GTC
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE ADVANCED SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


Genes to Cells (2006) 11, 133-142. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2443.2006.00924.x
© 2006 Blackwell Publishing or its licensors

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Koike, S.
Right arrow Articles by Masu, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Koike, S.
Right arrow Articles by Masu, M.

The N-terminal hydrophobic sequence of autotaxin (ENPP2) functions as a signal peptide

Seiichi Koike, Kazuko Keino-Masu, Tatsuyuki Ohto and Masayuki Masu*

Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
Autotaxin, also known as ENPP2, was originally isolated from the culture medium of melanoma cells as a cell-motility promoting protein. It regulates cell growth, motility, and angiogenesis through the production of lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate. Because autotaxin shows overall structural similarity to the well-characterized PC-1, it has been assumed to be a type II transmembrane protein that is expressed on the cell surface and is released into the extracellular space after proteolytic cleavage. We found, however, that while autotaxin was efficiently secreted into the extracellular space both in vitro and in vivo, it was expressed neither on the surfaces of autotaxin-transfected cells nor on those of the autotaxin-expressing choroid plexus epithelium cells. N-terminal sequencing of the secreted autotaxin revealed that it was cleaved at two N-terminal sites that match the consensus sequences for cleavage by a signal peptidase and furin. In addition, when translated in vitro, autotaxin was co-translationally translocated into microsome membranes, and its N-terminal 3-kDa fragment corresponding to a signal sequence was cleaved. These data demonstrate that the N-terminal hydrophobic sequence of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide, not as a transmembrane segment, and thus autotaxin is synthesized as a secreted protein.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
Autotaxin, also known as ENPP2 (ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 2), was originally isolated from the culture medium of melanoma cells as a protein that promoted cell motility in vitro (Stracke et al. 1992). It is abundantly expressed in embryonic tissues and various cancer cells and has been implicated in cell growth, motility, blood vessel formation, and cancer progression (Lee et al. 1996; Bächner et al. 1999; Zhang et al. 1999; Nam et al. 2000, 2001; Debies & Welch 2001; Dufner-Beattie et al. 2001; Stassar et al. 2001; Euer et al. 2002; Black et al. 2004; Hama et al. 2004). As cloning studies revealed that autotaxin belongs to the ENPP family of ectoenzymes that catalyze the removal of nucleoside 5'-monophosphate from a wide variety of nucleotides and their derivatives (Murata et al. 1994; Narita et al. 1994), autotaxin has been thought to regulate the nucleotide metabolism in the extracellular space (Clair et al. 1997; Goding et al. 1998; Bollen et al. 2000). Recent biochemical studies done by two groups, however, revealed that purified extracellular lysophospholipase D is identical to autotaxin (Tokumura et al. 2002; Umezu-Goto et al. 2002). Therefore, the biological effects of autotaxin are now thought to be mediated by the production of lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate, and the activation of their specific receptors (Moolenaar 2002; Clair et al. 2003; Gijsbers et al. 2003; Luquain et al. 2003; Anliker & Chun 2004; Xie & Meier 2004).

ENPP1-3 possess a common structural architecture: an N-terminal hydrophobic domain, two somatomedin-B-like domains, a catalytic domain, and a nuclease-like domain (Goding et al. 1998; Bollen et al. 2000). A well-characterized member of this group of proteins, ENPP1 (also known as PC-1), was demonstrated to be a type II transmembrane protein that is expressed on the cell surface and is released into the extracellular space by proteolytic cleavage (Belli et al. 1993; Goding et al. 1998; Bollen et al. 2000). Because autotaxin shows overall structural similarity to PC-1, it has been assumed to be a type II transmembrane protein.

Here, contrary to this assumption, we demonstrate that autotaxin is synthesized as a secreted protein, not as an integral membrane protein. We show that:

These data unequivocally demonstrate that the N-terminal hydrophobic region of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide, not as a transmembrane segment.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
Autotaxin is expressed in the choroid plexus and secreted into the cerebrospinal fluid

Autotaxin has been reported to be expressed at high levels in the adult brain (Narita et al. 1994; Fuss et al. 1997), but its roles in the brain remain unknown. In order to investigate the physiological functions of autotaxin in the adult nervous system, we first examined the expression pattern of autotaxin mRNA using in situ hybridization. This analysis showed that autotaxin mRNA was abundantly expressed in the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus in the adult mouse and rat brains (Fig. 1A–C, data not shown), as reported previously (Narita et al. 1994; Fuss et al. 1997; Bächner et al. 1999). In addition, punctate signals with much weaker intensity were detected throughout the brain (data not shown). Because the choroid plexus is a secretory organ that produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain, we wondered whether autotaxin is secreted into CSF. We therefore performed immunoblotting of rat CSF with anti-autotaxin antibody, which we generated in this study by immunizing a rabbit with a peptide common to human, rat, and mouse autotaxin. We found that autotaxin was detected in the CSF as a band of about 120 kDa (Fig. 1D), as reported previously in the CSF from rats, dogs, and humans (Tanaka et al. 2004; Sato et al. 2005). It is thus likely that autotaxin is expressed in the choroid plexus and secreted into CSF.


