Drosophila quail, a villin-related protein, bundles actin filaments in apoptotic nurse cells

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (24) ◽  
pp. 5645-5657 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Matova ◽  
S. Mahajan-Miklos ◽  
M.S. Mooseker ◽  
L. Cooley
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Calcium Concentration ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Filamentous Actin ◽  
Actin Bundle ◽  
High Calcium ◽  
Egg Chambers

Drosophila Quail protein is required for the completion of fast cytoplasm transport from nurse cells to the oocyte, an event critical for the production of viable oocytes. The abundant network of cytoplasmic filamentous actin, established at the onset of fast transport, is absent in quail mutant egg chambers. Previously, we showed that Quail is a germline-specific protein with sequence homology to villin, a vertebrate actin-regulating protein. In this study, we combined biochemical experiments with observations in egg chambers to define more precisely the function of this protein in the regulation of actin-bundle assembly in nurse cells. We report that recombinant Quail can bind and bundle filamentous actin in vitro in a manner similar to villin at a physiological calcium concentration. In contrast to villin, Quail is unable to sever or cap filamentous actin, or to promote nucleation of new actin filaments at a high calcium concentration. Instead, Quail bundles the filaments regardless of the calcium concentration. In vivo, the assembly of nurse-cell actin bundles is accompanied by extensive perforation of the nurse-cell nuclear envelopes, and both of these phenomena are manifestations of nurse-cell apoptosis. To investigate whether free calcium levels are affected during apoptosis, we loaded egg chambers with the calcium indicator Indo-1. Our observations indicate a rise in free calcium in the nurse-cell cytoplasm coincident with the permeabilization of the nuclear envelopes. We also show that human villin expressed in the Drosophila germline could sense elevated cytoplasmic calcium; in nurse cells with reduced levels of Quail protein, villin interfered with actin-bundle stability. We conclude that Quail efficiently assembles actin filaments into bundles in nurse cells and maintains their stability under fluctuating free calcium levels. We also propose a developmental model for the fast phase of cytoplasm transport incorporating findings presented in this study.

Drosophila fascin mutants are rescued by overexpression of the villin-like protein, quail

1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Cant ◽  
B.A. Knowles ◽  
S. Mahajan-Miklos ◽  
M. Heintzelman ◽  
L. Cooley
Keyword(s):  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Biochemical Properties ◽  
P Element ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Actin Bundle ◽  
Intestinal Epithelia ◽  
Cytoplasmic Actin ◽  
Egg Chambers ◽  
Temporal Localization

Actin bundle assembly in specialized structures such as microvilli on intestinal epithelia and Drosophila bristles requires two actin bundling proteins. In these systems, the distinct biochemical properties and temporal localization of actin bundling proteins suggest that these proteins are not redundant. During Drosophila oogenesis, the formation of cytoplasmic actin bundles in nurse cells requires two actin bundling proteins, fascin encoded by the singed gene and a villin-like protein encoded by the quail gene. singed and quail mutations are fully recessive and each mutation disrupts nurse cell cytoplasmic actin bundle formation. We used P-element mediated germline transformation to overexpress quail in singed mutants and test whether these proteins have redundant functions in vivo. Overexpression of quail protein in a sterile singed background restores actin bundle formation in egg chambers. The degree of rescue by quail depends on the level of quail protein overexpression, as well as residual levels of fascin function. In nurse cells that contain excess quail but no fascin, the cytoplasmic actin network initially appears wild type but then becomes disorganized in the final stages of nurse cell cytoplasm transport. The ability of quail overexpression to compensate for the absence of fascin demonstrates that fascin is partially redundant with quail in the Drosophila germline. Quail appears to function as a bundle initiator while fascin provides bundle organization.

scholarly journals Autophagic degradation of dBruce controls DNA fragmentation in nurse cells during late Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis

2010 ◽  
Vol 190 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis P. Nezis ◽  
Bhupendra V. Shravage ◽  
Antonia P. Sagona ◽  
Trond Lamark ◽  
Geir Bjørkøy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Death ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Dna Fragmentation ◽  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Cell Nuclei ◽  
Cytoplasmic Material ◽  
Fragmented Dna ◽  
Egg Chambers ◽  
Autophagic Degradation

