scholarly journals Building the cytokinetic contractile ring in an early embryo: Initiation as clusters of myosin II, anillin and septin, and visualization of a septin filament network

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0252845
Author(s):  
Chelsea Garno ◽  
Zoe H. Irons ◽  
Courtney M. Gamache ◽  
Quenelle McKim ◽  
Gabriela Reyes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Animal Cell ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Sea Urchin Embryos ◽  
Structural Progression ◽  
Filament Network ◽  
Septin Filament

The cytokinetic contractile ring (CR) was first described some 50 years ago, however our understanding of the assembly and structure of the animal cell CR remains incomplete. We recently reported that mature CRs in sea urchin embryos contain myosin II mini-filaments organized into aligned concatenated arrays, and that in early CRs myosin II formed discrete clusters that transformed into the linearized structure over time. The present study extends our previous work by addressing the hypothesis that these myosin II clusters also contain the crucial scaffolding proteins anillin and septin, known to help link actin, myosin II, RhoA, and the membrane during cytokinesis. Super-resolution imaging of cortices from dividing embryos indicates that within each cluster, anillin and septin2 occupy a centralized position relative to the myosin II mini-filaments. As CR formation progresses, the myosin II, septin and anillin containing clusters enlarge and coalesce into patchy and faintly linear patterns. Our super-resolution images provide the initial visualization of anillin and septin nanostructure within an animal cell CR, including evidence of a septin filament-like network. Furthermore, Latrunculin-treated embryos indicated that the localization of septin or anillin to the myosin II clusters in the early CR was not dependent on actin filaments. These results highlight the structural progression of the CR in sea urchin embryos from an array of clusters to a linearized purse string, the association of anillin and septin with this process, and provide the visualization of an apparent septin filament network with the CR structure of an animal cell.

scholarly journals Building the cytokinetic contractile ring in an early embryo: initiation as clusters of myosin II, anillin and septin, and visualization of a septin filament network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Garno ◽  
Zoe H. Irons ◽  
Courtney M. Gamache ◽  
Xufeng Wu ◽  
Charles B. Shuster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Animal Cell ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Sea Urchin Embryos ◽  
Structural Progression ◽  
Filament Network ◽  
Septin Filament

The cytokinetic contractile ring (CR) was first described some 50 years ago, however our understanding of the assembly and structure of the animal cell CR remains incomplete. We recently reported that mature CRs in sea urchin embryos contain myosin II mini-filaments organized into aligned concatenated arrays, and that in early CRs myosin II formed discrete clusters that transformed into the linearized structure over time. The present study extends our previous work by addressing the hypothesis that these myosin II clusters also contain the crucial scaffolding proteins anillin and septin, known to help link actin, myosin II, RhoA, and the membrane during cytokinesis. Super-resolution imaging of cortices from dividing embryos indicates that within each cluster, anillin and septin2 occupy a centralized position relative to the myosin II mini-filaments. As CR formation progresses, the myosin II, septin and anillin containing clusters enlarge and coalesce into patchy and faintly linear patterns. Our super-resolution images provide the initial visualization of anillin and septin nanostructure within an animal cell CR, including evidence of a septin filament network. Furthermore, Latrunculin-treated embryos indicated that the localization of septin or anillin to the myosin II clusters in the early CR was not dependent on actin filaments. These results highlight the structural progression of the CR in sea urchin embryos from an array of clusters to a linearized purse string, the association of anillin and septin with this process, and provide, for the first time, the visualization of septin filament higher order structure in an animal cell CR.

scholarly journals The nanoscale organization of the Wnt signaling integrator Dishevelled in the development-essential vegetal cortex domain of an egg and early embryo

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Henson ◽  
Bakary Samasa ◽  
Charles B. Shuster ◽  
Athula H. Wikramanayake
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Ultrastructural Organization ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Pathway Activation ◽  
Vegetal Cortex ◽  
Canonical Wnt

