scholarly journals Evidence that cyclic GMP regulates myosin interaction with the cytoskeleton during chemotaxis of Dictyostelium

1988 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-129
Author(s):  
GANG LIU ◽  
PETER C. NEWELL

Amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum respond to a chemotactic cyclic AMP stimulus within 10 s by the formation of an intracellular peak of cyclic GMP. In wild-type cells the cyclic GMP is rapidly degraded by a cyclic GMP-specific phosphodiesterase. In ‘streamer F’ mutants this enzyme is defective, due to mutation in the enzyme structural gene, and the cyclic GMP persists several times longer than the normal period, an effect that is correlated with a persistence in cell elongation during the chemotactic movement phase. In this study we have used the streamer mutants NP368 and NP377, and their parental strain XP55, to study changes in cytoskeletal proteins during the chemotactic response. We have studied three proteins that change their association with the cytoskeleton after stimulation of amoebae with the chemoattractant cyclic AMP: (1) actin, (2) a protein with an apparent Mr of 190x103 and (3) myosin heavy chain. Both actin and the 190x103Mr protein were found to accumulate rapidly in the cytoskeleton after cyclic AMP stimulation, with a sharp peak at 5 s, and showed similar changes in the parental and streamer mutants. However, the cytoskeletal level of myosin heavy chain showed a different pattern of changes, which also clearly differed in the streamer mutants compared with the parental strain XP55. In XP55 myosin heavy chain showed an initial drop after cyclic AMP stimulation, with a trough at 3–10 s followed by a rapid rise to a sharp peak at 20–25 s. In contrast, the myosin heavy chain in the streamer mutants produced a broad peak that persisted several times longer than the parental strain. We conclude that in the streamer mutants the defect in cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase that produces the broad peak of cyclic GMP is causally correlated with the broad peak of cytoskeletal myosin, and we suggest that this is connected with the observed phenotype of prolonged cell elongation during chemotaxis in these mutants.

1993 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 591-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Liu ◽  
H. Kuwayama ◽  
S. Ishida ◽  
P.C. Newell

Evidence has previously been reported that, during chemotaxis of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum, cyclic GMP regulates the association of myosin II with the cytoskeleton and that this regulation is effected by inhibiting myosin II heavy chain phosphorylation (Liu and Newell, J. Cell Sci., 90, 123–129, 1988; 98, 483–490, 1991). Here we provide further evidence in support of this hypothesis using a mutant (KI-10) that is defective in chemotaxis and lacks the normal cyclic AMP-induced cyclic GMP response. We found that the cyclic AMP-induced cytoskeletal actin response was similar to that of the parental strain in this mutant (although showing a slight displacement in the dose-response curve) but the cytoskeletal myosin II heavy chain response was abolished. Moreover, the mutant showed no phosphorylation of myosin II heavy chain in response to cyclic AMP. Compared to the parental strain XP55, the mutant cells contained approximately 40% more protein and their doubling time was 30% longer. These differences could be due to differences in the efficiency of cell division, a process in which the proper regulation of myosin function is essential and in which cyclic GMP may therefore play a role.


1991 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-490
Author(s):  
G. Liu ◽  
P.C. Newell

Previous studies have implicated cyclic GMP in the regulation of myosin II heavy chain (MHC) association with the cytoskeleton in Dictyostelium discoideum. Here we provide evidence that cyclic GMP may regulate MHC association with the cytoskeleton through MHC phosphorylation. Comparative data are presented of MHC phosphorylation in the wild-type strain NC4, the parental strain XP55 and streamer mutants NP368 and NP377. Using an anti-MHC monoclonal antibody to immunoprecipitate MHC from [32P]phosphate-labelled developing cells, we found that cyclic AMP stimulation of the wild-type strain NC4 and parental strain XP55 induced MHC phosphorylation in vivo. A peak of phosphorylation was observed at 30–40 s, followed by a gradual decrease to basal level at 160 s. In contrast, in both of the streamer mutants NP368 and NP377 (which have prolonged cyclic GMP accumulation and prolonged MHC association with the cytoskeleton), the phosphorylation of MHC was delayed and did not form a peak until 60–80 s after cyclic AMP stimulation. We also found that cytoskeletal MHC showed only minor phosphorylation, the majority of the phosphorylated MHC being found in the cytosol. We present a model to account for these results in which cyclic GMP regulates MHC association with the cytoskeleton by regulating the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation cycle of MHC in these cells.


1991 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-191
Author(s):  
S. Menz ◽  
J. Bumann ◽  
E. Jaworski ◽  
D. Malchow

Previous work has shown that streamer F (stmF) mutants of Dictyostelium discoideum exhibit prolonged chemotactic elongation in aggregation fields. The mutants carry an altered structural gene for cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase resulting in low activities of this enzyme. Chemotactic stimulation by cyclic AMP causes a rapid transient increase in the cyclic GMP concentration followed by association of myosin heavy chains with the cytoskeleton. Both events persist several times longer in stmF mutants than in the parental strain, indicating that the change in association of myosin with the cytoskeleton is transmitted directly or indirectly by cyclic GMP. We measured the cyclic AMP-induced Ca2+ uptake with a Ca(2+)-sensitive electrode and found that Ca2+ uptake was prolonged in stmF mutants but not in the parental strain. The G alpha 2 mutant strain HC33 (fgdA), devoid of InsP3 release and receptor/guanylate cyclase coupling, lacked Ca2+ uptake. However, the latter response and cyclic GMP formation were normal in the signal-relay mutant strain agip 53 where cyclic AMP-stimulated cyclic AMP synthesis is absent. LiCl, which inhibits InsP3 formation in Dictyostelium, blocked Ca2+ uptake in a dose-dependent manner. The data indicate that the receptor-mediated Ca2+ uptake depends on the InsP3 pathway and is regulated by cyclic GMP. The rate of Ca2+ uptake was correlated in time with the association of myosin with the cytoskeleton, suggesting that Ca2+ uptake is involved in the motility response of the cells.


