scholarly journals Three Regions within Acta Promote Arp2/3 Complex-Mediated Actin Nucleation and Listeria monocytogenes Motility

2000 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Skoble ◽  
Daniel A. Portnoy ◽  
Matthew D. Welch
Keyword(s):  
Listeria Monocytogenes ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Binding Region ◽  
Actin Nucleation ◽  
Homology Sequence ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Wasp Family Proteins ◽  
In Cells

The Listeria monocytogenes ActA protein induces actin-based motility by enhancing the actin nucleating activity of the host Arp2/3 complex. Using systematic truncation analysis, we identified a 136-residue NH2-terminal fragment that was fully active in stimulating nucleation in vitro. Further deletion analysis demonstrated that this fragment contains three regions, which are important for nucleation and share functional and/or limited sequence similarity with host WASP family proteins: an acidic stretch, an actin monomer–binding region, and a cofilin homology sequence. To determine the contribution of each region to actin-based motility, we compared the biochemical activities of ActA derivatives with the phenotypes of corresponding mutant bacteria in cells. The acidic stretch functions to increase the efficiency of actin nucleation, the rate and frequency of motility, and the effectiveness of cell–cell spread. The monomer-binding region is required for actin nucleation in vitro, but not for actin polymerization or motility in infected cells, suggesting that redundant mechanisms may exist to recruit monomer in host cytosol. The cofilin homology sequence is critical for stimulating actin nucleation with the Arp2/3 complex in vitro, and is essential for actin polymerization and motility in cells. These data demonstrate that each region contributes to actin-based motility, and that the cofilin homology sequence plays a principal role in activation of the Arp2/3 complex, and is an essential determinant of L. monocytogenes pathogenesis.

scholarly journals Pivotal role of VASP in Arp2/3 complex–mediated actin nucleation, actin branch-formation, and Listeria monocytogenes motility

2001 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Skoble ◽  
Victoria Auerbuch ◽  
Erin D. Goley ◽  
Matthew D. Welch ◽  
Daniel A. Portnoy
Keyword(s):  
Listeria Monocytogenes ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Monomer ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Binding Region ◽  
Actin Nucleation ◽  
Branch Formation

The Listeria monocytogenes ActA protein mediates actin-based motility by recruiting and stimulating the Arp2/3 complex. In vitro, the actin monomer-binding region of ActA is critical for stimulating Arp2/3-dependent actin nucleation; however, this region is dispensable for actin-based motility in cells. Here, we provide genetic and biochemical evidence that vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) recruitment by ActA can bypass defects in actin monomer-binding. Furthermore, purified VASP enhances the actin-nucleating activity of wild-type ActA and the Arp2/3 complex while also reducing the frequency of actin branch formation. These data suggest that ActA stimulates the Arp2/3 complex by both VASP-dependent and -independent mechanisms that generate distinct populations of actin filaments in the comet tails of L. monocytogenes. The ability of VASP to contribute to actin filament nucleation and to regulate actin filament architecture highlights the central role of VASP in actin-based motility.

scholarly journals Systematic analysis of the molecular architecture of endocytosis reveals a nanoscale actin nucleation template that drives efficient vesicle formation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Mund ◽  
Johannes Albertus van der Beek ◽  
Joran Deschamps ◽  
Serge Dmitrieff ◽  
Jooske Louise Monster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Design Principle ◽  
Vesicle Formation ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Actin Nucleation ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Superresolution Microscopy ◽  
Membrane Invagination ◽  
Wasp Family Proteins ◽  
Endocytic Vesicles

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is an essential cellular function in all eukaryotes that is driven by a self-assembled macromolecular machine of over 50 different proteins in tens to hundreds of copies. How these proteins are organized to produce endocytic vesicles with high precision and efficiency is not understood. Here, we developed high-throughput superresolution microscopy to reconstruct the nanoscale structural organization of 23 endocytic proteins from over 100,000 endocytic sites in yeast. We found that proteins assemble by radially-ordered recruitment according to function. WASP family proteins form a circular nano-scale template on the membrane to spatially control actin nucleation during vesicle formation. Mathematical modeling of actin polymerization showed that this WASP nano-template creates sufficient force for membrane invagination and substantially increases the efficiency of endocytosis. Such nanoscale pre-patterning of actin nucleation may represent a general design principle for directional force generation in membrane remodeling processes such as during cell migration and division.

