scholarly journals Fascin in Cell Migration: More Than an Actin Bundling Protein

Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 403
Author(s):  
Maureen C. Lamb ◽  
Tina L. Tootle

Fascin, an actin-binding protein, regulates many developmental migrations and contributes to cancer metastasis. Specifically, Fascin promotes cell motility, invasion, and adhesion by forming filopodia and invadopodia through its canonical actin bundling function. In addition to bundling actin, Fascin has non-canonical roles in the cell that are thought to promote cell migration. These non-canonical functions include regulating the activity of other actin-binding proteins, binding to and regulating microtubules, mediating mechanotransduction to the nucleus via interaction with the Linker of the Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton (LINC) Complex, and localizing to the nucleus to regulate nuclear actin, the nucleolus, and chromatin modifications. The many functions of Fascin must be coordinately regulated to control cell migration. While much remains to be learned about such mechanisms, Fascin is regulated by post-translational modifications, prostaglandin signaling, protein–protein interactions, and transcriptional means. Here, we review the structure of Fascin, the various functions of Fascin and how they contribute to cell migration, the mechanisms regulating Fascin, and how Fascin contributes to diseases, specifically cancer metastasis.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalyn Zimmermann ◽  
Mihaela E. Sardiu ◽  
Christa A. Manton ◽  
Md. Sayem Miah ◽  
Charles A.S. Banks ◽  
...  

AbstractBreast Cancer Metastasis Suppressor 1 (BRMS1) expression has been associated with longer patient survival in multiple cancer types. Understanding BRMS1 at the protein level will provide insights into both mechanism of action and enhance potential therapeutic development. We previously mapped the C-terminus of BRMS1 as critical for metastasis suppression and hypothesized that critical protein interactions in this region will explain function. These studies indicate that phosphorylation status at S237 regulates BRMS1 interactions related to a variety of biological processes, phenotypes [cell cycle (e.g., CDKN2A), DNA repair (e.g., BRCA1)], and metastasis [(e.g., TCF2 and POLE2)]. Presence of the C-terminal site appears to be critical for BRMS1 directed metastasis suppression, as demonstrated by in vitro migration assays. These assays demonstrated that presence of S237 directly decreased MDA-MB-231 migration. This study furthers our understanding of BRMS1’s molecular role, as it demonstrates that BRMS1 C-terminus is involved in direct protein-protein interactions. Several of the interacting proteins are associated with cancer and metastasis, which may result in metastasis suppression as suggested by in vitro findings.Abstract FigureGraphical AbstractUtilizing BRMS1 mutants to mimic-phosphorylation, this study demonstrates that S237-phosphorylation disrupts BRMS1 protein-protein interactions. The disruption includes both known Sin3/HDAC interactors as well as additionally previously unidentified Sin3-indepedent binding partners (indicated by increased opacity). It is revealed that BRMS1-phosphorylation status also more greatly inhibits cell migration (indicated by +) compared to the unphosphorylated state, suggesting that phosphorylation plays a role in BRMS1 metastatsis suppresion function, potentially though altered protein interactions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
David T. White ◽  
Katie M. McShea ◽  
Myriam A. Attar ◽  
Lorraine C. Santy

ARFs are small GTPases that regulate vesicular trafficking, cell shape, and movement. ARFs are subject to extensive regulation by a large number of accessory proteins. The many different accessory proteins are likely specialized to regulate ARF signaling during particular processes. ARNO/cytohesin 2 is an ARF-activating protein that promotes cell migration and cell shape changes. We report here that protein–protein interactions mediated by the coiled-coil domain of ARNO are required for ARNO induced motility. ARNO lacking the coiled-coil domain does not promote migration and does not induce ARF-dependent Rac activation. We find that the coiled-coil domain promotes the assembly of a multiprotein complex containing both ARNO and the Rac-activating protein Dock180. Knockdown of either GRASP/Tamalin or IPCEF, two proteins known to bind to the coiled-coil of ARNO, prevents the association of ARNO and Dock180 and prevents ARNO-induced Rac activation. These data suggest that scaffold proteins can regulate ARF dependent processes by biasing ARF signaling toward particular outputs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (37) ◽  
pp. 6306-6355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Vincenzi ◽  
Flavia Anna Mercurio ◽  
Marilisa Leone

