Fascin in lamellipodia contributes to cell elasticity by controlling the orientation of filamentous actin.

Fascin, an actin-bundling protein, is present in the filopodia and lamellipodia of growth cones. However, few studies have examined lamellipodial fascin because it is difficult to observe. In this study, we evaluated lamellipodial fascin. We visualized the actin meshwork of lamellipodia in live growth cones by super-resolution microscopy. Fascin was colocalized with the actin meshwork in lamellipodia. Ser39 of fascin is a well-known phosphorylation site that controls the binding of fascin to actin filaments. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments with confocal microscopy showed that binding of fascin was controlled by phosphorylation of Ser39 in lamellipodia. Moreover, TPA, an agonist of protein kinase C, induced phosphorylation of fascin and dissociation from actin filaments in lamellipodia. Time series images showed that dissociation of fascin from the actin meshwork was induced by TPA. As fascin dissociated from actin filaments, the orientation of the actin filaments became parallel to the leading edge. The angle of actin filaments against the leading edge was changed from 73° to 15°. This decreased the elasticity of the lamellipodia by 40%, as measured by atomic force microscopy. These data suggest that actin bundles made by fascin contribute to elasticity of the growth cone.

Biochemistry of Drebrin and Its Binding to Actin Filaments.

Drebrin is an actin-binding protein mainly expressed in developing neurons and dendritic spine in mature neurons. To understand the functions of drebrin in vivo, we must understand its molecular properties. In this chapter, I will focus on the purification and characterization of drebrin in vitro. Drebrin binds to F-actin with a stoichiometry of 1:5~6 with a K d of 1~3 × 10-7 M and strongly inhibits the binding of other actin-binding proteins such as tropomyosin, caldesmon, fascin, α-actinin, and cofilin. It also inhibits the activities of myosin-II and myosin-V. These results are discussed in terms of the possible roles of drebrin in the stability, dynamics, and organizations of actin structures in neuronal cells.

Video imaging of walking myosin V by high-speed atomic force microscopy.

The dynamic behaviour of myosin V molecules translocating along actin filaments has been mainly studied by optical microscopy. The processive hand-over-hand movement coupled with hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate was thereby demonstrated. However, the protein molecules themselves are invisible in the observations and have therefore been visualized by electron microscopy in the stationary states. The concomitant assessment of structure and dynamics has been unfeasible, a situation prevailing throughout biological research. Here we directly visualize myosin V molecules walking along actin tracks, using high-speed atomic force microscopy. The high-resolution movies not only provide corroborative 'visual evidence' for previously speculated or demonstrated molecular behaviours, including lever-arm swing, but also reveal more detailed behaviours of the molecules, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the motor mechanism. Our direct and dynamic high-resolution visualization is a powerful new approach to studying the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in action.

Identification of alkylbenzene sulfonate surfactants leaching from an acrylonitrile butadiene rubber as novel inhibitors of calcineurin activity.

Calcineurin (CN) is a Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM) dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase and plays important role in several cellular functions in both higher and lower eukaryotes. Here we report inhibition of CN by linear alkylbenzene sulfonate. The clue to the finding was obtained while identifying the inhibitory material leaching from acrylonitrile butadiene rubber used for packing. Using standard dodecylbenzene sulfonate (C12-LAS), we obtained strong inhibition of CN with a half maximal inhibitory concentration of 9.3 µM, whereas analogs such as p-octylbenzene sulfonate and SDS hardly or only slightly affected CN activity. Three alkaline phosphatases, derived from shrimp, bacteria, and calf-intestine, which exhibit similar enzymatic activities to CN, were not inhibited by C12-LAS at concentrations of up to 100 µM. Furthermore, C12-LAS did not inhibit Ca(2+)/CaM-dependent myosin light chain kinase activity when tested at concentrations of up to 36 µM. The results indicate that C12-LAS is a potent selective inhibitor of CN activity.

Down-regulation of myosin light chain kinase expression in vascular smooth muscle cells accelerates cell proliferation: requirement of its actin-binding domain for reversion to normal rates.

Myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) is a multi-domain protein with kinase and actin-binding domains, among others. Deficiency of MLCK expression in GBaSM-4 vascular smooth muscle cells enhanced cell proliferation rate and shortened cell doubling time. Transient transfection of the MLCK-deficient cells with cDNA constructs of either wild-type MLCK or its mutant lacking the kinase activity reverted the cell proliferation rate to that of wild-type cells, whereas that of MLCK lacking the actin-binding domain maintained cell proliferation at an elevated rate similar to the MLCK-deficient cells. Thus, the actin-binding domain of MLCK seems to play a role in regulating cell proliferation.