Figure 1
View larger version (70K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 1  Expression of autotaxin in the choroid plexus. (A–C) In situ hybridization revealed the robust expression of autotaxin mRNA in the choroid plexus of the adult mouse brain. (B) and (C) show higher magnification of the choroid plexus in the 3rd and lateral ventricles, respectively (indicated by boxes in (A)). CP3V, choroid plexus of the 3rd ventricle; CPLV, choroid plexus of the lateral ventricle; Cx, cerebral cortex; Hip, hippocampus; HT, hypothalamus. Scale bar is 1 mm in (A) and 100 µm in (B–C). (D) Immunoblotting of rat cerebrospinal fluid with anti-autotaxin antibody detected a band of about 120 kDa.

 
Autotaxin is not expressed on the cell surface

Because autotaxin has been assumed to be a type II transmembrane protein, it was important to clarify how and when autotaxin is proteolytically released. In order to investigate the molecular mechanism regulating the secretion of autotaxin, we first transfected COS-7 cells with expression constructs for autotaxin as well as for other members of the ENPP family, PC-1 and B10 (also known as ENPP3) as controls, and examined the localization of these proteins using immunostaining. All the cDNAs were tagged with a FLAG sequence at the C-termini of their open reading frames in order to detect their expression with the same antibody. To identify the transfected cells, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) cDNA was co-transfected. Because these ENPP family proteins are thought to be exposed extracellularly, cell surface expression would be detected by incubating the live cells with anti-FLAG antibody. Unexpectedly, we failed to detect autotaxin immunoreactivity on the cell surface (Fig. 2A), whereas we clearly observed the cell surface expression of PC-1 and B10 (Fig. 2B,C). The same results were obtained using 293EBNA cells (data not shown), indicating that autotaxin protein, unlike PC-1 and B10, is not present on the cell surface.


Figure 2
View larger version (54K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 2  Cellular localization of autotaxin protein. (A–C) Cell surface staining of autotaxin, PC-1, and B10. COS-7 cells were transfected with the cDNAs for autotaxin (A), PC-1 (B), and B10 (C), which were tagged with FLAG sequence at the C-termini of their open reading frames. After live cells were incubated with anti-FLAG antibody, the protein expression was visualized using Cy3-conjugated secondary antibody (red). Transfected cells were labeled by co-transfection of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) cDNA (green). Autotaxin protein was not detected on the cell surface, while PC-1 and B10 proteins were clearly detected. (D–K) Cellular localization of autotaxin in the adult mouse choroid plexus. Flat-mount preparations (D, E) and sections (F–K) are shown. Cell surface staining of autotaxin in the unfixed and unpermeabilized tissues with anti-autotaxin antibody resulted in no detectable signal (D, F), whereas cell staining of autotaxin in the fixed and permeabilized tissues with the same antibody detected punctate signals in the apical portion of the choroid plexus epithelium cells (E, G). Inside the cells, autotaxin immunoreactivity (H) was co-localized with the staining of an ER marker, PDI (I). (J) and (K) show DAPI staining and the merged image, respectively. Scale bar is 20 µm in (A–C), 30 µm in (D–G), and 9 µm in (H–K).

 
Next, we performed immunohistochemistry of autotaxin in the mouse choroid plexus using anti-autotaxin antibody. When we incubated the unfixed choroid plexus with the antibody, we could not detect autotaxin on the cell surface (Fig. 2D,F). In contrast, when we stained the fixed and permeabilized choroid plexus, autotaxin immunoreactivity was clearly observed in the choroid plexus epithelium cells (Fig. 2E,G). Intracellular staining of autotaxin was co-localized with immunoreactivity of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), a marker of endoplasmic reticulum (ER), in the apical portion of the choroid plexus epithelium cells, suggesting that autotaxin is present in the ER (Fig. 2H–K). These data demonstrated that autotaxin is not presented on the surface of the choroid plexus epithelium cells, which are endogenously expressing autotaxin.

Autotaxin is efficiently secreted

To investigate whether autotaxin was secreted, we examined the protein in the culture supernatants and cell lysates of the autotaxin-transfected cells using immunoblotting with anti-autotaxin antibody. This analysis revealed that a robust band of 120 kDa was detected in the supernatants after 5-min exposure of the immunoblot to film, while a band of similar intensity was not obtained in the cell lysates until the immunoblot was exposed for 6 h (Fig. 3A), suggesting that autotaxin was much more abundant in the supernatants. The size of the band in the cell lysates (115 kDa) was slightly smaller than that in the supernatants, as previously reported (Jansen et al. 2005), suggesting that some additional post-translational modification(s) occur in the secreted form.


Figure 3
View larger version (58K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 3  Efficient secretion of autotaxin. (A) Immunoblot analysis of autotaxin (ATX). The culture supernatants (sup) and cell lysates (cell) of COS-7 and 293EBNA cells transfected with autotaxin or GFP cDNAs were analyzed by immunoblotting with anti-autotaxin antibody. The sizes of the markers are shown on the left. Asterisks indicate nonspecific immunoreactivity. An intense band of 120 kDa was detected in the supernatants after 5-min exposure of the immunoblot to film, while a band of similar intensity was obtained in the cell lysates after a 6-h exposure. Phosphodiesterase activity (PDE) in each sample and the increment of the activity after ATX transfection ({Delta}PDE), which was calculated by subtracting the endogenous PDE activity in the GFP-transfected cells, are indicated below. PDE activity was measured using p-nitrophenyl thymidine-5'-monophosphate and is shown as nmol degradation per h per µg protein. (B) Effects of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors and monensin on autotaxin secretion. The supernatants and cell lysates of the autotaxin-transfected 293EBNA cells that were incubated with one of three different inhibitors for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPI-I, II, and III) or monensin at the indicated concentrations were analyzed by immunoblotting with anti-autotaxin antibody. MMP inhibitors had no effect on autotaxin secretion, while monensin effectively inhibited the secretion of autotaxin. C, control with no drug treatment.

