scholarly journals Phosphorylation of the Arp2/3 complex is necessary to nucleate actin filaments

2008 ◽  
Vol 182 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence L. LeClaire ◽  
Martin Baumgartner ◽  
Janet H. Iwasa ◽  
R. Dyche Mullins ◽  
Diane L. Barber
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Membrane Protrusion ◽  
Conserved Residues ◽  
Tyrosine Residues ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Additional Level ◽  
Pointed End ◽  
Syndrome Protein ◽  
Or Gate

The actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex is the primary nucleator of new actin filaments in most crawling cells. Nucleation-promoting factors (NPFs) of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)/Scar family are the currently recognized activators of the Arp2/3 complex. We now report that the Arp2/3 complex must be phosphorylated on either threonine or tyrosine residues to be activated by NPFs. Phosphorylation of the Arp2/3 complex is not necessary to bind NPFs or the sides of actin filaments but is critical for binding the pointed end of actin filaments and nucleating actin filaments. Mass spectrometry revealed phosphorylated Thr237 and Thr238 in Arp2, which are evolutionarily conserved residues. In cells, phosphorylation of only the Arp2 subunit increases in response to growth factors, and alanine substitutions of Arp2 T237 and T238 or Y202 inhibits membrane protrusion. These findings reveal an additional level of regulation of actin filament assembly independent of WASP proteins, and show that phosphorylation of the Arp2/3 complex provides a logical “or gate” capable integrating diverse upstream signals.

scholarly journals Mechanism of synergistic actin filament pointed end depolymerization by cyclase-associated protein and cofilin

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommi Kotila ◽  
Hugo Wioland ◽  
Giray Enkavi ◽  
Konstantin Kogan ◽  
Ilpo Vattulainen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Monomeric Form ◽  
Actin Monomer ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Structural Work ◽  
Cytoskeletal Dynamics ◽  
Pointed End ◽  
Dependent Processes

AbstractThe ability of cells to generate forces through actin filament turnover was an early adaptation in evolution. While much is known about how actin filaments grow, mechanisms of their disassembly are incompletely understood. The best-characterized actin disassembly factors are the cofilin family proteins, which increase cytoskeletal dynamics by severing actin filaments. However, the mechanism by which severed actin filaments are recycled back to monomeric form has remained enigmatic. We report that cyclase-associated-protein (CAP) works in synergy with cofilin to accelerate actin filament depolymerization by nearly 100-fold. Structural work uncovers the molecular mechanism by which CAP interacts with actin filament pointed end to destabilize the interface between terminal actin subunits, and subsequently recycles the newly-depolymerized actin monomer for the next round of filament assembly. These findings establish CAP as a molecular machine promoting rapid actin filament depolymerization and monomer recycling, and explain why CAP is critical for actin-dependent processes in all eukaryotes.

scholarly journals How Listeria exploits host cell actin to form its own cytoskeleton. II. Nucleation, actin filament polarity, filament assembly, and evidence for a pointed end capper.

1992 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
L G Tilney ◽  
D J DeRosier ◽  
A Weber ◽  
M S Tilney
Keyword(s):  
Host Cell ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Critical Concentration ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Tightly Coupled ◽  
Pointed End ◽  
Phagosomal Membrane ◽  
Simple Picture

After Listeria, a bacterium, is phagocytosed by a macrophage, it dissolves the phagosomal membrane and enters the cytoplasm. The Listeria than nucleates actin filaments from its surface. These newly assembled actin filaments show unidirectional polarity with their barbed ends associated with the surface of the Listeria. Using actin concentrations below the pointed end critical concentration we find that filament elongation must be occurring by monomers adding to the barbed ends, the ends associated with the Listerial surface. If Listeria with tails are incubated in G actin under polymerizing conditions, the Listeria is translocated away from its preformed tail by the elongation of filaments attached to the Listeria. This experiment and others tell us that in vivo filament assembly must be tightly coupled to filament capping and cross-bridging so that if one process outstrips another, chaos ensues. We also show that the actin filaments in the tail are capped on their pointed ends which inhibits further elongation and/or disassembly in vitro. From these results we suggest a simple picture of how Listeria competes effectively for host cell actin. When Listeria secretes a nucleator, the host's actin subunits polymerize into a filament. Host cell machinery terminate the assembly leaving a short filament. Listeria overcomes the host control by nucleating new filaments and thus many short filaments assemble. The newest filaments push existing ones into a growing tail. Thus the competition is between nucleation of filaments caused by Listeria and the filament terminators produced by the host.

scholarly journals Actin filament assembly by bacterial factors VopL/F: Which end is up?

