scholarly journals Tropomyosin isoforms differentially tune actin filament length and disassembly

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Jansen ◽  
Bruce L. Goode
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Internal Reflection ◽  
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Actin Networks ◽  
Tropomyosin Isoforms ◽  
Specific Effects

Cellular actin networks exhibit diverse filamentous architectures and turnover dynamics, but how these differences are specified remains poorly understood. Here, we used multicolor total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to ask how decoration of actin filaments by five biologically prominent Tropomyosin (TPM) isoforms influences disassembly induced by Cofilin alone, or by the collaborative effects of Cofilin, Coronin, and AIP1 (CCA). TPM decoration restricted Cofilin binding to pointed ends, while not interfering with Coronin binding to filament sides. Different isoforms of TPM provided variable levels of protection against disassembly, with the strongest protection by Tpm3.1 and the weakest by Tpm1.6. In biomimetic assays in which filaments were simultaneously assembled by formins and disassembled by CCA, these TPM isoform–specific effects persisted, giving rise to filaments with different lengths and treadmilling behavior. Together, our data reveal that TPM isoforms have quantitatively distinct abilities to tune actin filament length and turnover.

scholarly journals Synergy between Wsp1 and Dip1 may initiate assembly of endocytic actin networks

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor J Balzer ◽  
Michael L James ◽  
Heidy Y Narvaez-Ortiz ◽  
Luke A Helgeson ◽  
Vladimir Sirotkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Actin Assembly ◽  
Actin Network ◽  
Actin Networks ◽  
Co Activation

The actin filament nucleator Arp2/3 complex is activated at cortical sites in Schizosaccharomyces pombe to assemble branched actin networks that drive endocytosis. Arp2/3 complex activators Wsp1 and Dip1 are required for proper actin assembly at endocytic sites, but how they coordinately control Arp2/3-mediated actin assembly is unknown. Alone, Dip1 activates Arp2/3 complex without preexisting actin filaments to nucleate ‘seed’ filaments that activate Wsp1-bound Arp2/3 complex, thereby initiating branched actin network assembly. In contrast, because Wsp1 requires preexisting filaments to activate, it has been assumed to function exclusively in propagating actin networks by stimulating branching from preexisting filaments. Here we show that Wsp1 is important not only for propagation but also for initiation of endocytic actin networks. Using single molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy we show that Wsp1 synergizes with Dip1 to co-activate Arp2/3 complex. Synergistic co-activation does not require preexisting actin filaments, explaining how Wsp1 contributes to actin network initiation in cells.

scholarly journals Role of Microtubules in Fusion of Post-Golgi Vesicles to the Plasma Membrane

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1558-1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Schmoranzer ◽  
Sanford M. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Internal Reflection ◽  
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence ◽  
Cell Periphery ◽  
Golgi Vesicles ◽  
Cytoskeletal Elements

Biosynthetic cargo is transported away from the Golgi in vesicles via microtubules. In the cell periphery the vesicles are believed to engage actin and then dock to fusion sites at the plasma membrane. Using dual-color total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we observed that microtubules extended within 100 nm of the plasma membrane and post-Golgi vesicles remained on microtubules up to the plasma membrane, even as fusion to the plasma membrane initiated. Disruption of microtubules eliminated the tubular shapes of the vesicles and altered the fusion events: vesicles required multiple fusions to deliver all of their membrane cargo to the plasma membrane. In contrast, the effects of disrupting actin on fusion behavior were subtle. We conclude that microtubules, rather than actin filaments, are the cytoskeletal elements on which post-Golgi vesicles are transported until they fuse to the plasma membrane.

scholarly journals Dissection of two parallel pathways for formin-mediated actin filament elongation

2018 ◽  
Vol 293 (46) ◽  
pp. 17917-17928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Sherer ◽  
Mark E. Zweifel ◽  
Naomi Courtemanche
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Internal Reflection ◽  
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tirf Microscopy ◽  
Parallel Pathways

Formins direct the elongation of unbranched actin filaments that are incorporated into a diverse set of cytoskeletal structures. Elongation of formin-bound filaments occurs along two parallel pathways. The formin homology 2 (FH2) pathway allows actin monomers to bind directly to barbed ends bound by dimeric FH2 domains. The formin homology 1 (FH1) pathway involves transfer of profilin-bound actin to the barbed end from polyproline tracts located in the disordered FH1 domains. Here, we used a total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy-based fluorescence approach to determine the fraction of actin subunits incorporated via the FH1 and FH2 pathways during filament elongation mediated by two formins. We found that the fraction of filament elongation that occurs via each pathway directly depends on the efficiency of the other pathway, indicating that these two pathways compete with each other for subunit addition by formins. We conclude that this competition allows formins to compensate for changes in the efficiency of one pathway by adjusting the frequency of subunit addition via the other, thus increasing the overall robustness of formin-mediated actin polymerization.

scholarly journals Srv2/cyclase-associated protein forms hexameric shurikens that directly catalyze actin filament severing by cofilin

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Chaudhry ◽  
Dennis Breitsprecher ◽  
Kristin Little ◽  
Grigory Sharov ◽  
Olga Sokolova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Genetic Analysis ◽  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Cellular Function ◽  
Internal Reflection ◽  
Actin Networks ◽  
C Terminus

Actin filament severing is critical for the dynamic turnover of cellular actin networks. Cofilin severs filaments, but additional factors may be required to increase severing efficiency in vivo. Srv2/cyclase-associated protein (CAP) is a widely expressed protein with a role in binding and recycling actin monomers ascribed to domains in its C-terminus (C-Srv2). In this paper, we report a new biochemical and cellular function for Srv2/CAP in directly catalyzing cofilin-mediated severing of filaments. This function is mediated by its N-terminal half (N-Srv2), and is physically and genetically separable from C-Srv2 activities. Using dual-color total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we determined that N-Srv2 stimulates filament disassembly by increasing the frequency of cofilin-mediated severing without affecting cofilin binding to filaments. Structural analysis shows that N-Srv2 forms novel hexameric star-shaped structures, and disrupting oligomerization impairs N-Srv2 activities and in vivo function. Further, genetic analysis shows that the combined activities of N-Srv2 and Aip1 are essential in vivo. These observations define a novel mechanism by which the combined activities of cofilin and Srv2/CAP lead to enhanced filament severing and support an emerging view that actin disassembly is controlled not by cofilin alone, but by a more complex set of factors working in concert.

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