Actin network architecture can determine myosin motor activity

The organization of actin filaments into higher-ordered structures governs eukaryotic cell shape and movement. Global actin network size and architecture are maintained in a dynamic steady state through regulated assembly and disassembly. Here, we used experimentally defined actin structures in vitro to investigate how the activity of myosin motors depends on network architecture. Direct visualization of filaments revealed myosin-induced actin network deformation. During this reorganization, myosins selectively contracted and disassembled antiparallel actin structures, while parallel actin bundles remained unaffected. The local distribution of nucleation sites and the resulting orientation of actin filaments appeared to regulate the scalability of the contraction process. This "orientation selection" mechanism for selective contraction and disassembly suggests how the dynamics of the cellular actin cytoskeleton can be spatially controlled by actomyosin contractility.     

Muscle contraction and free energy transduction in biological systems

Muscle contraction occurs when the actin and myosin filaments in muscle are driven past each other by a cyclic interaction of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and actin with cross-bridges that extend from myosin. Current biochemical studies suggest that, during each adenosine triphosphatase cycle, the myosin cross-bridge alternates between two main conformations, which differ markedly in their strength of binding to actin and in their overall structure. Binding of ATP to the cross-bridge induces the weak-binding conformation, whereas inorganic phosphate release returns the cross-bridge to the strong-binding conformation. This cross-bridge cycle is similar to the kinetic cycle that drives active transport and illustrates the general principles of free energy transduction by adenosine triphosphatase systems.     

Polarity and velocity of sliding filaments: control of direction by actin and of speed by myosin

Myosin filaments, which are responsible for a large repertoire of motile activities in muscle and nonmuscle cells, can translocate actin filaments both toward and away from their central bare zone. This bidirectional movement suggests that there is enough flexibility in the head portion of the tightly packed myosin molecules in the native myosin filaments to move actin filaments not only in the expected direction, but also in the direction opposite to that predicted by the regular structure of muscle--away from the center of the myosin filament.     

Assembly mechanism of the contractile ring for cytokinesis by fission yeast

Animals and fungi assemble a contractile ring of actin filaments and the motor protein myosin to separate into individual daughter cells during cytokinesis. We used fluorescence microscopy of live fission yeast cells to observe that membrane-bound nodes containing myosin were broadly distributed around the cell equator and assembled into a contractile ring through stochastic motions, after a meshwork of dynamic actin filaments appeared. Analysis of node motions and numerical simulations supported a mechanism whereby transient connections are established when myosins in one node capture and exert force on actin filaments growing from other nodes.     

光对美洲蛙肌肉纤维衍射强度的分布研究

肌原纤维是由粗丝和细丝重迭而成的Ａ带和只含细丝的Ⅰ带组成，形成了天然光栅，因此可用光学方法探讨肌原纤维分子结构及其动力学问题。试验表明，单色光通过美洲蛙肌原纤维后，衍射光左右两端为非对称性，且左右条纹锋值间隔随肌原纤维节长度增大而减小。肌肉运动有张有弛，于是肌原纤维长度有变异，共变异与非对称有关。当肌原纤维长度增加时，左右两端强度差异变大，而相对应条纹的锋值间隔距离变小。这一现象与布拉格方程和折射     

Calcium-induced movement of troponin-I relative to actin in skeletal muscle thin filaments

The role of troponin-I (the inhibitory subunit of troponin) in the regulation by Ca2+ of skeletal muscle contraction was investigated with resonance energy transfer and photo cross-linking techniques. The effect of Ca2+ on the proximity of troponin-I to actin in reconstituted rabbit skeletal thin filaments was determined. The distance between the cysteine residue at position 133 (Cys133) of troponin-I and Cys374 of actin increases by approximately 15 angstroms on binding of Ca2+ to troponin-C. Also, troponin-I labeled at Cys133 with benzophenone-4-maleimide could be photo cross-linked to actin in the absence of Ca2+, but not in its presence. These results suggest that troponin-I is attached to actin in the Ca2(+)-free or relaxed state of muscle, and that it detaches from actin on Ca2+ activation of contraction. Thus, troponin-I may function as a Ca2(+)-dependent molecular switch in regulation of skeletal muscle contraction.     

