scholarly journals Aip1 and Cofilin Promote Rapid Turnover of Yeast Actin Patches and Cables: A Coordinated Mechanism for Severing and Capping Filaments

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2855-2868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Okada ◽  
Harini Ravi ◽  
Ellen M. Smith ◽  
Bruce L. Goode

Rapid turnover of actin structures is required for dynamic remodeling of the cytoskeleton and cell morphogenesis, but the mechanisms driving actin disassembly are poorly defined. Cofilin plays a central role in promoting actin turnover by severing/depolymerizing filaments. Here, we analyze the in vivo function of a ubiquitous actin-interacting protein, Aip1, suggested to work with cofilin. We provide the first demonstration that Aip1 promotes actin turnover in living cells. Further, we reveal an unanticipated role for Aip1 and cofilin in promoting rapid turnover of yeast actin cables, dynamic structures that are decorated and stabilized by tropomyosin. Through systematic mutagenesis of Aip1 surfaces, we identify two well-separated F-actin–binding sites, one of which contributes to actin filament binding and disassembly specifically in the presence of cofilin. We also observe a close correlation between mutations disrupting capping of severed filaments in vitro and reducing rates of actin turnover in vivo. We propose a model for balanced regulation of actin cable turnover, in which Aip1 and cofilin function together to “prune” tropomyosin-decorated cables along their lengths. Consistent with this model, deletion of AIP1 rescues the temperature-sensitive growth and loss of actin cable defects of tpm1Δ mutants.

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 4016-4028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Graziano ◽  
Amy Grace DuPage ◽  
Alphee Michelot ◽  
Dennis Breitsprecher ◽  
James B. Moseley ◽  
...  

Formins are a conserved family of actin assembly–promoting factors with diverse biological roles, but how their activities are regulated in vivo is not well understood. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the formins Bni1 and Bnr1 are required for the assembly of actin cables and polarized cell growth. Proper cable assembly further requires Bud6. Previously it was shown that Bud6 enhances Bni1-mediated actin assembly in vitro, but the biochemical mechanism and in vivo role of this activity were left unclear. Here we demonstrate that Bud6 specifically stimulates the nucleation rather than the elongation phase of Bni1-mediated actin assembly, defining Bud6 as a nucleation-promoting factor (NPF) and distinguishing its effects from those of profilin. We generated alleles of Bud6 that uncouple its interactions with Bni1 and G-actin and found that both interactions are critical for NPF activity. Our data indicate that Bud6 promotes filament nucleation by recruiting actin monomers to Bni1. Genetic analysis of the same alleles showed that Bud6 regulation of formin activity is critical for normal levels of actin cable assembly in vivo. Our results raise important mechanistic parallels between Bud6 and WASP, as well as between Bud6 and other NPFs that interact with formins such as Spire.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 1574-1584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen Pearce ◽  
Tatsiana Audzevich ◽  
Rolf Jessberger

Abstract B-cell migration into and within lymphoid tissues is not only central to the humoral immune response but also for the development of malignancies and autoimmunity. We previously demonstrated that SWAP-70, an F-actin-binding, Rho GTPase-interacting protein strongly expressed in activated B cells, is necessary for normal B-cell migration in vivo. SWAP-70 regulates integrin-mediated adhesion and cell attachment. Here we show that upon B-cell activation, SWAP-70 is extensively posttranslationally modified and becomes tyrosine phosphorylated by SYK at position 517. This phosphorylation inhibits binding of SWAP-70 to F-actin. Phospho-site mutants of SWAP-70 disrupt B-cell polarization in a dominant-negative fashion in vitro and impair migration in vivo. After CXCL12 stimulation of B cells SYK becomes activated and SWAP-70 is phosphorylated in a SYK-dependent manner. Use of the highly specific SYK inhibitor BAY61-3606 showed SYK activity is necessary for normal chemotaxis and B-cell polarization in vitro and for entry of B cells into lymph nodes in vivo. These findings demonstrate a novel requirement for SYK in migration and polarization of naive recirculating B cells and show that SWAP-70 is an important target of SYK in this pathway.


2019 ◽  
Vol 218 (11) ◽  
pp. 3548-3559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saravanan Palani ◽  
Darius V. Köster ◽  
Tomoyuki Hatano ◽  
Anton Kamnev ◽  
Taishi Kanamaru ◽  
...  

Tropomyosin is a coiled-coil actin binding protein key to the stability of actin filaments. In muscle cells, tropomyosin is subject to calcium regulation, but its regulation in nonmuscle cells is not understood. Here, we provide evidence that the fission yeast tropomyosin, Cdc8, is regulated by phosphorylation of a serine residue. Failure of phosphorylation leads to an increased number and stability of actin cables and causes misplacement of the division site in certain genetic backgrounds. Phosphorylation of Cdc8 weakens its interaction with actin filaments. Furthermore, we show through in vitro reconstitution that phosphorylation-mediated release of Cdc8 from actin filaments facilitates access of the actin-severing protein Adf1 and subsequent filament disassembly. These studies establish that phosphorylation may be a key mode of regulation of nonmuscle tropomyosins, which in fission yeast controls actin filament stability and division site placement.


