Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Glioblastoma is a lethal cancer that arises from support cells in the nervous system and kills around 20,000 people in the United States each year. While much is known about the highly malignant primary glioblastoma, the natural history of lower grade glioma (LGG) is less understood. While the majority of LGGs are initiated by a mutation in isocitrate dehydrogenase, the events leading to their malignant progression into a grade IV tumor are not known. Analysis of primary tumor sample data has revealed that low transcript levels of Angiomotin-like-1 (AmotL1) strongly associate with poor outcomes of patients with these cancers. Follow-up RNA-sequencing of human embryonic astrocytes with AmotL1 silencing revealed the downregulation of many transcripts that encode proteins mediating gap junctions (GJ) between astrocytes, especially connexin-43 (Cx43). Cx43 protein oligomerizes to form functional channels comprising the astrocytic GJ. AmotL1 knockdown through RNA interference decreases Cx43 transcript and protein levels while increasing its distribution to GJs. This suggests increased GJ formation and intercellular communication, as similar localization patterns are observed in differentiated astrocytes. Astrocytes with AmotL1 knockdown also display a pronounced pancake-like morphology, suggesting that the actin cytoskeleton is affected. Imaging reveals that cells with reduced AmotL1 have characteristic losses in both stress fibers and focal actin under the cell body but notable increases in cortical F-actin. Consistent with previous studies, AmotL1 may promote increases in the number and thickness of F-actin fibers. Because actin binding to related angiomotins is inhibited by phosphorylation from the LATs kinases, I define the effects of expressing wildtype AmotL1 versus mutants that mimic or prevent phosphorylation by LATs1/2. Interestingly, expression of AmotL1 S262D in combination with NEDD4-1, a ubiquitin ligase, results in a profound loss of actin stress fibers. Dependence on NEDD4-1 suggests that this phenotype is due to the induced degradation of proteins that promote F-actin, e.g. RhoA. These results directly support a model in which phosphorylated AmotL1 specifically inhibits F-actin formation as opposed to unphosphorylated AmotL1 which is known to promote stress fiber formation. Thus, in addition to regulating polarity and YAP/TAZ transcriptional co-activators, AmotL1 plays major functions in dictating cellular F-actin dynamics. / 2021-01-01

La polarité cellulaire est un phénomène biologique essentiel du monde vivant. Chez la levure Candida albicans, sa capacité à croître sous une forme hyperpolarisée semble être un élément déterminant de sa pathogénicité. Nous avons entrepris d’identifier les éléments moléculaires d’une structure essentielle à cette croissance hyphale, le Spitzenkörper, afin de mieux comprendre le rôle de ce corps apical dans la croissance polarisée. Nous nous sommes également intéressés à la régulation des protéines Rho3 et Rho4 impliquées dans la croissance polarisée de C. albicans, à travers l’identification et l’étude de la protéine RhoGAP commune à ces deux protéines Rhos, la protéine Rgd1.Chez la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiæ, les protéines Rho3 et Rho4 sont également impliquées dans le contrôle de la croissance polarisée, et sont régulées par la protéine Rgd1. Le laboratoire, à l’origine de la découverte de ce régulateur commun, étudiait des aspects de croissance polarisée contrôlée par les protéines Rho3 et Rho4, à travers l’étude de la régulation de la protéine Rgd1. Nous avons notamment mis en évidence que Rgd1p est modifiée au niveau post-traductionnel par des phosphorylations. La kinase Ipl1 de la famille des kinases Aurora est un des acteurs de cette modification. Différents éléments indiquent que le complexe phosphatase Glc7-Bud14 serait également impliqué dans le contrôle de l’état de phosphorylation de Rgd1p, de façon antagoniste à la kinase Ipl1 / Cell polarity is an essential process for living organisms. In the yeast Candida albicans, its ability of hyperpolarized growth seems to be a decisive element for its pathogenicity. We undertook to identify molecular elements of an essential structure for hyphal growth, named Spitzenkörper, to better understand the role of this apical body in polarised growth. We also studied regulation of Rho3 and Rho4 proteins implicated in C. albicans polarised growth, through identification and study of a shared RhoGAP protein, named Rgd1.In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiæ, Rho3 and Rho4 proteins are also implicated in polarised growth control, and are regulated by Rgd1 protein. The laboratory, which identified this shared regulator, studied polarised growth aspects controlled by Rho3 and Rho4 proteins, through study of Rgd1p regulation. We showed that Rgd1p is post-translationally modified, by phosphorylations. The Ipl1 kinase, an Aurora family member, is implicated in this modification. Several elements indicate that the Glc7-Bud14 phosphatase complex would be also implicated in the control of Rgd1 phosphorylation state, antagonistically to Ipl1p