Dendritic Cell Motility and T Cell Activation Requires Regulation of Rho-Cofilin Signaling by the Rho-GTPase Activating Protein Myosin IXb

Directed migration of stimulated dendritic cells (DCs) to secondary lymphoid organs and their interaction with Ag-specific T cells is a prerequisite for the induction of primary immune responses. In this article, we show that murine DCs that lack myosin IXB (Myo9b), a motorized negative regulator of RhoA signaling, exhibit increased Rho signaling activity and downstream acto-myosin contractility, and inactivation of the Rho target protein cofilin, an actin-depolymerizing factor. On a functional level, Myo9b−/− DCs showed impaired directed migratory activity both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, despite unaltered Ag presentation and costimulatory capabilities, Myo9b−/− DCs were poor T cell stimulators in vitro in a three-dimensional collagen matrix and in vivo, associated with altered DC–T cell contact dynamics and T cell polarization. Accordingly, Myo9b−/− mice showed an attenuated ear-swelling response in a model of contact hypersensitivity. The impaired migratory and T cell stimulatory capacity of Myo9b−/− DCs was restored in large part by pharmacological activation of cofilin. Taken together, these results identify Myo9b as a negative key regulator of the Rho/RhoA effector Rho-kinase [Rho-associated coiled-coil–forming kinase (ROCK)]/LIM domain kinase signaling pathway in DCs, which controls cofilin inactivation and myosin II activation and, therefore may control, in part, the induction of adaptive immune responses.