Expression and characterization of a functional myosin head fragment in Dictyostelium discoideum

The isolated head fragment of myosin is a motor protein that is able to use energy liberated from the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate to cause sliding movement of actin filaments. Expression of a myosin fragment nearly equivalent to the amino-terminal globular head domain, generally referred to as subfragment 1, has been achieved by transforming the eukaryotic organism Dictyostelium discoideum with a plasmid that carries a 2.6-kilobase fragment of the cloned Dictyostelium myosin heavy chain gene under the control of the Dictyostelium actin-15 promoter. The recombinant fragment of the myosin heavy chain was purified 2400-fold from one of the resulting cell lines and was found to be functional by the following criteria: the myosin head fragment copurified with the essential and regulatory myosin light chains, decorated actin filaments, and displayed actin-activated adenosine triphosphatase activity. In addition, motility assays in vitro showed that the recombinant myosin fragment is capable of supporting sliding movement of actin filaments.     

Molecular mechanics of cardiac myosin-binding protein C in native thick filaments

The heart's pumping capacity results from highly regulated interactions of actomyosin molecular motors. Mutations in the gene for a potential regulator of these motors, cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C), cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, cMyBP-C's ability to modulate cardiac contractility is not well understood. Using single-particle fluorescence imaging techniques, transgenic protein expression, proteomics, and modeling, we found that cMyBP-C slowed actomyosin motion generation in native cardiac thick filaments. This mechanical effect was localized to where cMyBP-C resides within the thick filament (i.e., the C-zones) and was modulated by phosphorylation and site-specific proteolytic degradation. These results provide molecular insight into why cMyBP-C should be considered a member of a tripartite complex with actin and myosin that allows fine tuning of cardiac muscle contraction.     

Hierarchical self-assembly of F-actin and cationic lipid complexes: stacked three-layer tubule networks

We describe a distinct type of spontaneous hierarchical self-assembly of cytoskeletal filamentous actin (F-actin), a highly charged polyelectrolyte, and cationic lipid membranes. On the mesoscopic length scale, confocal microscopy reveals ribbonlike tubule structures that connect to form a network of tubules on the macroscopic scale (more than 100 micrometers). Within the tubules, on the 0.5- to 50-nanometer length scale, x-ray diffraction reveals an unusual structure consisting of osmotically swollen stacks of composite membranes with no direct analog in simple amphiphilic systems. The composite membrane is composed of three layers, a lipid bilayer sandwiched between two layers of actin, and is reminiscent of multilayered bacterial cell walls that exist far from equilibrium. Electron microscopy reveals that the actin layer consists of laterally locked F-actin filaments forming an anisotropic two-dimensional tethered crystal that appears to be the origin of the tubule formation.     

The crystal structure of uncomplexed actin in the ADP state

The dynamics and polarity of actin filaments are controlled by a conformational change coupled to the hydrolysis of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) by a mechanism that remains to be elucidated. Actin modified to block polymerization was crystallized in the adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) state, and the structure was solved to 1.54 angstrom resolution. Compared with previous ATP-actin structures from complexes with deoxyribonuclease I, profilin, and gelsolin, monomeric ADP-actin is characterized by a marked conformational change in subdomain 2. The successful crystallization of monomeric actin opens the way to future structure determinations of actin complexes with actin-binding proteins such as myosin.     

Molecular basis for the influence of muscle length on myocardial performance

According to Starling's law of the heart, the force of contraction during the ejection of blood is a function of the end-diastolic volume. To seek the molecular explanation of this effect, a study was made of the effects of length on Ca2+ sensitivity during tension development by isolated demembranated cardiac muscle in which the cardiac form of troponin C was substituted with skeletal troponin C. The results of troponin C exchange were compared at sarcomere lengths of 1.9 and 2.4 micrometers. Enhancement of the myocardial performance at the stretched length was greatly suppressed with the skeletal troponin C compared with the cardiac troponin C. Thus the troponin C subunit of the troponin complex that regulates the activation of actin filaments has intrinsic molecular properties that influence the length-induced autoregulation of myocardial performance and may be a basis for Starling's law of the heart.     

Single-molecule speckle analysis of actin filament turnover in lamellipodia

Lamellipodia are thin, veil-like extensions at the edge of cells that contain a dynamic array of actin filaments. We describe an approach for analyzing spatial regulation of actin polymerization and depolymerization in vivo in which we tracked single molecules of actin fused to the green fluorescent protein. Polymerization and the lifetime of actin filaments in lamellipodia were measured with high spatial precision. Basal polymerization and depolymerization occurred throughout lamellipodia with largely constant kinetics, and polymerization was promoted within one micron of the lamellipodium tip. Most of the actin filaments in the lamellipodium were generated by polymerization away from the tip.     