scholarly journals Cytomegalovirus Basic Phosphoprotein (pUL32) Binds to Capsids In Vitro through Its Amino One-Third

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (15) ◽  
pp. 6865-6873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Baxter ◽  
Wade Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structure ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Sequence Conservation ◽  
Binding Region ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Tegument Proteins ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Human Cmv

ABSTRACT The cytomegalovirus (CMV) basic phosphoprotein (BPP) is a component of the tegument. It remains with the nucleocapsid fraction under conditions that remove most other tegument proteins from the virion, suggesting a direct and perhaps tight interaction with the capsid. As a step toward localizing this protein within the molecular structure of the virion and understanding its function during infection, we have investigated the BPP-capsid interaction. In this report we present evidence that the BPP interacts selectively, through its amino one-third, with CMV capsids. Radiolabeled simian CMV (SCMV) BPP, synthesized in vitro, bound to SCMV B-capsids, and C-capsids to a lesser extent, following incubation with either isolated capsids or lysates of infected cells. Human CMV (HCMV) BPP (pUL32) also bound to SCMV capsids, and SCMV BPP likewise bound to HCMV capsids, indicating that the sequence(s) involved is conserved between the two proteins. Analysis of SCMV BPP truncation mutants localized the capsid-binding region to the amino one-third of the molecule—the portion of BPP showing the greatest sequence conservation between the SCMV and HCMV homologs. This general approach may have utility in studying the interactions of other proteins with conformation-dependent binding sites.

scholarly journals Targeting the actin nucleation promoting factor WASp provides a therapeutic approach for hematopoietic malignancies

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Biber ◽  
Aviad Ben-Shmuel ◽  
Elad Noy ◽  
Noah Joseph ◽  
Abhishek Puthenveetil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecule ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Hematopoietic Cells ◽  
Actin Nucleation ◽  
Hematopoietic Malignancies ◽  
Nucleation Promoting Factor ◽  
Syndrome Protein ◽  
Cytoskeleton Rearrangement

AbstractCancer cells depend on actin cytoskeleton rearrangement to carry out hallmark malignant functions including activation, proliferation, migration and invasiveness. Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASp) is an actin nucleation-promoting factor and is a key regulator of actin polymerization in hematopoietic cells. The involvement of WASp in malignancies is incompletely understood. Since WASp is exclusively expressed in hematopoietic cells, we performed in silico screening to identify small molecule compounds (SMCs) that bind WASp and promote its degradation. We describe here one such identified molecule; this WASp-targeting SMC inhibits key WASp-dependent actin processes in several types of hematopoietic malignancies in vitro and in vivo without affecting naïve healthy cells. This small molecule demonstrates limited toxicity and immunogenic effects, and thus, might serve as an effective strategy to treat specific hematopoietic malignancies in a safe and precisely targeted manner.

scholarly journals Heme Oxygenase-1 Exerts Antiviral Activity against Hepatitis A Virus In Vitro

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229
Author(s):  
Dong-Hwi Kim ◽  
Hee-Seop Ahn ◽  
Hyeon-Jeong Go ◽  
Da-Yoon Kim ◽  
Jae-Hyeong Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antiviral Activity ◽  
Protein Expression ◽  
Heme Oxygenase ◽  
Hepatitis A ◽  
Hepatitis A Virus ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Heme Oxygenase 1 ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
In Cells

Hepatitis A virus (HAV), the causative pathogen of hepatitis A, induces severe acute liver injuries in humans and is a serious public health concern worldwide. However, appropriate therapeutics have not yet been developed. The enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) exerts antiviral activities in cells infected with several viruses including hepatitis B and C viruses. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time the suppression of virus replication by HO-1 in cells infected with HAV. Hemin (HO-1 inducer) induced HO-1 mRNA and protein expression, as expected, and below 50 mM, dose-dependently reduced the viral RNA and proteins in the HAV-infected cells without cytotoxicity. Additionally, HO-1 protein overexpression using a protein expression vector suppressed HAV replication. Although ZnPP-9, an HO-1 inhibitor, did not affect HAV replication, it significantly inhibited hemin-induced antiviral activity in HAV-infected cells. Additionally, FeCl3, CORM-3, biliverdin, and the HO-1 inducers andrographolide and CoPP inhibited HAV replication in the HAV-infected cells; andrographolide and CoPP exhibited a dose-dependent effect. In conclusion, these results suggest that HO-1 effectively suppresses HAV infection in vitro, and its enzymatic products appear to exert antiviral activity. We expect that these results could contribute to the development of a new antiviral drug for HAV.