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved pathway responsible for degradation of cytoplasmic material via the lysosome. Although autophagy has been reported to contribute to cell death, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we show that autophagy controls DNA fragmentation during late oogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Inhibition of autophagy by genetically removing the function of the autophagy genes atg1, atg13, and vps34 resulted in late stage egg chambers that contained persisting nurse cell nuclei without fragmented DNA and attenuation of caspase-3 cleavage. The Drosophila inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) dBruce was found to colocalize with the autophagic marker GFP-Atg8a and accumulated in autophagy mutants. Nurse cells lacking Atg1 or Vps34 in addition to dBruce contained persisting nurse cell nuclei with fragmented DNA. This indicates that autophagic degradation of dBruce controls DNA fragmentation in nurse cells. Our results reveal autophagic degradation of an IAP as a novel mechanism of triggering cell death and thereby provide a mechanistic link between autophagy and cell death.

EFFECT OF THE EXTERNAL CONCENTRATION OF CALCIUM ON THE POSTMOULT UPTAKE OF CALCIUM IN BLUE CRABS (CALLINECTES SAPIDUS)

1994 ◽  
Vol 188 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
D Neufeld ◽  
J Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Concentration ◽  
Calcium Uptake ◽  
Callinectes Sapidus ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Blue Crabs ◽  
Electrochemical Gradient ◽  
External Concentration ◽  
High Calcium ◽  
Reduced Rate ◽  
Active Transport System

The rate of calcium uptake in blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) acclimated to 2 sea water with a calcium concentration of 1.4 mmol l-1 was dependent on the magnitude and direction of the electrochemical gradient for calcium. When transferred to water with a high calcium concentration (6 mmol l-1), the electrochemical gradient for calcium favoured diffusive influx, and calcium uptake and apparent H+ excretion increased by approximately 50 %. When transferred to water with a low calcium concentration (0.10 mmol l-1), where the electrochemical gradient for calcium strongly favoured diffusive efflux, calcium uptake ceased but apparent H+ excretion continued at a reduced rate. Crabs regulated the free calcium concentration in their blood at approximately 8 mmol l-1 when the external concentration of calcium was 1.4 mmol l-1 or higher, but the concentration of free calcium in the blood decreased to 5.6 and 4.6 mmol l-1, respectively, at external concentrations of calcium of 0.25 and 0.10 mmol l-1. Crabs transferred to water with 0.10 mmol l-1 calcium for the first 2 days after moult accumulated only 2.5 g calcium kg-1 wet mass, about one-quarter of the mass normally accumulated. Seawater-acclimated crabs transferred to 2 salinity at 1 day postmoult took up calcium at a reduced rate, indicating that a period of acclimation is necessary for a component of the active transport system to increase its capacity, for diffusive efflux to be reduced, or for both to occur.

scholarly journals Calcium metabolism and cardiovascular function after spaceflight

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Hatton ◽  
Qi Yue ◽  
Jacqueline Dierickx ◽  
Chantal Roullet ◽  
Keiichi Otsuka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parathyroid Hormone ◽  
Calcium Metabolism ◽  
Calcium Concentration ◽  
Dietary Calcium ◽  
Ionized Calcium ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Mineral Density ◽  
Spontaneously Hypertensive ◽  
Low Calcium ◽  
High Calcium

To determine the influence of dietary calcium on spaceflight-induced alterations in calcium metabolism and blood pressure (BP), 9-wk-old spontaneously hypertensive rats, fed either high- (2%) or low-calcium (0.02%) diets, were flown on an 18-day shuttle flight. On landing, flight animals had increased ionized calcium ( P < 0.001), elevated parathyroid hormone levels ( P < 0.001), reduced calcitonin levels ( P < 0.05), unchanged 1,25(OH)2D3levels, and elevated skull ( P < 0.01) and reduced femur bone mineral density. Basal and thrombin-stimulated platelet free calcium (intracellular calcium concentration) were also reduced ( P < 0.05). There was a tendency for indirect systolic BP to be reduced in conscious flight animals ( P = 0.057). However, mean arterial pressure was elevated ( P < 0.001) after anesthesia. Dietary calcium altered all aspects of calcium metabolism ( P < 0.001), as well as BP ( P < 0.001), but the only interaction with flight was a relatively greater increase in ionized calcium in flight animals fed low- compared with high-calcium diets ( P < 0.05). The results indicate that 1) flight-induced disruptions of calcium metabolism are relatively impervious to dietary calcium in the short term, 2) increased ionized calcium did not normalize low-calcium-induced elevations of BP, and 3) parathyroid hormone was paradoxically increased in the high-calcium-fed flight animals after landing.

