The ghost muscle fiber with thin filaments reconstructed from nonmuscle actin--a model for studying the cytoskeleton using polarization microfluorimetry]

In muscle fibers which are free of myosin, tropomyosin and troponin thin filaments were reconstructed from muscle and non-muscle G-actin modified with 1,5-IAEDANS. Using polarized microfluorimetry it was shown that actin in such filaments maintained the ability to respond to conformational changes during actin interaction with subfragment of myosin (S1). The models of muscle fibers with reconstructed from non-muscle actin thin filaments are supposed to use for investigation of mechanisms of cell cytoskeleton functions with the help of polarized microfluorimetry.     

Carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule 1 directly associates with cytoskeleton proteins actin and tropomyosin

CEA cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), a type 1 transmembrane and homotypic cell adhesion protein belonging to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene family and expressed on epithelial cells, is alternatively spliced to produce four major isoforms with three or four Ig-like ectodomains and either long (CEACAM1-L) or short (CEACAM1-S) cytoplasmic domains. When murine MC38 (methylcholanthrene-induced adenocarcinoma 38) cells were transfected with human CEACAM1-L and stimulated with sodium pervanadate, actin was found to co-localize with CEACAM1-L at cell-cell boundaries but not in untreated cells. When CEACAM1-L was immunoprecipitated from pervanadate-treated MC38/CEACAM1-L cells and the associated proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional gel analysis and mass spectrometry, actin and tropomyosin, among other proteins, were identified. Whereas a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein containing the l-isoform (GST-Cyto-L) bound poorly to F-actin in a co-sedimentation assay, the S-isoform fusion protein (GST-Cyto-S) co-sedimented with F-actin, especially when incubated with G-actin during polymerization (K(D) = 7.0 microm). Both GST-Cyto-S and GST-Cyto-L fusion proteins bind G-actin and tropomyosin by surface plasmon resonance studies with binding constants of 0.7 x 10(-8) and 1.0 x 10(-7) m for GST-Cyto-L to G-actin and tropomyosin, respectively, and 3.1 x 10(-8) and 1.3 x 10(-7) m for GST-Cyto-S to G-actin and tropomyosin, respectively. Calmodulin or EDTA inhibited binding of the GST-Cyto-L fusion protein to G-actin, whereas calmodulin and G-actin, but not EDTA, stimulated binding to tropomyosin. A biotinylated 14-amino acid peptide derived from the juxtamembrane portion of the cytoplasmic domain of CEACAM1-L associated with both G-actin and tropomyosin with K(D) values of 1.3 x 10(-5) and 1.8 x 10(-5) m, respectively. These studies demonstrate the direct interaction of CEACAM1 isoforms with G-actin and tropomyosin and the direct interaction of CEACAM1-S with F-actin.     

Implications of oxidovanadium(IV) binding to actin

Oxidovanadium(IV), a cationic species (VO²⁺) of vanadium(IV), binds to several proteins, including actin. Upon titration with oxidovanadium(IV), approximately 100% quenching of the intrinsic fluorescence of monomeric actin purified from rabbit skeletal muscle (G-actin) was observed, with a V₅₀ of 131 μM, whereas for the polymerized form of actin (F-actin) 75% of quenching was obtained and a V₅₀ value of 320 μM. Stern-Volmer plots were used to estimate an oxidovanadium(IV)-actin dissociation constant, with K_d of 8.2 μM and 64.1 μM VOSO₄, for G-actin and F-actin, respectively. These studies reveal the presence of a high affinity binding site for oxidovanadium(IV) in actin, producing local conformational changes near the tryptophans most accessible to water in the three-dimensional structure of actin. The actin conformational changes, also confirmed by ¹H NMR, are accompanied by changes in G-actin hydrophobic surface, but not in F-actin. The ¹H NMR spectra of G-actin treated with oxidovanadium(IV) clearly indicates changes in the resonances ascribed to methyl group and aliphatic regions as well as to aromatics and peptide-bond amide region. In parallel, it was verified that oxidovanadium(IV) prevents the G-actin polymerization into F-actin. In the 0-200 μM range, VOSO₄ inhibits 40% of the extent of polymerization with an IC₅₀ of 15.1 μM, whereas 500 μM VOSO₄ totally suppresses actin polymerization. The data strongly suggest that oxidovanadium(IV) binds to actin at specific binding sites preventing actin polymerization. By affecting actin structure and function, oxidovanadium(IV) might be responsible for many cellular effects described for vanadium.     

