A Novel Fluorescent Labeling Method Enables Monitoring of Spatio‐Temporal Dynamics of Developing Microsporidia

The microsporidium, Anncaliia algerae (Brachiola algerae), is a eukaryotic obligate intracellular parasite first isolated from mosquitoes and is an important opportunistic human pathogen that can cause morbidity and mortality among immune‐compromised individuals including patients with AIDS and those undergoing chemotherapy. There is little known about the Microsporidia–host cell interface in living host cells, due to current approaches being limited by the lack of fluorescent reporters for detecting the parasite lifecycle. Here, we have developed and applied novel vital fluorescent parasite labeling methodologies in conjunction with fluorescent protein‐tagged reporters to track simultaneously the dynamics of both parasite and host cell specific components, including the secretory and endocytic trafficking pathways, during the entire infection time period. We have found dramatic changes in the dynamics of host secretory trafficking organelles during the course of infection. The Golgi compartment is gradually disassembled and regenerated into mini‐Golgi structures in parallel with cellular microtubule depolymerization. Importantly, we find that Microsporidia progeny are associated with these de novo formed mini‐Golgi structures. These host structures appear to create a membrane bound niche environment for parasite development. Our studies presented here provide novel imaging tools and methodologies that will facilitate in understanding the biology of microsporidial parasites in the living host.     

Segregative cell division and the cytoskeleton in two species of the genus Struvea (Cladophorales,Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta)

The detailed segregative cell division (SCD) processes and changes in the arrangement of cortical microtubules and actin filaments were examined in two species of Struvea. SCD was initiated by the appearance of annular constrictions along the lateral side of a mother cell. The constrictions decreased in diameter, became thin, tubular in shape, and pinched the protoplasm of the mother cell into several protoplasmic sections. The protoplasmic sections expanded and developed into daughter cells, which appressed each other, and were arranged in a single row. Lateral branches protruded from the upper parts of the daughter cells. The protoplasm of the lateral branches was divided by secondary SCDs and was distributed amongst the new daughter cells. SCD and lateral branch formation were essential for morphogenesis in Struvea. Cortical microtubules were arranged parallel and longitudinally to the cell axis before SCD. When SCD was initiated, there was considerable undulation of the cortical microtubules and several transverse bundles appeared in the cytoplasmic zone where annular constrictions occurred. A microtubule‐disrupting drug (amiprophos methyl) inhibited SCD. Actin filaments maintained reticulate patterns before and during SCD. These results demonstrated that SCD in Struvea species was quite distinct from that in Dictyosphaeria cavernosa reported previously.     

Tau-induced traffic jams reflect organelles accumulation at points of microtubule polar mismatching

It is currently accepted that tau overexpression leads to impaired organelle transport and thus to neuronal degeneration. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms that lead to impaired organelle transport are not entirely clear. Using cultured Aplysia neurons and online confocal imaging of human tau, microtubules (MTs), the plus-end tracking protein – end-binding protein 3, retrogradely and anterogradely transported organelles, we found that overexpression of tau generates the hallmarks of human tau pathogenesis. Nevertheless, in contrast to earlier reports, we found that the tau-induced impairment of organelle transport is because of polar reorientation of the MTs along the axon or their displacement to submembrane domains. 'Traffic jams' reflect the accumulation of organelles at points of MT polar discontinuations or polar mismatching rather than because of MT depolymerization. Our findings offer a new mechanistic explanation for earlier observations, which established that tau overexpression leads to impaired retrograde and anterograde organelle transport, while the MT skeleton appeared intact.     

Polyglutamylation: a fine‐regulator of protein function?

Polyglutamylation is a post-translational modification in which glutamate side chains of variable lengths are formed on the modified protein. It is evolutionarily conserved from protists to mammals and its most prominent substrate is tubulin, the microtubule (MT) building block. Various polyglutamylation states of MTs can be distinguished within a single cell and they are also characteristic of specific cell types or organelles. Polyglutamylation has been proposed to be involved in the functional adaptation of MTs, as it occurs within the carboxy-terminal tubulin tails that participate directly in the binding of many structural and motor MT-associated proteins. The discovery of a new family of enzymes that catalyse this modification has brought new insight into the mechanism of polyglutamylation and now allows for direct functional studies of the role of tubulin polyglutamylation. Moreover, the recent identification of new substrates of polyglutamylation indicates that this post-translational modification could be a potential regulator of diverse cellular processes.     

