Browsing by Author "Lee, Whasil"

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    Inflammatory signaling sensitizes Piezo1 mechanotransduction in articular chondrocytes as a pathogenic feed-forward mechanism in osteoarthritis.
    (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021-03) Lee, Whasil; Nims, Robert J; Savadipour, Alireza; Zhang, Qiaojuan; Leddy, Holly A; Liu, Fang; McNulty, Amy L; Chen, Yong; Guilak, Farshid; Liedtke, Wolfgang B
    Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful and debilitating condition of synovial joints without any disease-modifying therapies [A. M. Valdes, T. D. Spector, Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 7, 23-32 (2011)]. We previously identified mechanosensitive PIEZO channels, PIEZO1 and PIEZO2, both expressed in articular cartilage, to function in chondrocyte mechanotransduction in response to injury [W. Lee et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, E5114-E5122 (2014); W. Lee, F. Guilak, W. Liedtke, Curr. Top. Membr. 79, 263-273 (2017)]. We therefore asked whether interleukin-1-mediated inflammatory signaling, as occurs in OA, influences Piezo gene expression and channel function, thus indicative of maladaptive reprogramming that can be rationally targeted. Primary porcine chondrocyte culture and human osteoarthritic cartilage tissue were studied. We found that interleukin-1α (IL-1α) up-regulated Piezo1 in porcine chondrocytes. Piezo1 expression was significantly increased in human osteoarthritic cartilage. Increased Piezo1 expression in chondrocytes resulted in a feed-forward pathomechanism whereby increased function of Piezo1 induced excess intracellular Ca2+ at baseline and in response to mechanical deformation. Elevated resting state Ca2+ in turn rarefied the F-actin cytoskeleton and amplified mechanically induced deformation microtrauma. As intracellular substrates of this OA-related inflammatory pathomechanism, in porcine articular chondrocytes exposed to IL-1α, we discovered that enhanced Piezo1 expression depended on p38 MAP-kinase and transcription factors HNF4 and ATF2/CREBP1. CREBP1 directly bound to the proximal PIEZO1 gene promoter. Taken together, these signaling and genetic reprogramming events represent a detrimental Ca2+-driven feed-forward mechanism that can be rationally targeted to stem the progression of OA.
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    Nanomechanics of Ankyrin Repeat Proteins
    (2011) Lee, Whasil

    Ankyrin repeats (ARs) are polypeptide motifs identified in thousands of proteins. Many AR proteins play a function as scaffolds in protein-protein interactions which may require specific mechanical properties. Also, a number of AR proteins have been proposed to mediate mechanotransduction in a variety of different functional settings. The folding and stability of a number of AR proteins have been studied in detail by chemical and temperature denaturation experiments, yet the mechanic of AR proteins remain largely unknown. In this dissertation, we have researched the mechanical properties of AR proteins by using protein engineering and a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-molecule force spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations. Three kinds of AR proteins were investigated: NI6C (synthetic AR protein), D34 (of ankyrin-R) and gankyrin (oncoprotein). While the main focus of this research was to characterize the response of AR proteins to mechanical forces, our results extended beyond the protein nanomechanics to the understanding of protein folding mechanisms.

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    Synergy between Piezo1 and Piezo2 channels confers high-strain mechanosensitivity to articular cartilage.
    (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2014-11-25) Lee, Whasil; Leddy, Holly A; Chen, Yong; Lee, Suk Hee; Zelenski, Nicole A; McNulty, Amy L; Wu, Jason; Beicker, Kellie N; Coles, Jeffrey; Zauscher, Stefan; Grandl, Jörg; Sachs, Frederick; Guilak, Farshid; Liedtke, Wolfgang B
    Diarthrodial joints are essential for load bearing and locomotion. Physiologically, articular cartilage sustains millions of cycles of mechanical loading. Chondrocytes, the cells in cartilage, regulate their metabolic activities in response to mechanical loading. Pathological mechanical stress can lead to maladaptive cellular responses and subsequent cartilage degeneration. We sought to deconstruct chondrocyte mechanotransduction by identifying mechanosensitive ion channels functioning at injurious levels of strain. We detected robust expression of the recently identified mechanosensitive channels, PIEZO1 and PIEZO2. Combined directed expression of Piezo1 and -2 sustained potentiated mechanically induced Ca(2+) signals and electrical currents compared with single-Piezo expression. In primary articular chondrocytes, mechanically evoked Ca(2+) transients produced by atomic force microscopy were inhibited by GsMTx4, a PIEZO-blocking peptide, and by Piezo1- or Piezo2-specific siRNA. We complemented the cellular approach with an explant-cartilage injury model. GsMTx4 reduced chondrocyte death after mechanical injury, suggesting a possible therapy for reducing cartilage injury and posttraumatic osteoarthritis by attenuating Piezo-mediated cartilage mechanotransduction of injurious strains.
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    TRPV4 is necessary for trigeminal irritant pain and functions as a cellular formalin receptor.
    (Pain, 2014-12) Chen, Yong; Kanju, Patrick; Fang, Quan; Lee, Suk Hee; Parekh, Puja K; Lee, Whasil; Moore, Carlene; Brenner, Daniel; Gereau, Robert W; Wang, Fan; Liedtke, Wolfgang
    Detection of external irritants by head nociceptor neurons has deep evolutionary roots. Irritant-induced aversive behavior is a popular pain model in laboratory animals. It is used widely in the formalin model, where formaldehyde is injected into the rodent paw, eliciting quantifiable nocifensive behavior that has a direct, tissue-injury-evoked phase, and a subsequent tonic phase caused by neural maladaptation. The formalin model has elucidated many antipain compounds and pain-modulating signaling pathways. We have adopted this model to trigeminally innervated territories in mice. In addition, we examined the involvement of TRPV4 channels in formalin-evoked trigeminal pain behavior because TRPV4 is abundantly expressed in trigeminal ganglion (TG) sensory neurons, and because we have recently defined TRPV4's role in response to airborne irritants and in a model for temporomandibular joint pain. We found TRPV4 to be important for trigeminal nocifensive behavior evoked by formalin whisker pad injections. This conclusion is supported by studies with Trpv4(-/-) mice and TRPV4-specific antagonists. Our results imply TRPV4 in MEK-ERK activation in TG sensory neurons. Furthermore, cellular studies in primary TG neurons and in heterologous TRPV4-expressing cells suggest that TRPV4 can be activated directly by formalin to gate Ca(2+). Using TRPA1-blocker and Trpa1(-/-) mice, we found that both TRP channels co-contribute to the formalin trigeminal pain response. These results imply TRPV4 as an important signaling molecule in irritation-evoked trigeminal pain. TRPV4-antagonistic therapies can therefore be envisioned as novel analgesics, possibly for specific targeting of trigeminal pain disorders, such as migraine, headaches, temporomandibular joint, facial, and dental pain, and irritation of trigeminally innervated surface epithelia.