 
To quantitatively compare the ratio of the autotaxin protein in the supernatants and cell lysates, we measured the phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity using p-nitrophenyl thymidine-5'-monophosphate. Transfection with autotaxin cDNA resulted in a robust increase of PDE activity in the supernatants of both 293EBNA and COS-7 cells, while PDE activities were only slightly increased in the cell lysates (Fig. 3A). The PDE activities (nmol degradation/h/µg protein) conferred by autotaxin transfection, which were calculated by subtracting the endogenous PDE activities in the EGFP-transfected cells, were 51.7 and 0.26 in the supernatants and cell lysates of 293EBNA cells, respectively, and 10.7 and 0.07 in the supernatants and cell lysates of COS-7 cells, respectively (Fig. 3A). Therefore, the supernatants and cell lysates were calculated to contain 92% and 8% of total PDE activity in 293 EBNA cells, and 93% and 7% in COS-7 cells, respectively. As similar results were obtained using CHO-K1, L929, Hela, and G361 melanoma cells (data not shown), we concluded that autotaxin protein was efficiently secreted into the extracellular space in all cell types.

Because matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are known to be involved in ectodomain shedding of many important cell surface proteins (Sternlicht & Werb 2001; Stamenkovic 2003), we tested the effects of three kinds of MMP inhibitors (MMPI-I, II, and III) on autotaxin secretion. Incubation with these inhibitors did not change the amounts of autotaxin in the cell lysates or supernatants (Fig. 3B), suggesting that MMPs are not necessary for autotaxin secretion. In contrast, treatment with monensin, a secretion inhibitor, almost completely abolished the secretion of autotaxin into the supernatants, and increased the retention of autotaxin in the cell lysates (Fig. 3B).

Autotaxin is proteolytically processed

Although both autotaxin and PC-1 have one hydrophobic domain near their N-termini, a hydrophilic domain of 60 amino acid residues precedes the hydrophobic region in PC-1, while such a long hydrophilic sequence is not present in autotaxin (Fig. 4A), suggesting that the roles of the hydrophobic regions in autotaxin and PC-1 are different. Indeed, a signal peptide prediction program, SignalP 3.0 (Bendtsen et al. 2004), predicted that the signal peptide cleavage occurs in rat autotaxin between Gly27 and Phe28 with 93.3% probability, whereas the hydrophobic sequence of rat PC-1 functions as a signal anchor with 94.6% probability. Essentially the same predictions were made using human and mouse sequences, suggesting that the N-terminal hydrophobic domain in autotaxin might function as a signal peptide, whereas that in PC-1 is a transmembrane segment, as reported previously (Clair et al. 1997; Goding et al. 1998; Bollen et al. 2000).


Figure 4
View larger version (51K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 4  Proteolytic cleavage of the N-terminal region of autotaxin. (A) Kyte-Doolittle hydrophobicity plot of rat autotaxin (ATX) and PC-1. The N-terminal hydrophobic segments are indicated by shading. The SingalP 3.0 program predicts the presence of an N-terminal signal sequence cleavage in autotaxin but not in PC-1. (B) The alignment of the N-terminal sequences of autotaxin from rat, mouse, human and chicken. N-terminal sequencing of rat autotaxin secreted from the transfected 293EBNA cells revealed the presence of two proteolytic cleavage sites (shown by triangles). Closed and open triangles match the sites that are predicted to be cleaved by a signal peptidase and furin, respectively. Shading indicates the predicted signal sequence. Underlines indicate the consensus sequences (R-X-K/R-R) for furin cleavage.

 
In order to test this prediction, we examined the N-terminal amino acid sequence of autotaxin. Edman degradation analysis of rat autotaxin secreted into the supernatant of the transfected 293EBNA cells revealed that the secreted protein is composed of two molecular species with different N-terminal sequences, 28FTASR and 36AEWDEG, suggesting that autotaxin is cleaved between Gly27 and Phe28 and between Arg35 and Ala36 (Fig. 4B). The former cleavage site completely matches the predicted site for signal peptide cleavage, while the latter site closely matches the consensus sequence for cleavage by furin (Nakayama 1997). The amino acid sequences in this region are highly conserved among rat, mouse, human, and chicken, suggesting that autotaxin is likely to be proteolytically cleaved at the same positions in these species. The molar ratio of 28Phe-autotaxin to 36Ala-autotaxin was estimated to be 32 : 68 on the basis of the molar amounts of PTH-Phe and PTH-Ala in the 1st cycle of Edman degradation, suggesting that the furin-cleaved form of autotaxin was dominant.