AbstractWnt/β-catenin (cWnt) signaling is a crucial regulator of development and Dishevelled (Dsh/Dvl) functions as an integral part of this pathway by linking Wnt binding to the frizzled:LRP5/6 receptor complex with β-catenin-stimulated gene expression. In many cell types Dsh has been localized to ill-defined cytoplasmic puncta, however in sea urchin eggs and embryos confocal fluorescence microscopy has shown that Dsh is localized to puncta present in a novel and development-essential vegetal cortex domain (VCD). In the present study, we used super-resolution light microscopy and platinum replica TEM to provide the first views of the ultrastructural organization of Dsh within the sea urchin VCD. 3D-SIM imaging of isolated egg cortices demonstrated the concentration gradient-like distribution of Dsh in the VCD, whereas higher resolution STED imaging revealed that some individual Dsh puncta consisted of more than one fluorescent source. Platinum replica immuno-TEM localization showed that Dsh puncta on the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane consisted of aggregates of pedestal-like structures each individually labeled with the C-terminus specific Dsh antibody. These aggregates were resistant to detergent extraction and treatment with drugs that disrupt actin filaments or inhibit myosin II contraction, and coexisted with the first division actomyosin contractile ring. These results confirm and extend previous studies and reveal, for the first time in any cell type, the nanoscale organization of plasma membrane tethered Dsh. Our current working hypothesis is that these Dsh pedestals represent a prepositioned scaffold organization that is important for canonical Wnt pathway activation at the sea urchin vegetal organization and may also be relevant to the submembranous Dsh puncta present in other eggs and embryos.

scholarly journals Myosins generate contractile force and maintain organization in the cytokinetic contractile ring

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary A. McDargh ◽  
Shuyuan Wang ◽  
Harvey F. Chin ◽  
Sathish Thiyagarajan ◽  
Erdem Karatekin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Force Production ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Ring Model ◽  
Self Assembling

During cytokinesis, cells assemble an actomyosin contractile ring whose tension constricts and divides cells, but the ring tension was rarely measured. Actomyosin force generation is well understood for the regular sarcomeric architecture of striated muscle, but recent super-resolution studies of fission yeast contractile rings revealed organizational building blocks that are not sarcomeres but irregularly positioned plasma membrane-anchored protein complexes called nodes. Here, we measured contractile ring tensions in fission yeast protoplast cells. The myosin II isoforms Myo2 and Myp2 generated the tension, with a ~2-fold greater contribution from Myo2. Simulations of a molecularly detailed ring model revealed a sliding node mechanism for tension, where nodes hosting tense actin filaments were pulled bidirectionally around the ring. Myo2 and Myp2 chaperoned self-assembling components into the ring organization, and anchored the ring against bridging instabilities. Thus, beyond force production, Myo2 and Myp2 are the principal organizers, bundlers and anchors of the contractile ring.

scholarly journals A novel coordinated function of Myosin II with GOLPH3 controls centralspindlin localization during cytokinesis in Drosophila

2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (21) ◽  
pp. jcs252965
Author(s):  
Stefano Sechi ◽  
Anna Frappaolo ◽  
Angela Karimpour-Ghahnavieh ◽  
Roberta Fraschini ◽  
Maria Grazia Giansanti
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Heavy Chain ◽  
Light Chain ◽  
Animal Cell ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Ring Assembly ◽  
Missense Allele ◽  
Phosphatidylinositol 4 ◽  
Muscle Myosin

ABSTRACTIn animal cell cytokinesis, interaction of non-muscle myosin II (NMII) with F-actin provides the dominant force for pinching the mother cell into two daughters. Here we demonstrate that celibe (cbe) is a missense allele of zipper, which encodes the Drosophila Myosin heavy chain. Mutation of cbe impairs binding of Zipper protein to the regulatory light chain Spaghetti squash (Sqh). In dividing spermatocytes from cbe males, Sqh fails to concentrate at the equatorial cortex, resulting in thin actomyosin rings that are unable to constrict. We show that cbe mutation impairs localization of the phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate [PI(4)P]-binding protein Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3, also known as Sauron) and maintenance of centralspindlin at the cell equator of telophase cells. Our results further demonstrate that GOLPH3 protein associates with Sqh and directly binds the centralspindlin subunit Pavarotti. We propose that during cytokinesis, the reciprocal dependence between Myosin and PI(4)P–GOLPH3 regulates centralspindlin stabilization at the invaginating plasma membrane and contractile ring assembly.