Stimulatory effects of arachidonic acid on myosin ATPase activity and contraction of smooth muscle via myosin motor domain.

We have been searching for a mechanism to induce smooth muscle contraction that is not associated with phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain (RLC) of smooth muscle myosin (Nakamura A, Xie C, Zhang Y, Gao Y, Wang HH, Ye LH, Kishi H, Okagaki T, Yoshiyama S, Hayakawa K, Ishikawa R, Kohama K. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 369: 135-143, 2008). In this article, we report that arachidonic acid (AA) stimulates ATPase activity of unphosphorylated smooth muscle myosin with maximal stimulation (R(max)) of 6.84 +/- 0.51 relative to stimulation by the vehicle and with a half-maximal effective concentration (EC(50)) of 50.3 +/- 4.2 microM. In the presence of actin, R(max) was 1.72 +/- 0.08 and EC(50) was 26.3 +/- 2.3 microM. Our experiments with eicosanoids consisting of the AA cascade suggested that they neither stimulated nor inhibited the activity. Under conditions that did not allow RLC to be phosphorylated, AA stimulated contraction of smooth muscle tissue with an R(max) of 1.45 +/- 0.07 and an EC(50) of 27.0 +/- 4.4 microM. In addition to the ATPase activities of the myosin, AA stimulated those of heavy meromyosin, subfragment 1 (S1), S1 from which the RLC was removed, and a recombinant heavy chain consisting of the myosin head. The stimulatory effects of AA on these preparations were about twofold. The site of AA action was indicated to be the step-releasing inorganic phosphate (P(i)) from the reaction intermediate of the myosin-ADP-P(i) complex. The enhancement of P(i) release by AA was supported by computer simulation indicating that AA docked in the actin-binding cleft of the myosin motor domain. The stimulatory effect of AA was detectable with both unphosphorylated myosin and the myosin in which RLC was fully phosphorylated. The AA effect on both myosin forms was suggested to cause excess contraction such as vasospasm.

Modulation of the mechano-chemical properties of myosin V by drebrin-E.

The regulation of actin filament networks by various proteins has essential roles in the growth cone dynamics. In this study we focused on the actin-myosin interaction which has been suggested to be an important player in the neurite extension. We examined in vitro how the decoration of actin filaments with a side-binding protein, drebrin-E, affects the motile properties of an intracellular transporter myosin V. Single myosin V molecules landed on the drebrin-E-decorated actin filaments with a lower frequency and ran over shorter distances; however, their velocities were normal. Furthermore, the analysis of the movement of myosin V molecules in the optical trap revealed that the decoration of actin filaments with drebrin-E markedly increased the load-sensitivity of the myosin V stepping. These results are attributable to the delay in the attachment of the motor's leading head (ADP·P(i) state) to actin, induced by the competitive binding of drebrin-E to actin, whereas the rate of ADP release from the trailing head (the rate-limiting step in the ATPase cycle of myosin V) is unaffected. Our study indicates that, in addition to the regulation of binding affinity of myosin V, drebrin-E also modulates the chemo-mechanical coupling in the motile myosin V molecules, presumably affecting the movement of the growth cone.

Utilization of myosin and actin bundles for the transport of molecular cargo.

The utilization of motor proteins for the movement and assembly of synthetic components is currently a goal of nanoengineering research. Application of the myosin actin motor system for nanotechnological uses has been hampered due to the low flexural rigidity of individual F-actin filaments. Here it is demonstrated how actin bundling can be used to affect the translational behavior of myosin-propelled filaments, transport molecules across a motor-patterned surface, and that the movement of bundled actin can be regulated photonically. These data suggest that actin bundling may significantly improve the applicability of the myosin motor for future nanotechnological applications.

Calcium regulation of non-kinase and kinase activities of recombinant myosin light-chain kinase and its mutants.

Myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) comprised of N-terminal actin-binding domain, central catalytic domain, and C-terminal myosin-binding domain. It exerted not only kinase activity to phosphorylate 20 kDa regulatory light chain of smooth muscle but also exerted non-kinase activity on myosin motor and myosin ATPase activities (Nakamura et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2008, 369, 135). The previous studies on the multiple MLCK functions were done using MLCK fragments. The present study reported the expression of whole MLCK molecules in Escherichia coli in a large amount. The construct in which the calmodulin (CaM) binding domain for regulating kinase activity was mutated lost the kinase activity. However, the mutant exerted non-kinase activity and inhibited both myosin motor and ATPase activities. The domain that regulated kinase activity was also shown to be involved in the Ca(2+) regulation of non-kinase activity. The deletion mutants of actin-binding domain which located at N-terminal 1-41 amino acids demonstrated that non-kinase activity was mediated through actin filaments.