scholarly journals Strong In Vivo Inhibition of HIV-1 Replication by Nullbasic, a Tat Mutant

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongping Jin ◽  
Yifan Sun ◽  
Dongsheng Li ◽  
Min-Hsuan Lin ◽  
Mary Lor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mutant Form ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Functional Cure ◽  
Fold Reduction ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Hiv 1 ◽  
Transcription And Replication ◽  
In Cells

ABSTRACT Nullbasic is a mutant form of the HIV-1 transcriptional activator protein (Tat) that strongly inhibits HIV-1 transcription and replication in lymphocytes in vitro. To investigate Nullbasic inhibition in vivo, we employed an NSG mouse model where animals were engrafted with primary human CD4+ cells expressing a Nullbasic-ZsGreen1 (NB-ZSG) fusion protein or ZSG. NB-ZSG and ZSG were delivered by using a retroviral vector where CD4+ cells were transduced either prior to (preinfection) or following (postinfection) HIV-1 infection. The transduced cells were analyzed in vitro up to 10 days postinfection (dpi) and in vivo up to 39 dpi. Compared to ZSG, NB-ZSG strongly inhibited HIV-1 replication both in vitro and in vivo using preinfection treatment. In vitro, HIV-1 mRNA levels in cells were reduced by up to 60-fold. In vivo, HIV-1 RNA was undetectable in plasma samples during the course of the experiment, and HIV-1 mRNA levels in resident CD4+ cells in organ tissue were reduced up to 2,800-fold. Postinfection treatment of HIV-1-infected cells with NB-ZSG attenuated HIV-1 infection for up to 14 days. In vitro, a 25-fold reduction of viral mRNA in cells was observed but diminished to a <2-fold reduction by 10 dpi. In vivo, HIV-1 RNA was undetectable in plasma of NB-ZSG mice at 14 dpi but afterwards was not significantly different between NB-ZSG mice and control mice. However, we observed higher levels of CD4+ cells in NB-ZSG mice than in control mice, suggesting that NB-ZSG imparted a survival advantage to HIV-1-infected animals. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 infection is effectively controlled by antiviral therapy that inhibits virus replication and reduces viral loads below detectable levels in patients. However, therapy interruption leads to viral rebound due to latently infected cells, which serve as a source of continued viral infection. Interest in strategies leading to a functional cure for HIV-1 infection by long-term or permanent viral suppression is growing. Here, we show that a mutant form of the HIV-1 Tat protein, referred to as Nullbasic, inhibits HIV-1 transcription in infected CD4+ cells in vivo. Analysis shows that stable expression of Nullbasic in CD4+ cells could lead to durable anti-HIV-1 activity. Nullbasic, as a gene therapy candidate, could be a part of a functional-cure strategy to suppress HIV-1 transcription and replication.

scholarly journals Ebola Virus Nucleocapsid-Like Structures Utilize Arp2/3 Signaling for Intracellular Long-Distance Transport

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Grikscheit ◽  
Olga Dolnik ◽  
Yuki Takamatsu ◽  
Ana Raquel Pereira ◽  
Stephan Becker
Keyword(s):  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
Distance Transport ◽  
In Cells

The intracellular transport of nucleocapsids of the highly pathogenic Marburg, as well as Ebola virus (MARV, EBOV), represents a critical step during the viral life cycle. Intriguingly, a population of these nucleocapsids is distributed over long distances in a directed and polar fashion. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the intracellular transport of filoviral nucleocapsids depends on actin polymerization. While it was shown that EBOV requires Arp2/3-dependent actin dynamics, the details of how the virus exploits host actin signaling during intracellular transport are largely unknown. Here, we apply a minimalistic transfection system to follow the nucleocapsid-like structures (NCLS) in living cells, which can be used to robustly quantify NCLS transport in live cell imaging experiments. Furthermore, in cells co-expressing LifeAct, a marker for actin dynamics, NCLS transport is accompanied by pulsative actin tails appearing on the rear end of NCLS. These actin tails can also be preserved in fixed cells, and can be visualized via high resolution imaging using STORM in transfected, as well as EBOV infected, cells. The application of inhibitory drugs and siRNA depletion against actin regulators indicated that EBOV NCLS utilize the canonical Arp2/3-Wave1-Rac1 pathway for long-distance transport in cells. These findings highlight the relevance of the regulation of actin polymerization during directed EBOV nucleocapsid transport in human cells.

