GPI-anchored human placental alkaline phosphatase has a nonpolarized distribution on the cell surface of mouse cerebellar granule neurons in vitro

Genetic targeting of a voltage-sensitive dye by enzymatic activation of phosphonooxymethyl-ammonium derivative

Optical recording of action potentials in individual neurons requires cell-selective targeting with a fluorescent, voltage-sensitive probe. We report on a new labeling system that takes advantage of recent developments in prodrug-based chemistry and allows for the targeting of a lipophilic dye into the plasma membrane of genetically specified cells. With the introduction of two phosphonooxymethylammonium zwitterions into the hydrocarbon chains of an amphiphilic, voltage-sensitive hemicyanine dye, a precursor dye was formed that is water-soluble to an extent that it can no longer bind into cell membranes and hence prevents unspecific staining. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored placental alkaline phosphatase expressed in HEK293 cells converted the precursor dye to a homologue of the widely used dye di-4-ANEPPS and gave rise to excellent levels of plasma membrane localized staining. The voltage sensitivity of the enzymatically activated dye was tested and shown to be similar to sensitivity reported for di-4-ANEPPS.

Two distinct mechanisms target membrane proteins to the axonal surface

We have investigated the trafficking of two endogenous axonal membrane proteins, VAMP2 and NgCAM, in order to elucidate the cellular events that underlie their polarization. We found that VAMP2 is delivered to the surface of both axons and dendrites, but preferentially endocytosed from the dendritic membrane. A mutation in the cytoplasmic domain of VAMP2 that inhibits endocytosis abolished its axonal polarization. In contrast, the targeting of NgCAM depends on sequences in its ectodomain, which mediate its sorting into carriers that preferentially deliver their cargo proteins to the axonal membrane. These observations show that neurons use two distinct mechanisms to polarize proteins to the axonal domain: selective retention in the case of VAMP2, selective delivery in the case of NgCAM.

Placental alkaline phosphatase expression at the apical and basal plasma membrane in term villous trophoblasts

Human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) was localized at the apical and basal plasma membrane of syncytiotrophoblasts and at the surface of cytotrophoblasts in term chorionic villi using immunoelectron microscopy. Similarly, apical and basolateral PLAP expression was found in polarized trophoblast-derived BeWo cells. Trophoblasts isolated from term placentas exhibited mainly vesicular PLAP immunofluorescence staining immediately after isolation. After in vitro differentiation into syncytia, PLAP plasma membrane expression was upregulated and exceeded that observed in mononuclear trophoblasts. These data call for caution in using PLAP as a morphological marker to differentiate syncytiotrophoblasts from cytotrophoblasts or as a marker enzyme for placental brush-border membranes. (J Histochem Cytochem 49:1155-1164, 2001)

Actin disruption alters the localization of tau in the growth cones of cerebellar granule neurons

Cultured cerebellar granule neurons initially extend a single axon, followed by the extension of a second axon to attain a bipolar morphology. Differentiation culminates with the extension of several short dendrites from the cell body. In the present study, we determined the location of the dephosphorylated form of the microtubule-associated protein tau (dtau) within the growth cones of newly forming axons and examined whether this localization was influenced by the actin cytoskeleton. Following elongation of the initial axon at 2–3 days in vitro, dtau immunoreactivity was present along the entire length of the axon, becoming most intense just proximal to the growth cone. Dtau labeling dropped off dramatically along the microtubules of the growth cone and was undetectable along the most distal tips of these microtubules. As the initial axon continued to elongate at 3–4 days in vitro, the actin-rich growth cone peripheral domain characteristically underwent a dramatic reduction in size. Dtau immunoreactivity extended all the way to the most distal tips of the microtubules in the growth cones of these cells. Cytochalasin D and latrunculin A mimicked the effects of this characteristic reduction in growth cone size with regard to dtau localization in the growth cone. Depolymerization of filamentous actin caused the collapse of the peripheral domain and allowed dtau to bind all the way to the most distal tips of microtubules in the axon. Upon removal of the drugs, the peripheral domain of the growth cone rapidly re-formed and dtau was once again excluded from the most distal regions of growth cone microtubules. These findings suggest a novel role for actin in determining the localization of the microtubule-associated protein τ within the growth cones of neurons.

Actin filament disruption blocks cerebellar granule neurons at the unipolar stage of differentiation in vitro

Cerebellar granule neurons developing in vitro initially extend a single axon, with the Golgi apparatus and centrosome positioned at the base of this axon and then begin the transition to a bipolar morphology by rotating the Golgi-centrosome to the opposite pole of the cell and extending a secondary axon; granule cells reach a mature, complex morphology by extending multiple, short dendrites by 5-6 days in vitro. (Zmuda and Rivas, 1998. Cell Motil Cytoskel 41:18-38). To test the effects of actin depolymerization on this characteristic pattern of granule cell axonogenesis, cultured granule cells were treated with either cytochalasin D (CD) or latrunculin A (Lat A) to depolymerize filamentous actin. Although actin depolymerization did not inhibit initial axon extension, it prevented the cells from proceeding on to the transitional, bipolar, or complex stages of differentiation, effectively blocking the cells at the unipolar stage of differentiation. Although the Golgi apparatus resided at the base of the axon in nontreated unipolar cells, or at the opposite pole of the cell body in nontreated transitional cells, the Golgi was randomly localized within the cytoplasm of cells that had been treated with either CD or Lat A. These results show that the transition from the unipolar to the bipolar stage and on to more mature stages of granule cell differentiation is dependent on an intact actin cytoskeleton and suggest that the characteristic pattern of granule cell differentiation may be dependent on the repositioning of the Golgi-centrosome during morphological development.