Tropomyosin and myosin subfragment 1 induce in thin muscle fiber filaments differing conformational changes in the C-terminal portion of the polypeptide chain of actin

Muscle fibres, free of myosin, troponin and tropomyosin, containing thin filaments reconstructed from G-actin and modified by fluorescent label 1,5-IAEDANS were used for polarized microfluorimetric studies of the effect of tropomyosin (TM) from smooth muscles, and of subfragment 1 (S1) from skeletal muscles on the structural state of F-actin. TM and S1 were shown to initiate different changes in polarized fluorescence of 1,5-IAEDANS of F-actin: TM increases, whereas S1 decreases fluorescent anisotropy. It was suggested that the structural state of F-actin may differ in the C-terminal of polypeptide chain of actin.     

Tropomyosin stabilizes the pointed end of actin filaments by slowing depolymerization

Tropomyosin is postulated to confer stability to actin filaments in nonmuscle cells. We have found that a nonmuscle tropomyosin isolated from the intestinal epithelium can directly stabilize actin filaments by slowing depolymerization from the pointed, or slow-growing, filament end. Kinetics of elongation and depolymerization from the pointed end were measured in fluorescence assays using pyrenylactin filaments capped at the barbed end by villin. The initial pointed end depolymerization rate in the presence of tropomyosin averaged 56% of the control rate. Elongation from the pointed filament end in the presence of tropomyosin occurred at a lower free G-actin concentration, although the on rate constant, kappa p+, was not greatly affected. Furthermore, in the presence of tropomyosin, the free G-actin concentration was lower at steady state. Therefore, nonmuscle tropomyosin stabilizes the pointed filament end by lowering the off rate constant, kappa p-.     

Structural determinants of cooperativity in acto-myosin interactions

Regulation of muscle contraction is a very cooperative process. The presence of tropomyosin on the thin filament is both necessary and sufficient for cooperativity to occur. Data recently obtained with various tropomyosin isoforms and mutants help us to understand better the structural requirements in the thin filament for cooperative protein interactions. Forming an end-to-end overlap between neighboring tropomyosin molecules is not necessary for the cooperativity of the thin filament activation. When direct contacts between tropomyosin molecules are disrupted, the conformational changes in the filament are most probably transmitted cooperatively through actin subunits, although the exact nature of these changes is not known. The function of tropomyosin ends, alternatively expressed in various isoforms, is to confer specific actin affinity. Tropomyosin's affinity or actin is directly related to the size of the apparent cooperative unit defined as the number of actin subunits turned into the active state by binding of one myosin head. Inner sequences of tropomyosin, particularly actin-binding periods 3 to 5, play crucial role in myosin-induced activation of the thin filament. A plausible mechanism of tropomyosin function in this process is that inner tropomyosin regions are either specifically recognized by myosin or they define the right actin conformation required for tropomyosin movement from its blocking position.     

Ca2+-induced rolling of tropomyosin in muscle thin filaments: the alpha- and beta-band hypothesis revisited