The N-terminal hydrophobic sequence functions as a signal peptide

In order to directly examine whether the N-terminal sequence of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide, we performed in-vitro translation analysis. To this end, we made an artificial RNA encoding amino acid residues 1–243 of autotaxin tagged with a FLAG sequence at its C-terminus (Fig. 5A). The translation product contains a putative signal sequence (amino acid residues 1–27) and one potential N-glycosylation site (Fig. 5A). This mini-autotaxin construct, ATX(1–243)-FLAG enabled us to sensitively detect small changes in molecular masses of the translation products.


Figure 5
View larger version (26K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 5  The role of the N-terminal hydrophobic region of autotaxin as a signal peptide. (A) A schematic diagram showing a mini-autotaxin construct used in the in-vitro translation experiment. The mRNA encoding amino acid residues 1–243 of autotaxin tagged with a FLAG sequence at its C-terminus, ATX(1–243)-FLAG was used. The translated peptide contains a putative signal sequence (SS) and one potential N-glycosylation site (indicated by a circle) at position 54. (B) Immunoblot analysis of the in vitro translation products with anti-FLAG antibody. The ATX(1–243)-FLAG RNA was translated to yield a 33-kDa protein using reticulocyte lysate in the absence of microsome membranes (MM), while addition of microsome membranes resulted in the appearance of 35-kDa and 30-kDa moieties. When the product translated in the presence of microsome membranes was treated with proteinase K (ProtK), the peptides were resistant to the digestion in the absence of Triton X-100 (Triton), but were degraded when microsome membranes were disrupted by Triton X-100, suggesting that autotaxin was protected from proteinase K digestion by translocation into microsome membranes. Endoglycosidase H treatment (EndoH) in the presence of Triton X-100 shifted the 35-kDa protein to 30 kDa, indicating that the 35-kDa protein is an N-glycosylated form of the 30-kDa protein.

 
When ATX(1–243)-FLAG RNA was translated using a cell-free reticulocyte lysate translation system and subjected to immunoblotting with anti-FLAG antibody, a band of 33 kDa was detected, whereas translation in the presence of microsome membranes gave rise to a major band of 35 kDa and a minor band of 30 kDa (Fig. 5B). Next, when an aliquot of the product translated with microsomes was treated with proteinase K, the peptide was resistant to proteinase K digestion, while when the microsome membranes were disrupted by Triton X-100, the translated peptide was completely degraded by proteinase K (Fig. 5B). These results suggest that ATX(1–243)-FLAG peptide translated with microsomes was protected from proteinase K digestion by co-translational translocation into microsome membranes. Next, when an aliquot of the product translated with microsomes was treated with endoglycosidase H in the presence of Triton X-100, the 35-kDa band shifted to 30 kDa (Fig. 5B), suggesting that the 35-kDa protein was an N-glycosylated form of the 30-kDa protein. The non-glycosylated product translated without microsomes was 33 kDa, while the de-glycosylated product translated with microsome membranes was 30 kDa, indicating that the addition of microsome membranes resulted in 3-kDa reduction in the apparent molecular mass of the product. As this size is in agreement with the calculated molecular mass of the signal sequence and we detected the translated products using the antibody against the C-terminal FLAG epitope, these results suggest that an N-terminal 3-kDa fragment corresponding to the signal sequence was removed by incubation with microsome membranes containing a signal peptidase and other components. Taken together, these data indicate that the N-terminal hydrophobic domain of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide.


    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
In this study, we showed that

These results indicate that the N-terminal hydrophobic region of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide, not as a transmembrane segment, and thus autotaxin is synthesized as a secreted protein. Recently, using domain swapping and mutagenesis experiments, Jansen et al. (2005) reached the similar conclusion that autotaxin is synthesized as a prepro-enzyme and the proteolytically processed protein is secreted. Our direct results using in vitro translation analysis further strengthen the notion that autotaxin possesses a cleavable signal sequence.

Since autotaxin mRNA is robustly expressed in the choroid plexus of the adult mouse and rat brain (this study; Narita et al. 1994; Fuss et al. 1997; Bächner et al. 1999) and autotaxin protein is detected in the CSF from rats, dogs, and humans (this study; Tanaka et al. 2004; Sato et al. 2005), it is likely that autotaxin produced in the choroid plexus is efficiently secreted into CSF in many species. Recently, Sato et al. (2005) showed that autotaxin is responsible for the long-lasting response of CSF that induces neurite retraction of differentiated PC12 cells over several hours. In addition, they found that leptomeningeal cells expressed the highest levels of lysophospholipase D activity and autotaxin protein. Therefore, autotaxin expressed in the choroid plexus and leptomeninges may exert pleiotropic effects and also function as a barrier for extending neurites. Because autotaxin was also detected in human serum and seminal fluid (Tanaka et al. 2004) and LPA was found to be produced in biological fluids such as human follicular fluid, saliva, and ascites (Tokumura 2002), autotaxin may in general be secreted and function in the fluid environment.

