scholarly journals Self-repair protects microtubules from their destruction by molecular motors:

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Triclin ◽  
Daisuke Inoue ◽  
Jeremie Gaillard ◽  
Zaw Min Htet ◽  
Morgan De Santis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Mechanical Work ◽  
Repair Mechanism ◽  
Tubulin Dimer ◽  
Self Repair

Microtubules are dynamic polymers that are used for intracellular transport and chromosome segregation during cell division. Their instability stems from the low energy of tubulin dimer interactions, which sets the growing polymer close to its disassembly conditions. Microtubules function in coordination with kinesin and dynein molecular motors, which use ATP hydrolysis to produce mechanical work and move on microtubules. This raises the possibility that the forces produced by walking motors can break dimer interactions and trigger microtubule disassembly. We tested this hypothesis by studying the interplay between microtubules and moving molecular motors in vitro. Our results show that the mechanical work of molecular motors can remove tubulin dimers from the lattice and rapidly destroy microtubules. This effect was not observed when free tubulin dimers were present in the assay. Using fluorescently labelled tubulin dimers we found that dimer removal by motors was compensated for by the insertion of free tubulin dimers into the microtubule lattice. This self-repair mechanism allows microtubules to survive the damage induced by molecular motors as they move along their tracks. Our study reveals the existence of coupling between the motion of kinesin and dynein motors and the renewal of the microtubule lattice.

scholarly journals Bacterial Microtubules Exhibit Polarized Growth, Mixed-Polarity Bundling, and Destabilization by GTP Hydrolysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
César Díaz-Celis ◽  
Viviana I. Risca ◽  
Felipe Hurtado ◽  
Jessica K. Polka ◽  
Scott D. Hansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Critical Concentration ◽  
Polarized Growth ◽  
Gtp Hydrolysis ◽  
Filament Dynamics ◽  
Mixed Polarity ◽  
Self Association

AbstractBacteria of the genusProsthecobacterexpress homologs of eukaryotic α-and β-tubulin, called BtubA and BtubB, that have been observed to assemble into bacterial microtubules (bMTs). ThebtubABgenes likely entered theProsthecobacterlineage via horizontal gene transfer and may derive from an early ancestor of the modern eukaryotic microtubule (MT). Previous biochemical studies revealed that BtubA/B polymerization is GTP-dependent and reversible and that BtubA/B folding does not require chaperones. To better understand bMT behavior and gain insight into the evolution of microtubule dynamics, we characterizedin vitrobMT assembly using a combination of polymerization kinetics assays, and microscopy. Like eukaryotic microtubules, bMTs exhibit polarized growth with different assembly rates at each end. GTP hydrolysis stimulated by bMT polymerization drives a stochastic mechanism of bMT disassembly that occurs via polymer breakage. We also observed treadmilling (continuous addition and loss of subunits at opposite ends) of bMT fragments. Unlike MTs, polymerization of bMTs requires KCl, which reduces the critical concentration for BtubA/B assembly and induces bMTs to form stable mixed-orientation bundles in the absence of any additional bMT-binding proteins. Our results suggest that at potassium concentrations resembling that inside the cytoplasm ofProsthecobacter, bMT stabilization through self-association may be a default behavior. The complex dynamics we observe in both stabilized and unstabilized bMTs may reflect common properties of an ancestral eukaryotic tubulin polymer.ImportanceMicrotubules are polymers within all eukaryotic cells that perform critical functions: they segregate chromosomes in cell division, organize intracellular transport by serving as tracks for molecular motors, and support the flagella that allow sperm to swim. These functions rely on microtubules remarkable range of tunable dynamic behaviors. Recently discovered bacterial microtubules composed of an evolutionarily related protein are evolved from a missing link in microtubule evolution, the ancestral eukaryotic tubulin polymer. Using microscopy and biochemical approaches to characterize bacterial microtubules, we observed that they exhibit complex and structurally polarized dynamic behavior like eukaryotic microtubules, but differ in how they self-associate into bundles and become destabilized. Our results demonstrate the diversity of mechanisms that microtubule-like filaments employ to promote filament dynamics and monomer turnover.

scholarly journals Cofilin drives rapid turnover and fluidization of entangled F-actin

