scholarly journals Microtubule binding by dynactin is required for microtubule organization but not cargo transport

2007 ◽  
Vol 176 (5) ◽  
pp. 641-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwajin Kim ◽  
Shuo-Chien Ling ◽  
Gregory C. Rogers ◽  
Comert Kural ◽  
Paul R. Selvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytoplasmic Dynein ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Microtubule Organization ◽  
Microtubule Binding ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster S2 Cells ◽  
Ribonucleoprotein Complexes ◽  
Messenger Ribonucleoprotein ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain

Dynactin links cytoplasmic dynein and other motors to cargo and is involved in organizing radial microtubule arrays. The largest subunit of dynactin, p150glued, binds the dynein intermediate chain and has an N-terminal microtubule-binding domain. To examine the role of microtubule binding by p150glued, we replaced the wild-type p150glued in Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells with mutant ΔN-p150 lacking residues 1–200, which is unable to bind microtubules. Cells treated with cytochalasin D were used for analysis of cargo movement along microtubules. Strikingly, although the movement of both membranous organelles and messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes by dynein and kinesin-1 requires dynactin, the substitution of full-length p150glued with ΔN-p150glued has no effect on the rate, processivity, or step size of transport. However, truncation of the microtubule-binding domain of p150glued has a dramatic effect on cell division, resulting in the generation of multipolar spindles and free microtubule-organizing centers. Thus, dynactin binding to microtubules is required for organizing spindle microtubule arrays but not cargo motility in vivo.

scholarly journals Modulation of tau phosphorylation and intracellular localization by cellular stress

2000 ◽  
Vol 345 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. JENKINS ◽  
Marcus ZINNERMAN ◽  
Craig GARNER ◽  
Gail V. W. JOHNSON
Keyword(s):  
Osmotic Stress ◽  
Protein Kinases ◽  
Intracellular Localization ◽  
Tau Phosphorylation ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Microtubule Binding ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain

Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that is functionally modulated by phosphorylation and hyperphosphorylated in several neurodegenerative diseases. Because phosphorylation regulates both normal and pathological tau functioning, it is of great interest to identify the signalling pathways and enzymes capable of modulating tau phosphorylation in vivo. The present study examined changes in tau phosphorylation and localization in response to osmotic stress, which activates the stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs), a family of proline-directed protein kinases shown to phosphorylate tau in vitro and hypothesized to phosphorylate tau in Alzheimer's disease. Immunoblot analysis with phosphorylation-dependent antibodies revealed that osmotic stress increased tau phosphorylation at the non-Ser/Thr-Pro sites Ser-262/356, within the microtubule-binding domain, as well as Ser/Thr-Pro sites outside of tau's microtubule-binding domain. Although all SAPKs examined were activated by osmotic stress, none of the endogenous SAPKs mediated the increase in tau phosphorylation. However, when transfected into SH-SY5Y cells, SAPK3, but not the other SAPKs examined, phosphorylated tau in situ in response to activation by osmotic stress. Osmotic-stress-induced tau phosphorylation correlated with a decrease in the amount of tau associated with the cytoskeleton and an increase in the amount of soluble tau. This stress-induced alteration in tau localization was only partially due to phosphorylation at Ser-262/356 by a staurosporine-sensitive, non-proline-directed, protein kinase. Taken together, these results suggest that osmotic stress activates at least two tau-directed protein kinases, one proline-directed and one non-proline-directed, that SAPK3 can phosphorylate tau on Ser/Thr-Pro residues in situ, and that Ser-262/356 phosphorylation only partially regulates tau localization in the cell.

Characterization of the microtubule binding domain of microtubule actin crosslinking factor (MACF): identification of a novel group of microtubule associated proteins

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Sun ◽  
C.L. Leung ◽  
R.K. Liem
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Binding ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Microtubule Binding ◽  
Transfected Cells ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain

MACF (microtubule actin cross-linking factor) is a large, 608-kDa protein that can associate with both actin microfilaments and microtubules (MTs). Structurally, MACF can be divided into 3 domains: an N-terminal domain that contains both a calponin type actin-binding domain and a plakin domain; a rod domain that is composed of 23 dystrophin-like spectrin repeats; and a C-terminal domain that includes two EF-hand calcium-binding motifs, as well as a region that is homologous to two related proteins, GAR22 and Gas2. We have previously demonstrated that the C-terminal domain of MACF binds to MTs, although no homology was observed between this domain and other known microtubule-binding proteins. In this report, we describe the characterization of this microtubule-binding domain of MACF by transient transfection studies and in vitro binding assays. We found that the C-terminus of MACF contains at least two microtubule-binding regions, a GAR domain and a domain containing glycine-serine-arginine (GSR) repeats. In transfected cells, the GAR domain bound to and partially stabilized MTs to depolymerization by nocodazole. The GSR-containing domain caused MTs to form bundles that are still sensitive to nocodazole-induced depolymerization. When present together, these two domains acted in concert to bundle MTs and render them stable to nocodazole treatment. Recently, a study has shown that the N-terminal half of the plakin domain (called the M1 domain) of MACF also binds MTs. We therefore examined the microtubule binding ability of the M1 domain in the context of the entire plakin domain with and without the remaining N-terminal regions of two different MACF isoforms. Interestingly, in the presence of the surrounding sequences, the M1 domain did not bind MTs. In addition to MACF, cDNA sequences encoding the GAR and GSR-containing domains are also found in the partial human EST clone KIAA0728, which has high sequence homology to the 3′ end of the MACF cDNA; hence, we refer to it as MACF2. The C-terminal domain of mouse MACF2 was cloned and characterized. The microtubule-binding properties of MACF2 C-terminal domain are similar to that of MACF. The GAR domain was originally found in Gas 2 protein and here we show that it can associate with MTs in transfected cells. Plectin and desmoplakin have GSR-containing domains at their C-termini and we further demonstrate that the GSR-containing domain of plectin, but not desmoplakin, can bind to MTs in vivo.

scholarly journals The microtubule binding domain of microtubule-associated protein MAP1B contains a repeated sequence motif unrelated to that of MAP2 and tau.

