scholarly journals Linking cortical microtubule attachment and exocytosis

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivar Noordstra ◽  
Anna Akhmanova

Exocytosis is a fundamental cellular process whereby secreted molecules are packaged into vesicles that move along cytoskeletal filaments and fuse with the plasma membrane. To function optimally, cells are strongly dependent on precisely controlled delivery of exocytotic cargo. In mammalian cells, microtubules serve as major tracks for vesicle transport by motor proteins, and thus microtubule organization is important for targeted delivery of secretory carriers. Over the years, multiple microtubule-associated and cortical proteins have been discovered that facilitate the interaction between the microtubule plus ends and the cell cortex. In this review, we focus on mammalian protein complexes that have been shown to participate in both cortical microtubule capture and exocytosis, thereby regulating the spatial organization of secretion. These complexes include microtubule plus-end tracking proteins, scaffolding factors, actin-binding proteins, and components of vesicle docking machinery, which together allow efficient coordination of cargo transport and release.

2011 ◽  
Vol 194 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaelyn D. Sumigray ◽  
Hsin Chen ◽  
Terry Lechler

Desmosomes are cell–cell adhesion structures that integrate cytoskeletal networks. In addition to binding intermediate filaments, the desmosomal protein desmoplakin (DP) regulates microtubule reorganization in the epidermis. In this paper, we identify a specific subset of centrosomal proteins that are recruited to the cell cortex by DP upon epidermal differentiation. These include Lis1 and Ndel1, which are centrosomal proteins that regulate microtubule organization and anchoring in other cell types. This recruitment was mediated by a region of DP specific to a single isoform, DPI. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the epidermal-specific loss of Lis1 results in dramatic defects in microtubule reorganization. Lis1 ablation also causes desmosomal defects, characterized by decreased levels of desmosomal components, decreased attachment of keratin filaments, and increased turnover of desmosomal proteins at the cell cortex. This contributes to loss of epidermal barrier activity, resulting in completely penetrant perinatal lethality. This work reveals essential desmosome-associated components that control cortical microtubule organization and unexpected roles for centrosomal proteins in epidermal function.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene G. Maksimov ◽  
Alexey V. Zamaraev ◽  
Evgenia Yu. Parshina ◽  
Yury B. Slonimskiy ◽  
Tatiana A. Slastnikova ◽  
...  

AbstractTo counteract oxidative stress, antioxidants including carotenoids are highly promising, yet their exploitation is drastically limited by the poor bioavailability and fast photodestruction, whereas current delivery systems are far from being efficient. Here we demonstrate that the recently discovered nanometer-sized water-soluble carotenoprotein from Anabaena (termed CTDH) transiently interacts with liposomes to efficiently extract carotenoids via carotenoid-mediated homodimerization, yielding violet-purple protein samples amenable to lyophilization and long-term storage. We characterize spectroscopic properties of the pigment-protein complexes and thermodynamics of liposome-protein carotenoid transfer and demonstrate the highly efficient delivery of echinenone form CTDH into liposomes. Most importantly, we show carotenoid delivery to membranes of mammalian cells, which provides protection from reactive oxygen species. The described carotenoprotein may be considered as part of modular systems for the targeted antioxidant delivery.Significance statementCarotenoids are excellent natural antioxidants but their delivery to vulnerable cells is challenging due to their hydrophobic nature and susceptibility to degradation. Thus, systems securing antioxidant stability and facilitating targeted delivery are of great interest for the design of medical agents. In this work, we have demonstrated that soluble cyanobacterial carotenoprotein can deliver echinenone into membranes of liposomes and mammalian cells with almost 70 % efficiency, which alleviates the induced oxidative stress. Our findings warrant the robustness of the protein-based carotenoid delivery for studies of carotenoid activities and effects on cell models.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongdeng Zhang ◽  
Lena K. Schroeder ◽  
Mark D. Lessard ◽  
Phylicia Kidd ◽  
Jeeyun Chung ◽  
...  

AbstractCombining the molecular specificity of fluorescent probes with three-dimensional (3D) imaging at nanoscale resolution is critical for investigating the spatial organization and interactions of cellular organelles and protein complexes. We present a super-resolution light microscope that enables simultaneous multicolor imaging of whole mammalian cells at ~20 nm 3D resolution. We show its power for cell biology research with fluorescence images that resolved the highly convoluted Golgi apparatus and the close contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane, structures that have traditionally been the imaging realm of electron microscopy.One Sentence SummaryComplex cellular structures previously only resolved by electron microscopy can now be imaged in multiple colors by 4Pi-SMS.


