scholarly journals Developmental and comparative aspects of brine shrimp tubulin

1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
T H Macrae ◽  
R F Ludueña

Tubulin from embryos of the brine shrimp Artemia has been purified to apparent homogeneity by chromatography on phosphocellulose P11 and DEAE-cellulose, (NH4)2SO4 fractionation and assembly-disassembly of microtubules. Peptide mapping indicated that Artemia and bovine brain tubulin were very similar in spite of differences in the electrophoretic behaviour of tubulin from these two organisms. Isoelectric focusing and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis were used to resolve and identify several Artemia isotubulins . The isotubulin composition and the quantity of tubulin did not change during pre-emergence development of Artemia embryos. Formation of microtubules with tubulin purified from embryos at different stages of development did not require glycerol or microtubule-associated proteins and formation of structurally normal microtubules was actually hindered by glycerol and Mg2+. The characteristics of Artemia tubulin, in concert with the unusual life history of Artemia, suggest that this organism will be very useful for the study of tubulin gene expression and tubulin utilization during embryo development.

1995 ◽  
Vol 307 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Zhang ◽  
T H Macrae

A novel 49 kDa protein, which exhibits nucleotide-dependent cross-linking of microtubules in vitro and localizes to ordered microtubule arrays by immunofluorescent staining, has been purified to apparent homogeneity from the brine shrimp, Artemia. Electrophoretic analysis involving isoelectric focusing and two-dimensional gels, supplemented by staining of Western blots with affinity-purified antibody, revealed that the 49 kDa protein consists of five isoforms with pI values of 6.0-6.2. The amount of 49 kDa protein increased slightly, but its isoform composition did not change significantly, during development of Artemia gastrula to third-instar larvae. Treatment with alkaline phosphatase caused the 49 kDa protein to undergo a mobility shift on gel electrophoresis, and, by use of an antibody to phosphoserine, at least two isoforms of the protein were shown to be phosphorylated. The serine phosphate, presumably added by a post-translational mechanism, did not influence binding of the 49 kDa protein to microtubules. Under conditions in which microtubules were cross-linked, the 49 kDa protein failed to interact with actin filaments. Our results demonstrate that the 49 kDa protein, like other structural microtubule-associated proteins such as tau and MAP2, is composed of several isoforms, some of which are phosphorylated. This protein has the potential to regulate the spatial distribution of microtubules within cells but does not link microfilaments to one another or to microtubules.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 439-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Luduena ◽  
Mary Carmen Roach ◽  
Thomas H. MacRae ◽  
George M. Langford

We have developed a simple probe for certain functionally significant features of the tubulin molecule. When bovine brain tubulin is treated with N,N′-ethylene-bis(iodoacetamide) (EBI), two intrachain cross-links, designated βs and β*, are formed in β-tubulin, each one with a unique effect on the electrophoretic mobility of β on gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate. Formation of the β* cross-link, which involves at least one assembly-critical sulfhydryl, is completely inhibited by colchicine and its congeners, while that of βs is inhibited completely by maytansine and GTP and partly by vinblastine. To see how conserved this complex pattern is in evolution we examined tubulins from the brine shrimp Artemia and the squid Loligo. In both tubulins EBI forms the β* cross-link in a reaction inhibitable by colchicine, podophyllotoxin, and nocodazole. In each tubulin, EBI appears to form a second intrachain cross-link in a reaction that can be inhibited completely by maytansine and GTP and partly by vinblastine. In Artemia, this cross-link alters the electrophoretic mobility to a slightly smaller extent than is the case for βs in bovine brain, but in Loligo the alteration is much greater. It seems that the ligand-binding sites, the critical sulfhydryls, and their spatial interrelationships are strongly conserved and that the βs sulfhydryls or the sequence between them are less strongly conserved in evolution.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (18) ◽  
pp. 10122-10132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir A. Kelkar ◽  
K. Kevin Pfister ◽  
Ronald G. Crystal ◽  
Philip L. Leopold

ABSTRACT During infection, adenovirus (Ad) capsids undergo microtubule-dependent retrograde transport as part of a program of vectorial transport of the viral genome to the nucleus. The microtubule-associated molecular motor, cytoplasmic dynein, has been implicated in the retrograde movement of Ad. We hypothesized that cytoplasmic dynein constituted the primary mode of association of Ad with microtubules. To evaluate this hypothesis, an Ad-microtubule binding assay was established in which microtubules were polymerized with taxol, combined with Ad in the presence or absence of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), and centrifuged through a glycerol cushion. The addition of purified bovine brain MAPs increased the fraction of Ad in the microtubule pellet from 17.3% ± 3.5% to 80.7% ± 3.8% (P < 0.01). In the absence of tubulin polymerization or in the presence of high salt, no Ad was found in the pellet. Ad binding to microtubules was not enhanced by bovine brain MAPs enriched for tau protein or by the addition of bovine serum albumin. Enhanced Ad-microtubule binding was also observed by using a fraction of MAPs purified from lung A549 epithelial cell lysate which contained cytoplasmic dynein. Ad-microtubule interaction was sensitive to the addition of ATP, a hallmark of cytoplasmic dynein-dependent microtubule interactions. Immunodepletion of cytoplasmic dynein from the A549 cell lysate abolished the MAP-enhanced Ad-microtubule binding. The interaction of Ad with both dynein and dynactin complexes was demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation. Partially uncoated capsids isolated from cells 40 min after infection also exhibited microtubule binding. In summary, the primary mode of Ad attachment to microtubules occurs though cytoplasmic dynein-mediated binding.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaneh Rafiee ◽  
Sara Ann MacKinlay ◽  
Thomas H. MacRae

Incubation of Artemia cell-free extracts with taxol, followed by centrifugation through sucrose cushions, yielded pellets composed of short, morphologically normal microtubules which exhibited a tendency to fray at their ends. Immunological staining of protein blots with polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies revealed that the major pellet protein is tubulin and that bovine neural tubulin and Artemia tubulin are antigenically distinct. By several criteria, but prinicipally by their taxol-induced coassembly with tubulin, many of the nontubulin pellet proteins are microtubule-associated proteins (MAP). In spite of extensive morphogenesis, hatching, and the eventual resumption of mitosis during development, no new MAP appear, with reduction in the number of MAP after hatching the only observable change in these proteins. We have yet to demonstrate a function for Artemia MAP but have shown that the rate and extent of assembly of Artemia tubulin, which polymerizes readily in vitro in the absence of MAP, are stimulated by bovine MAP. Electrophoretic analysis revealed that the taxol-assembled microtubules were composed of several isotubulins, these being identical to the isoforms in biochemically purified Artemia tubulin. In addition, a new Artemia α-tubulin was observed, and it was shown that the isotubulin population does not change during the period of development examined. Maintenance of identical isotubulin populations in developing organisms for extended periods, which suggests that all tubulins are functional, in concert with the lack of change in tubulin during cell differentiation, runs counter to the proposal that chemically distinct isotubulins are required for assembly of functionally specific microtubules.


1990 ◽  
Vol 270 (3) ◽  
pp. 821-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Eyer ◽  
D White ◽  
C Gagnon

Brain tubulin polymerized with dynein isolated from bull spermatozoa forms cold-stable microtubules, in contrast with microtubules made of brain tubulin polymerized by brain microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). The level of cold-stable microtubules depends on the concentration of dynein used. Addition of dynein to cold-unstable microtubules renders these microtubules stable to cold. Although ATP and a non-hydrolysable ATP analogue increase the formation of microtubules made of tubulin and dynein, these nucleotides have no effect on dynein cold-stabilizing properties. The data suggests that a new factor, not involving the dynein ATPase active site and present in bull sperm dynein preparations, confers cold-stability to microtubules.


1988 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 1205-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Sato ◽  
W H Schwartz ◽  
S C Selden ◽  
T D Pollard

We measured the elasticity and viscosity of brain tubulin solutions under various conditions with a cone and plate rheometer using both oscillatory and steady shearing modes. Microtubules composed of purified tubulin, purified tubulin with taxol and 3x cycled microtubule protein from pig, cow, and chicken behaved as mechanically indistinguishable viscoelastic materials. Microtubules composed of pure tubulin and heat stable microtubule-associated proteins were also similar but did not recover their mechanical properties after shearing like other samples, even after 60 min. All of the other microtubule samples were more rigid after flow orientation, suggesting that the mechanical properties of anisotropic arrays of microtubules may be substantially greater than those of randomly arranged microtubules. These experiments confirm that MAPs do not cross link microtubules. Surprisingly, under conditions where microtubule assembly is strongly inhibited (either 5 degrees or at 37 degrees C with colchicine or Ca++) tubulin was mechanically indistinguishable from microtubules at 10-20 microM concentration. By electron microscopy and ultracentrifugation these samples were devoid of microtubules or other obvious structures. However, these mechanical data are strong evidence that tubulin will spontaneously assemble into alternate structures (aggregates) in nonpolymerizing conditions. Because unpolymerized tubulin is found in significant quantities in the cytoplasm, it may contribute significantly to the viscoelastic properties of cytoplasm, especially at low deformation rates.


1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
E.J. Campbell ◽  
S.A. MacKinlay ◽  
T.H. MacRae

Microtubules induced with taxol to assemble in cell-free extracts of the brine shrimp, Artemia, are cross-linked by microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). When the MAPs, extracted from taxol-stabilized microtubules with 1 M-NaCl are co-assembled with purified Artemia or mammalian neural tubulin, reconstitution of cross-linking between microtubules occurs. The most prominent non-tubulin protein associated with reconstituted cross-linked microtubules has a molecular weight of 49,000 but we cannot yet exclude the possibility that other proteins may be responsible for the cross-linking. Cross-linkers are separated by varying distances while cross-linked microtubules, prepared under different conditions, are 6.9-7.7 nm apart. Cross-linking of microtubules by MAPs occurs whether MAPs are added to assembling tubulin or to microtubules, and it is not disrupted by ATP. The MAPs are heat-sensitive and do not stabilize microtubules to cold. Immunological characterization of Artemia MAPs on Western blots indicates that Artemia lack MAP 1, MAP 2 and tau. Our results clearly demonstrate that Artemia contain novel MAPs with the ability to cross-link microtubules from phylogenetically disparate organisms in an ATP-independent manner.


1988 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 1437-1448 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Walker ◽  
E T O'Brien ◽  
N K Pryer ◽  
M F Soboeiro ◽  
W A Voter ◽  
...  

We have developed video microscopy methods to visualize the assembly and disassembly of individual microtubules at 33-ms intervals. Porcine brain tubulin, free of microtubule-associated proteins, was assembled onto axoneme fragments at 37 degrees C, and the dynamic behavior of the plus and minus ends of microtubules was analyzed for tubulin concentrations between 7 and 15.5 microM. Elongation and rapid shortening were distinctly different phases. At each end, the elongation phase was characterized by a second order association and a substantial first order dissociation reaction. Association rate constants were 8.9 and 4.3 microM-1 s-1 for the plus and minus ends, respectively; and the corresponding dissociation rate constants were 44 and 23 s-1. For both ends, the rate of tubulin dissociation equaled the rate of tubulin association at 5 microM. The rate of rapid shortening was similar at the two ends (plus = 733 s-1; minus = 915 s-1), and did not vary with tubulin concentration. Transitions between phases were abrupt and stochastic. As the tubulin concentration was increased, catastrophe frequency decreased at both ends, and rescue frequency increased dramatically at the minus end. This resulted in fewer rapid shortening phases at higher tubulin concentrations for both ends and shorter rapid shortening phases at the minus end. At each concentration, the frequency of catastrophe was slightly greater at the plus end, and the frequency of rescue was greater at the minus end. Our data demonstrate that microtubules assembled from pure tubulin undergo dynamic instability over a twofold range of tubulin concentrations, and that the dynamic instability of the plus and minus ends of microtubules can be significantly different. Our analysis indicates that this difference could produce treadmilling, and establishes general limits on the effectiveness of length redistribution as a measure of dynamic instability. Our results are consistent with the existence of a GTP cap during elongation, but are not consistent with existing GTP cap models.


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