The sphingolipids, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC), can induce or inhibit cellular migration. The intermediate filament protein vimentin is an inducer of migration and a marker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Given that keratin intermediate filaments are regulated by SPC, with consequences for cell motility, we wanted to determine whether vimentin is a...

BACKGROUND We have previously established aberrant DNA methylation of vimentin exon-1 (VIM methylation) as a common epigenetic event in colon cancer and as a biomarker for detecting colon neoplasia. We now examine vimentin methylation in neoplasia of the upper gastrointestinal tract. METHODS Using a quantitative real-time methylation-specific PCR assay, we tested for vimentin methylation in a...

The p17 protein of avian reovirus (ARV) causes cell cycle retardation in a variety of cell lines; however, the underlying mechanism(s) by which p17 regulates the cell cycle remains largely unknown. We demonstrate for the first time that p17 interacts with CDK1 and vimentin as revealed by reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays. Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that...

Background: Epigenetic mechanisms including DNA methylation are key regulators of gene activity and may play key roles in carcinogenesis through cumulative activation and inactivation of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and other genes. Increased vimentin gene expression has been reported in various tumor cell lines and tissues including breast cancer. In addition, methylation of the vimentin...

Vimentin is an intermediate filament protein, predominantly expressed in cells of mesenchymal origin, although its aberrant expression is seen in many carcinomas during epithelial mesenchymal transition. In cancer, vimentin expression is associated with the transition from a more differentiated epithelial phenotype to a dedifferentiated state. In view of the perceived role of keratins (Ks) as r...

How are phosphorylated kinases transported over long intracellular distances, such as in the case of axon to cell body signaling after nerve injury? Here, we show that the MAP kinases Erk1 and Erk2 are phosphorylated in sciatic nerve axoplasm upon nerve injury, concomitantly with the production of soluble forms of the intermediate filament vimentin by local translation and calpain cleavage in a...

We produced a monoclonal antibody (MAb) (7G10) that has blocking activity against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). In this study, we identified the components of the 7G10 MAb-bound complex as cytoskeletal filaments: vimentin, cytokeratin 8, cytokeratin 18, actin, and hair type II basic keratin. Vimentin bound to PRRSV nucleocapsid protein and anti-vimentin antibodies...

Peptidylarginine deiminase (proteinarginine iminohydrolase, EC 3.5.3.15) converted some arginine residues to citrulline residues in soluble vimentin, in a micromolar Ca2+-dependent manner and resulted in the loss of polymerization competence of the intermediate filament protein. When about 8 mol of residues/mol of vimentin were deiminated, there was a complete loss of filament forming ability. ...

Chemokine-induced polarization of lymphocytes involves the rapid collapse of vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs) into an aggregate within the uropod. Little is known about the interactions of lymphocyte vimentin with other cytoskeletal elements. We demonstrate that human peripheral blood T lymphocytes express plectin, an IF-binding, cytoskeletal cross-linking protein. Plectin associates with ...

To study the role of the amino-terminal domain of the desmin subunit in intermediate filament (IF) formation, several deletions in the sequence encoding this domain were made. The deleted hamster desmin genes were fused to the RSV promoter. Expression of such constructs in vimentin-free MCF-7 cells as well as in vimentin-containing HeLa cells, resulted in the synthesis of mutant proteins of the...