Cortical microtubule as a sensor and target of nitric oxide signal during the defence responses to Verticillium dahliae toxins in Arabidopsis

The molecular mechanisms of signal transduction of plants in response to Verticillium dahliae (VD) are not known. Here, we show that Arabidopsis reacts to VD-toxins with a rapid burst of nitric oxide (NO) and cortical microtubule destabilization. VD-toxins treatment triggered a disruption of cortical microtubules network. This disruption can be influenced by NO production. However, cortical microtubule disruptions were not involved in regulating the NO production. The results indicated that NO may act as an upstream signalling molecule to trigger the depolymerization of cortical microtubule. Cortical microtubules may act as a target of NO signal and as a sensor to mediate the activation of PR-1 gene expression. These results suggested that NO production and cortical microtubule dynamics appeared to be parts of the important signalling system and are involved in the defence mechanisms to VD-toxins in Arabidopsis .     

腹毛目纤毛虫鬃棘尾虫纤毛器基部微管的荧光标记

腹毛目纤毛虫鬃棘尾虫的纤毛器微管骨架由口围带、波动膜、额腹横尾棘毛、左右缘棘毛和背触毛等纤毛器微管和纤毛器基部附属微管等组成,其中口围带基部含小膜托架、小膜后微管、小膜托架微管及小膜托架间的倒"V"形微管连接;波动膜基部形成微管骨架网;额腹横棘毛和左、右缘棘毛基部含前纵微管束、后纵微管束和横微管束,但不同位置的棘毛基部微管发达程度不一样;背触毛基部以纤毛基体为中心向前、后皮层发出前纵微管和后纵微管,形成背皮层微管网.     

Diffusive Movement of Processive Kinesin-1 on Microtubules

The processive motor kinesin-1 moves unidirectionally toward the plus end of microtubules. This process can be visualized by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of kinesin bound to a carboxylated quantum dot (Qdot), which acts both as cargo and label. Surprisingly, when kinesin is bound to an anti-HIS Qdot, it shows diffusive movement on microtubules, which decreased in favor of processive runs with increasing salt concentration. This observation implies that kinesin movement on microtubules is governed by its conformation, as it is well established that kinesin undergoes a salt-dependent transition from a folded (inactive) to an extended (active) molecule. A truncated kinesin lacking the last 75 amino acids (kinesin-ΔC) showed both processive and diffusive movement on microtubules. The extent of each behavior depends on the relative amounts of ADP and ATP, with purely diffusive movement occurring in ADP alone. Taken together, these data imply that folded kinesin.ADP can exist in a state that diffuses along the microtubule lattice without expending energy. This mechanism may facilitate the ability of kinesin to pick up cargo, and/or allow the kinesin/cargo complex to stay bound after encountering obstacles.     

Microtubule-independent regulation of neurofilament interactions in vitro by neurofilament-bound ATPase activities

Neurofilaments (NFs), the major neuronal intermediate filaments, form networks in vitro that mimic the axonal NF bundles. This report presents evidence for previously unknown regulation of the interactions between NFs by NF-associated ATPases. Two opposite effects on NF gelation in vitro occur at low and high ATP concentration. These findings support the hypothesis that NF bundles in situ are dynamic structures, and raise the possibility that ATP-hydrolyzing mechanoenzymes regulate their organization.     

T-cadherin activates Rac1 and Cdc42 and changes endothelial permeability

In the present study, expression of T-cadherin was shown to induce intracellular signaling in NIH3T3 fibroblasts: it activated Rac1 and Cdc42 (p < 0.01) but not RhoA. T-Cadherin overexpression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) using adenoviral constructs induced disassembly of microtubules and polymerization of actin stress fibers, whereas down-regulation of endogenous T-cadherin expression in HUVEC using lentiviral constructs resulted in micro-tubule polymerization and a decrease in the number of actin stress fibers. Moreover, suppression of the T-cadherin expression significantly decreased the endothelial monolayer permeability as compared to the control (p < 0.001).