A motor independent requirement for Dynein light chain in C. elegans meiotic synapsis

The dynein motor complex is thought to aid in homolog pairing in many organisms by moving chromosomes within the nuclear periphery to promote and test homologous interactions. This precedes synaptonemal complex (SC) formation during homolog synapsis, which stabilizes homolog proximity during recombination. We observed that depletion of the dynein light chain (DLC-1) in Caenorhabditis elegans irreversibly prevents synapsis, causing an increase in off-chromatin formation of SC protein foci with increasing temperature. This requirement for DLC-1 is independent of its function in dynein motors, as SYP protein foci do not form with depletion of other dynein motor components. In contrast to normal SC-related structures, foci formed with DLC-1 depletion are resistant to dissolution with 1,6-hexanediol, similar to aggregates of SC proteins formed in high growth temperatures. Dynein light chains have been shown to act as hub proteins that interact with other proteins through a conserved binding motif. We identified a similar DLC-1 binding motif in the C. elegans SC protein SYP-2, and mutation of the putative motif causes meiosis defects that are exacerbated by elevated temperatures. We propose that DLC-1 acts as a pre-synapsis chaperone-like factor for SYP proteins to help regulate their self-association prior to the signals for SC assembly, a role that is revealed by its increased essentiality at elevated temperatures.

Identification of Myoferlin, a Potential Serodiagnostic Antigen of Clonorchiasis, via Immunoproteomic Analysis of Sera From Different Infection Periods and Excretory-Secretory Products of Clonorchis sinensis

Clonorchiasis, which is caused by Clonorchis sinensis, is an important foodborne disease worldwide. The excretory-secretory products (ESPs) of C. sinensis play important roles in host-parasite interactions by acting as causative agents. In the present study, the ESPs and sera positive for C. sinensis were collected to identify proteins specific to the sera of C. sinensis (i.e., proteins that do not cross-react with Fasciola hepatica and Schistosoma japonicum) at different infection periods. Briefly, white Japanese rabbits were artificially infected with C. sinensis, and their sera were collected at 7 days post-infection (dpi), 14 dpi, 35 dpi, and 77 dpi. To identify the specific proteins in C. sinensis, a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay was conducted using shotgun liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to pull down the sera roots of C. sinensis, F. hepatica, and S. japonicum. For the annotated proteins, 32, 18, 39, and 35 proteins specific to C. sinensis were pulled down by the infected sera at 7, 14, 35, and 77 dpi, respectively. Three proteins, Dynein light chain-1, Dynein light chain-2 and Myoferlin were detected in all infection periods. Of these proteins, myoferlin is known to be overexpressed in several human cancers and could be a promising biomarker and therapeutic target for cancer cases. Accordingly, this protein was selected for further studies. To achieve a better expression, myoferlin was truncated into two parts, Myof1 and Myof2 (1,500 bp and 810 bp), based on the antigenic epitopes provided by bioinformatics. The estimated molecular weight of the recombinant proteins was 57.3 ku (Myof1) and 31.3 ku (Myof2). Further, both Myof1 and Myof2 could be probed by the sera from rabbits infected with C. sinensis. No cross-reaction occurred with the positive sera of S. japonica, F. hepatica, and negative controls. Such findings indicate that myoferlin may be an important diagnostic antigen present in the ESPs. Overall, the present study provides new insights into proteomic changes between ESPs and hosts in different infection periods by LC-MS/MS. Moreover, myoferlin, as a biomarker, may be used to develop an objective method for future diagnosis of clonorchiasis.

Light chain 2 is a Tctex-type related axonemal dynein light chain that regulates directional ciliary motility in Trypanosoma brucei