2014 ◽  
Vol 592 (24) ◽  
pp. 5461-5475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiki Ohnuki ◽  
Daisuke Umeki ◽  
Yasumasa Mototani ◽  
Huiling Jin ◽  
Wenqian Cai ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (6) ◽  
pp. L1040-L1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Halayko ◽  
H. Salari ◽  
X. MA ◽  
N. L. Stephens

Airway smooth muscle plays a principal role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Primary cultures are being used to investigate airway myocyte proliferation and cellular pathways regulating contraction. Airway smooth muscle cells (SMC) modulate from a contractile to a noncontractile phenotype in culture, but no systematic study of the concomitant changes in expression of cytocontractile and cytoskeletal proteins has been reported. We measured temporal changes in protein marker expression of canine tracheal SMC in primary culture, using specific antibodies and cDNA probes. Immunoblot analysis revealed that when cells became proliferative after 5 days of culture, the content of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (sm-MHC), calponin, sm-alpha-actin, and desmin diminished by > 75%; myosin light chain kinase, h-caldesmon, and beta-tropomyosin had also decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Northern blots revealed that mRNA levels for sm-MHC and sm-alpha-actin were also significantly reduced in proliferative SMC. Conversely, immunoblotting demonstrated the content of non-muscle myosin heavy chain, l-caldesmon, vimentin, alpha/beta-protein kinase C (PKC), and CD44 homing cellular adhesion molecule (HCAM) increased one- to sixfold as cells became proliferative. The content of sm-MHC and sm-alpha-actin protein increased after confluence, suggesting that cultured airway SMC are capable of phenotypic plasticity. Marker protein contents were also compared, by immunoblot assay, between SMC dissociated from trachealis or pulmonary arterial media. Cytocontractile protein content was higher in the trachea, which shortens faster than the pulmonary artery. The identification of these markers provides tools for assessing the phenotype of airway SMC in culture and the airways of asthmatic patients.


1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
K A Kellerman ◽  
K G Miller

As part of a study of cytoskeletal proteins involved in Drosophila embryonic development, we have undertaken the molecular analysis of a 140-kD ATP-sensitive actin-binding protein (Miller, K. G., C. M. Field, and B. M. Alberts. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 109:2963-2975). Analysis of cDNA clones encoding this protein revealed that it represents a new class of unconventional myosin heavy chains. The amino-terminal two thirds of the protein comprises a head domain that is 29-33% identical (60-65% similar) to other myosin heads, and contains ATP-binding, actin-binding and calmodulin/myosin light chain-binding motifs. The carboxy-terminal tail has no significant similarity to other known myosin tails, but does contain a approximately 100-amino acid region that is predicted to form an alpha-helical coiled-coil. Since the unique gene that encodes this protein maps to the polytene map position 95F, we have named the new gene Drosophila 95F myosin heavy chain (95F MHC). The expression profile of the 95F MHC gene is complex. Examination of multiple cDNAs reveals that transcripts are alternatively spliced and encode at least three protein isoforms; in addition, a fourth isoform is detected on Western blots. Developmental Northern and Western blots show that transcripts and protein are present throughout the life cycle, with peak expression occurring during mid-embryogenesis and adulthood. Immunolocalization in early embryos demonstrates that the protein is primarily located in a punctate pattern throughout the peripheral cytoplasm. Most cells maintain a low level of protein expression throughout embryogenesis, but specific tissues appear to contain more protein. We speculate that the 95F MHC protein isoforms are involved in multiple dynamic processes during Drosophila development.


1993 ◽  
Vol 293 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Luise ◽  
C Presotto ◽  
L Senter ◽  
R Betto ◽  
S Ceoldo ◽  
...  

Dystrophin, the protein coded by the gene missing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is assumed to be a component of the membrane cytoskeleton of skeletal muscle. Like other cytoskeletal proteins in different cell types, dystrophin bound to sarcolemma membranes was found to be phosphorylated by endogenous protein kinases. The phosphorylation of dystrophin was activated by cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, calcium and calmodulin, and was inhibited by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase peptide inhibitor, mastoparan and heparin. These results suggest that membrane-bound dystrophin is a substrate of endogenous cyclic AMP- and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases, calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase and casein kinase II. The possibility that dystrophin could be phosphorylated by protein kinase C is suggested by the inhibition of phosphorylation by staurosporin. On the other hand dystrophin seems not to be a substrate for protein tyrosine kinases, as shown by the lack of reaction of phosphorylated dystrophin with a monoclonal antiphosphotyrosine antibody. Sequence analysis indicates that dystrophin contains seven potential phosphorylation sites for cyclic AMP- and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases (all localized in the central rod domain of the molecule) as well as several sites for protein kinase C and casein kinase II. Interestingly, potential sites of phosphorylation by protein kinase C and casein kinase II are located in the proximity of the actin-binding site. These results suggest, by analogy with what has been demonstrated in the case of other cytoskeletal proteins, that the phosphorylation of dystrophin by endogenous protein kinases may modulate both self assembly and interaction of dystrophin with other cytoskeletal proteins in vivo.


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