By determining the N-terminal sequence of the secreted autotaxin, we showed that rat autotaxin is cleaved between Gly27 and Phe28, and between Arg35 and Ala36. Jansen et al. (2005) reported that proteolytic cleavage occurred at exactly the same sites in rat autotaxin that was purified from the culture medium of autotaxin-transfected HEK293 cells. However, the N-terminus of autotaxin that was originally purified from human melanoma cells started from Asp49 (Murata et al. 1994), whereas the protein purified from human plasma started from both Ala36 (Tokumura et al. 2002). Therefore, 36Ala-autotaxin produced by furin cleavage, which we detected as the major form of autotaxin in the supernatant of the 293EBNA cells, is indeed present in the native protein, but the molecular mechanism that generates 49Asp-autotaxin remains to be elucidated. In addition, Jansen et al. (2005) reported that specific lysophospholipase-D activity of the mature autotaxin protein was about 30% higher than that of the pro-autotaxin, but the activity of 49Asp-autotaxin remains to be determined. Therefore, it will be necessary to determine the functional difference of three forms of autotaxin in future. Because MMPs, a growing family of zinc-dependent proteolytic enzymes that regulate many biological processes, are known to play a pivotal role in the functional regulation of growth factors and their receptors, cytokines, cell surface proteoglycans, and a variety of enzymes (Sternlicht & Werb 2001; Stamenkovic 2003), we tested the effect of MMP inhibitors on autotaxin secretion, but we did not observe any effects. In contrast, monensin, a secretion inhibitor, almost completely abolished the secretion of autotaxin. Because monensin is known to disrupt the trans-Golgi apparatus cisternae near the exit point of secretory vesicles (Mollenhauer et al. 1990), autotaxin is thought to be secreted via a regulatory secretion pathway. Further studies will be necessary to elucidate the molecular mechanism that regulates the proteolytic processing, secretion, and activation of autotaxin.

Taken together, our findings indicate that the N-terminal hydrophobic region of autotaxin functions as a signal peptide, and thus autotaxin is synthesized as a secreted protein. These findings should have implications regarding the functions and regulation of autotaxin, and should provide insights useful for the development of inhibitors of autotaxin for possible therapeutic use.


    Experimental procedures
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
Isolation and characterization of autotaxin cDNA

In our previous study (Ohto et al. 2002), we isolated autotaxin cDNA on the basis of its specific expression in the floor plate of the E13 rat embryonic spinal cord. A full-length autotaxin cDNA was isolated from an E18 rat forebrain cDNA library (a kind gift of K. Moriyoshi and S. Nakanishi, Kyoto University). Three positive clones were obtained from about 100 000 plaques. Sequence analysis, including Kyte-Doolittle hydrophobicity plot construction, was performed using GENETYX-MAC (Genetyx Co., Japan). The signal peptidase cleavage site was predicted using the SignalP 3.0 server (Bendtsen et al. 2004; http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/SignalP/).

In situ hybridization

In situ hybridization was performed as previously described (Ohto et al. 2002). Briefly, adult mice were perfusion-fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) under deep anesthesia induced by intraperitoneal injection of an excess of sodium pentobarbital. After their brains were incubated in 30% sucrose/PBS at 4 °C overnight and embedded in OCT compound (Sakura Finetek Japan), 10-µm-thick sections were cut using a cryostat CM1850 (Leica). The sections were treated with 1 µg/mL proteinase K in PBT (PBS with 0.1% Tween-20) at 37 °C for 5 min, washed and fixed with 4% PFA, and hybridized with 1 µg/mL digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled anti-sense RNA probe (nt 678–1323 of mouse autotaxin cDNA; GENBANK accession number NM015744) in a hybridization solution (50% formamide, 5x SSC pH 4.5, 1% SDS, 50 µg/mL heparin, 50 µg/mL yeast RNA) at 65 °C for 16 h. Slides were washed with 50% formamide, 5x SSC, 1% SDS at 65 °C for 30 min, and with 50% formamide, 2x SSC at 65 °C for 30 min three times, and then incubated with an alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-DIG antibody (Roche Diagnostics) at 4 °C overnight. After washing with Tris-buffered saline with 0.1% Tween-20, signals were detected using BM purple (Roche Diagnostics) in the presence of 2 mM levamisole (Sigma) at room temperature.

Production of anti-autotaxin polyclonal antibodies

Rabbits were immunized with synthetic peptides, KVMPNIEKLRSC (ATX-N1) and LKTYLHTYESEIC (ATX-C1), which were conjugated to keyhole lympet hemocyanin (Transgenic Inc.). These two sequences are commonly found in human, rat, and mouse autotaxin. The antisera obtained were purified using peptide affinity columns. Anti-ATX-N1 and anti-ATX-C1 antibodies proved to be useful for immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

Preparation of cerebrospinal fluid

After an adult rat was deeply anesthetized with pentobarbital, cerebrospinal fluid was collected from the cerebromedullary cisterna with a fine needle. All the experiments using animals were approved by the animal care and use committee of the University of Tsukuba, and performed under its guidelines.

Cell culture and transfection

COS-7 (RIKEN cell bank) and 293EBNA (Invitrogen) cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and antibiotics. Cells grown in 35-mm dishes were transfected using Lipofectamine Transfection Reagent (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. To examine the mechanism that regulates the secretion of autotaxin, the cells were incubated with 1–1000 µM matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor I, II, or III (Calbiochem), or with 0.1–10 µM monensin (Nacalai Tesque Inc.) overnight.

