Abstract
Renal tubular epithelial cells in all nephron segments express a distinct member of the metalloprotease-disintegrin family, ADAM9 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 9), in a punctate basolateral distribution co-localized to the beta1 integrin chain [Mahimkar, Baricos, Visaya, Pollock and Lovett (2000) J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 11, 595-603]. Discrete segments of the nephron express several defined beta1 integrins, suggesting that ADAM9 interacts with multiple renal integrins and thereby regulates epithelial cell-matrix interactions. Intact ADAM9 and a series of deletion constructs sequentially lacking the metalloprotease domain and the disintegrin domain were assembled as chimaeras with a C-terminal GFP (green fluorescent protein) tag. Stable expression of the ADAM9/GFP protein on the surface of HEK-293 cells (human embryonic kidney 293 cells) significantly decreased adhesion to types I and IV collagen, vitronectin and laminin, but had little effect on adhesion to fibronectin. Expression of the disintegrin/cysteine-rich/GFP construct yielded a similar, but more marked pattern of decreased adhesion. Expression of the cysteine-rich/GFP construct had no effect on adhesion, indicating that the disintegrin domain was responsible for the competitive inhibition of cell-matrix binding. To define the specific renal tubular beta1 integrins interacting with the ADAM9 disintegrin domain, a recombinant GST (glutathione S-transferase)-disintegrin protein was used as a substrate in adhesion assays in the presence or absence of specific integrin-blocking antibodies. Inclusion of antibodies to alpha1, alpha3, alpha6, alphav and beta1 blocked adhesion of HEK-293 cells to GST-disintegrin protein. Immobilized GST-disintegrin domain perfused with renal cortical lysates specifically recovered the alpha3, alpha6, alphav and beta1 integrin chains by Western analysis. It is concluded that ADAM9 is a polyvalent ligand, through its disintegrin domain, for multiple renal integrins of the beta1 class.