Leukocyte integrins of the ␤2 family are essential for immune cell-cell adhesion. In activated cells, ␤2 integrins are phosphorylated on the cytoplasmic Thr758, leading to 14-3-3 protein recruitment to the ␤2 integrin. The mutation of this phosphorylation site impairs cell adhesion, actin reorganization, and cell spreading. Thr758 is contained in a Thr triplet of ␤2 that also mediates binding to filamin. Here, we investigated the binding of filamin, talin, and 14-3-3 proteins to phosphorylated and unphosphorylated ␤2 integrins by biochemical methods and x-ray crystallography. 14-3-3 proteins bound only to the phosphorylated integrin cytoplasmic peptide, with a high affinity (K d , 261 nM), whereas filamin bound only the unphosphorylated integrin cytoplasmic peptide (K d , 0.5 mM). Phosphorylation did not regulate talin binding to ␤2 directly, but 14-3-3 was able to outcompete talin for the binding to phosphorylated ␤2 integrin. X-ray crystallographic data clearly IntroductionIntegrins are heterodimeric plasma membrane receptors that mediate binding to the extracellular matrix and to ligands present on the surface of other cells. Their function is tightly regulated; they bind ligands only after activation. Modulation of integrin activity occurs through tightly regulated interactions between cytoplasmic molecules and integrin intracellular tails. Factors binding to integrin cytoplasmic domains regulating integrin adhesiveness include the cytoskeletal proteins talin 1,2 and filamin, 3 and the 14-3-3 proteins, which are molecular adaptors that bind to phosphorylated serine or threonine (pSer/ pThr) containing polypeptide sequences. 4 The ␤2 integrins are expressed exclusively on leukocytes and bind ICAM molecules on other leukocytes and endothelial cells after cell activation. 5,6 Talin binds to ␤2 integrins in vitro and in cells and is involved in activating the ␤2 integrins, resulting in binding to ICAMs. 1,4,[7][8][9] The ␤2 integrin polypeptide chain is phosphorylated on the intracellular domain on several residues after cell stimulation with various agents. 10 Thr758 is a physiologically important amino acid residue in the ␤2 cytoplasmic tail, and becomes phosphorylated after T-cell stimulation with T-cell receptor (TCR) antibodies or with phorbol esters. [11][12][13] After its phosphorylation, ␤2 binds to 14-3-3 proteins both in vitro and in cells. 4 Blocking of this interaction with a ␤2 Thr758 to Ala mutation, or by expression of constructs that bind to 14-3-3 proteins and block their interactions with target proteins, leads to abrogation of actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, cell spreading, and adhesion to ICAM ligands. 4 ␤2-Thr758 phosphorylation leads to the activation of the actin cytoskeleton modulators, Rac1/Cdc42, in cells. 13 The region in the ␤2 cytoplasmic tail that binds 14-3-3 proteins has been reported to interact with filamin in other integrins, 14 and for the strong filamin-binder ␤7 integrin, phosphorylation mimicking substitutions of 3 threonine residues (TTT) reduces filamin affinity. 3 Fi...

BackgroundPlatelet-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) participate, for example, in haemostasis, immunity and development. Most studies of platelet EVs have targeted microparticles, whereas exosomes and EV characterization under various conditions have been less analyzed. Studies have been hampered by the difficulty in obtaining EVs free from contaminating cells and platelet remnants. Therefore, we optimized an EV isolation protocol and compared the quantity and protein content of EVs induced by different agonists.Methods Platelets isolated with iodixanol gradient were activated by thrombin and collagen, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Ca2+ ionophore. Microparticles and exosomes were isolated by differential centrifugations. EVs were quantitated by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and total protein. Size distributions were determined by NTA and electron microscopy. Proteomics was used to characterize the differentially induced EVs.ResultsThe main EV populations were 100–250 nm and over 90% were <500 nm irrespective of the activation. However, activation pathways differentially regulated the quantity and the quality of EVs, which also formed constitutively. Thrombogenic activation was the most potent physiological EV-generator. LPS was a weak inducer of EVs, which had a selective protein content from the thrombogenic EVs. Ca2+ ionophore generated a large population of protein-poor and unselectively packed EVs. By proteomic analysis, EVs were highly heterogeneous after the different activations and between the vesicle subpopulations.ConclusionsAlthough platelets constitutively release EVs, vesiculation can be increased, and the activation pathway determines the number and the cargo of the formed EVs. These activation-dependent variations render the use of protein content in sample normalization invalid. Since most platelet EVs are 100–250 nm, only a fraction has been analyzed by previously used methods, for example, flow cytometry. As the EV subpopulations could not be distinguished and large vesicle populations may be lost by differential centrifugation, novel methods are required for the isolation and the differentiation of all EVs.