1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 3367-3376 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Noble ◽  
S A Lewis ◽  
N J Cowan
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Cdna Clones ◽  
Sequence Motif ◽  
Free System ◽  
Microtubule Binding ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain ◽  
Brain Microtubules ◽  
Basic Region

We report the complete sequence of the microtubule-associated protein MAP1B, deduced from a series of overlapping genomic and cDNA clones. The encoded protein has a predicted molecular mass of 255,534 D and contains two unusual sequences. The first is a highly basic region that includes multiple copies of a short motif of the form KKEE or KKEVI that are repeated, but not at exact intervals. The second is a set of 12 imperfect repeats, each of 15 amino acids and each spaced by two amino acids. Subcloned fragments spanning these two distinctive regions were expressed as labeled polypeptides by translation in a cell-free system in vitro. These polypeptides were tested for their ability to copurify with unlabeled brain microtubules through successive cycles of polymerization and depolymerization. The peptide corresponding to the region containing the KKEE and KKEVI motifs cycled with brain microtubules, whereas the peptide corresponding to the set of 12 imperfect repeats did not. To define the microtubule binding domain in vivo, full-length and deletion constructs encoding MAP1B were assembled and introduced into cultured cells by transfection. The expression of transfected polypeptides was monitored by indirect immunofluorescence using anti-MAP1B-specific antisera. These experiments showed that the basic region containing the KKEE and KKEVI motifs is responsible for the interaction between MAP1B and microtubules in vivo. This region bears no sequence relationship to the microtubule binding domains of kinesin, MAP2, or tau.

scholarly journals HookA is a novel dynein–early endosome linker critical for cargo movement in vivo

2014 ◽  
Vol 204 (6) ◽  
pp. 1009-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Rongde Qiu ◽  
Herbert N. Arst ◽  
Miguel A. Peñalva ◽  
Xin Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Aspergillus Nidulans ◽  
Filamentous Fungus ◽  
Coiled Coil ◽  
Cytoplasmic Dynein ◽  
Early Endosome ◽  
Genetic Screen ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Terminal Part ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain

Cytoplasmic dynein transports membranous cargoes along microtubules, but the mechanism of dynein–cargo interaction is unclear. From a genetic screen, we identified a homologue of human Hook proteins, HookA, as a factor required for dynein-mediated early endosome movement in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. HookA contains a putative N-terminal microtubule-binding domain followed by coiled-coil domains and a C-terminal cargo-binding domain, an organization reminiscent of cytoplasmic linker proteins. HookA–early endosome interaction occurs independently of dynein–early endosome interaction and requires the C-terminal domain. Importantly, HookA interacts with dynein and dynactin independently of HookA–early endosome interaction but dependent on the N-terminal part of HookA. Both dynein and the p25 subunit of dynactin are required for the interaction between HookA and dynein–dynactin, and loss of HookA significantly weakens dynein–early endosome interaction, causing a virtually complete absence of early endosome movement. Thus, HookA is a novel linker important for dynein–early endosome interaction in vivo.

Phosphorylation of MAP4 affects microtubule properties and cell cycle progression

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (15) ◽  
pp. 2879-2887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winston Chang ◽  
Dorota Gruber ◽  
Sripriya Chari ◽  
Hidefumi Kitazawa ◽  
Yuko Hamazumi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Cycle Progression ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Proliferating Cells ◽  
Cycle Progression ◽  
Microtubule Binding ◽  
Microtubule Binding Domain ◽  
In Cells

In human cells, MAP4, a microtubule-associated protein ubiquitously expressed in proliferating cells, has been shown to undergo in vivo phosphorylation. Two phosphorylation sites, serines 696 and 787, lie within the proline-rich region of its microtubule-binding domain. To test the hypothesis that phosphorylation at these sites influences microtubule properties or cell cycle progression, we prepared stable cell lines that inducibly express versions of MAP4 in which phosphorylation of these two serines was prevented by their replacement with alanine, lysine, or glutamate residues (AA-, KK-, or EE-MAP4). All non-phosphorylatable mutant forms of MAP4 expressed in mouse Ltk- cells were localized to MT arrays that were unremarkable in appearance. Expression of non-phosphorylatable mutants of MAP4 did not affect cell doubling time; however, expression of some mutants altered progression into or through cell division. Interactions of mutant MAP4 with MTs were examined in vitro. KK mutant MAP4 bound MTs more avidly than its wild-type counterpart, WT-MAP4. In vivo MT polymer also differed among the mutants: MTs in cells expressing the KK- and AA-MAP4 forms were more resistant to nocodazole depolymerization than those in cells expressing EE- or WT-MAP4 forms. Our results demonstrate that phosphorylation alters MAP4 properties and suggest a raison d'être for phosphorylation of the MAP4 microtubule-binding domain during cell cycle progression.

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