scholarly journals β-Catenin is essential for patterning the maternally specified animal-vegetal axis in the sea urchin embryo

1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (16) ◽  
pp. 9343-9348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athula H. Wikramanayake ◽  
Ling Huang ◽  
William H. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
Signal Transduction Cascade ◽  
Sea Urchin Embryos ◽  
Sea Urchin Embryo ◽  
Vegetal Pole ◽  
Vegetal Cell

In sea urchin embryos, the animal-vegetal axis is specified during oogenesis. After fertilization, this axis is patterned to produce five distinct territories by the 60-cell stage. Territorial specification is thought to occur by a signal transduction cascade that is initiated by the large micromeres located at the vegetal pole. The molecular mechanisms that mediate the specification events along the animal–vegetal axis in sea urchin embryos are largely unknown. Nuclear β-catenin is seen in vegetal cells of the early embryo, suggesting that this protein plays a role in specifying vegetal cell fates. Here, we test this hypothesis and show that β-catenin is necessary for vegetal plate specification and is also sufficient for endoderm formation. In addition, we show that β-catenin has pronounced effects on animal blastomeres and is critical for specification of aboral ectoderm and for ectoderm patterning, presumably via a noncell-autonomous mechanism. These results support a model in which a Wnt-like signal released by vegetal cells patterns the early embryo along the animal–vegetal axis. Our results also reveal similarities between the sea urchin animal–vegetal axis and the vertebrate dorsal–ventral axis, suggesting that these axes share a common evolutionary origin.

scholarly journals EST analysis of gene expression in early cleavage-stage sea urchin embryos

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (17) ◽  
pp. 3857-3867
Author(s):  
Y.H. Lee ◽  
G.M. Huang ◽  
R.A. Cameron ◽  
G. Graham ◽  
E.H. Davidson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Expressed Sequence Tags ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Cytoskeletal Proteins ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Est Analysis ◽  
Signaling Systems ◽  
Sea Urchin Embryos ◽  
Expressed Sequence

A set of 956 expressed sequence tags derived from 7-hour (mid-cleavage) sea urchin embryos was analyzed to assess biosynthetic functions and to illuminate the structure of the message population at this stage. About a quarter of the expressed sequence tags represented repetitive sequence transcripts typical of early embryos, or ribosomal and mitochondrial RNAs, while a majority of the remainder contained significant open reading frames. A total of 232 sequences, including 153 different proteins, produced significant matches when compared against GenBank. The majority of these identified sequences represented ‘housekeeping’ proteins, i.e., cytoskeletal proteins, metabolic enzymes, transporters and proteins involved in cell division. The most interesting finds were components of signaling systems and transcription factors not previously reported in early sea urchin embryos, including components of Notch and TGF signal transduction pathways. As expected from earlier kinetic analyses of the embryo mRNA populations, no very prevalent protein-coding species were encountered; the most highly represented such sequences were cDNAs encoding cyclins A and B. The frequency of occurrence of all sequences within the database was used to construct a sequence prevalence distribution. The result, confirming earlier mRNA population analyses, indicated that the poly(A) RNA of the early embryo consists mainly of a very complex set of low-copy-number transcripts.

scholarly journals Molecular organization of cytokinesis nodes and contractile rings by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy of live fission yeast

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (40) ◽  
pp. E5876-E5885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Laplante ◽  
Fang Huang ◽  
Irene R. Tebbs ◽  
Joerg Bewersdorf ◽  
Thomas D. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Fission Yeast ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Molecular Organization ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Actin Ring ◽  
Structural Units ◽  
Iq Motif