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (26) ◽  
pp. 12629-12637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick M. McCall ◽  
Frederick C. MacKintosh ◽  
David R. Kovar ◽  
Margaret L. Gardel
Keyword(s):  
Stress Relaxation ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Animal Cells ◽  
Single Filament ◽  
Actin Cortex ◽  
Spatial Reorganization ◽  
Actin Regulatory Proteins

The shape of most animal cells is controlled by the actin cortex, a thin network of dynamic actin filaments (F-actin) situated just beneath the plasma membrane. The cortex is held far from equilibrium by both active stresses and polymer turnover: Molecular motors drive deformations required for cell morphogenesis, while actin-filament disassembly dynamics relax stress and facilitate cortical remodeling. While many aspects of actin-cortex mechanics are well characterized, a mechanistic understanding of how nonequilibrium actin turnover contributes to stress relaxation is still lacking. To address this, we developed a reconstituted in vitro system of entangled F-actin, wherein the steady-state length and turnover rate of F-actin are controlled by the actin regulatory proteins cofilin, profilin, and formin, which sever, recycle, and assemble filaments, respectively. Cofilin-mediated severing accelerates the turnover and spatial reorganization of F-actin, without significant changes to filament length. We demonstrate that cofilin-mediated severing is a single-timescale mode of stress relaxation that tunes the low-frequency viscosity over two orders of magnitude. These findings serve as the foundation for understanding the mechanics of more physiological F-actin networks with turnover and inform an updated microscopic model of single-filament turnover. They also demonstrate that polymer activity, in the form of ATP hydrolysis on F-actin coupled to nucleotide-dependent cofilin binding, is sufficient to generate a form of active matter wherein asymmetric filament disassembly preserves filament number despite sustained severing.

scholarly journals A method for multiprotein assembly in cells reveals independent action of kinesins in complex

2014 ◽  
Vol 207 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Norris ◽  
Virupakshi Soppina ◽  
Aslan S. Dizaji ◽  
Kristin I. Schimert ◽  
David Sept ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Intracellular Trafficking ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Emergent Behavior ◽  
Independent Action ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Macromolecular Complexes ◽  
Protein Components ◽  
In Cells

Teams of processive molecular motors are critical for intracellular transport and organization, yet coordination between motors remains poorly understood. Here, we develop a system using protein components to generate assemblies of defined spacing and composition inside cells. This system is applicable to studying macromolecular complexes in the context of cell signaling, motility, and intracellular trafficking. We use the system to study the emergent behavior of kinesin motors in teams. We find that two kinesin motors in complex act independently (do not help or hinder each other) and can alternate their activities. For complexes containing a slow kinesin-1 and fast kinesin-3 motor, the slow motor dominates motility in vitro but the fast motor can dominate on certain subpopulations of microtubules in cells. Both motors showed dynamic interactions with the complex, suggesting that motor–cargo linkages are sensitive to forces applied by the motors. We conclude that kinesin motors in complex act independently in a manner regulated by the microtubule track.

scholarly journals Condensin DC spreads linearly and bidirectionally from recruitment sites to create loop-anchored TADs in C. elegans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sebastian Jimenez ◽  
Jun Kim ◽  
Bhavana Ragipani ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Lena Annika Street ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Sequence Motif ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Eukaryotic Chromosome ◽  
Multiple Copies

AbstractCondensins are molecular motors that compact DNA for chromosome segregation and gene regulation. In vitro experiments have begun to elucidate the mechanics of condensin function but how condensin loading and translocation along DNA controls eukaryotic chromosome structure in vivo remains poorly understood. To address this question, we took advantage of a specialized condensin, which organizes the 3D conformation of X chromosomes to mediate dosage compensation (DC) in C. elegans. Condensin DC is recruited and spreads from a small number of recruitment elements on the X chromosome (rex). We found that ectopic insertion of rex sites on an autosome leads to bidirectional spreading of the complex over hundreds of kilobases. On the X chromosome, strong rex sites contain multiple copies of a 12-bp sequence motif and act as TAD borders. Inserting a strong rex and ectopically recruiting the complex on the X chromosome or an autosome creates a loop-anchored TAD. Unlike the CTCF system, which controls TAD formation by cohesin, direction of the 12-bp motif does not control the specificity of loops. In an X;V fusion chromosome, condensin DC linearly spreads into V and increases 3D DNA contacts, but fails to form TADs in the absence of rex sites. Finally, we provide in vivo evidence for the loop extrusion hypothesis by targeting multiple dCas9-Suntag complexes to an X chromosome repeat region. Consistent with linear translocation along DNA, condensin DC accumulates at the block site. Together, our results support a model whereby strong rex sites act as insulation elements through recruitment and bidirectional spreading of condensin DC molecules and form loop-anchored TADs.