Tropomyosin is a filamentous coiled-coil protein directly involved in the regulation of the actomyosin interaction responsible for muscle contraction: it transmits the local calcium-induced conformational change in troponin to the helical array of myosin-binding sites on the surface of the actin filament. McLachlan and Stewart (McLachlan, A. D., and Stewart, M. (1976) J. Mol. Biol. 103, 271-298) proposed that the tropomyosin coiled-coil structure can be divided into 14 alternating 19- to 20-residue "alpha- and beta-bands," which could act as alternate 7-fold sets of sites for specific binding to actin in the different conformational states of the regulated thin filament. Here we present the first direct experimental evidence in support of the alpha- and beta-band hypothesis: we analyze the acrylamide quenching of the fluorescence of mutant tropomyosins containing 5-hydroxytryptophan residues at different positions along the coiled-coil structure under a variety of conditions (alone, complexed with actin, and complexed with actin and troponin with or without Ca(2+)). We show that fluorescent probes placed in the alpha-bands become less solvent-exposed in the absence of calcium, whereas those in the beta-bands become less solvent-exposed in the presence of calcium. A model in which the tropomyosin coiled-coil rolls across the actin surface in response to Ca(2+)-binding to troponin most easily explains these observations.     

On the interaction of muscle actin with gadolinium.

The polymerization of G-actin is prevented by concentrations of gadolinium (GdIII) that exceed the ATP present. Since the susceptibility of G-actin to enzymatic proteolysis is slightly decreased upon addition of GdIII, and the digestibility of F-actin is markedly increased with the same treatment, it appears that actin undergoes GdIII-induced conformational changes. The altered states of actin formed inhibit the GdIII-ATPase activity of myosin, but in all cases, the effect of GdIII on actin is reversed by removal of the trivalent ion with ATP. The reversible changes in conformation induced by GdIII create a state of actin which has properties unlike those of G-actin, F-monomer or F-actin.     

Characterization of carbethoxylated actin

The carbethoxylation of histidine residues in G-actin impairs actin polymerization. The histidine residue essential for polymerization was identified as histidine-40 [Hegyi, G., Premecz, G., Sain, B., & Mühlrad, A. (1974) Eur. J. Biochem. 44, 7-12]. Non-polymerizable actin was separated from the polymerizable fraction after partial carbethoxylation. The non-polymerizable actin recovered the ability to polymerize following addition of phalloidin. Taking into account the evidence that phalloidin does not bind to G-actin in the absence of salt, the results indicate that the actin monomer undergoes a conformational change and subsequently binds phalloidin before polymerization. The resulting polymers activated S1 ATPase activity as effectively as control F-actin. In the presence of tropomyosin and troponin, a strong inhibition of actin-activated ATPase activity was observed in the absence of Ca2+, although no inhibition was observed in the presence of Ca2+. These results indicate that His-40 is not directly involved in a myosin binding site nor in a tropomyosin-troponin binding site.     

Decline of contractility during ischemia-reperfusion injury: actin glutathionylation and its effect on allosteric interaction with tropomyosin

The severity and duration of ischemia-reperfusion injury is hypothesized to play an important role in the ability of the heart subsequently to recover contractility. Permeabilized trabeculae were prepared from a rat model of ischemia-reperfusion injury to examine the impact on force generation. Compared with the control perfused condition, the maximum force (F_max) per cross-sectional area and the rate of tension redevelopment of Ca²⁺-activated trabeculae fell by 71% and 44%, respectively, during ischemia despite the availability of a high concentration of ATP. The reduction in F_max with ischemia was accompanied by a decline in fiber stiffness, implying a drop in the absolute number of attached cross bridges. However, the declines during ischemia were largely recovered after reperfusion, leading to the hypothesis that intrinsic, reversible posttranslational modifications to proteins of the contractile filaments occur during ischemia-reperfusion injury. Examination of thin-filament proteins from ischemic or ischemia-reperfused hearts did not reveal proteolysis of troponin I or T. However, actin was found to be glutathionylated with ischemia. Light-scattering experiments demonstrated that glutathionylated G-actin did not polymerize as efficiently as native G-actin. Although tropomyosin accelerated the time course of native and glutathionylated G-actin polymerization, the polymerization of glutathionylated G-actin still lagged native G-actin at all concentrations of tropomyosin tested. Furthermore, cosedimentation experiments demonstrated that tropomyosin bound glutathionylated F-actin with significantly reduced cooperativity. Therefore, glutathionylated actin may be a novel contributor to the diverse set of posttranslational modifications that define the function of the contractile filaments during ischemia-reperfusion injury. force; troponin; cooperativity     

