scholarly journals Stu2p binds tubulin and undergoes an open-to-closed conformational change

2006 ◽  
Vol 172 (7) ◽  
pp. 1009-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jawdat Al-Bassam ◽  
Mark van Breugel ◽  
Stephen C. Harrison ◽  
Anthony Hyman

Stu2p from budding yeast belongs to the conserved Dis1/XMAP215 family of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). The common feature of proteins in this family is the presence of HEAT repeat–containing TOG domains near the NH2 terminus. We have investigated the functions of the two TOG domains of Stu2p in vivo and in vitro. Our data suggest that Stu2p regulates microtubule dynamics through two separate activities. First, Stu2p binds to a single free tubulin heterodimer through its first TOG domain. A large conformational transition in homodimeric Stu2p from an open structure to a closed one accompanies the capture of a single free tubulin heterodimer. Second, Stu2p has the capacity to associate directly with microtubule ends, at least in part, through its second TOG domain. These two properties lead to the stabilization of microtubules in vivo, perhaps by the loading of tubulin dimers at microtubule ends. We suggest that this mechanism of microtubule regulation is a conserved feature of the Dis1/XMAP215 family of MAPs.

2003 ◽  
Vol 161 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark van Breugel ◽  
David Drechsel ◽  
Anthony Hyman

The Dis1/XMAP215 family of microtubule-associated proteins conserved from yeast to mammals is essential for cell division. XMAP215, the Xenopus member of this family, has been shown to stabilize microtubules in vitro, but other members of this family have not been biochemically characterized. Here we investigate the properties of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue Stu2p in vitro. Surprisingly, Stu2p is a microtubule destabilizer that binds preferentially to microtubule plus ends. Quantitative analysis of microtubule dynamics suggests that Stu2p induces microtubule catastrophes by sterically interfering with tubulin addition to microtubule ends. These results reveal both a new biochemical activity for a Dis1/XMAP215 family member and a novel mechanism for microtubule destabilization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 3995
Author(s):  
Cheong-Yong Yun ◽  
Nahyun Choi ◽  
Jae Un Lee ◽  
Eun Jung Lee ◽  
Ji Young Kim ◽  
...  

Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which is linked to autophagy regulation and melanogenesis regulation, is activated by marliolide. In this study, we investigated the effect of a marliolide derivative on melanosome degradation through the autophagy pathway. The effect of the marliolide derivative on melanosome degradation was investigated in α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH)-treated melanocytes, melanosome-incorporated keratinocyte, and ultraviolet (UV)B-exposed HRM-2 mice (melanin-possessing hairless mice). The marliolide derivative, 5-methyl-3-tetradecylidene-dihydro-furan-2-one (DMF02), decreased melanin pigmentation by melanosome degradation in α-MSH-treated melanocytes and melanosome-incorporated keratinocytes, evidenced by premelanosome protein (PMEL) expression, but did not affect melanogenesis-associated proteins. The UVB-induced hyperpigmentation in HRM-2 mice was also reduced by a topical application of DMF02. DMF02 activated Nrf2 and induced autophagy in vivo, evidenced by decreased PMEL in microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3)-II-expressed areas. DMF02 also induced melanosome degradation via autophagy in vitro, and DMF02-induced melanosome degradation was recovered by chloroquine (CQ), which is a lysosomal inhibitor. In addition, Nrf2 silencing by siRNA attenuated the DMF02-induced melanosome degradation via the suppression of p62. DMF02 induced melanosome degradation in melanocytes and keratinocytes by regulating autophagy via Nrf2-p62 activation. Therefore, Nrf2 activator could be a promising therapeutic agent for reducing hyperpigmentation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 4343-4361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Currie ◽  
Shannon Stewman ◽  
Gregory Schimizzi ◽  
Kevin C. Slep ◽  
Ao Ma ◽  
...  

Individual microtubules (MTs) exhibit dynamic instability, a behavior in which they cycle between phases of growth and shrinkage while the total amount of MT polymer remains constant. Dynamic instability is promoted by the conserved XMAP215/Dis1 family of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). In this study, we conducted an in vivo structure–function analysis of the Drosophila homologue Mini spindles (Msps). Msps exhibits EB1-dependent and spatially regulated MT localization, targeting to microtubule plus ends in the cell interior and decorating the lattice of growing and shrinking microtubules in the cell periphery. RNA interference rescue experiments revealed that the NH2-terminal four TOG domains of Msps function as paired units and were sufficient to promote microtubule dynamics and EB1 comet formation. We also identified TOG5 and novel inter-TOG linker motifs that are required for targeting Msps to the microtubule lattice. These novel microtubule contact sites are necessary for the interplay between the conserved TOG domains and inter-TOG MT binding that underlies the ability of Msps to promote MT dynamic instability.