Drosophila rhino Encodes a Female-Specific Chromo-domain Protein That Affects Chromosome Structure and Egg Polarity

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (3) ◽  
pp. 1117-1134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison M Volpe ◽  
Heidi Horowitz ◽  
Constance M Grafer ◽  
Stephen M Jackson ◽  
Celeste A Berg
Keyword(s):  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Chromosome Structure ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Embryonic Patterning ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Cell Nuclei ◽  
Heterochromatin Protein 1 ◽  
Chromo Domain ◽  
Egg Chambers ◽  
Female Specific

Abstract Here we describe our analyses of Rhino, a novel member of the Heterochromatin Protein 1(HP1) subfamily of chromo box proteins. rhino (rhi) is expressed only in females and chiefly in the germline, thus providing a new tool to dissect the role of chromo-domain proteins in development. Mutations in rhi disrupt eggshell and embryonic patterning and arrest nurse cell nuclei during a stage-specific reorganization of their polyploid chromosomes, a mitotic-like state called the “five-blob” stage. These visible alterations in chromosome structure do not affect polarity by altering transcription of key patterning genes. Expression levels of gurken (grk), oskar (osk), bicoid (bcd), and decapentaplegic (dpp) transcripts are normal, with a slight delay in the appearance of bcd and dpp mRNAs. Mislocalization of grk and osk transcripts, however, suggests a defect in the microtubule reorganization that occurs during the middle stages of oogenesis and determines axial polarity. This defect likely results from aberrant Grk/Egfr signaling at earlier stages, since rhi mutations delay synthesis of Grk protein in germaria and early egg chambers. In addition, Grk protein accumulates in large, actin-caged vesicles near the endoplasmic reticulum of stages 6–10 egg chambers. We propose two hypotheses to explain these results. First, Rhi may play dual roles in oogenesis, independently regulating chromosome compaction in nurse cells at the end of the unique endoreplication cycle 5 and repressing transcription of genes that inhibit Grk synthesis. Thus, loss-of-function mutations arrest nurse cell chromosome reorganization at the five-blob stage and delay production or processing of Grk protein, leading to axial patterning defects. Second, Rhi may regulate chromosome compaction in both nurse cells and oocyte. Loss-of-function mutations block nurse cell nuclear transitions at the five-blob stage and activate checkpoint controls in the oocyte that arrest Grk synthesis and/or inhibit cytoskeletal functions. These functions may involve direct binding of Rhi to chromosomes or may involve indirect effects on pathways controlling these processes.

scholarly journals Actin Filament Cables in Drosophila Nurse Cells Are Composed of Modules That Slide Passively Past One Another during Dumping

1997 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Guild ◽  
Patricia S. Connelly ◽  
Michael K. Shaw ◽  
Lewis G. Tilney
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Cell Spreading ◽  
Growth Cones ◽  
Retrograde Flow ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Modular Construction ◽  
Actin Cables