Author(s):  
A. Gregory Matera

Our laboratory is interested in aspects of eukaryotic gene expression that may be regulated at the level of nuclear architecture and/or localization. Understanding the spatial organization of genes and gene products within mammalian nuclei will provide valuable insight into how the various metabolic processes such as replication, transcription, processing and transport are orchestrated. In order to begin to address these questions, we have chosen to study the cell biology of RNA processing. Small RNA-protein complexes known as ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) are central factors in numerous RNA processing reactions. Much of what is currently known about the subcellular organization of RNPs is based upon the locations of the protein components of RNPs, not the RNA components. Furthermore, since many RNAs share common protein subunits it is essential to develop probes which are specific to the individual RNAs. We utilize highly specific antisense oligonucleotide probes and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to ascertain the organization of RNPs and their associations with particular subdomains within mammalian cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. e201900373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Lecland ◽  
Chiung-Yueh Hsu ◽  
Cécile Chemin ◽  
Andreas Merdes ◽  
Christiane Bierkamp

In mammalian skin, ninein localizes to the centrosomes of progenitor cells and relocates to the cell cortex upon differentiation of keratinocytes, where cortical arrays of microtubules are formed. To examine the function of ninein in skin development, we use epidermis-specific and constitutive ninein-knockout mice to demonstrate that ninein is necessary for maintaining regular protein levels of the differentiation markers filaggrin and involucrin, for the formation of desmosomes, for the secretion of lamellar bodies, and for the formation of the epidermal barrier. Ninein-deficient mice are viable but develop a thinner skin with partly impaired epidermal barrier. We propose two underlying mechanisms: first, ninein contributes to spindle orientation during the division of progenitor cells, whereas its absence leads to misoriented cell divisions, altering the pool of progenitor cells. Second, ninein is required for the cortical organization of microtubules in differentiating keratinocytes, and for the cortical re-localization of microtubule-organizing proteins, and may thus affect any mechanisms that depend on localized microtubule-dependent transport.


2020 ◽  
Vol 219 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa D. Ruehle ◽  
Alexander J. Stemm-Wolf ◽  
Chad G. Pearson

Basal bodies (BBs) are macromolecular complexes required for the formation and cortical positioning of cilia. Both BB assembly and DNA replication are tightly coordinated with the cell cycle to ensure their accurate segregation and propagation to daughter cells, but the mechanisms ensuring coordination are unclear. The Tetrahymena Sas4/CPAP protein is enriched at assembling BBs, localizing to the core BB structure and to the base of BB-appendage microtubules and striated fiber. Sas4 is necessary for BB assembly and cortical microtubule organization, and Sas4 loss disrupts cell division furrow positioning and DNA segregation. The Hippo signaling pathway is known to regulate cell division furrow position, and Hippo molecules localize to BBs and BB-appendages. We find that Sas4 loss disrupts localization of the Hippo activator, Mob1, suggesting that Sas4 mediates Hippo activity by promoting scaffolds for Mob1 localization to the cell cortex. Thus, Sas4 links BBs with an ancient signaling pathway known to promote the accurate and symmetric segregation of the genome.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huokko ◽  
Tao Ni ◽  
Gregory F. Dykes ◽  
Deborah M. Simpson ◽  
Philip Brownridge ◽  
...  

AbstractHow thylakoid membranes are generated to form a metabolically active membrane network and how thylakoid membranes orchestrate the insertion and localization of protein complexes for efficient electron flux remain elusive. Here, we develop a method to modulate thylakoid biogenesis in the rod-shaped cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 by modulating light intensity during cell growth, and probe the spatial-temporal stepwise biogenesis process of thylakoid membranes in cells. Our results reveal that the plasma membrane and regularly arranged concentric thylakoid layers have no physical connections. The newly synthesized thylakoid membrane fragments emerge between the plasma membrane and pre-existing thylakoids. Photosystem I monomers appear in the thylakoid membranes earlier than other mature photosystem assemblies, followed by generation of Photosystem I trimers and Photosystem II complexes. Redistribution of photosynthetic complexes during thylakoid biogenesis ensures establishment of the spatial organization of the functional thylakoid network. This study provides insights into the dynamic biogenesis process and maturation of the functional photosynthetic machinery.


2002 ◽  
Vol 283 (3) ◽  
pp. C850-C865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Di Ciano ◽  
Zilin Nie ◽  
Katalin Szászi ◽  
Alison Lewis ◽  
Takehito Uruno ◽  
...  

Osmotic stress is known to affect the cytoskeleton; however, this adaptive response has remained poorly characterized, and the underlying signaling pathways are unexplored. Here we show that hypertonicity induces submembranous de novo F-actin assembly concomitant with the peripheral translocation and colocalization of cortactin and the actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex, which are key components of the actin nucleation machinery. Additionally, hyperosmolarity promotes the association of cortactin with Arp2/3 as revealed by coimmunoprecipitation. Using various truncation or phosphorylation-incompetent mutants, we show that cortactin translocation requires the Arp2/3- or the F-actin binding domain, but the process is independent of the shrinkage-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of cortactin. Looking for an alternative signaling mechanism, we found that hypertonicity stimulates Rac and Cdc42. This appears to be a key event in the osmotically triggered cytoskeletal reorganization, because 1) constitutively active small GTPases translocate cortactin, 2) Rac and cortactin colocalize at the periphery of hypertonically challenged cells, and 3) dominant-negative Rac and Cdc42 inhibit the hypertonicity-provoked cortactin and Arp3 translocation. The Rho family-dependent cytoskeleton remodeling may be an important osmoprotective response that reinforces the cell cortex.


Mitochondrion ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Xu ◽  
Ashim Malhotra ◽  
Steven M. Claypool ◽  
Mindong Ren ◽  
Michael Schlame

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