TWO FORMS OF NEURONAL ACTIN

Abstract— —Cultures of neurons essentially free of non-neuronal cells were prepared from chick sympathetic neurons and from sensory neurons that had been enriched on a simple density gradient. The proteins of these cultures were examined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and two species found in each type of nerve cell that ran close to, but not precisely with, muscle actin. They comigrated with the β and γ actins previously seen in developing myoblasts (W halen et al. , 1976). Peptide patterns obtained from the two neuronal proteins by limited papain digestion, as well as from three analogous proteins of cultured fibroblasts and purified chicken muscle actin, were extremely similar. The same two species, in similar amounts, were found in soluble and residual fractions of cultured neurons produced by brief detergent treatment; in fractions enriched for neuronal processes or cell soma from cultured sensory ganglia; and in purified actin recovered from material released upon gentle homogenisation of embryonic chick brains.     

GFP-mTn融合蛋白对蓝猪耳生活细胞微丝骨架的标记

用农杆菌介导法将嵌合基因GFP-mTn(mTn是微丝结合蛋白Talin的微丝结合域,可以显示活体细胞中微丝的结构)导入蓝猪耳.经激光共聚焦显微镜观察了转基因植株的各种不同组织中融合蛋白的表达和分布情况.在叶片的表皮细胞、保卫细胞、根部的皮层细胞中有融合蛋白的不同程度表达.但仅在保卫细胞中微丝标记状况良好,显示基因表达的组织特异性.经光诱导处于开放态的气孔的保卫细胞微丝呈网状结构,在细胞内无规则分布;经黑暗诱导处于关闭态的气孔保卫细胞中微丝束沿保卫细胞纵轴排列,呈卷曲状分布,并观察到螺旋和环状的微丝结构.在转基因植株的其他部位,例如茎表皮细胞、根毛细胞和花粉粒中,未检测到目的基因的表达.本研究获得的转基因植株为研究气孔运动过程中微丝动态变化提供了有用的材料.     

肌动蛋白与真核生物的进化

以肌动蛋白氨基酸取代与真核生物进化年代呈线性关系为依据，收集原生生物界，真菌界，植物界和动物界等四界７４种生物的１２８个肌动蛋白序列，通过对其氨基酸序列同源性进行比较，制作出肌动蛋白的分子进化树，并依此进化树从分子水平对真核生物的进化进行一些探讨，从总体上看，肌动蛋白分子进化树较地地反映了真核生物间的进化关系，为确定某些生物的进化位置及进化关系提供了分子证据。     

黄蝉和姜花生殖细胞内肌动蛋白微丝的定位

用荧光标记的鬼笔碱染色,对离体的黄蝉和姜花的生殖细胞内肌动蛋白微丝的分布进行了研究,结果证明两种植物的生殖细胞内部都存在一个微丝网络,黄蝉生殖细胞的比姜花的简单,微丝束较粗。但姜花生殖细胞的网络微丝束比黄蝉的更紧密地环绕着核。用免疫荧光技术在黄蝉生殖细胞的分裂前期和中期,可以观察到一些微丝束的存在,但在分裂后期和末期细胞内的肌动蛋白则变为颗粒状。     

伴刀豆球蛋白A与巨噬细胞膜受体结合对膜下F－actin的影响

配体与膜受体结合可启动细胞信息传递通路,激活细胞并产生生物学效应。应用共聚焦激光扫描显微术,流式细胞分光光度计,生物活性测量等技术,研究ＭＡ与巨噬细胞膜受体结合后,膜下肌动蛋白丝构筑和含量随时间变化,以及细胞热能量改变。结果是ＣｏｎＡ结合巨噬细胞膜受体后,膜下肌动蛋白多聚化加快,构筑成细胞内Ｆ－ａｃｔｉｎ立体空间网络,Ｆ－ａｃｔｉｎ含量增加具有时间相关性,细胞热能量增加。巨噬细胞内这些变化提示ＣｏｎＡ通过膜受体诱导膜下肌动蛋白多聚化和构筑过程有信息传递和激活细胞等重要作用。     