At a late stage in Drosophila oogenesis, nurse cells rapidly expel their cytoplasm into the oocyte via intracellular bridges by a process called nurse cell dumping. Before dumping, numerous cables composed of actin filaments appear in the cytoplasm and extend inward from the plasma membrane toward the nucleus. This actin cage prevents the nucleus, which becomes highly lobed, from physically blocking the intracellular bridges during dumping. Each cable is composed of a linear series of modules composed of ∼25 cross-linked actin filaments. Adjacent modules overlap in the cable like the units of an extension ladder. During cable formation, individual modules are nucleated from the cell surface as microvilli, released, and then cross-linked to an adjacent forming module. The filaments in all the modules in a cable are unidirectionally polarized. During dumping as the volume of the cytoplasm decreases, the nucleus to plasma membrane distance decreases, compressing the actin cables that shorten as adjacent modules slide passively past one another just as the elements of an extension ladder slide past one another for storage. In Drosophila, the modular construction of actin cytoskeletons seems to be a generalized strategy. The behavior of modular actin cytoskeletons has implications for other actin-based cytoskeletal systems, e.g., those involved in Listeria movement, in cell spreading, and in retrograde flow in growth cones and fibroblasts.

The role of microfilaments in cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila follicles

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.O. Gutzeit
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Nuclear Membrane ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Cytoplasmic Streaming ◽  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Cell Nuclei ◽  
Cell Cytoplasm

During the last phase of oogenesis in Drosophila, nurse cell cytoplasm can be seen to be streaming into the growing oocyte when visualized in time-lapse films. This process can be reversibly inhibited by cytochalasins. The distribution of F-actin filaments in the nurse cells has been studied by staining with rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin. At the beginning of cytoplasmic streaming (stage 10B) increasingly thick bundles of microfilaments formed, many of which spanned the nurse cell cytoplasm from the cell membrane to the nuclear membrane. The association of F-actin with the nuclear membrane persisted when nurse cell nuclei were isolated mechanically. The experimental evidence suggests that microfilament contraction in the nurse cells leads to cytoplasmic streaming by pressure flow.

scholarly journals Fusion of Drosophila oocytes with specified germline sister cells

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Ali-Murthy ◽  
Richard D. Fetter ◽  
Thomas B. Kornberg
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Nurse Cell ◽  
Drosophila Species ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Egg Chambers ◽  
Germline Cells ◽  
Egg Chamber ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Sister Cells

ABSTRACTIn many animals, oocytes develop together with sister germline cells that pass products to the developing oocyte. In Drosophila, fifteen sister germline (nurse) cells in each egg chamber are known to apoptose by stage 12-13, but we discovered that two specific nurse cells that are juxtaposed to the oocyte are eliminated precociously at stage 10B. These nurse cells fuse with the oocyte and their nuclei extrude through an opening that forms in the oocyte. These nuclei extinguish in the ooplasm, and at stage 11, egg chambers have thirteen nucleated nurse cells and the plasma membrane of the oocyte is mostly restored. In infrequent egg chambers in which nurse cells are not eliminated, oocytes do not develop normally and are not fertilized. Precocious elimination is common to other Drosophila species. We conclude that nurse cells are distinguished by position and identity, and that nurse cell dissolution proceeds in two stages.

Src64 is required for ovarian ring canal morphogenesis during Drosophila oogenesis

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (15) ◽  
pp. 2883-2892 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.S. Dodson ◽  
D.J. Guarnieri ◽  
M.A. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Phosphorylation ◽  
Cellular Proliferation ◽  
Src Family Kinases ◽  
Nurse Cells ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Filamentous Actin ◽  
Ring Canal ◽  
Specific Product ◽  
Ring Canals ◽  
Egg Chambers

The Src family of protein tyrosine kinases have been implicated as important regulators of cellular proliferation, differentiation and function. In order to understand further the role of Src family kinases, we have generated loss-of-function mutations in Src64, one of two Src family kinases known in Drosophila melanogaster. Animals with reduced Src64 function develop normally and are fully viable. However, Src64 female flies have reduced fertility, which is associated with the incomplete transfer of cytoplasm from nurse cells to the developing oocyte. Analysis of Src64 egg chambers showed defects in the ring canals that interconnect the oocyte and its 15 associated nurse cells. Src64 ring canals fail to accumulate the high levels of tyrosine phosphorylation that are normally present. Despite the reduced tyrosine phosphorylation, known ring canal components such as filamentous actin, a ring canal-specific product of the hu-li tai shao gene, and the kelch protein localize properly. However, Src64 ring canals are reduced in size and frequently degenerate. These results indicate that Src64 is required for the proper growth and stability of the ovarian ring canals.

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