Coronary veins determine the pattern of sympathetic innervation in the developing heart.

Anatomical congruence of peripheral nerves and blood vessels is well recognized in a variety of tissues. Their physical proximity and similar branching patterns suggest that the development of these networks might be a coordinated process. Here we show that large diameter coronary veins serve as an intermediate template for distal sympathetic axon extension in the subepicardial layer of the dorsal ventricular wall of the developing mouse heart.

Notch signaling is essential for ventricular chamber development.

Ventricular chamber morphogenesis, first manifested by trabeculae formation, is crucial for cardiac function and embryonic viability and depends on cellular interactions between the endocardium and myocardium. We show that ventricular Notch1 activity is highest at presumptive trabecular endocardium. RBPJk and Notch1 mutants show impaired trabeculation and marker expression, attenuated EphrinB2, NRG1, and BMP10 expression and signaling, and decreased myocardial proliferation.

Rac2 regulates neutrophil chemotaxis, superoxide production, and myeloid colony formation through multiple distinct effector pathways.

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) are an important component of the innate immune system. We have shown previously that migration and superoxide (O2*-) production, as well as some kinase signaling pathways are compromised in mice deficient in the Ras-related Rho GTPase Rac2. In this study, we demonstrate that Rac2 controls chemotaxis and superoxide production via distinct pathways and is critical for development of myeloid colonies in vitro.

A role of STAT3 in Rho GTPase-regulated cell migration and proliferation.

Rho family GTPases and STAT3 act as mediators of cytokine and growth factor signaling in a variety of cellular functions involved in inflammation, tumorigenesis, and development. In the course of searching for their functional connections, we found by using STAT3 knock-out mouse embryonic fibroblasts that RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42 could cause nonspecific activation of STAT3 promoter-driven luciferase reporter in the absence of STAT3, raising concerns to a body of literature where STAT3 was associated with Rho GTPases based on the reporter system. We also found that although active RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42 could all mediate Ser-727 and Tyr-705 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT3, the Rho GTPases were able to induce STAT3 activation independently of the interleukin-6 autocrine pathway, and active RhoA, Rac1, or Cdc42 could not form a stable complex with STAT3 as previously suggested, indicating an unappreciated mechanism of STAT3 activation by the Rho GTPases.

Regulation of ZAP-70 activation and TCR signaling by two related proteins, Sts-1 and Sts-2.

T cells play a central role in the recognition and elimination of foreign pathogens. Signals through the T cell receptor (TCR) control the extent and duration of the T cell response. To ensure that T cells are not inappropriately activated, signaling pathways downstream of the TCR are subject to multiple levels of positive and negative regulation.

Characterization of a brain-specific Rho GTPase-activating protein, p200RhoGAP.

The Rho GTPase-activating proteins (RhoGAPs) are a family of multifunctional molecules that transduce diverse intracellular signals by regulating Rho GTPase activities. A novel RhoGAP family member, p200RhoGAP, is cloned in human and mouse. The murine p200RhoGAP shares 86% sequence identity with the human homolog.

Identification, cDNA cloning, and targeted deletion of p70, a novel, ubiquitously expressed SH3 domain-containing protein.

In a screen for proteins that interact with Jak2, we identified a previously uncharacterized 70-kDa protein and cloned the corresponding cDNA. The predicated sequence indicates that p70 contains an SH3 domain and a C-terminal domain with similarities to the catalytic motif of phosphoglycerate mutase. p70 transcripts were found in all tissues examined.