Oscillatory dynamics of Cdc42 GTPase in the control of polarized growth

Cells promote polarized growth by activation of Rho-family protein Cdc42 at the cell membrane. We combined experiments and modeling to study bipolar growth initiation in fission yeast. Concentrations of a fluorescent marker for active Cdc42, Cdc42 protein, Cdc42-activator Scd1, and scaffold protein Scd2 exhibited anticorrelated fluctuations and oscillations with a 5-minute average period at polarized cell tips. These dynamics indicate competition for active Cdc42 or its regulators and the presence of positive and delayed negative feedbacks. Cdc42 oscillations and spatial distribution were sensitive to the amounts of Cdc42-activator Gef1 and to the activity of Cdc42-dependent kinase Pak1, a negative regulator. Feedbacks regulating Cdc42 oscillations and spatial self-organization appear to provide a flexible mechanism for fission yeast cells to explore polarization states and to control their morphology.     

Spontaneous cell polarization through actomyosin-based delivery of the Cdc42 GTPase

Cell polarization can occur in the absence of any spatial cues. To investigate the mechanism of spontaneous cell polarization, we used an assay in yeast where expression of an activated form of Cdc42, a Rho-type guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) required for cell polarization, could generate cell polarity without any recourse to a preestablished physical cue. The polar distribution of Cdc42 in this assay required targeted secretion directed by the actin cytoskeleton. A mathematical simulation showed that a stable polarity axis could be generated through a positive feedback loop in which a stochastic increase in the local concentration of activated Cdc42 on the plasma membrane enhanced the probability of actin polymerization and increased the probability of further Cdc42 accumulation to that site.     

Integration of multiple signals through cooperative regulation of the N-WASP-Arp2/3 complex

The protein N-WASP [a homolog to the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)] regulates actin polymerization by stimulating the actin-nucleating activity of the actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex. N-WASP is tightly regulated by multiple signals: Only costimulation by Cdc42 and phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PIP2) yields potent polymerization. We found that regulation requires N-WASP's constitutively active output domain (VCA) and two regulatory domains: a Cdc42-binding domain and a previously undescribed PIP(2)-binding domain. In the absence of stimuli, the regulatory modules together hold the VCA-Arp2/3 complex in an inactive "closed" conformation. In this state, both the Cdc42- and PIP2-binding sites are masked. Binding of either input destabilizes the closed state and enhances binding of the other input. This cooperative activation mechanism shows how combinations of simple binding domains can be used to integrate and amplify coincident signals.     

水牛Cdc42cDNA的克隆与生物信息学分析

通过RT-PCR扩增得到水牛细胞分裂周期蛋白42(Cdc42)cDNA序列,将扩增产物与pMD20-T载体连接,重组质粒经PCR、酶切鉴定后测序并进行生物信息学分析.结果表明:克隆得到的序列全长626 bp,含有1个大小为576 bp的开放阅读框,共编码191个氨基酸,相对分子质量为21.3×103,理论等电点为6.1...     