1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Blocker ◽  
G. Griffiths ◽  
J.C. Olivo ◽  
A.A. Hyman ◽  
F.F. Severin

We have shown previously that intracellular phagosome movement requires microtubules. Here we provide evidence that within cells phagosomes display two different kinds of microtubule-based movements in approximately equal proportions. The first type occurs predominantly in the cell periphery, often shortly after the phagosome is formed, and at speeds below 0.1 microm/second. The second is faster (0.2-1.5 micron/second) and occurs mainly after phagosomes have reached the cell interior. Treating cells with nanomolar concentrations of taxol or nocodazole alters microtubule dynamics without affecting either total polymer mass or microtubule organisation. Such treatments slow the accumulation of phagosomes in the perinuclear region and reduce the number of slow movements by up to 50% without affecting the frequency of fast movements. This suggests that a proportion of slow movements are mediated by microtubule dynamics while fast movements are powered by microtubule motors. In macrophages, interphase microtubules radiate from the microtubule organising centre with their plus-end towards the cell periphery. To understand the behaviour of ‘early’ phagosomes at the cell periphery we investigated their ability to bind microtubule plus-ends in vitro. We show that early phagosomes have a strong preference for microtubule plus-ends, whereas ‘late’ phagosomes do not, and that plus-end affinity requires the presence of microtubule-associated proteins within cytosol. We suggest that phagosomes can bind to the plus-ends of dynamic microtubules and move by following their shrinkage or growth.


1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Barnes ◽  
K A Louie ◽  
D Botstein

Conditions were established for the self-assembly of milligram amounts of purified Saccharomyces cerevisiae tubulin. Microtubules assembled with pure yeast tubulin were not stabilized by taxol; hybrid microtubules containing substoichiometric amounts of bovine tubulin were stabilized. Yeast microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) were identified on affinity matrices made from hybrid and all-bovine microtubules. About 25 yeast MAPs were isolated. The amino-terminal sequences of several of these were determined: three were known metabolic enzymes, two were GTP-binding proteins (including the product of the SAR1 gene), and three were novel proteins not found in sequence databases. Affinity-purified antisera were generated against synthetic peptides corresponding to two of the apparently novel proteins (38 and 50 kDa). Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that both these proteins colocalize with intra- and extranuclear microtubules in vivo.


1999 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becket Feierbach ◽  
Eva Nogales ◽  
Kenneth H. Downing ◽  
Tim Stearns

Tubulin is a heterodimer of α- and β-tubulin polypeptides. Assembly of the tubulin heterodimer in vitro requires the CCT chaperonin complex, and a set of five proteins referred to as the tubulin cofactors (Tian, F., Y. Huang, H. Rommelaere, J. Vandekerckhove, C. Ampe, and N.J. Cowan. 1996. Cell. 86:287–296; Tian, G., S.A. Lewis, B. Feierbach, T. Stearns, H. Rommelaere, C. Ampe, and N.J. Cowan. 1997. J. Cell Biol. 138:821–832). We report the characterization of Alf1p, the yeast ortholog of mammalian cofactor B. Alf1p interacts with α-tubulin in both two-hybrid and immunoprecipitation assays. Alf1p and cofactor B contain a single CLIP-170 domain, which is found in several microtubule-associated proteins. Mutation of the CLIP-170 domain in Alf1p disrupts the interaction with α-tubulin. Mutations in α-tubulin that disrupt the interaction with Alf1p map to a domain on the cytoplasmic face of α-tubulin; this domain is distinct from the region of interaction between α-tubulin and β-tubulin. Alf1p-green fluorescent protein (GFP) is able to associate with microtubules in vivo, and this localization is abolished either by mutation of the CLIP-170 domain in Alf1p, or by mutation of the Alf1p-binding domain in α-tubulin. Analysis of double mutants constructed between null alleles of ALF1 and PAC2, which encodes the other yeast α-tubulin cofactor, suggests that Alf1p and Pac2p act in the same pathway leading to functional α-tubulin. The phenotype of overexpression of ALF1 suggests that Alf1p can act to sequester α-tubulin from interaction with β-tubulin, raising the possibility that it plays a regulatory role in the formation of the tubulin heterodimer.


