Discovery of Selective Inhibitors for In Vitro and In Vivo Interrogation of Skeletal Myosin II

Author(s):  
Laszlo Radnai ◽  
Matthew Surman ◽  
Madalyn Hafenbreidel ◽  
Erica J. Young ◽  
Rebecca F. Stremel ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laszlo Radnai ◽  
Matthew Surman ◽  
Madalyn Hafenbreidel ◽  
Erica J. Young ◽  
Rebecca F. Stremel ◽  
...  

AbstractMyosin IIs, actin-based motors that utilize the chemical energy of ATP to generate force, have potential as therapeutic targets. Their heavy chains differentiate the family into muscle (skeletal [SkMII], cardiac, smooth) and nonmuscle myosin IIs. Despite therapeutic potential for muscle disorders, no SkMII-specific inhibitor has been reported and characterized. Here we present the discovery, synthesis and characterization of “skeletostatins”, novel derivatives of the pan-myosin II inhibitor blebbistatin, with selectivity within the myosin IIs for SkMII. In addition, the skeletostatins bear improved potency, solubility and photostability, without cytotoxicity. Based on its optimal in vitro profile, Skeletostatin 1’s in vivo tolerability, efficacy and pharmacokinetics were determined. Skeletostatin 1 was well-tolerated in mice, impaired motor performance, and had an excellent muscle to plasma ratio. Skeletostatins are useful probes for basic research and a strong starting point for drug development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhua Zhang ◽  
Dwaraka Srinivasa R. Kuppam ◽  
Arnold Melman ◽  
Michael E. DiSanto

1995 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 1779-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.C. Chang ◽  
K. Fernandes ◽  
M.J. Dauncey

Members of the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) gene family show developmental stage- and spatial-specificity of expression. We report on the characterization and identification of a porcine skeletal fast MyHC gene, including its corresponding 5′ end cDNA and 5′ regulatory region. This MyHC isoform was found exclusively in skeletal muscles from about the last quarter of gestation through to adulthood. Expression of this isoform was higher postnatally and its spatial distribution resembled a rosette cluster; each with a ring of fast fibres surrounding a central slow fibre. This rosette pattern was absent in the adult diaphragm but about 20% of the fibres continued to express this MyHC isoform. Further in vivo expression studies, in a variety of morphologically and functionally diverse muscles, showed that this particular skeletal MyHC isoform was expressed in fast oxidative-glycolytic fibres, suggesting that it was the equivalent of the fast IIA isoform. Two domains in the upstream regulatory region were found to confer differentiation-specific expression on C2 myotubes (−1007 to -828 and -455 to -101), based on in vitro transient expression assays using the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene. Interestingly, for high levels of CAT expression to occur, a 3′ region, extending from the transcriptional start site to part. of intron 2, must be present in all the DNA constructs used.


ChemMedChem ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 815-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Grosskopf ◽  
Chris Eckert ◽  
Christoph Arkona ◽  
Silke Radetzki ◽  
Kerstin Böhm ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 218 (8) ◽  
pp. 2743-2761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Krueger ◽  
Theresa Quinkler ◽  
Simon Arnold Mortensen ◽  
Carsten Sachse ◽  
Stefano De Renzis

Contraction of cortical actomyosin networks driven by myosin activation controls cell shape changes and tissue morphogenesis during animal development. In vitro studies suggest that contractility also depends on the geometrical organization of actin filaments. Here we analyze the function of actomyosin network topology in vivo using optogenetic stimulation of myosin-II in Drosophila embryos. We show that early during cellularization, hexagonally arrayed actomyosin fibers are resilient to myosin-II activation. Actomyosin fibers then acquire a ring-like conformation and become contractile and sensitive to myosin-II. This transition is controlled by Bottleneck, a Drosophila unique protein expressed for only a short time during early cellularization, which we show regulates actin bundling. In addition, it requires two opposing actin cross-linkers, Filamin and Fimbrin. Filamin acts synergistically with Bottleneck to facilitate hexagonal patterning, while Fimbrin controls remodeling of the hexagonal network into contractile rings. Thus, actin cross-linking regulates the spatio-temporal organization of actomyosin contraction in vivo, which is critical for tissue morphogenesis.


1977 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 990-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Craig ◽  
J Megerman

The in vitro assembly of myosin purified from calf aorta muscle has been studied by electron microscopy. Two types of filament are formed: short bipolar filament similar to those formed from skeletal muscle myosin, and longer "side-polar" filaments having cross bridges with a single polarity along the entire length of one side and the opposite polarity along the other side. Unlike the case with skeletal myosin filaments, antiparallel interactions between myosin molecules occur along the whole length of side-polar filaments. The side-polar structure may be related to the in vivo form of myosin in vertebrate smooth muscle.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 989-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Stark ◽  
Thomas E. Sladewski ◽  
Luther W. Pollard ◽  
Matthew Lord

Myosin-II (Myo2p) and tropomyosin are essential for contractile ring formation and cytokinesis in fission yeast. Here we used a combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches to understand how these proteins function at contractile rings. We find that ring assembly is delayed in Myo2p motor and tropomyosin mutants, but occurs prematurely in cells engineered to express two copies of myo2. Thus, the timing of ring assembly responds to changes in Myo2p cellular levels and motor activity, and the emergence of tropomyosin-bound actin filaments. Doubling Myo2p levels suppresses defects in ring assembly associated with a tropomyosin mutant, suggesting a role for tropomyosin in maximizing Myo2p function. Correspondingly, tropomyosin increases Myo2p actin affinity and ATPase activity and promotes Myo2p-driven actin filament gliding in motility assays. Tropomyosin achieves this by favoring the strong actin-bound state of Myo2p. This mode of regulation reflects a role for tropomyosin in specifying and stabilizing actomyosin interactions, which facilitates contractile ring assembly in the fission yeast system.


Cell ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Weydert ◽  
Paul Barton ◽  
A.John Harris ◽  
Christian Pinset ◽  
Margaret Buckingham

2009 ◽  
Vol 04 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 179-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID SMITH ◽  
BRIAN GENTRY ◽  
BJÖRN STUHRMANN ◽  
FLORIAN HUBER ◽  
DAN STREHLE ◽  
...  

The motility of cells is a multifaceted and complicated cytoskeletal process. Significant inroads can be made into gaining a more detailed understanding, however, by focusing on the smaller, more simple subunits of the motile system in an effort to isolate the essential protein components necessary to perform a certain task. Identification of such functional modules has proven to be an effective means of working towards a comprehensive understanding of complex, interacting systems. By following a bottom-up approach in studying minimal actin-related sub-systems for keratocyte motility, we revealed several fundamentally important effects ranging from an estimation of the force generated by the polymerization of a single actin filament, to assembly dynamics and the production of force and tension of composite actin networks, to the contraction of actin networks or smaller bundled structures by the motor myosin II. While even motile keratocyte fragments represent a far more complex situation than the simple reconstituted systems presented here, clear parallels can be seen between in vivo cell motility and the idealized in vitro functional modules presented here, giving more weight to their continued focus.


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