Body fluids are a rich source of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which carry cargo derived from the secreting cells. So far, biomarkers for pathological conditions have been mainly searched from their protein, (mi)RNA, DNA and lipid cargo. Here, we explored the small molecule metabolites from urinary and platelet EVs relative to their matched source samples. As a proof-of-concept study of intra-EV metabolites, we compared alternative normalization methods to profile urinary EVs from prostate cancer patients before and after prostatectomy and from healthy controls.Methods: We employed targeted ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to profile over 100 metabolites in the isolated EVs, original urine samples and platelets. We determined the enrichment of the metabolites in the EVs and analyzed their subcellular origin, pathways and relevant enzymes or transporters through data base searches. EV- and urine-derived factors and ratios between metabolites were tested for normalization of the metabolomics data.Results: Approximately 1 x 1010 EVs were sufficient for detection of metabolite profiles from EVs. The profiles of the urinary and platelet EVs overlapped with each other and with those of the source materials, but they also contained unique metabolites. The EVs enriched a selection of cytosolic metabolites including members from the nucleotide and spermidine pathways, which linked to a number of EV-resident enzymes or transporters. Analysis of the urinary EVs from the patients indicated that the levels of glucuronate, D-ribose 5-phosphate and isobutyryl-L-carnitine were 2-26-fold lower in all pre-prostatectomy samples compared to the healthy control and post-prostatectomy samples (p < 0.05). These changes were only detected from EVs by normalization to EV-derived factors or with metabolite ratios, and not from the original urine samples.Conclusions: Our results suggest that metabolite analysis of EVs from different samples is feasible using a high-throughput platform and relatively small amount of sample material. With the knowledge about the specific enrichment of metabolites and normalization methods, EV metabolomics could be used to gain novel biomarker data not revealed by the analysis of the original EV source materials.

Platelets can release a heterogeneous pool of vesicles which include plasma membrane-derived microparticles (PMPs) and multivesicular body-derived exosomes. As both vesicle types are generated upon activation and their distinction is complicated due to an overlap in their molecular properties and sizes, they are best discussed as an entity, the platelet-derived microvesicles (PMVs). PMPs can be formed through several induction pathways, which determine their different molecular profiles and facilitate tailor-made participation in intercellular communication. This dynamic variability may lie behind the multifaceted and sometimes very different observations of the PMPs in physiological and pathological settings. Currently, little is known of platelet-derived exosomes. In all, PMVs not only participate in several homeostatic multicellular processes, such as hemostasis, maintenance of vascular health, and immunity, but they also play a role in thrombotic and inflammatory diseases and cancer progression. In the past few years, the number of original articles and reviews on microvesicles has dramatically increased, but the data simultaneously raise further questions, the answers to which depend on forthcoming analytical improvements. In this article, the differential activation pathways and the molecular and functional properties of PMVs are reviewed in context with their sometimes paradoxical role in health and in disease. Also, the methodological issues of PMV detection and analysis are discussed in the light of recent advances within the field.

BackgroundMesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are shown to have a great therapeutic potential in many immunological disorders. Currently the therapeutic effect of MSCs is considered to be mediated via paracrine interactions with immune cells. Umbilical cord blood is an attractive but still less studied source of MSCs. We investigated the production of extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs) from human umbilical cord blood derived MSCs (hUCBMSC) in the presence (MVstim) or absence (MVctrl) of inflammatory stimulus.MethodshUCBMSCs were cultured in serum free media with or without IFN-γ and MVs were collected from conditioned media by ultracentrifugation. The protein content of MVs were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Hypoxia induced acute kidney injury rat model was used to analyze the in vivo therapeutic potential of MVs and T-cell proliferation and induction of regulatory T cells were analyzed by co-culture assays.ResultsBoth MVstim and MVctrl showed similar T-cell modulation activity in vitro, but only MVctrls were able to protect rat kidneys from reperfusion injury in vivo. To clarify this difference in functionality we made a comparative mass spectrometric analysis of the MV protein contents. The IFN-γ stimulation induced dramatic changes in the protein content of the MVs. Complement factors (C3, C4A, C5) and lipid binding proteins (i.e apolipoproteins) were only found in the MVctrls, whereas the MVstim contained tetraspanins (CD9, CD63, CD81) and more complete proteasome complex accompanied with MHCI. We further discovered that differently produced MV pools contained specific Rab proteins suggesting that same cells, depending on external signals, produce vesicles originating from different intracellular locations.ConclusionsWe demonstrate by both in vitro and in vivo models accompanied with a detailed analysis of molecular characteristics that inflammatory conditioning of MSCs influence on the protein content and functional properties of MVs revealing the complexity of the MSC paracrine regulation.