Cell surface staining

For cell surface staining experiments, autotaxin, PC-1, and B10 cDNAs tagged with a FLAG sequence (DYKDDDDK) at the C-termini of their open reading frames were subcloned into pCEP4 vector (Invitrogen). Mouse PC-1 and human B10 cDNAs were provided by J.W. Goding and Y. Hayashi, respectively. Twenty-four hours after COS-7 cells grown on cover slips were transfected, live cells were incubated with anti-FLAG (M2) monoclonal antibody (1 : 2000, Sigma) in PBS with 1% heat-inactivated normal goat serum (HINGS) at room temperature for 1 h. After washing, the cells were fixed with 4% PFA and then incubated with Cy3-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody (1 : 1000, Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories). Fluorescent images were recorded using a laser scanning microscope LSM510 (Zeiss).

Immunohistochemistry

Immunohistochemical analysis of autotaxin in the adult mouse choroid plexus was performed using anti-ATX-C1 antibody. For cell surface staining, the choroid plexus was dissected out and incubated with anti-ATX-C1 antibody (1 : 500) in PBS with 1% HINGS at 4 °C for 6 h. After washing, it was fixed with 4% PFA, permeabilized in PBS supplemented with 1% HINGS and 0.1% Tween-20 (PHT), and incubated with Cy3-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 1000, Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories). For cell staining, the choroid plexus was fixed with 4% PFA, permeabilized in PHT, and incubated with anti-ATX-C1 antibody at 4 °C for 6 h, and then with Cy3-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody. Fluorescent images were observed after making flat-mounted preparations or cryostat sections. To examine the intracellular localization, cryostat sections of the fixed choroid plexus were incubated with anti-ATX-C1 and anti-PDI antibodies (1 : 500, Stressgen Bioreagents) in PHT solution. After washing, the slides were incubated with Cy3-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody, Alexa-488-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody (1 : 1000, Molecular probes), and 4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole dihyrochloride (1 µg/mL, Wako).

Immunoblot analysis

For immunoblotting of autotaxin, cells grown in 35-mm dishes were transfected with autotaxin cDNA subcloned into pCEP4, and pEGFP-N1 (BD Biosciences) was used as a negative control. Twenty-four hours after transfection, the culture medium was replaced with serum-free Opti-MEM I medium (Invitrogen) supplemented with GlutaMax I (Invitrogen) and the cells were further cultured. Cells were harvested 48 h after transfection and lyzed in ice-cold buffer containing 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 1 mM CaCl2, 0.1% Triton X-100 and Complete Protease Inhibitor (Roche Diagnostic). The lysates were centrifuged at 20 000 g for 15 min at 4 °C, and the supernatants were used for immunoblotting. Culture supernatants were centrifuged at 20 000 g for 15 min at 4 °C to remove cell debris. Protein concentrations were determined using a Micro BCA protein assay kit (Pierce). Five micrograms of cell lysates and 1 µg of culture supernatants were separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred to Immobilon-P PVDF membranes (Millipore). After blocking in a buffer containing 5% skim milk (Nacalai Tesque Inc.) in PBS supplemented with 0.1% Tween-20, the membranes were incubated with anti-ATX-N1 polyclonal antibody (1 : 1000) and then with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody (1 : 10 000, Bio-Rad). The signal was detected using ECL Western Blotting Detection Reagents (Amersham) according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Enzyme assay

For measuring phosphodiesterase activity, transfection and preparation of the cell lysates and supernatants were done as described in ‘Immunoblot analysis.’ Three micrograms of the cell lysate (approximately 1% of the total cell lysate) and 100 ng of the supernatant were incubated with p-nitrophenyl thymidine-5'-monophosphate (Sigma) at 37 °C for 30 min and the OD at 410 nm was measured (Gijsbers et al. 2003).

Protein sequencing of autotaxin

For protein sequencing of autotaxin, the culture supernatant of the 293EBNA cells transfected with pCEP4-autotaxin was prepared as described in ‘Cell culture and transfection above. The collected medium (3 mL) was precipitated with trichloroacetate, subjected to SDS-PAGE, and transferred to an Immobilon-P membrane, which was then stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 (Bio-Rad). A protein band of about 120 kDa, which was detected in the supernatant of the autotaxin-transfected cells but not of untransfected cells, was excised and subjected to Edman degradation analysis to determine its N-terminal amino acid sequence.

In vitro translation

In vitro translation was performed using the Rabbit Reticulocyte Lysate System (nuclease treated, Promega) and Canine Pancreatic Microsome Membranes (Promega) according to the manufacturer's instructions. First, the 5'ß-globin leader sequence and a FLAG sequence with a stop codon were added to the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively, of the cDNA encoding the autotaxin N-terminal fragment (amino acid residues 1–243) and the resulting construct was subcloned into pBluescript II KS+ (Stratagene). The resultant cDNA was linearized with NotI and transcribed in vitro using an mMessage mMachine Capped RNA Transcription Kit (Ambion) and T3 RNA polymerase (Roche). The in-vitro transcribed mRNA (500 ng) was translated using reticulocyte lysate in the presence or absence of microsome membranes at 30 °C for 2 h. In protease digestion experiments, aliquots of the translation products were treated with 25 ng/µL proteinase K at 37 °C for 30 min, in the presence or absence of 1% Triton X-100. To remove the N-linked oligosaccharides, aliquots of the translation products were incubated with 0.5 mU of endoglycosidase H (Roche) in the presence of 1% Triton X-100 at 37 °C for 2 h. The products were subjected to immunoblotting using anti-FLAG (M2) antibody (1 : 1000), HRP-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody (1 : 10 000, Chemicon), and ECL Western Blotting Detection Reagents.