Domain movement in gelsolin: a calcium-activated switch

The actin-binding protein gelsolin is involved in remodeling the actin cytoskeleton during growth-factor signaling, apoptosis, cytokinesis, and cell movement. Calcium-activated gelsolin severs and caps actin filaments. The 3.4 angstrom x-ray structure of the carboxyl-terminal half of gelsolin (G4-G6) in complex with actin reveals the basis for gelsolin activation. Calcium binding induces a conformational rearrangement in which domain G6 is flipped over and translated by about 40 angstroms relative to G4 and G5. The structural reorganization tears apart the continuous beta sheet core of G4 and G6. This exposes the actin-binding site on G4, enabling severing and capping of actin filaments to proceed.     

蛋白质磷酸化调控羊肉肌原纤维蛋白的功能

【目的】通过激活蛋白激酶的活性提高羊肉肌原纤维蛋白的磷酸化水平,分析磷酸化水平的提高对羊肉肌原纤维蛋白降解程度、收缩功能的影响,进一步揭示蛋白质磷酸化对羊肉肌肉嫩化的作用机理。【方法】通过添加蛋白激酶A激活剂Forskolin、蛋白激酶C激活剂佛波酯（PMA）,提高蛋白激酶的活性,改变羊肉肌原纤维蛋白的磷酸化水平。比较激活剂处理组与空白对照组肌原纤维小片化指数（MFI）、条带降解程度、肌节长度等指标的差异,确定蛋白质磷酸化水平对羊肉肌肉收缩和肌肉降解的影响。【结果】将羊肉样品在蛋白激酶溶液中培养24 h,在培养结束后1、2和4 h,PMA处理组（PKC激活组）的蛋白激酶活性显著高于空白对照组（P＜0.05）,而在培养后1和4 h,Forskolin处理组（PKA激活组）的蛋白激酶活性显著高于空白对照组（P＜0.05）。PMA处理组和Forskolin处理组的最高蛋白激酶活性出现在培养后1 h。Forskolin和PMA通过提高激酶活性显著提高肌联蛋白（Titin）、肌球蛋白结合蛋白C（Myosin binding protein C）、原肌球蛋白（Tropomyosin）、肌球蛋白轻链2（Myosin light chain 2）等蛋白质的磷酸化水平,肌球蛋白重链、肌动蛋白质的磷酸化水平没有显著变化,Forskolin组和PMA组的蛋白质降解程度及肌节长度均低于对照组。【结论】肌原纤维蛋白磷酸化水平提高不利于羊肉肌原纤维蛋白的降解。另一方面,磷酸化水平可能通过对肌球蛋白轻链2的作用增强羊肉肌肉的收缩作用力,通过促进相邻原肌球蛋白的相互作用促进肌细丝收缩,影响肉的僵直进程和嫩化进程。     

宰后肌肉中肌球蛋白磷酸化调控肌动球蛋白解离作用机制

【目的】研究宰后肌肉中肌球蛋白磷酸化与肌动球蛋白解离之间的关系,分析其磷酸化水平的变化对肌动球蛋白解离的影响,探究肌球蛋白磷酸化对宰后肌肉肌节长度与嫩度的作用。【方法】取宰后30 min内的羊背最长肌,在4℃条件下分别成熟6、24、48和72 h,通过SDS-PAGE电泳、Pro-Q染色和蛋白质免疫印迹测定肌球蛋白的磷酸化水平和肌动球蛋白解离程度随宰后时间的变化;测定肌动球蛋白ATP酶的活性,分析宰后不同时间点肌球蛋白与肌动蛋白结合作用力的强弱;采用透射电镜分析宰后肌节长度随时间的变化。【结果】研究发现宰后肌肉中肌球蛋白轻链2的磷酸化水平在0.5—48 h快速降低(P0.05),并在48 h达到最低点,在48—72 h有所升高(P0.05),但其最终磷酸化水平明显低于初始值。肌动球蛋白的解离程度在宰后初期(0.5—6 h)显著降低(P0.05),在6—48 h显著升高(P0.05),并于48—72 h维持稳定,其最终解离程度显著高于宰后0.5 h的初始值。肌动球蛋白ATPase活性在宰后初期(0.5—6 h)略有升高,6—24 h快速上升(P0.05),并在24 h达到最高点,24—72 h逐渐降低;而肌节长度的变化则与之相反,呈先下降后上升的趋势,并在24 h达到肌节最短点。【结论】羊宰后肌肉中的肌球蛋白轻链2磷酸化水平的变化对肌球蛋白与肌动蛋白的相互作用有较大的影响,且肌节收缩(肌球蛋白与肌动蛋白的相互作用力)与肌动球蛋白的解离(肌球蛋白与肌动蛋白的相互作用量)并不是一个同步的进程。肌球蛋白轻链2的磷酸化修饰负向调控肌动球蛋白解离和肌动球蛋白ATPase活性,导致肌节的收缩与舒张,进而调控肉品最终的嫩度。     