Cdc42蛋白在牛卵母细胞中的表达分布及对其成熟的影响

【目的】探明Cdc42蛋白在牛卵母细胞成熟过程中的表达及分布规律,并且研究抑制Cdc42活性对于牛卵母细胞成熟的影响。【方法】首先通过收集体外成熟不同时间（0-24 h）的牛卵母细胞,用Western blotting的方法检测Cdc42蛋白在牛卵母细胞中的表达量变化情况,通过免疫细胞化学的方法检测Cdc42蛋白在牛卵母细胞中的分布及定位情况。根据GenBank公布的牛Cdc42基因（GenBank登录号：NM_001046332.1）的mRNA序列设计引物,并在正向和反向引物的末端分别加上KpnⅠ和EcoRⅠ酶切位点,用PCR的方法扩增牛Cdc42基因的CDS区,将PCR产物和pMD19T载体连接得到野生型的克隆载体pMD19T-Cdc42WT。用定点突变引物以pMD19T-Cdc42WT为模板进行PCR反应,得到Cdc42的显性负性突变体Cdc42T17N的克隆载体pMD19T-Cdc42T17N。将pMD19T-Cdc42WT和pMD19T-Cdc42T17N分别酶切后,将Cdc42WT（775 bp）和Cdc42T17N（775 bp）片段分别连接到pcDNA3.1（+）的多克隆位点区域,得到相应的原核表达载体pcDNA3.1（+）-Cdc42WT和pcDNA3.1（+）-Cdc42T17N。用体外转录的方法分别得到Cdc42WT和Cdc42T17N的cRNA,用显微注射的方法将相应的cRNA分别注入到牛GV期卵母细胞质内,检测其成熟率的变化。【结果】①Cdc42蛋白分别在牛卵母细胞中成熟培养0、4、8、12、16、20以及24 h时表达量没有明显差异,但是其分布规律随着减数分裂的进行发生着动态的变化：Cdc42蛋白在卵母细胞皮质区域集中分布的模式在生发泡（germinal vesicle,GV）期卵母细胞中很少出现,而在第一次减数分裂中期（metaphase Ⅰ,MⅠ）卵母细胞中出现得最多也最为明显;Cdc42蛋白在染色体附近的皮质富集的现象开始出现于前中期（pro-metaphase Ⅰ,pMⅠ）,并且出现频率从pMⅠ期到第2次减数分裂中期（metaphase Ⅱ,MⅡ）逐渐增多;Cdc42蛋白和纺锤体重叠定位的现象在第1次减数分裂后期（anaphase Ⅰ,AⅠ）到末期（telophaseⅠ,TⅠ）的卵母细胞中占有有很高比例,而到MⅡ期时这种现象又很少出现。②从牛卵母细胞的总cDNA中扩增Cdc42基因得到785 bp的片段,构建的牛Cdc42的野生型及其显性负性突变体的克隆载体pMD19T-Cdc42WT和pMD19T-Cdc42T17N经酶切鉴定和以及测序比对后,符合预期结果,即成功克隆了牛野生型Cdc42基因并得到其显性负性突变体Cdc42T17N;③构建的相应的原核表达载体pcDNA3.1（+）-Cdc42WT和pcDNA3.1（+）-Cdc42T17N经酶切鉴定和测序比对,符合预期结果,经过体外转录均得到一个3079 bases和987 bases的RNA片段,符合预期结果,即成功构建了相应的原核表达载体并获得相应的cRNA;④与正常成熟培养组和注射Cdc42WTcRNA的牛卵母细胞相比,注射Cdc42T17NcRNA的成熟率显著降低（P<0.05）。【结论】卵母细胞在卵泡发育过程中就已经积累了足够的Cdc42蛋白,而在减数分裂过程中Cdc42可以在卵母细胞的皮质以及纺锤体的位置发挥作用,而且正常的Cdc42活性是牛卵母细胞完成成熟过程并排出第一极体所必需的。     

细胞传感器检测技术研究进展

细胞传感器以细胞作为敏感元件来研究信号识别、传导和指示的过程,可以用于细胞的信息功能及目的物质的检测,具有快速、敏感和特异的特点,已被广泛用于食品安全、农药残留、环境污染、病原微生物及生物安全检测等方面。笔者主要介绍了细胞传感器在病原体和毒素检测中的最新研究进展,分别叙述了现有的各类细胞传感器的元件构成和作用原理,并展望了细胞传感器未来研究和应用方面的发展方向。     

纤毛纲动物在环境污染物毒性早期监测和评价中的应用

与传统的物理和化学方法相比,全活细胞在环境毒理监测和评估中具有不可替代的优势。由于纤毛纲动物具有易于培养、个体较大、便于观察、真核且无细胞壁等特点,因此,特别适合用于环境毒理监测。笔者详细介绍了纤毛纲动物在重金属、持久性有机污染物（POPs）和纳米颗粒污染物质（NP）中的监测进展,并探讨了纤毛纲动物在应答污染物胁迫的响应机理,以及将纤毛纲动物研制成生物芯片早期监测的可能性。     

Polo-like kinase Cdc5 controls the local activation of Rho1 to promote cytokinesis

The links between the cell cycle machinery and the cytoskeletal proteins controlling cytokinesis are poorly understood. The small guanine nucleotide triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein RhoA stimulates type II myosin contractility and formin-dependent assembly of the cytokinetic actin contractile ring. We found that budding yeast Polo-like kinase Cdc5 controls the targeting and activation of Rho1 (RhoA) at the division site via Rho1 guanine nucleotide exchange factors. This role of Cdc5 (Polo-like kinase) in regulating Rho1 is likely to be relevant to cytokinesis and asymmetric cell division in other organisms.     

