| First Author | Garcia-Verdugo I | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Biochemistry | Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 18 | Pages | 5127-38 |
| PubMed ID | 18407667 | Mgi Jnum | J:134559 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3789251 | Doi | 10.1021/bi800070u |
| Citation | Garcia-Verdugo I, et al. (2008) Interaction of surfactant protein a with the intermediate filaments desmin and vimentin. Biochemistry 47(18):5127-38 |
| abstractText | Surfactant protein A (SP-A), a member of the collectin family that modulates innate immunity, has recently been involved in the physiology of reproduction. Consistent with the activation of ERK-1/2 and COX-2 induced by SP-A in myometrial cells, we reported previously the presence of two major proteins recognized by SP-A in these cells. Here we identify by mass spectrometry one of these SP-A targets as the intermediate filament (IF) desmin. In myometrial preparations derived from desmin-deficient mice, the absence of binding of SP-A to any 50 kDa protein confirmed the identity of this SP-A-binding site as desmin. Our data based on partial chymotrypsin digestion of pure desmin suggested that SP-A recognizes especially its rod domain, which is known to play an important role during the assembly of desmin into filaments. In line with that, electron microscopy experiments showed that SP-A inhibits in vitro the polymerization of desmin filaments. SP-A also recognized in vitro polymerized filaments in a calcium-dependent manner at a physiological ionic strength but not the C1q receptor gC1qR. Furthermore, Texas Red-labeled SP-A colocalized with desmin filaments in myometrial cells. Interestingly, vimentin, the IF characteristic of leukocytes, is one of the major proteins recognized by SP-A in protein extracts of U937 cells after PMA-induced differentiation of this monocytic cell line. Interaction of SP-A with vimentin was further confirmed using recombinant vimentin in solid-phase binding assays. The ability of SP-A to interact with desmin and vimentin, and to prevent polymerization of desmin monomers, shed light on unexpected and wider biological roles of this collectin. |