scholarly journals Inhibition of Nuclear Import and Alteration of Nuclear Pore Complex Composition by Rhinovirus

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (17) ◽  
pp. 8787-8796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt E. Gustin ◽  
Peter Sarnow
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Pore Complex ◽  
Nuclear Import ◽  
Nuclear Proteins ◽  
Nuclear Pore ◽  
Nucleocytoplasmic Trafficking ◽  
The Status ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Novel Strategy ◽  
In Cells

ABSTRACT Nucleocytoplasmic trafficking pathways and the status of nuclear pore complex (NPC) components were examined in cells infected with rhinovirus type 14. A variety of shuttling and nonshuttling nuclear proteins, using multiple nuclear import pathways, accumulated in the cytoplasm of cells infected with rhinovirus. An in vitro nuclear import assay with semipermeabilized infected cells confirmed that nuclear import was inhibited and that docking of nuclear import receptor-cargo complexes at the cytoplasmic face of the NPC was prevented in rhinovirus-infected cells. The relocation of cellular proteins and inhibition of nuclear import correlated with the degradation of two NPC components, Nup153 and p62. The degradation of Nup153 and p62 was not due to induction of apoptosis, because p62 was not proteolyzed in apoptotic HeLa cells, and Nup153 was cleaved to produce a 130-kDa cleavage product that was not observed in cells infected with poliovirus or rhinovirus. The finding that both poliovirus and rhinovirus cause inhibition of nuclear import and degradation of NPC components suggests that this may be a common feature of the replicative cycle of picornaviruses. Inhibition of nuclear import is predicted to result in the cytoplasmic accumulation of a large number of nuclear proteins that could have functions in viral translation, RNA synthesis, packaging, or assembly. Additionally, inhibition of nuclear import also presents a novel strategy whereby cytoplasmic RNA viruses can evade host immune defenses by preventing signal transduction into the nucleus.

scholarly journals The formin mDia2 stabilizes microtubules independently of its actin nucleation activity

2008 ◽  
Vol 181 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Bartolini ◽  
James B. Moseley ◽  
Jan Schmoranzer ◽  
Lynne Cassimeris ◽  
Bruce L. Goode ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Migration ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Nucleation ◽  
Nucleation Activity ◽  
Rates Of Growth ◽  
In Cells ◽  
Constitutively Active ◽  
Homology Domains

A critical microtubule (MT) polarization event in cell migration is the Rho/mDia-dependent stabilization of a subset of MTs oriented toward the direction of migration. Although mDia nucleates actin filaments, it is unclear whether this or a separate activity of mDia underlies MT stabilization. We generated two actin mutants (K853A and I704A) in a constitutively active version of mDia2 containing formin homology domains 1 and 2 (FH1FH2) and found that they still induced stable MTs and bound to the MT TIP proteins EB1 and APC, which have also been implicated in MT stabilization. A dimerization-impaired mutant of mDia2 (W630A) also generated stable MTs in cells. We examined whether FH1FH2mDia2 had direct activity on MTs in vitro and found that it bound directly to MTs, stabilized MTs against cold- and dilution-induced disassembly, and reduced the rates of growth and shortening during MT assembly and disassembly, respectively. These results indicate that mDia2 has a novel MT stabilization activity that is separate from its actin nucleation activity.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of actin disassembly

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 2299-2302 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Brieher
Keyword(s):  
Actin Cytoskeleton ◽  
Cell Motility ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Actin Depolymerization ◽  
Filament Dynamics ◽  
Physiological Demands ◽  
In Cells

The actin cytoskeleton is constantly assembling and disassembling. Cells harness the energy of these turnover dynamics to drive cell motility and organize cytoplasm. Although much is known about how cells control actin polymerization, we do not understand how actin filaments depolymerize inside cells. I briefly describe how the combination of imaging actin filament dynamics in cells and using in vitro biochemistry progressively altered our views of actin depolymerization. I describe why I do not think that the prevailing model of actin filament turnover—cofilin-mediated actin filament severing—can account for actin filament disassembly detected in cells. Finally, I speculate that cells might be able to tune the mechanism of actin depolymerization to meet physiological demands and selectively control the stabilities of different actin arrays.

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