Flagellar motility is essential for the cell morphology, viability, and virulence of pathogenic kinetoplastids, including trypanosomes. Trypanosoma brucei flagella exhibit a bending wave that propagates from the flagellum’s tip to its base, rather than base-to-tip as in other eukaryotes. Thousands of dynein motor proteins coordinate their activity to drive ciliary bending wave propagation. Dynein- associated light and intermediate chains regulate the biophysical mechanisms of axonemal dynein. Tctex- type outer arm dynein light chain 2 (LC2) regulates flagellar bending wave propagation direction, amplitude, and frequency in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. However, the role of Tctex-type light chains in regulating T. brucei motility is unknown. Here, we used a combination of bioinformatics, in-situ molecular tagging, and immunofluorescence microscopy to identify a Tctex-type light chain in the procyclic form of T. brucei (TbLC2). We knocked down TbLC2 expression using RNAi, rescued the knockdown with eGFP- tagged TbLC2, and quantified TbLC2’s effects on trypanosome cell biology and biophysics. We found that TbLC2 knockdown resulted in kinetoplast mislocalization and the formation of multiple cell clusters in cell culture. We also found that TbLC2 knockdown reduced the directional persistence of trypanosome cell swimming, induced an asymmetric ciliary bending waveform, modulated the bias between the base-to- tip and tip-to-base beating modes, and increased the beating frequency. Together, our findings are consistent with a model of TbLC2 as a down-regulator of axonemal dynein activity that stabilizes the forward tip-to-base beating ciliary waveform characteristic of trypanosome cells. Our work sheds light on axonemal dynein regulation mechanisms that contribute to pathogenic kinetoplastids’ unique tip-to-base ciliary beating nature and how those mechanisms underlie dynein-driven ciliary motility more generally.Author SummaryKinetoplastea is a class of ciliated protists that include parasitic trypanosomes, which cause severe disease in people and livestock in tropical regions across the globe. All trypanosomes, including Trypanosoma brucei, require a cilium to provide propulsive force for directional swimming motility, host immune evasion, and various aspects of their cell cycle. Thus, a functional cilium is essential for the virulence of the parasite.Trypanosome cilia exhibit a unique tip-to-base beating mechanism, different from the base-to-tip beating of most other eukaryotic cilia. Multiple ciliary proteins are involved in the complex biophysical and biochemical mechanisms that underly the trypanosome ciliary beating. These include dynein motor proteins that power the beat, dynein-related light chains that regulate the beat, and many other proteins in the nexin-dynein regulatory complex, in the radial spokes, and associated with the central pair of microtubules, for example.Here, we identify a Tctex-type dynein light chain in T. brucei that we named TbLC2 because it has sequence homology, structural similarity, and ciliary localization like LC2 homologs in other organisms. We demonstrate that TbLC2 has critical dynein regulatory functions, with implications on the unique aspects of trypanosome ciliary beating and cellular swimming motility. Our study represents an additional step toward understanding the functions of the trypanosome ciliary proteome, which could provide novel therapeutic targets against the unique aspects of trypanosome ciliary motility.

Dynein Light Chain LC8 Alleviates Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis By Regulating Nuclear Factor κB Through Interference With IκBα Phosphorylation

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a liver disease characterized by fat accumulation and chronic inflammation in the liver. Although dynein light chain of 8 kDa (LC8) was identified previously as an inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a key regulator of inflammation, its role in NASH remains unknown. In this study, we investigated whether LC8 can alleviate NASH using a mouse model of methionine and choline-deficient (MCD) diet–induced NASH and examined the underlying mechanism. LC8 transgenic (Tg) mice showed lower hepatic steatosis and less progression of NASH, including inflammation, oxidative stress, and hepatic fibrosis, compared to wild-type (WT) mice after consuming an MCD diet. The hepatic expression of lipogenic genes was lower, while that of lipolytic and mitochondrial genes was greater in LC8 Tg mice than WT mice, which might be associated with resistance of LC8 Tg mice to hepatic steatosis. Consumption of an MCD diet enhanced IκBα phosphorylation and subsequent p65 liberation from IκBα and nuclear translocation, resulting in induction of NF-κB targets, including pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. However, these effects of MCD diet were reduced by LC8 overexpression. Taken together, these results suggest that LC8 alleviates MCD diet–induced NASH by inhibiting NF-κB through binding to IκBα to interfere with IκBα phosphorylation.

The ASCIZ-DYNLL1 axis is essential for TLR4-mediated antibody responses and NF-κB pathway activation

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and IL-1 receptors regulate immune and inflammatory responses by activating the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway. Here we report that B cell-specific loss of Dynein light chain-1 (DYNLL1, LC8) or its designated transcription factor ASCIZ (ATMIN) leads to severely reduced in vivo antibody responses to TLR4-dependent but not T cell-dependent antigens in mice. This defect was independent of DYNLL1’s established roles in modulating BIM-dependent apoptosis and 53BP1-dependent antibody class-switch recombination. In B cells and fibroblasts, the ASCIZ-DYNLL1 axis was required for TLR4-, IL-1- and CD40-mediated NF-κB pathway activation but dispensable for antigen receptor and TNF-α signalling. In contrast to previous reports that overexpressed DYNLL1 directly inhibits the phosphorylation and degradation of the NF-κB inhibitor IκBα, we found here that - under physiological conditions - DYNLL1 is required for signal-specific activation of the NF-κB pathway upstream of IκBα. Our data identify DYNLL1 as a signal-specific regulator of the NF-κB pathway and indicate that it may act as a universal modulator of TLR4 (and IL-1) signalling with wide-ranging roles in inflammation and immunity.