    Acknowledgements
 
This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas and the 21st Century COE program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. We thank K. Moriyoshi and S. Nakanishi for a rat brain cDNA library, J.W. Goding and Y. Hayashi for mouse PC-1 and human B10 cDNAs, respectively, N. Takahashi and N. Okamura for valuable suggestions on protein analysis, and Y. Hatanaka for critical reading of the manuscript.

The nucleotide sequence reported in this paper has been submitted to the GENBANK database with accession number DQ131564.


    Footnotes
 
Communicated by: Masayuki M. Yamamoto

* Correspondence: E-mail: mmasu{at}md.tsukuba.ac.jp


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Results
 Discussion
 Experimental procedures
 References
 
Anliker, B. & Chun, J. (2004) Cell surface receptors in lysophospholipid signaling. Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 15, 457–465.[CrossRef][Medline]

Bächner, D., Ahrens, M., Betat, N., Schroder, D. & Gross, G. (1999) Developmental expression analysis of murine autotaxin (ATX). Mech. Dev. 84, 121–125.[CrossRef][Medline]

Belli, S.I., van Driel, I.R. & Goding, J.W. (1993) Identification and characterization of a soluble form of the plasma cell membrane glycoprotein PC-1 (5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase). Eur. J. Biochem. 217, 421–428.[Medline]

Bendtsen, J.D., Nielsen, H., von Heijne, G. & Brunak, S. (2004) Improved prediction of signal peptides: SignalP 3.0. J. Mol. Biol. 340, 783–795.[CrossRef][Medline]

Black, E.J., Clair, T., Delrow, J., Neiman, P. & Gillespie, D.A. (2004) Microarray analysis identifies Autotaxin, a tumour cell motility and angiogenic factor with lysophospholipase D activity, as a specific target of cell transformation by v-Jun. Oncogene 23, 2357–2366.[CrossRef][Medline]

Bollen, M., Gijsbers, R., Ceulemans, H., Stalmans, W. & Stefan, C. (2000) Nucleotide pyrophosphatases/phosphodiesterases on the move. Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 35, 393–432.[CrossRef][Medline]

Clair, T., Aoki, J., Koh, E., et al. (2003) Autotaxin hydrolyzes sphingosylphosphorylcholine to produce the regulator of migration, sphingosine-1-phosphate. Cancer Res. 63, 5446–5453.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Clair, T., Lee, H.Y., Liotta, L.A. & Stracke, M.L. (1997) Autotaxin is an exoenzyme possessing 5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase/ATP pyrophosphatase and ATPase activities. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 996–1001.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Debies, M.T. & Welch, D.R. (2001) Genetic basis of human breast cancer metastasis. J. Mammary Gland Biol. Neoplasia 6, 441–451.[CrossRef][Medline]

Dufner-Beattie, J., Lemons, R.S. & Thorburn, A. (2001) Retinoic acid-induced expression of autotaxin in N-myc-amplified neuroblastoma cells. Mol. Carcinog. 30, 181–189.[CrossRef][Medline]

Euer, N., Schwirzke, M., Evtimova, V., et al. (2002) Identification of genes associated with metastasis of mammary carcinoma in metastatic versus non-metastatic cell lines. Anticancer Res. 22, 733–740.[Medline]

Fuss, B., Baba, H., Phan, T., Tuohy, V.K. & Macklin, W.B. (1997) Phosphodiesterase I, a novel adhesion molecule and/or cytokine involved in oligodendrocyte function. J. Neurosci. 17, 9095–9103.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Gijsbers, R., Aoki, J., Arai, H. & Bollen, M. (2003) The hydrolysis of lysophospholipids and nucleotides by autotaxin (NPP2) involves a single catalytic site. FEBS Lett. 538, 60–64.[CrossRef][Medline]

Goding, J.W., Terkeltaub, R., Maurice, M., Deterre, P., Sali, A. & Belli, S.I. (1998) Ecto-phosphodiesterase/pyrophosphatase of lymphocytes and non-lymphoid cells: structure and function of the PC-1 family. Immunol. Rev. 161, 11–26.[CrossRef][Medline]

Hama, K., Aoki, J., Fukaya, M., et al. (2004) Lysophosphatidic acid and autotaxin stimulate cell motility of neoplastic and non-neoplastic cells through LPA1. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 17634–17639.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Jansen, S., Stefan, C., Creemers, J.W., et al. (2005) Proteolytic maturation and activation of autotaxin (NPP2), a secreted metastasis-enhancing lysophospholipase D. J. Cell Sci. 118, 3081–3089.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Lee, H.Y., Clair, T., Mulvaney, P.T., et al. (1996) Stimulation of tumor cell motility linked to phosphodiesterase catalytic site of autotaxin. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 24408–24412.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Luquain, C., Sciorra, V.A. & Morris, A.J. (2003) Lysophosphatidic acid signaling: how a small lipid does big things. Trends Biochem. Sci. 28, 377–383.[CrossRef][Medline]

