| First Author | Huang QQ | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | J Biol Chem | Volume | 283 |
| Issue | 38 | Pages | 25887-99 |
| PubMed ID | 18617524 | Mgi Jnum | J:141867 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3819912 | Doi | 10.1074/jbc.M801163200 |
| Citation | Huang QQ, et al. (2008) Role of H2-calponin in regulating macrophage motility and phagocytosis. J Biol Chem 283(38):25887-99 |
| abstractText | The actin cytoskeleton plays a major role in cell motility that is essential for the function of phagocytes. Calponin is an actin-associated regulatory protein. Here we report the finding of significant levels of the h2 isoform of calponin in peripheral blood cells of myeloid lineage. To study the functional significance, h2-calponin gene (Cnn2) interrupted mice were constructed. Germ line transmission of the Cnn2-flox-neo allele was obtained in chimeras from two independent clones of targeted embryonic stem cells. The insertion of the neo(R) cassette into intron 2 of the Cnn2 gene resulted in a significant knockdown of h2-calponin expression. Removing the frt-flanked neo(R) cassette by FLP1 recombinase rescued the knockdown effect. Cre recombinase-induced deletion of the loxP-flanked exon 2 eliminated the expression of h2-calponin protein. H2-calponin-free mice showed reduced numbers of peripheral blood neutrophils and monocytes. H2-calponin-free macrophages demonstrated a higher rate of proliferation and faster migration than that of h2-calponin-positive cells, consistent with a faster diapedesis of peripheral monocytes and neutrophils. H2-calponin-free macrophages showed reduced spreading in adhesion culture together with decreased tropomyosin in the actin cytoskeleton. The lack of h2-calponin also significantly increased macrophage phagocytotic activity, suggesting a novel mechanism to regulate phagocyte functions. |