Role of non-kinase activity of myosin light-chain kinase in regulating smooth muscle contraction, a review dedicated to Dr. Setsuro Ebashi.

Myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) of smooth muscle consists of an actin-binding domain at the N-terminal, the catalytic domain in the central portion, and the myosin-binding domain at the C-terminal. The kinase activity is mediated by the catalytic domain that phosphorylates the myosin light-chain of 20kDa (MLC20), activating smooth muscle myosin to interact with actin. Although the regulatory role of the kinase activity is well established, the role of non-kinase activity derived from actin-binding and myosin-binding domains remains unknown. This review is dedicated to Dr. Setsuro Ebashi, who devoted himself to elucidating the non-kinase activity of MLCK after establishing calcium regulation through troponin in skeletal and cardiac muscles. He proposed that the actin-myosin interaction of smooth muscle could be activated by the non-kinase activity of MLCK, a mechanism that is quite independent of MLC20 phosphorylation. The authors will extend his proposal for the role of non-kinase activity. In this review, we express MLCK and its fragments as recombinant proteins to examine their effects on the actin-myosin interaction in vitro. We also down-regulate MLCK in the cultured smooth muscle cells, and propose that MLC20 phosphorylation is not obligatory for the smooth muscle to contract.

Myosin-Va regulates exocytosis through the submicromolar Ca2+-dependent binding of syntaxin-1A.

Myosin-Va is an actin-based processive motor that conveys intracellular cargoes. Synaptic vesicles are one of the most important cargoes for myosin-Va, but the role of mammalian myosin-Va in secretion is less clear than for its yeast homologue, Myo2p. In the current studies, we show that myosin-Va on synaptic vesicles interacts with syntaxin-1A, a t-SNARE involved in exocytosis, at or above 0.3 microM Ca2+. Interference with formation of the syntaxin-1A-myosin-Va complex reduces the exocytotic frequency in chromaffin cells. Surprisingly, the syntaxin-1A-binding site was not in the tail of myosin-Va but rather in the neck, a region that contains calmodulin-binding IQ-motifs. Furthermore, we found that syntaxin-1A binding by myosin-Va in the presence of Ca2+ depends on the release of calmodulin from the myosin-Va neck, allowing syntaxin-1A to occupy the vacant IQ-motif. Using an anti-myosin-Va neck antibody, which blocks this binding, we demonstrated that the step most important for the antibody's inhibitory activity is the late sustained phase, which is involved in supplying readily releasable vesicles. Our results demonstrate that the interaction between myosin-Va and syntaxin-1A is involved in exocytosis and suggest that the myosin-Va neck contributes not only to the large step size but also to the regulation of exocytosis by Ca2+.

Calmodulin-dependent cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE1) is a pharmacological target of differentiation-inducing factor-1, an antitumor agent isolated from Dictyostelium.

The differentiation-inducing factor-1 (DIF-1) isolated from Dictyostelium discoideum is a potent antiproliferative agent that induces growth arrest and differentiation in mammalian cells in vitro. However, the specific target molecule(s) of DIF-1 has not been identified. In this study, we have tried to identify the target molecule(s) of DIF-1 in mammalian cells, examining the effects of DIF-1 and its analogs on the activity of some candidate enzymes. DIF-1 at 10-40 micro M dose-dependently suppressed cell growth and increased the intracellular cyclic AMP concentration in K562 leukemia cells. It was then found that DIF-1 at 0.5-20 micro M inhibited the calmodulin (CaM)-dependent cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE1) in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Kinetic analysis revealed that DIF-1 acted as a competitive inhibitor of PDE1 versus the substrate cyclic AMP. Because DIF-1 did not significantly affect the activity of other PDEs or CaM-dependent enzymes and, in addition, an isomer of DIF-1 was a less potent inhibitor, we have concluded that PDE1 is a pharmacological and specific target of DIF-1.

