Creation of intercellular bonds by anchoring protein ligands to membranes using the diphtheria toxin T domain

Aurélie Perier (1) , Christine Gourier (2) , Sylvain Pichard (3) , Julien Husson (4) , Evelyne Lajeunesse (3) , Aurélie Babon (3) , André Ménez (3) , Daniel Gillet (3)

1 IBITECS - Institut de Biologie et de Technologies de Saclay
2 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l'ENS
3 SIMoS - Service d'Ingénierie Moléculaire pour la Santé (ex SIMOPRO)
4 LadHyX - Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique

We describe the creation of cell adhesion mediated by cell surface engineering. The Flt3‐ligand was fused to a membrane anchor made of the diphtheria toxin translocation domain. The fusion protein was attached to the surface of a cell by an acid pulse. Contact with another cell expressing the receptor Flt3 lead to its activation. This activity involved direct cell–cell contact. A mean force of 20 nN was needed to separate functionalized cells after 5 min of contact. Overall, we showed that it is possible to promote specific cell–cell adhesion by attaching protein ligands at the surface of cells.

Mots clés: FL; Flt3-ligand; T; translocation; Diphtheria toxin T domain; Cell surface engineering; Membrane anchor

Domaines: Biologie cellulaire

Aurélie Perier, Christine Gourier, Sylvain Pichard, Julien Husson, Evelyne Lajeunesse, et al.. Creation of intercellular bonds by anchoring protein ligands to membranes using the diphtheria toxin T domain. FEBS Letters, 2007, 581 (28), pp.5480-5484. ⟨10.1016/j.febslet.2007.10.055⟩. ⟨hal-02128678⟩