Rapid destruction of human Cdc25A in response to DNA damage

To protect genome integrity and ensure survival, eukaryotic cells exposed to genotoxic stress cease proliferating to provide time for DNA repair. Human cells responded to ultraviolet light or ionizing radiation by rapid, ubiquitin- and proteasome-dependent protein degradation of Cdc25A, a phosphatase that is required for progression from G1 to S phase of the cell cycle. This response involved activated Chk1 protein kinase but not the p53 pathway, and the persisting inhibitory tyrosine phosphorylation of Cdk2 blocked entry into S phase and DNA replication. Overexpression of Cdc25A bypassed this mechanism, leading to enhanced DNA damage and decreased cell survival. These results identify specific degradation of Cdc25A as part of the DNA damage checkpoint mechanism and suggest how Cdc25A overexpression in human cancers might contribute to tumorigenesis.     

稻瘟菌Cdc42若干推测互作蛋白的结构和表达特点

 【目的】已有研究表明稻瘟菌Cdc42(MgCdc42)与酵母Cdc42(ScCdc42)高度同源，参与调控其形态分化和侵染过程，通过分析可能的MgCdc42互作蛋白，以明确这些蛋白其结构和功能。【方法】用ScCdc42互作蛋白经BLAST搜索获得了稻瘟菌基因组中的相应同源物，分析了这些同源物的结构，并通过半定量RT-PCR分析MgCdc42不同突变情况下这些可能的调控蛋白及效应蛋白的表达情况。【结果】MgCdc42正显性突变后，导致所有推测互作蛋白表达量均有所提高；MgCdc42负显性突变，除MgBem1、Chm1、MgGic1表达量未见明显变化外，其余表达量均有所降低；当MgCdc42失活后，所有可能的MgCdc42调控蛋白及效应蛋白之表达量均有所降低。【结论】稻瘟菌可能存在酵母Cdc42相似的信号途径，MgCdc42在其中起着重要的调控作用。     

Protein tyrosine kinase Wee1B is essential for metaphase II exit in mouse oocytes

Waves of cyclin synthesis and degradation regulate the activity of Cdc2 protein kinase during the cell cycle. Cdc2 inactivation by Wee1B-mediated phosphorylation is necessary for arrest of the oocyte at G2-prophase, but it is unclear whether this regulation functions later during the metaphase-to-anaphase transition. We show that reactivation of a Wee1B pathway triggers the decrease in Cdc2 activity during egg activation. When Wee1B is down-regulated, oocytes fail to form a pronucleus in response to Ca(2+) signals. Calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) activates Wee1B, and CaMKII-driven exit from metaphase II is inhibited by Wee1B down-regulation, demonstrating that exit from metaphase requires not only a proteolytic degradation of cyclin B but also the inhibitory phosphorylation of Cdc2 by Wee1B.     

Septin-mediated plant cell invasion by the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae

To cause rice blast disease, the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae develops a pressurized dome-shaped cell called an appressorium, which physically ruptures the leaf cuticle to gain entry to plant tissue. Here, we report that a toroidal F-actin network assembles in the appressorium by means of four septin guanosine triphosphatases, which polymerize into a dynamic, hetero-oligomeric ring. Septins scaffold F-actin, via the ezrin-radixin-moesin protein Tea1, and phosphatidylinositide interactions at the appressorium plasma membrane. The septin ring assembles in a Cdc42- and Chm1-dependent manner and forms a diffusion barrier to localize the inverse-bin-amphiphysin-RVS-domain protein Rvs167 and the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein Las17 at the point of penetration. Septins thereby provide the cortical rigidity and membrane curvature necessary for protrusion of a rigid penetration peg to breach the leaf surface.     

Signal transduction. N-WASP regulation--the sting in the tail

Signaling proteins can be regulated by their interactions with other proteins and phospholipids. As Fawcett and Pawson discuss in their Perspective, activation of the N-WASP protein (which coordinates formation of actin filaments) is far more complex, depending on the interaction of N-WASP with both a protein and a phospholipid. The authors explain new results (Prehoda et al.) demonstrating that cooperative binding of the phospholipid PIP2 and the small GTPase Cdc42 to N-WASP results in its activation. The Arp2/3 complex is then able to bind to N-WASP and to proceed with its job of initiating the assembly of actin monomers into actin filaments.     

Detection of cell-affecting agents with a silicon biosensor

Cellular metabolism is affected by many factors in a cell's environment. Given a sufficiently sensitive method for measuring cellular metabolic rates, it should be possible to detect a wide variety of chemical and physical stimuli. A biosensor has been constructed in which living cells are confined to a flow chamber in which a potentiometric sensor continually measures the rate of production of acidic metabolites. Exploratory studies demonstrate several applications of the device in basic science and technology.     