Calmodulin-dependent regulation of neurotransmitter release differs in subsets of neuronal cells.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether calmodulin (CaM) plays a role in neurotransmitter release by examining the effect that ophiobolin A (OBA), a CaM antagonist, on neurotransmitter release from clonal rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, primary cortical neurons, and primary cerebellar granule cells. OBA inhibited Ca²âº/CaM-dependent phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein in all cell types tested. Moreover, Ca²âº-dependent release of dopamine and acetylcholine from PC12 cells were remarkably reduced by OBA in a dose-dependent and temporal manner, but neurotransmitter release partially recovered with the addition of CaM in membrane permeabilized PC12 cells. OBA and several synthetic CaM antagonists suppressed Ca²âº-dependent glutamate release from cerebral cortical neurons, but not from cerebellar granule cells. Myosin Va, a CaM binding protein, localized to synaptic vesicles of PC12 cells and cerebral cortical neurons, but not in cerebellar granule cells. OBA suppressed Ca²âº-induced myosin Va dissociation from secretory vesicles, and inhibited secretory vesicle motility in PC12 cells. These results suggest that CaM, although not essential, regulates neurotransmitter release in a subset of neurons and secretory cells, and myosin Va is a possible target of OBA in this process.

Nonkinase activity of MLCK in elongated filopodia formation and chemotaxis of vascular smooth muscle cells toward sphingosylphosphorylcholine.

The actin-myosin interaction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is regulated by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), which is a fusion protein of the central catalytic domain with the N-terminal actin-binding and C-terminal myosin-binding domains. In addition to the regulatory role of kinase activity mediated by the catalytic domain, nonkinase activity that derives from both terminals is able to exert a regulatory role as reviewed by Nakamura et al. (32). We previously showed that nonkinase activity mediated the filopodia upon the stimulation by sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) (25). To explore the regulatory role of nonkinase activity in chemotaxis, we constructed VSMCs where the expression of MLCK was totally abolished by using a lentivirus-mediated RNAi system. We hypothesized that the MLCK-downregulated VSMCs were unable to form filopodia and to migrate upon SPC stimulation and confirmed the hypothesis. We further constructed a kinase-inactive mutant from bovine cDNA coding wild-type (WT) MLCK by mutating the ATP-binding sites located in the catalytic domain, followed by confirming the presence (absence) of the kinase activity of WT (kinase-inactive mutant). We transfected WT and the mutant into MLCK-downregulated VSMCs. We expected that the transfected VSMCs will recover the ability to induce filopodia and chemotaxis toward SPC and found both constructs rescued the ability. Because they share the actin- and myosin-binding domains, we concluded nonkinase activity plays a major role for SPC-induced migration.

Plectin 1 links intermediate filaments to costameric sarcolemma through beta-synemin, alpha-dystrobrevin and actin.

In skeletal muscles, the sarcolemma is possibly stabilized and protected against contraction-imposed stress by intermediate filaments (IFs) tethered to costameric sarcolemma. Although there is emerging evidence that plectin links IFs to costameres through dystrophin-glycoprotein complexes (DGC), the molecular organization from plectin to costameres still remains unclear. Here, we show that plectin 1, a plectin isoform expressed in skeletal muscle, can interact with beta-synemin, actin and a DGC component, alpha-dystrobrevin, in vitro. Ultrastructurally, beta-synemin molecules appear to be incorporated into costameric dense plaques, where they seem to serve as actin-associated proteins rather than IF proteins. In fact, they can bind actin and alpha-dystrobrevin in vitro. Moreover, in vivo immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrated that beta-synemin- and plectin-immune complexes from lysates of muscle light microsomes contained alpha-dystrobrevin, dystrophin, nonmuscle actin, metavinculin, plectin and beta-synemin. These findings suggest a model in which plectin 1 interacts with DGC and integrin complexes directly, or indirectly through nonmuscle actin and beta-synemin within costameres. The DGC and integrin complexes would cooperate to stabilize and fortify the sarcolemma by linking the basement membrane to IFs through plectin 1, beta-synemin and actin. Besides, the two complexes, together with plectin and IFs, might have their own functions as platforms for distinct signal transduction.

Blebbistatin inhibits the chemotaxis of vascular smooth muscle cells by disrupting the myosin II-actin interaction.

Blebbistatin is a myosin II-specific inhibitor. However, the mechanism and tissue specificity of the drug are not well understood. Blebbistatin blocked the chemotaxis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) toward sphingosylphosphorylcholine (IC(50) = 26.1 +/- 0.2 and 27.5 +/- 0.5 microM for GbaSM-4 and A7r5 cells, respectively) and platelet-derived growth factor BB (IC(50) = 32.3 +/- 0.9 and 31.6 +/- 1.3 muM for GbaSM-4 and A7r5 cells, respectively) at similar concentrations. Immunofluorescence and fluorescent resonance energy transfer analysis indicated a blebbistatin-induced disruption of the actin-myosin interaction in VSMCs. Subsequent experiments indicated that blebbistatin inhibited the Mg(2+)-ATPase activity of the unphosphorylated (IC(50) = 12.6 +/- 1.6 and 4.3 +/- 0.5 microM for gizzard and bovine stomach, respectively) and phosphorylated (IC(50) = 15.0 +/- 0.6 microM for gizzard) forms of purified smooth muscle myosin II, suggesting a direct effect on myosin II motor activity. It was further observed that the Mg(2+)-ATPase activities of gizzard myosin II fragments, heavy meromyosin (IC(50) = 14.4 +/- 1.6 microM) and subfragment 1 (IC(50) = 5.5 +/- 0.4 microM), were also inhibited by blebbistatin. Assay by in vitro motility indicated that the inhibitory effect of blebbistatin was reversible. Electron-microscopic evaluation showed that blebbistatin induced a distinct conformational change (i.e., swelling) of the myosin II head. The results suggest that the site of blebbistatin action is within the S1 portion of smooth muscle myosin II.