2017 ◽  
Vol 216 (5) ◽  
pp. 1211-1213
Author(s):  
Christina L. Vizcarra ◽  
Margot E. Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filament ◽  
Direct Observation ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Bacterial Proteins ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Cell Biol ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Pointed End

Competing models have been proposed for actin filament nucleation by the bacterial proteins VopL/F. In this issue, Burke et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201608104) use direct observation to demonstrate that VopL/F bind the barbed and pointed ends of actin filaments but only nucleate new filaments from the pointed end.

Evidence for a molecular complex consisting of Fyb/SLAP, SLP-76, Nck, VASP and WASP that links the actin cytoskeleton to Fcγ receptor signalling during phagocytosis

2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (23) ◽  
pp. 4307-4318
Author(s):  
Marc G. Coppolino ◽  
Matthias Krause ◽  
Petra Hagendorff ◽  
David A. Monner ◽  
William Trimble ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Actin Cytoskeleton ◽  
Molecular Complex ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Sh2 Domain ◽  
Fcγ Receptors ◽  
Receptor Signalling ◽  
Src Homology 2 ◽  
Src Homology ◽  
Particle Ingestion ◽  
Syndrome Protein

Phagocytosis by macrophages and neutrophils involves the spatial and temporal reorganisation of the actin-based cytoskeleton at sites of particle ingestion. Local polymerisation of actin filaments supports the protrusion of pseudopodia that eventually engulf the particle. Here we have investigated in detail the cytoskeletal events initiated upon engagement of Fc receptors in macrophages. Ena/vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) proteins were recruited to phagosomes forming around opsonised particles in both primary and immortalised macrophages. Not only did the localisation of Ena/VASP proteins coincide, spatially and temporally, with the phagocytosis-induced reorganisation of actin filaments, but their recruitment to the phagocytic cup was required for the remodelling of the actin cytoskeleton, extension of pseudopodia and efficient particle internalisation. We also report that SLP-76, Vav and profilin were recruited to forming phagosomes. Upon induction of phagocytosis, a large molecular complex, consisting in part of Ena/VASP proteins, the Fyn-binding/SLP-76-associated protein (Fyb/SLAP), Src-homology-2 (SH2)-domain-containing leukocyte protein of 76 kDa (SLP-76), Nck, and the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), was formed. Our findings suggest that activation of Fcγ receptors triggers two signalling events during phagocytosis: one through Fyb/SLAP that leads to recruitment of VASP and profilin; and another through Nck that promotes the recruitment of WASP. These converge to regulate actin polymerisation, controlling the assembly of actin structures that are essential for the process of phagocytosis.

scholarly journals An Evolutionarily Conserved Pathway Essential for Orsay Virus Infection of Caenorhabditis elegans

mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongbing Jiang ◽  
Kevin Chen ◽  
Luis E. Sandoval ◽  
Christian Leung ◽  
David Wang
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Virus Infection ◽  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Conserved Genes ◽  
Orsay Virus ◽  
Syndrome Protein