Effect of muscle tropomyosin on the kinetics of polymerization of muscle actin

At saturating concentrations, tropomyosin inhibited the rate of spontaneous polymerization of ATP-actin and also inhibited by 40% the rates of association and dissociation of actin monomers to and from filaments. However, tropomyosin had no effect on the critical concentrations of ATP-actin or ADP-actin. The tropomyosin-troponin complex, with or without Ca2+, had a similar effect as tropomyosin alone on the rate of polymerization of ATP-actin. Although tropomyosin binds to F-actin and not to G-actin, the absence of an effect on the actin critical concentration is probably explicable in terms of the highly cooperative nature of the binding of tropomyosin to F-actin and its very low affinity for a single F-actin subunit relative to the affinity of one actin subunit for another in F-actin.     

Effect of the state of oxidation of cysteine 190 of tropomyosin on the assembly of the actin-tropomyosin complex

Tropomyosin, cross-linked at cysteine 190, was found to bind more weakly to actin filaments than uncross-linked tropomyosin. Cross-linking of tropomyosin can cause actin filaments nearly completely covered with tropomyosin to be uncovered almost completely. The critical monomer concentration of actin is not significantly changed by binding of cross-linked or uncross-linked tropomyosin to actin filaments. The binding curves were analyzed quantitatively, thereby taking into account the polar end-to-end contact of tropomyosin molecules bound by actin and the overlap of the seven subunit binding sites along the actin filament. Under the conditions of the experiment (80 mM KCl, 1 mM MgCl2, pH 7.5, 38-42 degrees C), the equilibrium constant for isolated binding of tropomyosin to actin filaments is in the range 1 x 10(3)-3 x 10(3) M-1. The equilibrium constants for binding of tropomyosin to binding sites along the actin filament with one or two neighbouring tropomyosin molecules are in the range of 10(6) or 10(8) to 10(9) M-1, respectively. The equilibrium constants for binding of tropomyosin to binding sites along the actin filament with one or two neighbouring tropomyosin molecules are in the range of 10(6) or 10(8) to 10(9) M-1, respectively. The equilibrium constants for cross-linked and uncross-linked tropomyosin differ by a factor of only about two. Owing to the highly cooperative binding, these differences are sufficient so that actin filaments nearly completely covered with uncross-linked tropomyosin are uncovered almost completely by cross-linking tropomyosin at cysteine 190.     

Circular dichroism of actin from denervated skeletal muscles

Method of circular dichroism did not indicate any changes of the secondary structure of globular and fibrillar actin from denervated skeletal muscles. The matter that some conformational changes of the aromatic residues do in fact accompany denervation was confirmed by fluorescence studies but not by CD spectra.     

Tropomyosin and gelsolin cooperate in controlling the microfilament system

Tropomyosin has been shown to cause annealing of gelsolin-capped actin filaments. Here we show that tropomyosin is highly efficient in transforming even the smallest gelsolin-actin complexes into long actin filaments. At low concentrations of tropomyosin, the effect of tropomyosin depends on the length of the actin oligomer, and the cooperative nature of the process is a direct indication that tropomyosin induces a conformational change in the gelsolin-actin complexes, altering the structure at the actin (+) end such that capping by gelsolin is abolished. At increased concentrations of tropomyosin, heterodimers, trimers, and tetramers are converted to actin filaments. In addition, evidence is presented demonstrating that gelsolin, once removed from the (+) end of the actin, can reassociate with the newly formed tropomyosin-decorated actin filaments. Interestingly, the binding of gelsolin to the tropomyosin-actin filament complexes saturates at 2 gelsolin molecules per 14 actin and 2 tropomyosins, i.e. two gelsolins per tropomyosin-regulatory unit along the filament. These observations support the view that both tropomyosin and gelsolin are likely to have important functions in addition to those proposed earlier.     