2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1971-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Clark ◽  
Joseph Teply ◽  
Brian K. Haarer ◽  
Susan C. Viggiano ◽  
David Sept ◽  
...  

Actin interacting protein 1 (Aip1p) and cofilin cooperate to disassemble actin filaments in vitro and are thought to promote rapid turnover of actin networks in vivo. The precise method by which Aip1p participates in these activities has not been defined, although severing and barbed-end capping of actin filaments have been proposed. To better describe the mechanisms and biological consequences of Aip1p activities, we undertook an extensive mutagenesis of AIP1 aimed at disrupting and mapping Aip1p interactions. Site-directed mutagenesis suggested that Aip1p has two actin binding sites, the primary actin binding site lies on the edge of its N-terminal β-propeller and a secondary actin binding site lies in a comparable location on its C-terminal β-propeller. Random mutagenesis followed by screening for separation of function mutants led to the identification of several mutants specifically defective for interacting with cofilin but still able to interact with actin. These mutants suggested that cofilin binds across the cleft between the two propeller domains, leaving the actin binding sites exposed and flanking the cofilin binding site. Biochemical, genetic, and cell biological analyses confirmed that the actin binding- and cofilin binding-specific mutants are functionally defective, whereas the genetic analyses further suggested a role for Aip1p in an early, internalization step of endocytosis. A complementary, unbiased molecular modeling approach was used to derive putative structures for the Aip1p-cofilin complex, the most stable of which is completely consistent with the mutagenesis data. We theorize that Aip1p-severing activity may involve simultaneous binding to two actin subunits with cofilin wedged between the two actin binding sites of the N- and C-terminal propeller domains.


2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akshaya Ravichandran ◽  
Mengxin Geng ◽  
Kenneth G. Hull ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Daniel Romo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Occidiofungin is produced by the soil bacterium Burkolderia contaminans MS14 and is structurally similar or identical to the burkholdines, xylocandins, and cepacidines. This study identified the primary cellular target of occidiofungin, which was determined to be actin. The modification of occidiofungin with a functional alkyne group enabled affinity purification assays and localization studies in yeast. Occidiofungin has a subtle effect on actin dynamics that triggers apoptotic cell death. We demonstrate the highly specific localization of occidiofungin to cellular regions rich in actin in yeast and the binding of occidiofungin to purified actin in vitro. Furthermore, a disruption of actin-mediated cellular processes, such as endocytosis, nuclear segregation, and hyphal formation, was observed. All of these processes require the formation of stable actin cables, which are disrupted following the addition of a subinhibitory concentration of occidiofungin. We were also able to demonstrate the effectiveness of occidiofungin in treating a vulvovaginal yeast infection in a murine model. The results of this study are important for the development of an efficacious novel class of actin binding drugs that may fill the existing gap in treatment options for fungal infections or different types of cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Nan Wang ◽  
Xiang-Lei Peng ◽  
Min Xu ◽  
Yuan-Bo Zheng ◽  
Yue-Ying Jiao ◽  
...  

AbstractHuman respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI), and no vaccine against LRTI has proven to be safe and effective in infants. Our study assessed attenuated recombinant RSVs as vaccine candidates to prevent RSV infection in mice. The constructed recombinant plasmids harbored (5′ to 3′) a T7 promoter, hammerhead ribozyme, RSV Long strain antigenomic cDNA with cold-passaged (cp) mutations or cp combined with temperature-sensitive attenuated mutations from the A2 strain (A2cpts) or further combined with SH gene deletion (A2cptsΔSH), HDV ribozyme (δ), and a T7 terminator. These vectors were subsequently co-transfected with four helper plasmids encoding N, P, L, and M2-1 viral proteins into BHK/T7-9 cells, and the recovered viruses were then passaged in Vero cells. The rescued recombinant RSVs (rRSVs) were named rRSV-Long/A2cp, rRSV-Long/A2cpts, and rRSV-Long/A2cptsΔSH, respectively, and stably passaged in vitro, without reversion to wild type (wt) at sites containing introduced mutations or deletion. Although rRSV-Long/A2cpts and rRSV-Long/A2cptsΔSH displayed  temperature-sensitive (ts) phenotype in vitro and in vivo, all rRSVs were significantly attenuated in vivo. Furthermore, BALB/c mice immunized with rRSVs produced Th1-biased immune response, resisted wtRSV infection, and were free from enhanced respiratory disease. We showed that the combination of ΔSH with attenuation (att) mutations of cpts contributed to improving att phenotype, efficacy, and gene stability of rRSV. By successfully introducing att mutations and SH gene deletion into the RSV Long parent and producing three rRSV strains, we have laid an important foundation for the development of RSV live attenuated vaccines.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R H Evans ◽  
Brian A Hemmings