Actin-binding proteins in nerve cell growth cones.

The motility of the growth cone, an intracellular apparatus located at the tip of the axon in developing neurons, is thought to govern axonal path-finding and the construction of neuronal networks. Growth cones contain an actin-rich cytoskeleton, and their dynamics are regulated by a wide variety of actin-binding proteins and motor proteins. In this review, we will focus on the principal functions of these proteins, their mutual interactions in vitro, and their possible roles in the dynamics of nerve cell growth cones.

Drebrin attenuates the interaction between actin and myosin-V.

Drebrin-A is an actin-binding protein localized in the dendritic spines of mature neurons, and has been suggested to affect spine morphology [K. Hayashi, T. Shirao, Change in the shape of dendritic spines caused by overexpression of drebrin in cultured cortical neurons, J. Neurosci. 19 (1999) 3918-3925]. However, no biochemical analysis of drebrin-A has yet been reported. In this study, we purified drebrin-A using a bacterial expression system, and characterized it in vitro. Drebrin-A bound to actin filaments with a stoichiometry of one drebrin molecule to 5-6 actin molecules. Furthermore, drebrin-A decreased the Mg-ATPase activity of myosin V. In vitro motility assay revealed that the attachment of F-actin to glass surface coated with myosin-V was decreased by drebrin-A, but once F-actin attached to the surface, the sliding speed of F-actin was unaffected by the presence of drebrin A. These findings suggest that drebrin-A may affect spine dynamics, vesicle transport, and other myosin-V-driven motility in neurons through attenuating the interaction between actin and myosin-V.

Polarized actin bundles formed by human fascin-1: their sliding and disassembly on myosin II and myosin V in vitro.

Fascin-1 is a putative bundling factor of actin filaments in the filopodia of neuronal growth cones. Here, we examined the structure of the actin bundle formed by human fascin-1 (actin/fascin bundle), and its mode of interaction with myosin in vitro. The distance between cross-linked filaments in the actin/bundle was 8-9 nm, and the bundle showed the transverse periodicity of 36 nm perpendicular to the bundle axis, which was confirmed by electron microscopy. Decoration of the actin/fascin bundle with heavy meromyosin revealed that the arrowheads of filaments in the bundle pointed in the same direction, indicating that the bundle has polarity. This result suggested that fascin-1 plays an essential role in polarity of actin bundles in filopodia. In the in vitro motility assay, actin/fascin bundles slid as fast as single actin filaments on myosin II and myosin V. When myosin was attached to the surface at high density, the actin/fascin bundle disassembled to single filaments at the pointed end of the bundle during sliding. These results suggest that myosins may drive filopodial actin bundles backward by interacting with actin filaments on the surface, and may induce disassembly of the bundle at the basal region of filopodia.

Zinc inhibits calcineurin activity in vitro by competing with nickel.

Calcineurin (CN) is a Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein serine/threonine phosphatase that contains Zn(2+) in its catalytic domain and can be stimulated by divalent ions such as Mn(2+) and Ni(2+). In this study, the role of exogenous Zn(2+) in the regulation of CN activity and its relevance to the role of Ni(2+) was investigated. Zn(2+) at a concentration range of 10nM-10 micro M inhibited Ni(2+)-stimulated CN-activity in vitro in a dose-dependent manner and approximately 50% inhibition was attained with 0.25 micro M Zn(2+). Kinetic analysis showed that Zn(2+) inhibited the activity of CN by competing with Ni(2+). Interaction of CN and CaM was not inhibited with Zn(2+) at 10 micro M. Zn(2+) never affected the activity of cAMP phosphodiesterase 1 or myosin light-chain kinase (CaM-dependent enzymes) and rather activated alkaline phosphatase. The present results indicate that Zn(2+) should be a potent inhibitor for CN activity although this ion is essential for CN.