Mechanism of Supercontraction in a Striated Muscle Fiber

Cross-striated muscle fibers may contract reversibly to less than 30 percent of their rest length and it is not easy to reconcile this fact with the sliding filament model of muscular contraction. The mechanism of supercontraction has been studied in fibrils obtained from the giant muscle fibers of the barnacle Balanus nubilus. They were examined by phase-contrast light microscopy and electron microscopy. Contraction beyond the 50-percent stage was found to be achieved largely by the passage of thick filaments through the Z-disks, which are perforated. The overlap of thick filaments from adjacent sarcomeres causes the appearance of the contraction bands about the Z-disks. Subsequent contraction is associated with a folding and loose coiling, but not a shortening, of the thick filaments.     

Dissecting temporal and spatial control of cytokinesis with a myosin II Inhibitor

Completion of cell division during cytokinesis requires temporally and spatially regulated communication from the microtubule cytoskeleton to the actin cytoskeleton and the cell membrane. We identified a specific inhibitor of nonmuscle myosin II, blebbistatin, that inhibited contraction of the cleavage furrow without disrupting mitosis or contractile ring assembly. Using blebbistatin and other drugs, we showed that exit from the cytokinetic phase of the cell cycle depends on ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Continuous signals from microtubules are required to maintain the position of the cleavage furrow, and these signals control the localization of myosin II independently of other furrow components.     

Salmonella SipA polymerizes actin by stapling filaments with nonglobular protein arms

Like many bacterial pathogens, Salmonella spp. use a type III secretion system to inject virulence proteins into host cells. The Salmonella invasion protein A (SipA) binds host actin, enhances its polymerization near adherent extracellular bacteria, and contributes to cytoskeletal rearrangements that internalize the pathogen. By combining x-ray crystallography of SipA with electron microscopy and image analysis of SipA-actin filaments, we show that SipA functions as a "molecular staple," in which a globular domain and two nonglobular "arms" mechanically stabilize the filament by tethering actin subunits in opposing strands. Deletion analysis of the tethering arms provides strong support for this model.     

Nebulin and N-WASP cooperate to cause IGF-1-induced sarcomeric actin filament formation

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) induces skeletal muscle maturation and enlargement (hypertrophy). These responses require protein synthesis and myofibril formation (myofibrillogenesis). However, the signaling mechanisms of myofibrillogenesis remain obscure. We found that IGF-1-induced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt signaling formed a complex of nebulin and N-WASP at the Z bands of myofibrils by interfering with glycogen synthase kinase-3β in mice. Although N-WASP is known to be an activator of the Arp2/3 complex to form branched actin filaments, the nebulin-N-WASP complex caused actin nucleation for unbranched actin filament formation from the Z bands without the Arp2/3 complex. Furthermore, N-WASP was required for IGF-1-induced muscle hypertrophy. These findings present the mechanisms of IGF-1-induced actin filament formation in myofibrillogenesis required for muscle maturation and hypertrophy and a mechanism of actin nucleation.     

Interstratified clays as fundamental particles

Materials representing common interstratified clay minerals are shown to be composed of aggregates of fundamental particles. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction demonstrate that the x-ray diffraction characteristics of a wide range of interstratification can be modeled experimentally by utilizing materials containing only three types of particles. The data have been incorporated into a new model that regards interstratified clay minerals as populations of fundamental particles whose x-ray diffraction patterns result from interparticle diffraction.