Abstract PP2A is a central regulator of eukaryotic signal transduction. The human catalytic subunit PP2Acα functionally replaces the endogenous yeast enzyme, Pph22p, indicating a conservation of function in vivo. Therefore, yeast cells were employed to explore the role of invariant PP2Ac residues. The PP2Acα Y127N substitution abolished essential PP2Ac function in vivo and impaired catalysis severely in vitro, consistent with the prediction from structural studies that Tyr-127 mediates substrate binding and its side chain interacts with the key active site residues His-118 and Asp-88. The V159E substitution similarly impaired PP2Acα catalysis profoundly and may cause global disruption of the active site. Two conditional mutations in the yeast Pph22p protein, F232S and P240H, were found to cause temperature-sensitive impairment of PP2Ac catalytic function in vitro. Thus, the mitotic and cell lysis defects conferred by these mutations result from a loss of PP2Ac enzyme activity. Substitution of the PP2Acα C-terminal Tyr-307 residue by phenylalanine impaired protein function, whereas the Y307D and T304D substitutions abolished essential function in vivo. Nevertheless, Y307D did not reduce PP2Acα catalytic activity significantly in vitro, consistent with an important role for the C terminus in mediating essential protein-protein interactions. Our results identify key residues important for PP2Ac function and characterize new reagents for the study of PP2A in vivo.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi L Vogel ◽  
Vincent Geuskens ◽  
Lucie Desmet ◽  
N Patrick Higgins ◽  
Ariane Toussaint

Abstract Mutations in an N-terminal 70-amino acid domain of bacteriophage Mu's repressor cause temperature-sensitive DNA-binding activity. Surprisingly, amber mutations can conditionally correct the heat-sensitive defect in three mutant forms of the repressor gene, cts25 (D43-G), cts62 (R47-Q and cts71 (M28-I), and in the appropriate bacterial host produce a heat-stable Sts phenotype (for survival of temperature shifts). Sts repressor mutants are heat sensitive when in supE or supF hosts and heat resistant when in Sup° hosts. Mutants with an Sts phenotype have amber mutations at one of three codons, Q179, Q187, or Q190. The Sts phenotype relates to the repressor size: in Sup° hosts sts repressors are shorter by seven, 10, or 18 amino acids compared to repressors in supE or supF hosts. The truncated form of the sts62-1 repressor, which lacks 18 residues (Q179–V196), binds Mu operator DNA more stably at 42° in vitro compared to its full-length counterpart (cts62 repressor). In addition to influencing temperature sensitivity, the C-terminus appears to control the susceptibility to in vivo Clp proteolysis by influencing the multimeric structure of repressor.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 160 (3) ◽  
pp. 923-934
Author(s):  
Junko Mochida ◽  
Takaharu Yamamoto ◽  
Konomi Fujimura-Kamada ◽  
Kazuma Tanaka

Abstract Type I myosins in yeast, Myo3p and Myo5p (Myo3/5p), are involved in the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. The SH3 domain of Myo5p regulates the polymerization of actin through interactions with both Las17p, a homolog of mammalian Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), and Vrp1p, a homolog of WASP-interacting protein (WIP). Vrp1p is required for both the localization of Myo5p to cortical patch-like structures and the ATP-independent interaction between the Myo5p tail region and actin filaments. We have identified and characterized a new adaptor protein, Mti1p (Myosin tail region-interacting protein), which interacts with the SH3 domains of Myo3/5p. Mti1p co-immunoprecipitated with Myo5p and Mti1p-GFP co-localized with cortical actin patches. A null mutation of MTI1 exhibited synthetic lethal phenotypes with mutations in SAC6 and SLA2, which encode actin-bundling and cortical actin-binding proteins, respectively. Although the mti1 null mutation alone did not display any obvious phenotype, it suppressed vrp1 mutation phenotypes, including temperature-sensitive growth, abnormally large cell morphology, defects in endocytosis and salt-sensitive growth. These results suggest that Mti1p and Vrp1p antagonistically regulate type I myosin functions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 827-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Revenu ◽  
Matthieu Courtois ◽  
Alphée Michelot ◽  
Cécile Sykes ◽  
Daniel Louvard ◽  
...  

Villin, an actin-binding protein associated with the actin bundles that support microvilli, bundles, caps, nucleates, and severs actin in a calcium-dependant manner in vitro. We hypothesized that the severing activity of villin is responsible for its reported role in enhancing cell plasticity and motility. To test this hypothesis, we chose a loss of function strategy and introduced mutations in villin based on sequence comparison with CapG. By pyrene-actin assays, we demonstrate that this mutant has a strongly reduced severing activity, whereas nucleation and capping remain unaffected. The bundling activity and the morphogenic effects of villin in cells are also preserved in this mutant. We thus succeeded in dissociating the severing from the three other activities of villin. The contribution of villin severing to actin dynamics is analyzed in vivo through the actin-based movement of the intracellular bacteria Shigella flexneri in cells expressing villin and its severing variant. The severing mutations abolish the gain of velocity induced by villin. To further analyze this effect, we reconstituted an in vitro actin-based bead movement in which the usual capping protein is replaced by either the wild type or the severing mutant of villin. Confirming the in vivo results, villin-severing activity enhances the velocity of beads by more than two-fold and reduces the density of actin in the comets. We propose a model in which, by severing actin filaments and capping their barbed ends, villin increases the concentration of actin monomers available for polymerization, a mechanism that might be paralleled in vivo when an enterocyte undergoes an epithelio-mesenchymal transition.


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