Mast cell secretory granules are densely packed with various bioactive mediators including proteases of chymase, tryptase and CPA3 type. Previous studies have indicated that mast cells can affect the outcome of melanoma but the contribution of the mast cell granule proteases to such effects has not been clear. Here we addressed this issue by assessing mice lacking either the chymase Mcpt4, the tryptase Mcpt6 or carboxypeptidase A3 (Cpa3), as well as mice simultaneously lacking all three proteases, in a model of melanoma dissemination from blood to the lung. Although mice with individual deficiency in the respective proteases did not differ significantly from wildtype mice in the extent of melanoma colonization, mice with multiple protease deficiency (Mcpt4/Mcpt6/Cpa3-deficient) exhibited a higher extent of melanoma colonization in lungs as compared to wildtype animals. This was supported by higher expression of melanoma-specific genes in lungs of Mcpt4/Mcpt6/CPA3-deficient vs. wildtype mice. Cytokine profiling showed that the levels of CXCL16, a chemokine with effects on T cell populations and NKT cells, were significantly lower in lungs of Mcpt4/Mcpt6/Cpa3-deficient animals vs. controls, suggesting that multiple mast cell protease deficiency might affect T cell or NKT cell populations. In line with this, we found that the Mcpt4/Mcpt6/Cpa3-deficiency was associated with a reduction in cells expressing CD1d, a MHC class 1-like molecule that is crucial for presenting antigen to invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. Together, these findings indicate a protective role of mast cell-specific proteases in melanoma dissemination, and suggest that this effect involves a CXCL16/CD1d/NKT cell axis.

It has been recognized for a long time that the secretory granules of mast cells are acidic, but the functional importance of maintaining an acidic pH in the mast cell granules is not fully understood. Here we addressed this issue by examining the effects of raising the pH of the mast cell secretory granules. Mast cells were incubated with bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of the vacuolar-type ATPase proton pump. Supporting a role of vacuolar-type ATPase in mast cell granule acidification, bafilomycin A1 treatment caused a robust increase in granule pH. This was accompanied by marked effects on mast cell granules, including swelling and acquisition of vacuole-like morphology. Moreover, bafilomycin A1 caused extensive, yet selective effects on the granule content. These included aberrant processing of pro-carboxypeptidase A3 and a reduction in the level of intracellular histamine, the latter being accompanied by an increase in extracellular histamine. In contrast, the storage of β-hexosaminidase, a prototype lysosomal hydrolase known to be stored in mast cell granules, was not affected by abrogation of granule acidification. Moreover, bafilomycin A1 caused a reduction of tryptase enzymatic activity and appearance of tryptase degradation products. Tryptase inhibition prevented the formation of such degradation products, suggesting that the pH elevation causes tryptase to undergo autoproteolysis. Taken together, our findings reveal that mast cell secretory granule homeostasis is critically dependent on an acidic milieu.

Mast cells (MCs) are characterized by an abundance of lysosome-like secretory granules filled with immunomodulatory compounds including histamine, cytokines, lysosomal hydrolases, MC-restricted proteases, and serglycin proteoglycans. The latter are essential for promoting the storage of other granule compounds and are built up of the serglycin core protein to which highly sulfated and thereby negatively charged glycosaminoglycan (GAG) side chains of heparin or chondroitin sulfate type are attached. In the search for mechanisms operating in regulating MC granule homeostasis, we here investigated the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. We show that inhibition of MEK1/2 (a MAPK kinase) leads to increased metachromatic staining of MC granules, indicative of increased proteoglycan content. Indeed, MEK1/2 inhibition caused a profound increase in the expression of the gene coding for the serglycin core protein and of genes coding for various enzymes involved in the biosynthesis/sulfation of the GAGs attached to the serglycin core protein. This was accompanied by corresponding increases in the levels of the respective GAGs. Deletion of the serglycin core protein abrogated the induction of enzymes operative in proteoglycan synthesis, indicating that availability of the serglycin proteoglycan core protein has a regulatory function impacting on the expression of the various serglycin-modifying enzymes. MEK1/2 inhibition also caused a substantial increase in the expression of granule-localized, proteoglycan-binding proteases. Altogether, this study identifies a novel role for MAPK signaling in regulating the content of secretory granules in MCs.

The human copper (Cu) chaperone Atox1 delivers Cu to P1B type ATPases in the Golgi network, for incorporation into essential Cu-dependent enzymes. Atox1 homologs are found in most organisms; it is a 68-residue ferredoxin-fold protein that binds Cu in a conserved surface-exposed Cys-X-X-Cys (CXXC) motif. In addition to its well-documented cytoplasmic chaperone function, in 2008 Atox1 was suggested to have functionality in the nucleus. To identify new interactions partners of Atox1, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen with a large human placenta library of cDNA fragments using Atox1 as bait. Among 98 million fragments investigated, 25 proteins were found to be confident interaction partners. Nine of these were uncharacterized proteins, and the remaining 16 proteins were analyzed by bioinformatics with respect to cell localization, tissue distribution, function, sequence motifs, three-dimensional structures and interaction networks. Several of the hits were eukaryotic-specific proteins interacting with DNA or RNA implying that Atox1 may act as a modulator of gene regulation. Notably, because many of the identified proteins contain CXXC motifs, similarly to the Cu transport reactions, interactions between these and Atox1 may be mediated by Cu.

Mast cells have been implicated in malignant processes, mainly through clinical correlative studies and by experiments performed using animals lacking mast cells due to defective c-kit signaling. However, mast cell-deficient mouse models based on c-kit defects have recently been questioned for their relevance. Here we addressed the effect of mast cells in a tumor setting by using transgenic Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ mice, in which the deficiency of mast cells is independent of c-kit defects. Melanoma cells (B16.F10) were administered either subcutaneously or intravenously into Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ mice or Mcpt5-Cre- R-DTA+ littermate controls, followed by the assessment of formed tumors. In the subcutaneous model, mast cells were abundant in the tumor stroma of control mice but were absent in Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ mice. However, the absence of mast cells did not affect tumor size. In contrast, after intravenous administration of B16.F10 cells, melanoma colonization of the lungs was markedly reduced in Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ vs. Mcpt5-Cre- R-DTA+ animals. Decreased melanoma colonization of the lungs in Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ animals was accompanied by increased inflammatory cell recruitment into the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, suggesting that mast cells suppress inflammation in this setting. Further, qPCR analysis revealed significant alterations in the expression of Twist and E-cadherin in lungs of Mcpt5-Cre+ R-DTA+ vs. control Mcpt5-Cre- R-DTA+ animals, suggesting an impact of mast cells on epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In conclusion, this study reveals that mast cells promote melanoma colonization of the lung.