scholarly journals Talin tension sensor reveals novel features of focal adhesion force transmission and mechanosensitivity

2016 ◽  
Vol 213 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Kumar ◽  
Mingxing Ouyang ◽  
Koen Van den Dries ◽  
Ewan James McGhee ◽  
Keiichiro Tanaka ◽  
...  

Integrin-dependent adhesions are mechanosensitive structures in which talin mediates a linkage to actin filaments either directly or indirectly by recruiting vinculin. Here, we report the development and validation of a talin tension sensor. We find that talin in focal adhesions is under tension, which is higher in peripheral than central adhesions. Tension on talin is increased by vinculin and depends mainly on actin-binding site 2 (ABS2) within the middle of the rod domain, rather than ABS3 at the far C terminus. Unlike vinculin, talin is under lower tension on soft substrates. The difference between central and peripheral adhesions requires ABS3 but not vinculin or ABS2. However, differential stiffness sensing by talin requires ABS2 but not vinculin or ABS3. These results indicate that central versus peripheral adhesions must be organized and regulated differently, and that ABS2 and ABS3 have distinct functions in spatial variations and stiffness sensing. Overall, these results shed new light on talin function and constrain models for cellular mechanosensing.

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2716-2727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Gloss ◽  
Francisco Rivero ◽  
Nandkumar Khaire ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
William F. Loomis ◽  
...  

Villidin is a novel multidomain protein (190 kDa) from Dictyostelium amoebae containing WD repeats at its N-terminus, three PH domains in the middle of the molecule, and five gelsolin-like segments at the C-terminus, followed by a villin-like headpiece. Villidin mRNA and protein are present in low amounts during growth and early aggregation, but increase during development and reach their highest levels at the tipped mound stage. The protein is present in the cytosol as well as in the cytoskeletal and membrane fractions. GFP-tagged full-length villidin exhibits a similar distribution as native villidin, including a distinct colocalization with Golgi structures. Interestingly, GFP fusions with the gelsolin/villin-like region are uniformly dispersed in the cytoplasm, whereas GFP fusions of the N-terminal WD repeats codistribute with F-actin and are associated with the Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton. Strains lacking villidin because of targeted deletion of its gene grow normally and can develop into fruiting bodies. However, cell motility is reduced during aggregation and phototaxis is impaired in the mutant strains. We conclude that villidin harbors a major F-actin binding site in the N-terminal domain and not in the villin-like region as expected; association of villidin with vesicular membranes suggests that the protein functions as a linker between membranes and the actin cytoskeleton.


2016 ◽  
Vol 214 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Kumar ◽  
Mingxing Ouyang ◽  
Koen Van den Dries ◽  
Ewan James McGhee ◽  
Keiichiro Tanaka ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 363 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael CURTIS ◽  
Sotiris N. NIKOLOPOULOS ◽  
Christopher E. TURNER

Prior to cell division, normal adherent cells adopt a round morphology that is associated with a loss of actin stress fibres and disassembly of focal adhesions. In this study, we investigate the mitotic phosphorylation of the recently described paxillin and actin-binding focal-adhesion protein actopaxin [Nikolopoulos and Turner (2000) J. Cell Biol. 151, 1435–1448]. Actopaxin is comprised of an N-terminus containing six putative cdc2 phosphorylation sites and a C-terminus consisting of tandem calponin homology domains. Here we show that the N-terminus of actopaxin is phosphorylated by cyclin B1/cdc2 kinase in vitro and that this region of actopaxin precipitates cdc2 kinase activity from mitotic lysates. Actopaxin exhibits reduced electrophoretic mobility during mitosis that is dependent on phosphorylation within the first two consensus cdc2 phosphorylation sites. Finally, as cells progress from mitosis to G1 there is an adhesion-independent dephosphorylation of actopaxin, suggesting that actopaxin dephosphorylation precedes cell spreading and the reformation of focal adhesions. Taken together, these results suggest a role for cyclin B1/cdc2-dependent phosphorylation of actopaxin in regulating actin cytoskeleton reorganization during cell division.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (51) ◽  
pp. 32413-32422
Author(s):  
Tristan P. Driscoll ◽  
Sang Joon Ahn ◽  
Billy Huang ◽  
Abhishek Kumar ◽  
Martin A. Schwartz

Integrin-dependent adhesions mediate reciprocal exchange of force and information between the cell and the extracellular matrix. These effects are attributed to the “focal adhesion clutch,” in which moving actin filaments transmit force to integrins via dynamic protein interactions. To elucidate these processes, we measured force on talin together with actin flow speed. While force on talin in small lamellipodial adhesions correlated with actin flow, talin tension in large adhesions further from the cell edge was mainly flow-independent. Stiff substrates shifted force transfer toward the flow-independent mechanism. Flow-dependent force transfer required talin’s C-terminal actin binding site, ABS3, but not vinculin. Flow-independent force transfer initially required vinculin and at later times the central actin binding site, ABS2. Force transfer through integrins thus occurs not through a continuous clutch but through a series of discrete states mediated by distinct protein interactions, with their ratio modulated by substrate stiffness.


