of E-cadherin at the cell membrane (3). As a consequence, E-cadherin is rapidly internalized and degraded in the absence of p120-catenin (7, 13). Consequently, p120-catenin ablation in vivo causes E-cadherin deficiency, leading to severe defects in adhesion, cell polarity, and epithelial morphogenesis (7). Besides this role in regulating E-cadherin stability, p120-catenin interacts with other proteins involved in the modulation of cell-to-cell contacts. For instance, p120-catenin associates with Fer and Fyn tyrosine kinases (16, 27, 36). These kinases specifically phosphorylate β-catenin in Tyr142 (27), a modification that promotes release of β-catenin from the adherens junctional complex and transport to the nucleus (2, 27). Moreover, p120-catenin can interact with the Yes tyrosine kinase (27) and with a number of phosphotyrosine (PTyr) phosphatases, such as PTPμ (39), DEP1 (12), and SHP-1 (14, 21). These multiple associations suggest a role for p120-catenin as a scaffold protein for enzymes regulating events such as the stability of the adherens junctional complex (29). p120-catenin modulates the activity of other cellular factors. Similarly to β-catenin, it can be detected in the nucleus (34), where it interacts with the transcriptional factor Kaiso (6). Studies performed with Xenopus laevis have demonstrated that association of p120-catenin relieves the repression caused by Kaiso on Wnt signaling (17, 25). Several results indicate that p120-catenin can also control the activity of small GTPases. For instance, overexpression of p120-catenin represses RhoA activity (1, 23) and activates Rac1 (10, 23). Effects on RhoA have been attributed to the ability of p120-catenin to behave as a Rho guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (RhoGDI), a biological activity that inhibits RhoA activity by blocking its normal exchange of guanosine nucleotides (1). The direct interaction of p120-catenin and RhoA has also been detected in living cells (20). The activation of Rac1 seems to be more indirect, occurring through the interaction of p120-catenin with the guanosine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) Vav2 (23). It has been shown recently that repression of Rho activity by p120-catenin affects the activation of NF-κB transcriptional factor, since epidermal cells from conditional p120-catenin null mice activate nuclear NF-κB (26). p120-catenin contains a central armadillo domain with 10 tandem 42-amino-acid repeats that is responsible for binding E-cadherin and a 325-amino-acid-long N-terminal regulatory domain. The latter region has several tyrosine residues that can be phosphorylated in vivo by tyrosine kinases (see Fig. ​Fig.1A).1A). Despite this evidence, the role of tyrosine phosphorylation in the association of p120-catenin with the different cofactors remains unknown except in the case of E-cadherin: phosphorylation of p120-catenin by Src increases the in vitro association of these two proteins (30). In this article, we present new results demonstrating that Src and Fyn can phosphorylate the regulatory domain of p120-catenin with different functional outcomes. Moreover, we have identified Tyr112, a residue of p120-catenin specifically phosphorylated by Fyn, as a key regulator of the p120-catenin-RhoA interaction both in vitro and in vivo. FIG. 1. RhoA interacts with the N-terminal regulatory domain of p120-catenin. (A) Diagram of the different domains of p120-catenin. Alternative splicing in the N-terminal domain gives rise to isoforms 1, 2, 3, and 4, each initiating at distinct ATG start codons ...

Plakoglobin is a protein closely related to beta-catenin that links desmosomal cadherins to intermediate filaments. Plakoglobin can also substitute for beta-catenin in adherens junctions, providing a connection between E-cadherin and alpha-catenin. Association of beta-catenin with E-cadherin and alpha-catenin is regulated by phosphorylation of specific tyrosine residues; modification of beta-catenin Tyr654 and Tyr142 decreases binding to E-cadherin and alpha-catenin, respectively. We show here that plakoglobin can also be phosphorylated on tyrosine residues, but unlike beta-catenin, this modification is not always associated with disrupted association with junctional components. Protein tyrosine kinases present distinct specificities on beta-catenin and plakoglobin, and phosphorylation of beta-catenin-equivalent Tyr residues of plakoglobin affects its interaction with components of desmosomes or adherens junctions differently. For instance, Src, which mainly phosphorylates Tyr86 in beta-catenin, modifies Tyr643 in plakoglobin, decreasing the interaction with E-cadherin and alpha-catenin and increasing the interaction with the alpha-catenin-equivalent protein in desmosomes, desmoplakin. The tyrosine kinase Fer, which modifies beta-catenin Tyr142, lessening its association with alpha-catenin, phosphorylates plakoglobin Tyr549 and exerts the contrary effect: it raises the binding of plakoglobin to alpha-catenin. These results suggest that tyrosine kinases like Src or Fer modulate desmosomes and adherens junctions differently. Our results also indicate that phosphorylation of Tyr549 and the increased binding of plakoglobin to components of adherens junctions can contribute to the upregulation of the transcriptional activity of the beta-catenin-Tcf-4 complex observed in many epithelial tumor cells.

The Snail gene product is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin expression and an inducer of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in several epithelial tumor cell lines. This report presents data indicating that Snail function is controlled by its intracellular location. The cytosolic distribution of Snail depended on export from the nucleus by a CRM1-dependent mechanism, and a nuclear export sequence (NES) was located in the regulatory domain of this protein. Export of Snail was controlled by phosphorylation of a Ser-rich sequence adjacent to this NES. Modification of this sequence released the restriction created by the zinc finger domain and allowed nuclear export of the protein. The phosphorylation and subcellular distribution of Snail are controlled by cell attachment to the extracellular matrix. Suspended cells presented higher levels of phosphorylated Snail and an augmented extranuclear localization with respect to cells attached to the plate. These findings show the existence in tumor cells of an effective and fine-tuning nontranscriptional mechanism of regulation of Snail activity dependent on the extracellular environment.