scholarly journals Topological in vitro loading of the budding yeast cohesin ring onto DNA

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. e201800143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masashi Minamino ◽  
Torahiko L Higashi ◽  
Céline Bouchoux ◽  
Frank Uhlmann
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
Genome Organization ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Budding Yeast ◽  
Reaction Step ◽  
Subsequent Reaction ◽  
Transition State Analog ◽  
Sister Chromatids

The ring-shaped chromosomal cohesin complex holds sister chromatids together by topological embrace, a prerequisite for accurate chromosome segregation. Cohesin plays additional roles in genome organization, transcriptional regulation, and DNA repair. The cohesin ring includes an ABC family ATPase, but the molecular mechanism by which the ATPase contributes to cohesin function is not yet understood. In this study, we have purified budding yeast cohesin, as well as its Scc2–Scc4 cohesin loader complex, and biochemically reconstituted ATP-dependent topological cohesin loading onto DNA. Our results reproduce previous observations obtained using fission yeast cohesin, thereby establishing conserved aspects of cohesin behavior. Unexpectedly, we find that nonhydrolyzable ATP ground state mimetics ADP·BeF2, ADP·BeF3−, and ADP·AlFx, but not a hydrolysis transition state analog ADP·VO43−, support cohesin loading. The energy from nucleotide binding is sufficient to drive the DNA entry reaction into the cohesin ring. ATP hydrolysis, believed to be essential for in vivo cohesin loading, must serve a subsequent reaction step. These results provide molecular insights into cohesin function and open new experimental opportunities that the budding yeast model affords.

scholarly journals Molecular motors: forty years of interdisciplinary research

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 3936-3939 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Spudich
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Molecular Motor ◽  
Single Molecule Level ◽  
In Vitro Motility ◽  
Nonmuscle Cell ◽  
Nonmuscle Cells ◽  
City Plan

A mere forty years ago it was unclear what motor molecules exist in cells that could be responsible for the variety of nonmuscle cell movements, including the “saltatory cytoplasmic particle movements” apparent by light microscopy. One wondered whether nonmuscle cells might have a myosin-like molecule, well known to investigators of muscle. Now we know that there are more than a hundred different molecular motors in eukaryotic cells that drive numerous biological processes and organize the cell's dynamic city plan. Furthermore, in vitro motility assays, taken to the single-molecule level using techniques of physics, have allowed detailed characterization of the processes by which motor molecules transduce the chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical movement. Molecular motor research is now at an exciting threshold of being able to enter into the realm of clinical applications.

scholarly journals Tubulin tyrosine ligase - structural and functional studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C479-C479
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Szyk ◽  
Alexandra Deaconescu ◽  
Grzegorz Piszczek ◽  
Antonina Roll-Mecak
Keyword(s):  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Neuronal Development ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
Post Translational Modifications ◽  
Tubulin Dimer ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Tubulin Tyrosine Ligase

Microtubules are polymers essential for cell morphogenesis, cell division and intracellular transport. This polymer's basic building block is the α/β tubulin heterodimer, which associates head-to-tail and laterally to form the microtubule. Tubulin is subject to diverse, abundant and evolutionarily conserved post-translational modifications that mark subpopulations of microtubules. The highest density and variety of post-translational modifications are found in neurons or cilia. Not surprisingly, tubulin modification enzymes have been linked to human diseases including cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. We will present our recent work using a combination of X-ray crystallography, small angle X-ray scattering and functional assays to investigate the mechanism of tubulin tyrosine ligase (TTL). TTL catalyzes the ATP-dependent post-translational addition of a tyrosine to the C-terminal end of detyrosinated α-tubulin. The detyrosination/tyrosination cycle regulates recruitment of motors and proteins that track with the growing end of the microtubule. TTL function is essential for neuronal development and reduction in TTL levels is strongly associated with aggressive tumors resistant to chemotherapy. Our first X-ray crystal structure of TTL, defines the structural fold of the TTL-like family of tubulin-modifying enzymes. We show that TTL recognizes tubulin via a dual strategy: it engages the tubulin tail through low-affinity, high-specificity interactions through a conserved positively charged surface, and co-opts what is otherwise a homo-oligomerization interface in structurally related enzymes to form a tight hetero-oligomeric complex with tubulin. TTL forms an elongated complex with the tubulin dimer and prevents incorporation of the dimer into microtubules by capping the tubulin polymerization interface. Interestingly, TTL and stathmin, a ubiquitously expressed tubulin sequestering protein, compete for tubulin binding in vitro and stathmin inhibits tubulin tyrosination. These results suggest that TTL and stathmin have either a partially overlapping footprint on the tubulin dimer or that stathmin induces a tubulin conformation incompatible with stable TTL binding.

