Lasp1 regulates adherens junction dynamics and fibroblast transformation in destructive arthritis
Denise Beckmann, Anja Römer-Hillmann, Annika Krause, Uwe Hansen, Corinna Wehmeyer, Johanna Intemann, David J. J. de Gorter, Berno Dankbar, Jan Hillen, Marianne Heitzmann, Isabell Begemann, Milos Galic, Toni Weinhage, Dirk Foell, Rizi Ai, Joachim Kremerskothen, Hans P. Kiener, Sylvia Müller, Thomas Kamradt, Christopher Schröder, Elsa Leitão, Bernhard Horsthemke, Philip Rosenstiel, Karl Nordström, Gilles Gasparoni, Nina Gasparoni, Jörn Walter, Na Li, Xinyi Yang, Ho‐Ryun Chung, Hermann Pavenstädt, Nico Lindemann, Hans‐Joachim Schnittler, Wei Wang, Gary S. Firestein, Thomas Pap, Adelheid Korb‐Pap
Abstract
The LIM and SH3 domain protein 1 (Lasp1) was originally cloned from metastatic breast cancer and characterised as an adaptor molecule associated with tumourigenesis and cancer cell invasion. However, the regulation of Lasp1 and its function in the aggressive transformation of cells is unclear. Here we use integrative epigenomic profiling of invasive fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and from mouse models of the disease, to identify Lasp1 as an epigenomically co-modified region in chronic inflammatory arthritis and a functionally important binding partner of the Cadherin-11/β-Catenin complex in zipper-like cell-to-cell contacts. In vitro, loss or blocking of Lasp1 alters pathological tissue formation, migratory behaviour and platelet-derived growth factor response of arthritic FLS. In arthritic human TNF transgenic mice, deletion of Lasp1 reduces arthritic joint destruction. Therefore, we show a function of Lasp1 in cellular junction formation and inflammatory tissue remodelling and identify Lasp1 as a potential target for treating inflammatory joint disorders associated with aggressive cellular transformation.