ABSTRACT Many fundamental biological discoveries have been made in Caenorhabditis elegans. The discovery of Orsay virus has enabled studies of host-virus interactions in this model organism. To identify host factors critical for Orsay virus infection, we designed a forward genetic screen that utilizes a virally induced green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. Following chemical mutagenesis, two Viro (virus induced reporter off) mutants that failed to express GFP were mapped to sid-3, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, and B0280.13 (renamed viro-2), an ortholog of human Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP). Both mutants yielded Orsay virus RNA levels comparable to that of the residual input virus, suggesting that they are not permissive for Orsay virus replication. In addition, we demonstrated that both genes affect an early prereplication stage of Orsay virus infection. Furthermore, it is known that the human ortholog of SID-3, activated CDC42-associated kinase (ACK1/TNK2), is capable of phosphorylating human WASP, suggesting that VIRO-2 may be a substrate for SID-3 in C. elegans. A targeted RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown screen further identified the C. elegans gene nck-1, which has a human ortholog that interacts with TNK2 and WASP, as required for Orsay virus infection. Thus, genetic screening in C. elegans identified critical roles in virus infection for evolutionarily conserved genes in a known human pathway. IMPORTANCE Orsay virus is the only known virus capable of naturally infecting the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, which shares many evolutionarily conserved genes with humans. We exploited the robust genetic tractability of C. elegans to identify three host genes, sid-3, viro-2, and nck-1, which are essential for Orsay virus infection. Mutant animals that lack these three genes are highly defective in viral replication. Strikingly, the human orthologs of these three genes, activated CDC42-associated kinase (TNK2), Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), and noncatalytic region of tyrosine kinase adaptor protein 1 (NCK1) are part of a known signaling pathway in mammals. These results suggest that TNK2, WASP, and NCK1 may play important roles in mammalian virus infection. IMPORTANCE Orsay virus is the only known virus capable of naturally infecting the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, which shares many evolutionarily conserved genes with humans. We exploited the robust genetic tractability of C. elegans to identify three host genes, sid-3, viro-2, and nck-1, which are essential for Orsay virus infection. Mutant animals that lack these three genes are highly defective in viral replication. Strikingly, the human orthologs of these three genes, activated CDC42-associated kinase (TNK2), Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), and noncatalytic region of tyrosine kinase adaptor protein 1 (NCK1) are part of a known signaling pathway in mammals. These results suggest that TNK2, WASP, and NCK1 may play important roles in mammalian virus infection.

scholarly journals Tropomodulin caps the pointed ends of actin filaments.

1994 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 1627-1635 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Weber ◽  
C R Pennise ◽  
G G Babcock ◽  
V M Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Critical Concentration ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Capping Protein ◽  
End Capping ◽  
Pointed End ◽  
A Site

Many proteins have been shown to cap the fast growing (barbed) ends of actin filaments, but none have been shown to block elongation and depolymerization at the slow growing (pointed) filament ends. Tropomodulin is a tropomyosin-binding protein originally isolated from red blood cells that has been localized by immunofluorescence staining to a site at or near the pointed ends of skeletal muscle thin filaments (Fowler, V. M., M. A., Sussman, P. G. Miller, B. E. Flucher, and M. P. Daniels. 1993. J. Cell Biol. 120: 411-420). Our experiments demonstrate that tropomodulin in conjunction with tropomyosin is a pointed end capping protein: it completely blocks both elongation and depolymerization at the pointed ends of tropomyosin-containing actin filaments in concentrations stoichiometric to the concentration of filament ends (Kd < or = 1 nM). In the absence of tropomyosin, tropomodulin acts as a "leaky" cap, partially inhibiting elongation and depolymerization at the pointed filament ends (Kd for inhibition of elongation = 0.1-0.4 microM). Thus, tropomodulin can bind directly to actin at the pointed filament end. Tropomodulin also doubles the critical concentration at the pointed ends of pure actin filaments without affecting either the rate of extent of polymerization at the barbed filament ends, indicating that tropomodulin does not sequester actin monomers. Our experiments provide direct biochemical evidence that tropomodulin binds to both the terminal tropomyosin and actin molecules at the pointed filament end, and is the long sought-after pointed end capping protein. We propose that tropomodulin plays a role in maintaining the narrow length distributions of the stable, tropomyosin-containing actin filaments in striated muscle and in red blood cells.

Phostensin caps to the pointed end of actin filaments and modulates actin dynamics

2009 ◽  
Vol 387 (4) ◽  
pp. 676-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning-Sheng Lai ◽  
Tzu-Fan Wang ◽  
Shiu-Lan Wang ◽  
Chun-Yu Chen ◽  
Jia-yi Yen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Dynamics ◽  
Pointed End

scholarly journals Actin-bound structures of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-homology domain 2 and the implications for filament assembly

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (46) ◽  
pp. 16644-16649 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Chereau ◽  
F. Kerff ◽  
P. Graceffa ◽  
Z. Grabarek ◽  
K. Langsetmo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Syndrome Protein

scholarly journals Evolutionarily Conserved Residues at Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Receptor Core Confer Ligand-induced Receptor Activation

2011 ◽  
Vol 287 (6) ◽  
pp. 3873-3884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Jin Moon ◽  
Hee Young Kim ◽  
Sumi Park ◽  
Dong-Kyu Kim ◽  
Eun Bee Cho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Conserved Residues ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Glucagon Like Peptide ◽  
Glucagon Like Peptide 1
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