scholarly journals Converter domain mutations in myosin alter structural kinetics and motor function

2018 ◽  
Vol 294 (5) ◽  
pp. 1554-1567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Gunther ◽  
John A. Rohde ◽  
Wanjian Tang ◽  
Shane D. Walton ◽  
William C. Unrath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Function ◽  
Rate Constants ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Structural Transitions ◽  
Myosin V ◽  
Time Resolved

Myosins are molecular motors that use a conserved ATPase cycle to generate force. We investigated two mutations in the converter domain of myosin V (R712G and F750L) to examine how altering specific structural transitions in the motor ATPase cycle can impair myosin mechanochemistry. The corresponding mutations in the human β-cardiac myosin gene are associated with hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy, respectively. Despite similar steady-state actin-activated ATPase and unloaded in vitro motility–sliding velocities, both R712G and F750L were less able to overcome frictional loads measured in the loaded motility assay. Transient kinetic analysis and stopped-flow FRET demonstrated that the R712G mutation slowed the maximum ATP hydrolysis and recovery-stroke rate constants, whereas the F750L mutation enhanced these steps. In both mutants, the fast and slow power-stroke as well as actin-activated phosphate release rate constants were not significantly different from WT. Time-resolved FRET experiments revealed that R712G and F750L populate the pre- and post-power–stroke states with similar FRET distance and distance distribution profiles. The R712G mutant increased the mole fraction in the post-power–stroke conformation in the strong actin-binding states, whereas the F750L decreased this population in the actomyosin ADP state. We conclude that mutations in key allosteric pathways can shift the equilibrium and/or alter the activation energy associated with key structural transitions without altering the overall conformation of the pre- and post-power–stroke states. Thus, therapies designed to alter the transition between structural states may be able to rescue the impaired motor function induced by disease mutations.

The In Vitro Motility Assay: A Window Into the Myosin Molecular Motor

Physiology ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
DM Warshaw
Keyword(s):  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Molecular Motor ◽  
Muscular Contraction ◽  
Mechanical Work ◽  
Motility Assay ◽  
In Vitro Motility Assay ◽  
In Vitro Motility ◽  
Molecular Events ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Muscular contraction is powered by myosin, a molecular motor, that derives its energy from hydrolysis of ATP as it interacts with actin. With the development of the in vitro motility assay, molecular events that couple ATP hydrolysis to mechanical work can be probed at the level of a single myosin molecular motor.

scholarly journals Individual Molecular Motors use Low Forces to bypass Roadblocks during Collective Cargo Transport

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Shukla ◽  
Alice Troitskaia ◽  
Nikhila Swarna ◽  
Barun Kumar Maity ◽  
Marco Tjioe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cargo Transport ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multicolor Fluorescence ◽  
High Throughput Assay

AbstractA cargo encounters many obstacles during its transport by molecular motors as it moves throughout the cell. Multiple motors on the cargo exert forces to steer the cargo to its destination. Measuring these forces is essential for understanding intracellular transport. Using kinesin as an example, we measured the force exerted by multiple stationary kinesins in vitro, driving a common microtubule. We find that individual kinesins generally exert less than a piconewton (pN) of force, even while bypassing obstacles, whether these are artificially placed 20-100 nm particles or tau, a Microtubule Associated Protein. We demonstrate that when a kinesin encounters an obstacle, the kinesin either becomes dislodged and then re-engages or switches protofilaments while the other kinesins continue to apply their (sub-)pN forces. By designing a high-throughput assay involving nanometer-resolved multicolor-fluorescence and a force-sensor able to measure picoNewtons of force, our technique is expected to be generally useful for many different types of molecular motors.

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