
Syndecan-2 induced filopodia before spinogenesis; therefore, filopodia formation was used here as a model to study the early downstream signaling of syndecan-2 that leads to spinogenesis. Screening using kinase inhibitors indicated that protein kinase A (PKA) is required for syndecan-2–induced filopodia formation in both human embryonic kidney cells and hippocampal neurons. Because neurofibromin, a syndecan-2–binding partner, activates the cyclic adenosine monophosphate pathway, the role of neurofibromin in syndecan-2–induced filopodia formation was investigated by deletion mutant analysis, RNA interference, and dominant-negative mutant. The results showed that neurofibromin mediates the syndecan-2 signal to PKA. Among actin-associated proteins, Enabled (Ena)/vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) were predicted as PKA effectors downstream of syndecan-2, as Ena/VASP, which is activated by PKA, induces actin polymerization. Indeed, when the activities of Ena/VASP were blocked, syndecan-2 no longer induced filopodia formation. Finally, in addition to filopodia formation, neurofibromin and Ena/VASP contributed to spinogenesis. This study reveals a novel signaling pathway in which syndecan-2 activates PKA via neurofibromin and PKA consequently phosphorylates Ena/VASP, promoting filopodia and spine formation.
Neurofibromin 1, Dendritic Spines, Molecular Sequence Data, Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases, Cell Line, Protein Structure, Tertiary, DNA-Binding Proteins, Enzyme Activation, COS Cells, Chlorocebus aethiops, Animals, Humans, Amino Acid Sequence, Pseudopodia, Syndecan-2, Research Articles, Signal Transduction
Neurofibromin 1, Dendritic Spines, Molecular Sequence Data, Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases, Cell Line, Protein Structure, Tertiary, DNA-Binding Proteins, Enzyme Activation, COS Cells, Chlorocebus aethiops, Animals, Humans, Amino Acid Sequence, Pseudopodia, Syndecan-2, Research Articles, Signal Transduction
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