Identification of actin as a 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 target in neuroblastoma cells: mass spectrometric, computational, and functional approaches to investigate the effect on cytoskeletal derangement

A proteomic approach was used to identify 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) protein targets in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. By using biotinylated 15d-PGJ2, beta-actin was found as the major adducted protein; at least 12 proteins were also identified as minor biotin-positive spots, falling in different functional classes, including glycolytic enzymes (enolase and lactate dehydrogenase), redox enzymes (biliverdin reductase), and a eukaryotic regulatory protein (14-3-3gamma). 15d-PGJ2 induced marked morphological changes in the actin filament network and in particular promoted F-actin depolymerization as confirmed by Western blot analysis. By using a mass spectrometric approach, we found that 15d-PGJ2 reacts with isolated G-actin in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio and selectively binds the Cys374 site through a Michael adduction mechanism. Computational studies showed that the covalent binding of 15d-PGJ2 induces a significant unfolding of actin structure and in particular that 15d-PGJ2 distorts the actin subdomains 2 and 4, which define the nucleotide binding sites impeding the nucleotide exchange. The functional effect of 15d-PGJ2 on G-actin was studied by polymerization measurement: in the presence of 15d-PGJ2, a lower amount of F-actin forms, as followed by the increase in pyrenyl-actin fluorescence intensity, as the major effect of increasing 15d-PGJ2 concentrations occurs on the maximum extent of actin polymerization, whereas it is negligible on the initial rate of reaction. In summary, the results here reported give an insight into the role of 15d-PGJ2 as a cytotoxic compound in neuronal cell dysfunction. Actin is the main protein cellular target of 15d-PGJ2, which specifically binds through a Michael adduction to Cys374, leading to a protein conformational change that can explain the disruption of the actin cytoskeleton, F-actin depolymerization, and impairment of G-actin polymerization.     

Actomyosin regulatory properties of yeast tropomyosin are dependent upon N-terminal modification

The yeast tropomyosin 1 gene (TPM1) encodes the major isoform of the two tropomyosins (Tm) found in yeast. The gene has been expressed in E. coli and the protein purified. The gene product (yTm1) is a 199-amino acid protein that has a low affinity for actin compared to the native yTm1 purified from yeast. Mass spectrometry shows that the native protein is acetylated while the recombinant protein is not. A series of yTm1 N-terminal constructs were made with either an Ala-Ser dipeptide extension previously shown to restore actin binding to skeletal muscle Tm or the natural extension found in fibroblast Tm 5a/b. All constructs bound actin tightly and showed similar CD spectra and thermal stability. All constructs induced cooperativity in the equilibrium binding of myosin subfragment 1, to actin but the binding curves differed significantly between the constructs. The apparent cooperative unit size (n) and closed/open equilibrium (K(T)) were determined using a fluorescence titration technique [Maytum et al. (1998) Biophys. J. 74, A347]. The data could be accounted for by changes in K(T) (0.1-1) with no change in n. Values of n were approximately twice the structural unit size (5 actin sites). The presence of yTm on actin had little effect upon the overall affinity of S1 for actin despite showing an ability to regulate the acto-myosin interaction. These results show that the short yTm can aid our understanding of actomyosin regulation and that the N-terminus of Tm has a major influence upon its regulatory properties.     

The accessibility of etheno-nucleotides to collisional quenchers and the nucleotide cleft in G- and F-actin.

Recent publication of the atomic structure of G-actin (Kabsch, W., Mannherz, H. G., Suck, D., Pai, E. F., & Holmes, K. C., 1990, Nature 347, 37-44) raises questions about how the conformation of actin changes upon its polymerization. In this work, the effects of various quenchers of etheno-nucleotides bound to G- and F-actin were examined in order to assess polymerization-related changes in the nucleotide phosphate site. The Mg(2+)-induced polymerization of actin quenched the fluorescence of the etheno-nucleotides by approximately 20% simultaneously with the increase in light scattering by actin. A conformational change at the nucleotide binding site was also indicated by greater accessibility of F-actin than G-actin to positively, negatively, and neutrally charged collisional quenchers. The difference in accessibility between G- and F-actin was greatest for I-, indicating that the environment of the etheno group is more positively charged in the polymerized form of actin. Based on calculations of the change in electric potential of the environment of the etheno group, specific polymerization-related movements of charged residues in the atomic structure of G-actin are suggested. The binding of S-1 to epsilon-ATP-G-actin increased the accessibility of the etheno group to I- even over that in Mg(2+)-polymerized actin. The quenching of the etheno group by nitromethane was, however, unaffected by the binding of S-1 to actin. Thus, the binding of S-1 induces conformational changes in the cleft region of actin that are different from those caused by Mg2+ polymerization of actin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Caldesmon and myosin subfragment-1 act differently on the structural state of 1,5-IAEDANS-modified tropomyosin in ghost muscle fibers