Cytokinesis in animals, fungi, and amoebas depends on the constriction of a contractile ring built from a common set of conserved proteins. Many fundamental questions remain about how these proteins organize to generate the necessary tension for cytokinesis. Using quantitative high-speed fluorescence photoactivation localization microscopy (FPALM), we probed this question in live fission yeast cells at unprecedented resolution. We show that nodes, protein assembly precursors to the contractile ring, are discrete structural units with stoichiometric ratios and distinct distributions of constituent proteins. Anillin Mid1p, Fes/CIP4 homology-Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs (F-BAR) Cdc15p, IQ motif containing GTPase-activating protein (IQGAP) Rng2p, and formin Cdc12p form the base of the node that anchors the ends of myosin II tails to the plasma membrane, with myosin II heads extending into the cytoplasm. This general node organization persists in the contractile ring where nodes move bidirectionally during constriction. We observed the dynamics of the actin network during cytokinesis, starting with the extension of short actin strands from nodes, which sometimes connected neighboring nodes. Later in cytokinesis, a broad network of thick bundles coalesced into a tight ring around the equator of the cell. The actin ring was ∼125 nm wide and ∼125 nm thick. These observations establish the organization of the proteins in the functional units of a cytokinetic contractile ring.

scholarly journals Nanoscale architecture of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe contractile ring

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan A McDonald ◽  
Abigail L Lind ◽  
Sarah E Smith ◽  
Rong Li ◽  
Kathleen L Gould
Keyword(s):  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Protein Composition ◽  
Molecular Architecture ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Super Resolution Microscopy ◽  
Multiple Signaling ◽  
Signaling Components

The contractile ring is a complex molecular apparatus which physically divides many eukaryotic cells. Despite knowledge of its protein composition, the molecular architecture of the ring is not known. Here we have applied super-resolution microscopy and FRET to determine the nanoscale spatial organization of Schizosaccharomyces pombe contractile ring components relative to the plasma membrane. Similar to other membrane-tethered actin structures, we find proteins localize in specific layers relative to the membrane. The most membrane-proximal layer (0–80 nm) is composed of membrane-binding scaffolds, formin, and the tail of the essential myosin-II. An intermediate layer (80–160 nm) consists of a network of cytokinesis accessory proteins as well as multiple signaling components which influence cell division. Farthest from the membrane (160–350 nm) we find F-actin, the motor domains of myosins, and a major F-actin crosslinker. Circumferentially within the ring, multiple proteins proximal to the membrane form clusters of different sizes, while components farther from the membrane are uniformly distributed. This comprehensive organizational map provides a framework for understanding contractile ring function.

scholarly journals The ultrastructural organization of actin and myosin II filaments in the contractile ring: new support for an old model of cytokinesis

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Henson ◽  
Casey E. Ditzler ◽  
Aphnie Germain ◽  
Patrick M. Irwin ◽  
Eric T. Vogt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Cell ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
String Model ◽  
Ultrastructural Organization ◽  
Structured Illumination ◽  
Structured Illumination Microscopy ◽  
Contractile Ring ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Ring Constriction

Despite recent advances in our understanding of the components and spatial regulation of the contractile ring (CR), the precise ultrastructure of actin and myosin II within the animal cell CR remains an unanswered question. We used superresolution light microscopy and platinum replica transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to determine the structural organization of actin and myosin II in isolated cortical cytoskeletons prepared from dividing sea urchin embryos. Three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy indicated that within the CR, actin and myosin II filaments were organized into tightly packed linear arrays oriented along the axis of constriction and restricted to a narrow zone within the furrow. In contrast, myosin II filaments in earlier stages of cytokinesis were organized into small, discrete, and regularly spaced clusters. TEM showed that actin within the CR formed a dense and anisotropic array of elongate, antiparallel filaments, whereas myosin II was organized into laterally associated, head-to-head filament chains highly reminiscent of mammalian cell stress fibers. Together these results not only support the canonical “purse-string” model for contractile ring constriction, but also suggest that the CR may be derived from foci of myosin II filaments in a manner similar to what has been demonstrated in fission yeast.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document