Phosphorylation by cyclin B-Cdk underlies release of mitotic exit activator Cdc14 from the nucleolus

Budding yeast protein phosphatase Cdc14 is sequestered in the nucleolus in an inactive state during interphase by the anchor protein Net1. Upon entry into anaphase, the Cdc14 early anaphase release (FEAR) network initiates dispersal of active Cdc14 throughout the cell. We report that the FEARnetwork promotes phosphorylation of Net1 by cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) complexed with cyclin B1 or cyclin B2. These phosphorylations appear to be required for FEAR and sustain the proper timing of late mitotic events. Thus, a regulatory circuit exists to ensure that the arbiter of the mitotic state, Cdk, sets in motion events that culminate in exit from mitosis.     

Role of C. elegans TAT-1 protein in maintaining plasma membrane phosphatidylserine asymmetry

The asymmetrical distribution of phospholipids on the plasma membrane is critical for maintaining cell integrity and physiology and for regulating intracellular signaling and important cellular events such as clearance of apoptotic cells. How phospholipid asymmetry is established and maintained is not fully understood. We report that the Caenorhabditis elegans P-type adenosine triphosphatase homolog, TAT-1, is critical for maintaining cell surface asymmetry of phosphatidylserine (PS). In animals deficient in tat-1, PS is abnormally exposed on the cell surface, and normally living cells are randomly lost through a mechanism dependent on PSR-1, a PS-recognizing phagocyte receptor, and CED-1, which contributes to recognition and engulfment of apoptotic cells. Thus, tat-1 appears to function in preventing appearance of PS in the outer leaflet of plasma membrane, and ectopic exposure of PS on the cell surface may result in removal of living cells by neighboring phagocytes.     

Structure and Expression of Several Putative Cdc42-Interacting Proteins in Magnaporthe grisea

MgCdc42 （Cdc42 in Magnaporthe grisea）, with high homology to ScCdc42 （Cdc42 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae）, has been demonstrated to involve in the morphogenesis and infection process. To further understand the signaling network, the putative MgCdc42-interacting proteins were analyzed. ScCdc42-interacting protein sequences were first used to BLAST against the M. grisea genome database to retrieve their corresponding analogs. Subsequently, conserved domains of these proteins were compared and expression patterns of their encoding genes in different MgCdc42 mutation states were analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. All retrieved analogs of ScCdc42-interacting proteins from the M. grisea database have conserved domains as those in S. cerevisiae. Expression of their encoding genes increased in MgCdc42CA mutant and decreased in MgCdc42KO mutant. However, MgBeml, Chin1, and MgGicl in MgCdc42DN mutant had the same expression level as that in the wild type, although MgBem4, MgBoi2, MgCdc24, MgGic2, MgRgal, and Mst20 had decreased expression level, as expected. Overall, it is concluded that there may exist a similar Cdc42 signal pathway in M. grisea as in S. cerevisiae and MgCdc42 plays a key role in the pathway.     

Requirement of the prolyl isomerase Pin1 for the replication checkpoint

The peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1 has been implicated in regulating cell cycle progression. Pin1 was found to be required for the DNA replication checkpoint in Xenopus laevis. Egg extracts depleted of Pin1 inappropriately transited from the G2 to the M phase of the cell cycle in the presence of the DNA replication inhibitor aphidicolin. This defect in replication checkpoint function was reversed after the addition of recombinant wild-type Pin1, but not an isomerase-inactive mutant, to the depleted extract. Premature mitotic entry in the absence of Pin1 was accompanied by hyperphosphorylation of Cdc25, activation of Cdc2/cyclin B, and generation of epitopes recognized by the mitotic phosphoprotein antibody, MPM-2. Therefore, Pin1 appears to be required for the checkpoint delaying the onset of mitosis in response to incomplete replication.     

Regulation of cell polarity and protrusion formation by targeting RhoA for degradation

The Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatases regulates actin cytoskeleton dynamics that underlie cellular functions such as cell shape changes, migration, and polarity. We found that Smurf1, a HECT domain E3 ubiquitin ligase, regulated cell polarity and protrusive activity and was required to maintain the transformed morphology and motility of a tumor cell. Atypical protein kinase C zeta (PKCzeta), an effector of the Cdc42/Rac1-PAR6 polarity complex, recruited Smurf1 to cellular protrusions, where it controlled the local level of RhoA. Smurf1 thus links the polarity complex to degradation of RhoA in lamellipodia and filopodia to prevent RhoA signaling during dynamic membrane movements.