The effect of caldesmon (CD) and subfragment 1 of myosin (S1) on the structural state of tropomyosin (TM) modified with N-(iodoacetyl)-N-(1-naphthyl-5-sulfo)-ethylene-diamine (1.5-IAEDANS) in single myosin-free skeletal muscle fibers was studied using polarized microfluorimetry. S1 was performed from skeletal muscles of rabbits, whereas CD and TM were prepared from the smooth muscle of chicken gizzards. An analysis of experimental data revealed that CD initiates and increases the motility of 1.5-IAEDANS-TM, while S1 decreases it. In the presence of CD S1 binding to actin is accompanied by significant changes in the fluorescent label motility. It is supposed that CD and S1 induce in TM conformational changes which interfere with the protein interaction with F-actin.     

Cofilin and DNase I affect the conformation of the small domain of actin

Cofilin binding induces an allosteric conformational change in subdomain 2 of actin, reducing the distance between probes attached to Gln-41 (subdomain 2) and Cys-374 (subdomain 1) from 34.4 to 31.4 A (pH 6.8) as demonstrated by fluorescence energy transfer spectroscopy. This effect was slightly less pronounced at pH 8.0. In contrast, binding of DNase I increased this distance (35.5 A), a change that was not pH-sensitive. Although DNase I-induced changes in the distance along the small domain of actin were modest, a significantly larger change (38.2 A) was observed when the ternary complex of cofilin-actin-DNase I was formed. Saturation binding of cofilin prevents pyrene fluorescence enhancement normally associated with actin polymerization. Changes in the emission and excitation spectra of pyrene-F actin in the presence of cofilin indicate that subdomain 1 (near Cys-374) assumes a G-like conformation. Thus, the enhancement of pyrene fluorescence does not correspond to the extent of actin polymerization in the presence of cofilin. The structural changes in G and F actin induced by these actin-binding proteins may be important for understanding the mechanism regulating the G-actin pool in cells.     

Divalent cation binding to the high- and low-affinity sites on G-actin

Metal binding to skeletal muscle G-actin has been assessed by equilibrium dialysis using 45Ca2+ and by kinetic measurements of the increase in the fluorescence of N-acetyl-N'-(5-sulfo-1-naphthyl)-ethylenediamine-labeled actin. Two classes of cation binding sites were found on G-actin which could be separated on the basis of their Ca2+ affinity: a single high-affinity site with a Kd considerably less than 1 microM and three identical moderate-affinity binding sites with a Kd of 18 microM. The data for the Mg2+-induced fluorescence enhancement of actin labeled with N-acetyl-N'-(5-sulfo-1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine support a previously suggested mechanism [Frieden, C. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 2882-2886] in which Ca2+ is replaced by Mg2+ at the moderate affinity site(s), followed by a slow actin isomerization. This isomerization occurs independently of Ca2+ release from the high-affinity site. The fluorescence data do not support a mechanism in which this isomerization is directly related to Ca2+ release from the high-affinity site. Fluorescence changes of labeled actin associated with adding metal chelators are complex and do not reflect the same change induced by Mg2+ addition. Fluorescence changes in the labeled actin have also been observed for the addition of Cd2+ or Mn2+ instead of Mg2+. It is proposed actin may undergo a host of subtle conformational changes dependent on the divalent cation bound. We have also developed a method by which progress curves of a given reaction can be analyzed by nonlinear regression fitting of kinetic simulations to experimental reaction time courses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)