The dynein light chain protein Tda2 functions as a dimerization engine to regulate actin capping protein during endocytosis

Clathrin- and actin-mediated endocytosis is a fundamental process in eukaryotic cells. Previously, we discovered Tda2 as a new yeast dynein light chain that works with Aim21 to regulate actin assembly during endocytosis. Here, we show Tda2 functions as a dimerization engine bringing two Aim21 molecules together using a novel binding surface different than the canonical dynein light chain ligand binding groove. Point mutations on either protein that diminish the Tda2-Aim21 interaction in vitro cause the same in vivo phenotype as TDA2 deletion showing reduced actin capping protein recruitment and increased filamentous actin at endocytic sites. Remarkably, chemically induced dimerization of Aim21 rescues the endocytic phenotype of TDA2 deletion. We also uncovered a capping protein interacting motif in Aim21, expanding its function to a fundamental cellular pathway and showing such motif exists outside mammalian cells. Furthermore, specific disruption of this motif causes the same deficit of actin capping protein recruitment and increased filamentous actin at endocytic sites as AIM21 deletion. Thus, the data indicates the Tda2-Aim21 complex functions in actin assembly primarily through capping protein regulation. Collectively, our results provide a mechanistic view of the Tda2-Aim21 complex and its function in actin network regulation at endocytic sites.

Dynein Light Chain Protein Tctex1: A Novel Prognostic Marker and Molecular Mediator in Glioblastoma

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of Tctex1 (DYNLT1, dynein light chain-1) in the pathophysiology of glioblastoma (GBM). To this end, we performed immunohistochemical analyses on tissues from GBM patients (n = 202). Tctex1 was additionally overexpressed in two different GBM cell lines, which were then evaluated in regard to their proliferative and invasive properties. We found that Tctex1 levels were significantly higher in GBM compared to healthy adjacent brain tissues. Furthermore, high Tctex1 expression was significantly associated with the short overall- (p = 0.002, log-rank) and progression-free (p = 0.028, log-rank) survival of GBM patients and was an independent predictor of poor overall survival in multivariate Cox-regression models. In vitro, Tctex1 promoted the metabolic activity, anchorage-independent growth and proliferation of GBM cells. This phenomenon was previously shown to occur via the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (phospho-RB). Here, we found a direct and significant correlation between the levels of Tctex1 and phospho-RB (Ser807/801) in tissues from GBM patients (p = 0.007, Rho = 0.284, Spearman’s rank). Finally, Tctex1 enhanced the invasiveness of GBM cells and the release of pro-invasive matrix metalloprotease 2 (MMP2). These findings indicate that Tctex1 promotes GBM progression and therefore might be a useful therapeutic target in this type of cancer.

Dynein light chain-dependent dimerization of Egalitarian is essential for maintaining oocyte fate in Drosophila.

Egalitarian (Egl) is an RNA adaptor for the Dynein motor and is thought to link numerous, perhaps hundreds, of mRNAs with Dynein. Dynein, in turn, is responsible for the transport and localization of these mRNAs. Studies have shown that efficient mRNA binding by Egl requires the protein to dimerize. We recently demonstrated that Dynein light chain (Dlc) is responsible for facilitating the dimerization of Egl. Mutations in Egl that fail to interact with Dlc do not dimerize, and as such, are defective for mRNA binding. Consequently, this mutant does not efficiently associate with BicaudalD (BicD), the factor responsible for linking the Egl/mRNA complex with Dynein. In this report, we tested whether artificially dimerizing this Dlc-binding mutant using a leucine zipper would restore mRNA binding and rescue mutant phenotypes in vivo. Interestingly, we found that although artificial dimerization of Egl restored BicD binding, it only partially restored mRNA binding. As a result, Egl-dependent phenotypes, such as oocyte specification and mRNA localization, were only partially rescued. We hypothesize that Dlc-mediated dimerization of Egl results in a three-dimensional conformation of the Egl dimer that is best suited for mRNA binding. Although the leucine zipper restores Egl dimerization, it likely does not enable Egl to assemble into the conformation required for maximal mRNA binding activity.

Dynein light chain Dynlrb2 is essential for Murine leukemia virus traffic and nuclear entry.

Murine leukemia virus (MLV) requires the infected cell to divide to access the nucleus to integrate into the host genome. It has been determined that MLV uses the microtubule and actin network to reach the nucleus at the early stages of infection. Several studies have shown that viruses use the dynein motor protein associated with microtubules for their displacement. We have previously reported that Dynein light chain roadblock-type2 (Dynlrb2) knock-down significantly decreases MLV infection compared to non-silenced cells, suggesting a functional association between this dynein light chain and MLV preintegration complex (PIC). Here we aim to determine if the dynein complex Dynlrb2 subunit plays an essential role in the retrograde transport of MLV. For this, an MLV mutant containing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the viral protein p12 was used to assay the PIC localization and speed in cells were the expression of Dynlrb2 was modulated. We found a significant decrease in the arrival of MLV PIC to the nucleus and a reduced net speed of MLV PICs when Dynlrb2 was knocked down. On the contrary, an increase in nuclear localization is observed when Dynlrb2 is overexpressed. Our results suggest that Dynlrb2 plays an essential role in MLV retrograde transport. Importance Different viruses use different components of cytoplasmic dynein complex to traffic to their replication site. We have found that murine leukemia virus (MLV) depends on dynein light chain Dynlrb2 for infection, retrograde traffic and nuclear entry. Our study provides new information regarding the molecular requirements for retrograde transport of MLV preintegration complex and demonstrates the essential role of Dynlrb2 in MLV infection.