Background:: Many pathways regarding healthy cells and/or linked to diseases onset and progression depend on large assemblies including multi-protein complexes. Protein-protein interactions may occur through a vast array of modules known as protein interaction domains (PIDs). Objective:: This review concerns with PIDs recognizing post-translationally modified peptide sequences and intends to provide the scientific community with state of art knowledge on their 3D structures, binding topologies and potential applications in the drug discovery field. Method:: Several databases, such as the Pfam (Protein family), the SMART (Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool) and the PDB (Protein Data Bank), were searched to look for different domain families and gain structural information on protein complexes in which particular PIDs are involved. Recent literature on PIDs and related drug discovery campaigns was retrieved through Pubmed and analyzed. Results and Conclusion:: PIDs are rather versatile as concerning their binding preferences. Many of them recognize specifically only determined amino acid stretches with post-translational modifications, a few others are able to interact with several post-translationally modified sequences or with unmodified ones. Many PIDs can be linked to different diseases including cancer. The tremendous amount of available structural data led to the structure-based design of several molecules targeting protein-protein interactions mediated by PIDs, including peptides, peptidomimetics and small compounds. More studies are needed to fully role out, among different families, PIDs that can be considered reliable therapeutic targets, however, attacking PIDs rather than catalytic domains of a particular protein may represent a route to obtain selective inhibitors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1437-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divyesh Joshi ◽  
Maneesha S. Inamdar

Blood vessel formation requires endothelial cell (EC) migration that depends on dynamic remodeling of the cytoskeleton. Rudhira/Breast Carcinoma Amplified Sequence 3 (BCAS3) is a cytoskeletal protein essential for EC migration and sprouting angiogenesis during mouse development and is implicated in metastatic disease. Here, we report that Rudhira mediates cytoskeleton organization and dynamics during EC migration. Rudhira binds to both microtubules (MTs) and vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs) and stabilizes MTs. Rudhira depletion impairs cytoskeletal cross-talk, MT stability, and hence focal adhesion disassembly. The BCAS3 domain of Rudhira is necessary and sufficient for MT-IF cross-linking and cell migration. Pharmacologically restoring MT stability rescues gross cytoskeleton organization and angiogenic sprouting in Rudhira-depleted cells. Our study identifies the novel and essential role of Rudhira in cytoskeletal cross-talk and assigns function to the conserved BCAS3 domain. Targeting Rudhira could allow tissue-restricted cytoskeleton modulation to control cell migration and angiogenesis in development and disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. e1008988
Author(s):  
Nikolina ŠoŠtarić ◽  
Vera van Noort

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) play a vital, yet often overlooked role in the living cells through modulation of protein properties, such as localization and affinity towards their interactors, thereby enabling quick adaptation to changing environmental conditions. We have previously benchmarked a computational framework for the prediction of PTMs’ effects on the stability of protein-protein interactions, which has molecular dynamics simulations followed by free energy calculations at its core. In the present work, we apply this framework to publicly available data on Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein structures and PTM sites, identified in both normal and stress conditions. We predict proteome-wide effects of acetylations and phosphorylations on protein-protein interactions and find that acetylations more frequently have locally stabilizing roles in protein interactions, while the opposite is true for phosphorylations. However, the overall impact of PTMs on protein-protein interactions is more complex than a simple sum of local changes caused by the introduction of PTMs and adds to our understanding of PTM cross-talk. We further use the obtained data to calculate the conformational changes brought about by PTMs. Finally, conservation of the analyzed PTM residues in orthologues shows that some predictions for yeast proteins will be mirrored to other organisms, including human. This work, therefore, contributes to our overall understanding of the modulation of the cellular protein interaction networks in yeast and beyond.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Humza A. Khan ◽  
Manish J. Butte

