Tie2 Signaling Enhances Mast Cell Progenitor Adhesion to Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1) through α4β1 Integrin

PLoS One. 2015 Dec 11;10(12):e0144436. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144436. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Mast cell (MC) activation contributes considerably to immune responses, such as host protection and allergy. Cell surface immunoreceptors expressed on MCs play an important role in MC activation. Although various immunoreceptors on MCs have been identified, the regulatory mechanism of MC activation is not fully understood. To understand the regulatory mechanisms of MC activation, we used gene expression analyses of human and mouse MCs to identify a novel immunoreceptor expressed on MCs. We found that Tek, which encodes Tie2, was preferentially expressed in the MCs of both humans and mice. However, Tie2 was not detected on the cell surface of the mouse MCs of the peritoneal cavity, ear skin, or colon lamina propria. In contrast, it was expressed on mouse bone marrow-derived MCs and bone marrow MC progenitors (BM-MCps). Stimulation of Tie2 by its ligand angiopoietin-1 induced tyrosine phosphorylation of Tie2 in MEDMC-BRC6, a mouse embryonic stem cell-derived mast cell line, and enhanced MEDMC-BRC6 and mouse BM-MCp adhesion to vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) through α4β1 integrin. These results suggest that Tie2 signaling induces α4β1 integrin activation on BM-MCps for adhesion to VCAM-1.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Angiopoietin-1 / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Bone Marrow Cells / cytology
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Integrin alpha4beta1 / metabolism*
  • Integrins
  • Male
  • Mast Cells / cytology*
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Receptor, TIE-2 / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction
  • Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / metabolism*

Substances

  • Angiopoietin-1
  • Integrin alpha4beta1
  • Integrins
  • Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1
  • integrin alpha4beta7
  • Receptor, TIE-2

Grants and funding

This research was supported in part by grants to AS, EN and ST-H, provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. This work was also supported in part by grants to KK, provided by Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows (grant number 13J00798). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.