Tubedown associates with cortactin and controls permeability of retinal endothelial cells to albumin

Tubedown (Narg1, Tbdn), a member of the Nat1 family of proteins, associates with the acetyltransferase Ard1 and exerts an angiostatic function in adult retinal-blood-vessel homeostasis. The purpose of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the nature of the Tbdn protein complex and how it might exert a homeostatic influence on blood vessels. Immunoprecipitation of Tbdn from endothelial cells followed by gel electrophoresis and liquid-chromatography-tandem-mass-spectrometry identified the actin-cytoskeleton-binding protein cortactin as a co-immunopurifying species. Western blotting confirmed the association between Tbdn and cortactin. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy revealed that Tbdn colocalizes with cortactin and F-actin in cytoplasmic regions and at the cortex of cultured endothelial cells. Because cortactin is known to regulate cellular permeability through its interaction with the actin cytoskeleton, a process that is crucial for endothelial cell homeostasis, the role of Tbdn on endothelial cell permeability was examined. Knockdown of Tbdn expression in endothelial cells led to the co-suppression of Ard1 protein expression and to a significant increase in cellular permeability measured by the transit of FITC-albumin across the cellular monolayer. Furthermore, the proliferative retinal neovascularization and thickening resulting from induction of Tbdn knockdown in endothelium in transgenic mice was associated with a significant increase in extravasation or leakage of albumin from abnormal retinal blood vessels in vivo. These results provide evidence that an association occurs between Tbdn and cortactin, and that Tbdn is involved in the regulation of retinal-endothelial-cell permeability to albumin. This work implicates a functional role for Tbdn in blood-vessel permeability dynamics that are crucial for vascular homeostasis.