1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 1061-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Gary ◽  
A Bretscher

Ezrin is a membrane-cytoskeletal linking protein that is concentrated in actin-rich surface structures. It is closely related to the microvillar proteins radixin and moesin and to the tumor suppressor merlin/schwannomin. Cell extracts contain ezrin dimers and ezrin-moesin heterodimers in addition to monomers. Truncated ezrin fusion proteins were assayed by blot overlay to determine which regions mediate self-association. Here we report that ezrin self-association occurs by head-to-tail joining of distinct N-terminal and C-terminal domains. It is likely that these domains, termed N- and C-ERMADs (ezrin-radixin-moesin association domain), are responsible for homotypic and heterotypic associations among ERM family members. The N-ERMAD of ezrin resided within amino acids 1-296; deletion of 10 additional residues resulted in loss of activity. The C-ERMAD was mapped to the last 107 amino acids of ezrin, residues 479-585. The two residues at the C-terminus were required for activity, and the region from 530-585 was insufficient. The C-ERMAD was masked in the native monomer. Exposure of this domain required unfolding ezrin with sodium dodecyl sulfate or expressing the domain as part of a truncated protein. Intermolecular association could not occur unless the C-ERMAD had been made accessible to its N-terminal partner. It can be inferred that dimerization in vivo requires an activation step that exposes this masked domain. The conformationally inaccessible C-terminal region included the F-actin binding site, suggesting that this activity is likewise regulated by masking.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Paz Ramirez ◽  
Michael JM Anderson ◽  
Lauren J Sundby ◽  
Anthony R Hagerty ◽  
Sophia J Wenthe ◽  
...  

Dystrophin is an essential muscle protein that contributes to cell membrane stability by linking the actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix. The absence or impaired function of dystrophin causes muscular dystrophy. Focal adhesions are mechanosensitive adhesion complexes that also connect the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix. However, the interplay between dystrophin and focal adhesion force transmission has not been investigated. Using a bioluminescent tension sensor, we measured focal adhesion tension in transgenic C2C12 myoblasts expressing wild type (WT) dystrophin, a non-pathogenic SNP (I232M), or two missense mutations associated with Duchenne (L54R), or Becker muscular dystrophy (L172H). We found that myoblasts expressing WT or nonpathogenic I232M dystrophin showed increased focal adhesion tension compared to non-transgenic myoblasts, while myoblasts expressing L54R or L172H dystrophin presented with decreased focal adhesion tension. Moreover, myoblasts expressing L54R or L172H dystrophin showed decreased YAP activation and exhibited slower and less directional migration compared to cells expressing WT or I232M dystrophin. Our results suggest that disease-causing missense mutations in dystrophin may disrupt a cellular tension sensing pathway in dystrophic skeletal muscle.


1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (11) ◽  
pp. 2715-2726 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Hemmings ◽  
D.J. Rees ◽  
V. Ohanian ◽  
S.J. Bolton ◽  
A.P. Gilmore ◽  
...  

We have determined the sequence of chicken talin (2,541 amino acids, M(r) 271,881) which is very similar (89% identity) to that of the mouse protein. Alignments with the Caenorhabditis elegans and Dictyostelium discoideum talin sequences show that the N- and C-terminal regions of the protein are conserved whereas the central part of the molecule is more divergent. By expressing overlapping talin polypeptides as fusion proteins, we have identified at least three regions of the protein which can bind F-actin: residues 102–497, 951–1,327 and 2,269-2,541. The N-terminal binding site contains a region with homology to the ERM family of actin-binding proteins, and the C-terminal site is homologous to the yeast actin-binding protein Sla2p. Each of the actin-binding sites is close to, but distinct from a binding site for vinculin, a protein which also binds actin. The Pro1176 to Thr substitution found in talin from Wistar-Furth rats does not destroy the capacity of this region of the protein to bind actin or vinculin. Microinjection studies showed that a fusion protein containing the N-terminal actin-binding site localised weakly to stress fibres, whereas one containing the C-terminal site initially localised predominantly to focal adhesions. The former was readily solubilised, and the latter was resistant to Triton extraction. The N-terminal talin polypeptide eventually disrupted actin stress fibres whereas the C-terminal polypeptide was without effect. However, a larger C-terminal fusion protein also containing a vinculin-binding site did disrupt stress fibres and focal adhesions. The results suggest that, although both the N- and C-terminal regions of talin bind actin, the properties of these two regions of the protein are distinct.


Author(s):  
Sagar Suman Panda ◽  
Ravi Kumar B.V.V.

Three new analytical methods were optimized and validated for the estimation of tigecycline (TGN) in its injection formulation. A difference UV spectroscopic, an area under the curve (AUC), and an ultrafast liquid chromatographic (UFLC) method were optimized for this purpose. The difference spectrophotometric method relied on the measurement of amplitude when equal concentration solutions of TGN in HCl are scanned against TGN in NaOH as reference. The measurements were done at 340 nm (maxima) and 410nm (minima). Further, the AUC under both the maxima and minima were measured at 335-345nm and 405-415nm, respectively. The liquid chromatographic method utilized a reversed-phase column (150mm×4.6mm, 5µm) with a mobile phase of methanol: 0.01M KH2PO4 buffer pH 3.5 (using orthophosphoric acid) in the ratio 80:20 %, v/v. The flow rate was 1.0ml/min, and diode array detection was done at 349nm. TGN eluted at 1.656min. All the methods were validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, stability, and robustness. The developed methods produced validation results within the satisfactory limits of ICH guidance. Further, these methods were applied to estimate the amount of TGN present in commercial lyophilized injection formulations, and the results were compared using the One-Way ANOVA test. Overall, the methods are rapid, simple, and reliable for routine quality control of TGN in the bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form. 


1991 ◽  
Vol 266 (20) ◽  
pp. 12989-12993
Author(s):  
A.R. Bresnick ◽  
P.A. Janmey ◽  
J. Condeelis

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