1983 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 424-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
J G Izant ◽  
J A Weatherbee ◽  
J R McIntosh

Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) that copurify with tubulin through multiple cycles of in vitro assembly have been implicated as regulatory factors and effectors in the in vivo activity of microtubules. As an approach to the analysis of the functions of these molecules, a collection of lymphocyte hybridoma monoclonal antibodies has been generated using MAPs from HeLa cell microtubule protein as antigen. Two of the hybridoma clones secrete IgGs that bind to distinct sites on what appears to be a 200,000-dalton polypeptide. Both immunoglobulin preparations stain interphase and mitotic apparatus microtubules in cultured human cells. One of the clones (N-3B4.3.10) secretes antibody that reacts only with cells of human origin, while antibody from the other hybridoma (N-2B5.11.2) cross-reacts with BSC and PtK1 cells, but not with 3T3 cells. In PtK1 cells the N-2B5 antigen is associated with the microtubules of the mitotic apparatus, but there is no staining of the interphase microtubule array; rather, the antibody stains an ill-defined juxtanuclear structure. Further, neither antibody stains vinblastine crystals in either human or marsupial cells at any stage of the cell cycle. N-2B5 antibody microinjected into living PtK1 cells binds to the mitotic spindle, but does not cause a rapid dissolution of either mitotic or interphase microtubule structures. When injected before the onset of anaphase, however, the N-2B5 antibody inhibits proper chromosome partition in mitotic PtK1 cells. N-2B5 antibody injected into interphase cells causes a redistribution of MAP antigen onto the microtubule network.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. R213-R231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla S Verissimo ◽  
Jan J Molenaar ◽  
Carlos P Fitzsimons ◽  
Erno Vreugdenhil

Despite the expansion of knowledge about neuroblastoma (NB) in recent years, the therapeutic outcome for children with a high-risk NB has not significantly improved. Therefore, more effective therapies are needed. This might be achieved by aiming future efforts at recently proposed but not yet developed targets for NB therapy. In this review, we discuss the recently proposed molecular targets that are in clinical trials and, in particular, those that are not yet explored in the clinic. We focus on the selection of these molecular targets for which promisingin vitroandin vivoresults have been obtained by silencing/inhibiting them. In addition, these selected targets are involved at least in one of the NB tumorigenic processes: proliferation, anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis and/or metastasis. In particular, we will review a recently proposed target, the microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) encoded by doublecortin-like kinase gene (DCLK1).DCLK1-derived MAPs are crucial for proliferation and survival of neuroblasts and are highly expressed not only in NB but also in other tumours such as gliomas. Additionally, we will discuss neuropeptide Y, its Y2 receptor and cathepsin L as examples of targets to decrease angiogenesis and metastasis of NB. Furthermore, we will review the micro-RNAs that have been proposed as therapeutic targets for NB. Detailed investigation of these not yet developed targets as well as exploration of multi-target approaches might be the key to a more effective NB therapy, i.e. increasing specificity, reducing toxicity and avoiding long-term side effects.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianna R. King ◽  
Janet B. Meehl ◽  
Tamira Vojnar ◽  
Mark Winey ◽  
Eric G. Muller ◽  
...  

AbstractThe mitotic spindle is resilient to perturbation due to the concerted, and sometimes redundant, action of motors and microtubule-associated proteins. Here we utilize an inducible ectopic microtubule nucleation site in the nucleus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study three necessary steps in the formation of a bipolar array: the recruitment of the γ-tubulin complex, nucleation and elongation of microtubules, and the organization of microtubules relative to each other. This novel tool, an Spc110 chimera, reveals previously unreported roles of the microtubule-associated proteins Stu2, Bim1, and Bik1, and the motors Vik1 and Kip3. We report that Stu2 and Bim1 are required for nucleation and that Bik1 and Kip3 promote nucleation at the ectopic site. Stu2, Bim1, and Kip3 join their homologs XMAP215, EB1 and kinesin-8 as promoters of microtubule nucleation, while Bik1 promotes MT nucleation indirectly via its role in SPB positioning. Further, we find that the nucleation activity of Stu2 in vivo correlates with its polymerase activity in vitro. Finally, we provide the first evidence that Vik1, a subunit of Kar3/Vik1 kinesin-14, promotes microtubule minus end focusing at the ectopic site.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document