Abstract Background Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are a group of genetic disorders that impair the immune system, with over 400 genes described so far, and hundreds more to be discovered. To facilitate the search for new genes, we need a way to prioritize among all the genes in the genome those most likely to play an important role in immunity. Results Here we identify a new list of genes by linking known IEI genes to new ones by using open-source databases of protein-protein interactions, post-translational modifications, and transcriptional regulation. We analyze this new set of 2,530 IEI-related genes for their tolerance of genetic variation and by their expression levels in various immune cell types. Conclusions By merging genes derived from protein interactions of known IEI genes with transcriptional data, we offer a new list of candidate genes that may play a role in as-yet undiscovered IEIs.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Johnson ◽  
Hillary G. Rikli

Research in toxinology has created a pharmacological paradox. With an estimated 220,000 venomous animals worldwide, the study of peptidyl toxins provides a vast number of effector molecules. However, due to the complexity of the protein-protein interactions, there are fewer than ten venom-derived molecules on the market. Structural characterization and identification of post-translational modifications are essential to develop biological lead structures into pharmaceuticals. Utilizing advancements in mass spectrometry, we have created a high definition approach that fuses conventional high-resolution MS-MS with ion mobility spectrometry (HDMSE) to elucidate these primary structure characteristics. We investigated venom from ten species of “tiger” spider (Genus: Poecilotheria) and discovered they contain isobaric conformers originating from non-enzymatic Asp isomerization. One conformer pair conserved in five of ten species examined, denominated PcaTX-1a and PcaTX-1b, was found to be a 36-residue peptide with a cysteine knot, an amidated C-terminus, and isoAsp33Asp substitution. Although the isomerization of Asp has been implicated in many pathologies, this is the first characterization of Asp isomerization in a toxin and demonstrates the isomerized product’s diminished physiological effects. This study establishes the value of a HDMSE approach to toxin screening and characterization.


Proteomes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmalyn J. Dupree ◽  
Madhuri Jayathirtha ◽  
Hannah Yorkey ◽  
Marius Mihasan ◽  
Brindusa Alina Petre ◽  
...  

Proteomics is the field of study that includes the analysis of proteins, from either a basic science prospective or a clinical one. Proteins can be investigated for their abundance, variety of proteoforms due to post-translational modifications (PTMs), and their stable or transient protein–protein interactions. This can be especially beneficial in the clinical setting when studying proteins involved in different diseases and conditions. Here, we aim to describe a bottom-up proteomics workflow from sample preparation to data analysis, including all of its benefits and pitfalls. We also describe potential improvements in this type of proteomics workflow for the future.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chana G. Sokolik ◽  
Nasrin Qassem ◽  
Jordan H. Chill

WASp-interacting protein (WIP), a regulator of actin cytoskeleton assembly and remodeling, is a cellular multi-tasker and a key member of a network of protein–protein interactions, with significant impact on health and disease. Here, we attempt to complement the well-established understanding of WIP function from cell biology studies, summarized in several reviews, with a structural description of WIP interactions, highlighting works that present a molecular view of WIP’s protein–protein interactions. This provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which WIP mediates its biological functions. The fully disordered WIP also serves as an intriguing example of how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exert their function. WIP consists of consecutive small functional domains and motifs that interact with a host of cellular partners, with a striking preponderance of proline-rich motif capable of interactions with several well-recognized binding partners; indeed, over 30% of the WIP primary structure are proline residues. We focus on the binding motifs and binding interfaces of three important WIP segments, the actin-binding N-terminal domain, the central domain that binds SH3 domains of various interaction partners, and the WASp-binding C-terminal domain. Beyond the obvious importance of a more fundamental understanding of the biology of this central cellular player, this approach carries an immediate and highly beneficial effect on drug-design efforts targeting WIP and its binding partners. These factors make the value of such structural studies, challenging as they are, readily apparent.


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