Mollenhauer, H.H., Morre, D.J. & Rowe, L.D. (1990) Alteration of intracellular traffic by monensin; mechanism, specificity and relationship to toxicity. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1031, 225–246.[Medline]

Moolenaar, W.H. (2002) Lysophospholipids in the limelight: autotaxin takes center stage. J. Cell Biol. 158, 197–199.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Murata, J., Lee, H.Y., Clair, T., et al. (1994) cDNA cloning of the human tumor motility-stimulating protein, autotaxin, reveals a homology with phosphodiesterases. J. Biol. Chem. 269, 30479–30484.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Nakayama, K. (1997) Furin: a mammalian subtilisin/Kex2p-like endoprotease involved in processing of a wide variety of precursor proteins. Biochem. J. 327, 625–635.[Medline]

Nam, S.W., Clair, T., Campo, C.K., Lee, H.Y., Liotta, L.A. & Stracke, M.L. (2000) Autotaxin (ATX), a potent tumor motogen, augments invasive and metastatic potential of ras-transformed cells. Oncogene 19, 241–247.[CrossRef][Medline]

Nam, S.W., Clair, T., Kim, Y.S., et al. (2001) Autotaxin (NPP-2), a metastasis-enhancing motogen, is an angiogenic factor. Cancer Res. 61, 6938–6944.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Narita, M., Goji, J., Nakamura, H. & Sano, K. (1994) Molecular cloning, expression, and localization of a brain-specific phosphodiesterase I/nucleotide pyrophosphatase (PD-I alpha) from rat brain. J. Biol. Chem. 269, 28235–28242.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Ohto, T., Uchida, H., Yamazaki, H., Keino-Masu, K., Matsui, A. & Masu, M. (2002) Identification of a novel nonlysosomal sulphatase expressed in the floor plate, choroid plexus and cartilage. Genes Cells 7, 173–185.[Abstract]

Sato, K., Malchinkhuu, E., Muraki, T., et al. (2005) Identification of autotaxin as a neurite retraction-inducing factor of PC12 cells in cerebrospinal fluid and its possible sources. J. Neurochem. 92, 904–914.[CrossRef][Medline]

Stamenkovic, I. (2003) Extracellular matrix remodeling: the role of matrix metalloproteinases. J. Pathol. 200, 448–464.[CrossRef][Medline]

Stassar, M.J., Devitt, G., Brosius, M., et al. (2001) Identification of human renal cell carcinoma associated genes by suppression subtractive hybridization. Br. J. Cancer 85, 1372–1382.[CrossRef][Medline]

Sternlicht, M.D. & Werb, Z. (2001) How matrix metalloproteinases regulate cell behavior. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 17, 463–516.[CrossRef][Medline]

Stracke, M.L., Krutzsch, H.C., Unsworth, E.J., et al. (1992) Identification, purification, and partial sequence analysis of autotaxin, a novel motility-stimulating protein. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 2524–2529.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Tanaka, M., Kishi, Y., Takanezawa, Y., Kakehi, Y., Aoki, J. & Arai, H. (2004) Prostatic acid phosphatase degrades lysophosphatidic acid in seminal plasma. FEBS Lett. 571, 197–204.[CrossRef][Medline]

Tokumura, A. (2002) Physiological and pathophysiological roles of lysophosphatidic acids produced by secretory lysophospholipase D in body fluids. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1582, 18–25.[Medline]

Tokumura, A., Majima, E., Kariya, Y., et al. (2002) Identification of human plasma lysophospholipase D, a lysophosphatidic acid-producing enzyme, as autotaxin, a multifunctional phosphodiesterase. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 39436–39442.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Umezu-Goto, M., Kishi, Y., Taira, A., et al. (2002) Autotaxin has lysophospholipase D activity leading to tumor cell growth and motility by lysophosphatidic acid production. J. Cell Biol. 158, 227–233.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Xie, Y. & Meier, K.E. (2004) Lysophospholipase D and its role in LPA production. Cell Signal. 16, 975–981.[Medline]

Zhang, G., Zhao, Z., Xu, S., Ni, L. & Wang, X. (1999) Expression of autotaxin mRNA in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Chin. Med. J. 112, 330–332.[Medline]

Received: 1 September 2005
Accepted: 6 November 2005




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Physiol. GenomicsHome page
K. Ganguly, T. Stoeger, S. C. Wesselkamper, C. Reinhard, M. A. Sartor, M. Medvedovic, C. R. Tomlinson, I. Bolle, J. M. Mason, G. D. Leikauf, et al.
Candidate genes controlling pulmonary function in mice: transcript profiling and predicted protein structure
Physiol Genomics, November 14, 2007; 31(3): 410 - 421.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Biol. Chem.Home page
S. Jansen, N. Callewaert, I. Dewerte, M. Andries, H. Ceulemans, and M. Bollen
An Essential Oligomannosidic Glycan Chain in the Catalytic Domain of Autotaxin, a Secreted Lysophospholipase-D
J. Biol. Chem., April 13, 2007; 282(15): 11084 - 11091.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Koike, S.
Right arrow Articles by Masu, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Koike, S.
Right arrow Articles by Masu, M.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE ADVANCED SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS