scholarly journals Aberrant myofibril assembly in tropomodulin1 null mice leads to aborted heart development and embryonic lethality

2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly L. Fritz-Six ◽  
Patrick R. Cox ◽  
Robert S. Fischer ◽  
Bisong Xu ◽  
Carol C. Gregorio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Knockout Mouse ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Heart Defects ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Embryonic Lethality ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Filament Assembly

Tropomodulin1 (Tmod1) caps thin filament pointed ends in striated muscle, where it controls filament lengths by regulating actin dynamics. Here, we investigated myofibril assembly and heart development in a Tmod1 knockout mouse. In the absence of Tmod1, embryonic development appeared normal up to embryonic day (E) 8.5. By E9.5, heart defects were evident, including aborted development of the myocardium and inability to pump, leading to embryonic lethality by E10.5. Confocal microscopy of hearts of E8–8.5 Tmod1 null embryos revealed structures resembling nascent myofibrils with continuous F-actin staining and periodic dots of α-actinin, indicating that I-Z-I complexes assembled in the absence of Tmod1. Myomesin, a thick filament component, was also assembled normally along these structures, indicating that thick filament assembly is independent of Tmod1. However, myofibrils did not become striated, and gaps in F-actin staining (H zones) were never observed. We conclude that Tmod1 is required for regulation of actin filament lengths and myofibril maturation; this is critical for heart morphogenesis during embryonic development.

scholarly journals Tropomodulin isoforms regulate thin filament pointed-end capping and skeletal muscle physiology

2010 ◽  
Vol 189 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Gokhin ◽  
Raymond A. Lewis ◽  
Caroline R. McKeown ◽  
Roberta B. Nowak ◽  
Nancy E. Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Fiber Type ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Muscle Physiology ◽  
Skeletal Muscle Function ◽  
Capping Proteins ◽  
Locomotor Deficits ◽  
End Capping

During myofibril assembly, thin filament lengths are precisely specified to optimize skeletal muscle function. Tropomodulins (Tmods) are capping proteins that specify thin filament lengths by controlling actin dynamics at pointed ends. In this study, we use a genetic targeting approach to explore the effects of deleting Tmod1 from skeletal muscle. Myofibril assembly, skeletal muscle structure, and thin filament lengths are normal in the absence of Tmod1. Tmod4 localizes to thin filament pointed ends in Tmod1-null embryonic muscle, whereas both Tmod3 and -4 localize to pointed ends in Tmod1-null adult muscle. Substitution by Tmod3 and -4 occurs despite their weaker interactions with striated muscle tropomyosins. However, the absence of Tmod1 results in depressed isometric stress production during muscle contraction, systemic locomotor deficits, and a shift to a faster fiber type distribution. Thus, Tmod3 and -4 compensate for the absence of Tmod1 structurally but not functionally. We conclude that Tmod1 is a novel regulator of skeletal muscle physiology.

scholarly journals INTRINSIC BIREFRINGENCE OF GLYCERINATED MYOFIBRILS

1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 763-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Colby
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Weight Basis ◽  
Macromolecular Structure ◽  
Form Birefringence ◽  
Sliding Filament Theory ◽  
Filament Protein ◽  
Formalin Fixed ◽  
Intrinsic Birefringence

Patterns of intrinsic birefringence were revealed in formalin-fixed, glycerinated myofibrils from rabbit striated muscle, by perfusing them with solvents of refractive index near to that of protein, about 1.570. The patterns differ substantially from those obtained in physiological salt solutions, due to the elimination of edge- and form birefringence. Analysis of myofibrils at various stages of shortening has produced results fully consistent with the sliding filament theory of contraction. On a weight basis, the intrinsic birefringence of thick-filament protein is about 2.4 times that of thin-filament protein. Nonadditivity of thick- and thin-filament birefringence in the overlap regions of A bands may indicate an alteration of macromolecular structure due to interaction between the two types of filaments.

scholarly journals Hydrophobicity variations along the surface of the coiled-coil rod may mediate striated muscle myosin assembly in Caenorhabditis elegans.

1996 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
P E Hoppe ◽  
R H Waterston
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Coiled Coil ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Surface Hydrophobicity ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Thick Filaments ◽  
Characteristic Variation ◽  
Muscle Myosin

Caenorhabditis elegans body wall muscle contains two isoforms of myosin heavy chain, MHC A and MHC B, that differ in their ability to initiate thick filament assembly. Whereas mutant animals that lack the major isoform, MHC B, have fewer thick filaments, mutant animals that lack the minor isoform, MHC A, contain no normal thick filaments. MHC A, but not MHC B, is present at the center of the bipolar thick filament where initiation of assembly is thought to occur (Miller, D.M.,I. Ortiz, G.C. Berliner, and H.F. Epstein. 1983. Cell. 34:477-490). We mapped the sequences that confer A-specific function by constructing chimeric myosins and testing them in vivo. We have identified two distinct regions of the MHC A rod that are sufficient in chimeric myosins for filament initiation function. Within these regions, MHC A displays a more hydrophobic rod surface, making it more similar to paramyosin, which forms the thick filament core. We propose that these regions play an important role in filament initiation, perhaps mediating close contacts between MHC A and paramyosin in an antiparallel arrangement at the filament center. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that all striated muscle myosins show a characteristic variation in surface hydrophobicity along the length of the rod that may play an important role in driving assembly and determining the stagger at which dimers associate.

scholarly journals A Calcium Signaling Cascade Essential for Myosin Thick Filament Assembly in Xenopus Myocytes

1998 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
pp. 1349-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Ferrari ◽  
Katharina Ribbeck ◽  
Donald J. Hagler ◽  
Nicholas C. Spitzer
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Signaling ◽  
Myosin Light Chain ◽  
Calcium Release ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Contractile Apparatus ◽  
Atp Binding Site ◽  
Sarcomeric Protein ◽  
Signal Transduction Cascade ◽  
Filament Assembly

Spontaneous calcium release from intracellular stores occurs during myofibrillogenesis, the process of sarcomeric protein assembly in striated muscle. Preventing these Ca2+ transients disrupts sarcomere formation, but the signal transduction cascade has not been identified. Here we report that specific blockade of Ca2+ release from the ryanodine receptor (RyR) activated Ca2+ store blocks transients and disrupts myosin thick filament (A band) assembly. Inhibition of an embryonic Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) by blocking the ATP-binding site, by allosteric phosphorylation, or by intracellular delivery of a pseudosubstrate peptide, also disrupts sarcomeric organization. The results indicate that both RyRs and MLCK, which have well-described calcium signaling roles in mature muscle contraction, have essential developmental roles during construction of the contractile apparatus.

scholarly journals IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF CONTRACTILE PROTEINS IN LIMULUS STRIATED MUSCLE

1972 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhea J. C. Levine ◽  
Maynard M. Dewey ◽  
George W. de Villafranca
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Sarcomere Length ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Fluorescent Antibody ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Immunohistochemical Localization ◽  
Differential Staining ◽  
Indirect Fluorescent Antibody ◽  
The Core ◽  
Lateral Margins

Limulus paramyosin and myosin were localized in the A bands of glycerinated Limulus striated muscle by the indirect horseradish peroxidase-labeled antibody and direct and indirect fluorescent antibody techniques. Localization of each protein in the A band varied with sarcomere length. Antiparamyosin was bound at the lateral margins of the A bands in long (∼ 10.0 µ) and intermediate (∼ 7.0 µ) length sarcomeres, and also in a thin line in the central A bands of sarcomeres, 7.0–∼6.0 µ. Antiparamyosin stained the entire A bands of short sarcomeres (<6.0). Conversely, antimyosin stained the entire A bands of long sarcomeres, showed decreased intensity of central A band staining except for a thin medial line in intermediate length sarcomeres, and was bound only in the lateral A bands of short sarcomeres. These results are consistent with a model in which paramyosin comprises the core of the thick filament and myosin forms a cortex. Differential staining observed using antiparamyosin and antimyosin at various sarcomere lengths and changes in A band lengths reflect the extent of thick-thin filament interaction and conformational change in the thick filament during sarcomeric shortening.

scholarly journals CAP2 is a regulator of actin pointed end dynamics and myofibrillogenesis in cardiac muscle

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mert Colpan ◽  
Jessika Iwanski ◽  
Carol C. Gregorio
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Contraction ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Adenylyl Cyclase ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Actin Assembly ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Pointed End

AbstractThe precise assembly of actin-based thin filaments is crucial for muscle contraction. Dysregulation of actin dynamics at thin filament pointed ends results in skeletal and cardiac myopathies. Here, we discovered adenylyl cyclase-associated protein 2 (CAP2) as a unique component of thin filament pointed ends in cardiac muscle. CAP2 has critical functions in cardiomyocytes as it depolymerizes and inhibits actin incorporation into thin filaments. Strikingly distinct from other pointed-end proteins, CAP2’s function is not enhanced but inhibited by tropomyosin and it does not directly control thin filament lengths. Furthermore, CAP2 plays an essential role in cardiomyocyte maturation by modulating pre-sarcomeric actin assembly and regulating α-actin composition in mature thin filaments. Identification of CAP2’s multifunctional roles provides missing links in our understanding of how thin filament architecture is regulated in striated muscle and it reveals there are additional factors, beyond Tmod1 and Lmod2, that modulate actin dynamics at thin filament pointed ends.

scholarly journals Titin switches from an extensible spring to a mechanical rectifier upon muscle activation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Squarci ◽  
Pasquale Bianco ◽  
Massimo Reconditi ◽  
Marco Caremani ◽  
Theyencheri Narayanan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Frog Muscle ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Filament Activation ◽  
Single Fibres ◽  
Myosin Motors ◽  
Stimulation Of

In contracting striated muscle titin acts as a spring in parallel with the array of myosin motors in each half-sarcomere and could prevent the intrinsic instability of thousands of serially linked half-sarcomeres, if its stiffness, at physiological sarcomere lengths (SL), were ten times larger than reported. Here we define titin mechanical properties during tetanic stimulation of single fibres of frog muscle by suppressing myosin motor responses with Para-Nitro-Blebbistatin, which is able to freeze thick filament in the resting state. We discover that thin filament activation switches I-band titin spring from the large SL-dependent extensibility of the OFF-state to an ON-state in which titin acts as a SL-independent mechanical rectifier, allowing free shortening while opposing stretch with an effective stiffness 4 pN nm-1 per half-thick filament. In this way during contraction titin limits weak half-sarcomere elongation to a few % and, also, provides an efficient link for mechanosensing-based thick filament activation.

scholarly journals Knockout of Lmod2 results in shorter thin filaments followed by dilated cardiomyopathy and juvenile lethality

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (44) ◽  
pp. 13573-13578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Pappas ◽  
Rachel M. Mayfield ◽  
Christine Henderson ◽  
Nima Jamilpour ◽  
Cathleen Cover ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dilated Cardiomyopathy ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Heart Function ◽  
Contractile Force ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Actin Assembly ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Muscle Thin Filament

Leiomodin 2 (Lmod2) is an actin-binding protein that has been implicated in the regulation of striated muscle thin filament assembly; its physiological function has yet to be studied. We found that knockout of Lmod2 in mice results in abnormally short thin filaments in the heart. We also discovered that Lmod2 functions to elongate thin filaments by promoting actin assembly and dynamics at thin filament pointed ends. Lmod2-KO mice die as juveniles with hearts displaying contractile dysfunction and ventricular chamber enlargement consistent with dilated cardiomyopathy. Lmod2-null cardiomyocytes produce less contractile force than wild type when plated on micropillar arrays. Introduction of GFP-Lmod2 via adeno-associated viral transduction elongates thin filaments and rescues structural and functional defects observed in Lmod2-KO mice, extending their lifespan to adulthood. Thus, to our knowledge, Lmod2 is the first identified mammalian protein that functions to elongate actin filaments in the heart; it is essential for cardiac thin filaments to reach a mature length and is required for efficient contractile force and proper heart function during development.

scholarly journals Nature and origin of gap filaments in striated muscle

1991 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Trombitas ◽  
P.H. Baatsen ◽  
M.S. Kellermayer ◽  
G.H. Pollack
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Sarcomere Length ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Abrupt Increase ◽  
Semitendinosus Muscle ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Filament System ◽  
Anchor Points ◽  
High Degree

Immunoelectron microscopy was used to study the nature and origin of ‘gap’ filaments in frog semitendinosus muscle. Gap filaments are fine longitudinal filaments observable only in sarcomeres stretched beyond thick/thin filament overlap: they occupy the gap between the tips of thick and thin filaments. To test whether the gap filaments are part of the titin-filament system, we employed monoclonal antibodies to titin (T-11, Sigma) and observed the location of the epitope at a series of sarcomere lengths. At resting sarcomere length, the epitope was positioned in the I-band approximately 50 nm beyond the apparent ends of the thick filament. The location did not change perceptibly with increasing sarcomere length up to 3.6 microns. Above 3.6 microns, the span between the epitope and the end of the A-band abruptly increased, and above 4 microns, the antibodies could be seen to decorate the gap filaments. Between 5 and 6 microns, the epitope remained approximately in the middle of the gap. Even with this high degree of stretch, the label remained more or less aligned across the myofibril. The abrupt increase of span beyond 3.6 microns implies that the A-band domain of titin is pulled free of its anchor points along the thick filament, and moves toward the gap. Although this domain is functionally inextensible at physiological sarcomere length, the epitope movement in extremely stretched muscle shows that it is intrinsically elastic. Thus, the evidence confirms that gap filaments are clearly part of the titin-filament system. They are derived not only from the I-band domain of titin, but also from its A-band domain.

scholarly journals Thin filaments elongate from their pointed ends during myofibril assembly in Drosophila indirect flight muscle

2001 ◽  
Vol 155 (6) ◽  
pp. 1043-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Mardahl-Dumesnil ◽  
Velia M. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Muscle Development ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Flight Muscle ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Indirect Flight Muscle ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
End Capping ◽  
Pointed End

Tropomodulin (Tmod) is an actin pointed-end capping protein that regulates actin dynamics at thin filament pointed ends in striated muscle. Although pointed-end capping by Tmod controls thin filament lengths in assembled myofibrils, its role in length specification during de novo myofibril assembly is not established. We used the Drosophila Tmod homologue, sanpodo (spdo), to investigate Tmod's function during muscle development in the indirect flight muscle. SPDO was associated with the pointed ends of elongating thin filaments throughout myofibril assembly. Transient overexpression of SPDO during myofibril assembly irreversibly arrested elongation of preexisting thin filaments. However, the lengths of thin filaments assembled after SPDO levels had declined were normal. Flies with a preponderance of abnormally short thin filaments were unable to fly. We conclude that: (a) thin filaments elongate from their pointed ends during myofibril assembly; (b) pointed ends are dynamically capped at endogenous levels of SPDO so as to allow elongation; (c) a transient increase in SPDO levels during myofibril assembly converts SPDO from a dynamic to a permanent cap; and (d) developmental regulation of pointed-end capping during myofibril assembly is crucial for specification of final thin filament lengths, myofibril structure, and muscle function.

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