Title : Dynamic behaviors of
vimentin induced by interaction with
GlcNAc molecules.
Abstract :
- The cytoskeleton protein vimentin is dramatically altered following pathological events such as fibrosis and tumorigenesis
- Vimentin binds to multivalent N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) molecules at the cell surface and interacts with O-linked β-GlcNAc proteins.
- Moreover, dying cells can be engulfed by neighboring cells through surface interactions between vimentin and many O-GlcNAc proteins in cell debris
- Here, we show that vimentin was altered by its interaction with GlcNAc-bearing molecules such as GlcNAc-bearing polymers.
- The interaction with GlcNAc-bearing polymers promoted the cell surface recruitment of vimentin followed by the phosphorylation of vimentin serine 71 and the increase in tetrameric vimentin disassembled from vimentin filaments in HeLa cells
- Moreover, it was found that GlcNAc-bearing polymers and O-GlcNAc proteins from dying cells promoted vimentin expression and cell migration in the Madin-Darby canine kidney and Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 cells
- These results suggest that interactions between surface vimentin and GlcNAc molecules, including the O-GlcNAc proteins from dying cells, may play a pivotal role in vimentin expression and the migration of cancer cells
- We propose new mechanisms of vimentin expression in cancer cells