伴刀豆球蛋白A与巨噬细胞膜受体结合对膜下F－actin的影响

配体与膜受体结合可启动细胞信息传递通路,激活细胞并产生生物学效应。应用共聚焦激光扫描显微术,流式细胞分光光度计,生物活性测量等技术,研究ＭＡ与巨噬细胞膜受体结合后,膜下肌动蛋白丝构筑和含量随时间变化,以及细胞热能量改变。结果是ＣｏｎＡ结合巨噬细胞膜受体后,膜下肌动蛋白多聚化加快,构筑成细胞内Ｆ－ａｃｔｉｎ立体空间网络,Ｆ－ａｃｔｉｎ含量增加具有时间相关性,细胞热能量增加。巨噬细胞内这些变化提示ＣｏｎＡ通过膜受体诱导膜下肌动蛋白多聚化和构筑过程有信息传递和激活细胞等重要作用。     

肌动蛋白与纽蛋白在神经干细胞定向分化为神经元过程中的表达

目的研究新生大鼠大脑皮层神经干细胞定向分化为神经元过程中肌动蛋白(actin)的时空表达变化及其与纽蛋白(vinculin)的关系.方法采用神经干细胞培养、免疫细胞化学技术对神经干细胞定向分化为神经元的过程中actin的时空表达进行研究;采用免疫荧光双标术及共聚焦激光扫描显微术对定向分化神经元过程中,actin与vinculin关系进行探讨.结果在神经干细胞向神经元定向分化过程中, actin在胞体与突起中有表达,且与日渐增,核周表达逐渐增强,分化成熟时胞体与突起中可见丝状细胞骨架随着突起伸展而延伸.免疫荧光双标actin、vinculin在CLSM下观察,分化早期,胞体和突起内均有分布,actin明显强于vinculin,而vinculin于核周及一侧突起较强.分化近成熟期,vinculin反应增强,随着细胞突起生长,在突起中两蛋白共存处可见节段状分布的黄色融合光,直达突起的末端.结论本研究揭示在大脑皮层神经干细胞定向分化为神经元过程中,actin表达变化与神经元发育成熟呈正相关,且actin与vinculin共存.     

ACTIN NETWORK AS A NORMAL COMPONENT OF THE CYTOSKELETON IN MANY VASCULAR PLANT CELLS

F-actin was localized in cells of 17 species of vascular plants, using the F-actin-specific probe Rhodamine-phalloidin. F-actin strands formed a three-dimensional network in these cells, and orientation of the strands varied to some extent depending on the cell shape. The strands often appeared to terminate near or at the plasma membrane. The observations presented, taken together with those from relevant literature, suggest that actin is a normal component of most, if not all, plant cells.     

ACTIN AND MYOSIN REGULATE PSEUDOPODIA OF PORPHYRA PULCHELLA (RHODOPHYTA) ARCHEOSPORES1

Archeospores of Porphyra pulchella Ackland, J. A. West et Zuccarello (Rhodophyta) display amoeboid and gliding motility. Time‐lapse videomicroscopy revealed that amoeboid cells extend and retract pseudopodia as they translocate through the media. We investigated the involvement of actin and myosin in generating the force for amoeboid motility using immunofluorescence, time‐lapse videomicroscopy, and cytoskeletal inhibitors. Actin filaments were seen as short and long rodlike bundles around the periphery of spores. The actin inhibitors cytochalasin D (CD) and latrunculin B (Lat B), and the myosin inhibitor butanedione monoxime (BDM) disrupted the actin filament network and reversibly inhibited pseudopodial activity, resulting in the rounding and immobilization of spores. It was uncertain whether forward translocation of archeospores resumed following drug removal. These results demonstrate that actin and myosin have a role in generating force for pseudopodial activity. This is the first report of cytoskeletal involvement in red algal cell movement. The involvement of actin and myosin in forward translocation of amoeboid archeospores can only be speculated upon.     

ACTIN2 is essential for bulge site selection and tip growth during root hair development of Arabidopsis

Root hairs develop as long extensions from root epidermal cells. After the formation of an initial bulge at the distal end of the epidermal cell, the root hair structure elongates by tip growth. Because root hairs are not surrounded by other cells, root hair formation provides an excellent system for studying the highly complex process of plant cell growth. Pharmacological experiments with actin filament-interfering drugs have provided evidence that the actin cytoskeleton is an important factor in the establishment of cell polarity and in the maintenance of the tip growth machinery at the apex of the growing root hair. However, there has been no genetic evidence to directly support this assumption. We have isolated an Arabidopsis mutant, deformed root hairs 1 (der1), that is impaired in root hair development. The DER1 locus was cloned by map-based cloning and encodes ACTIN2 (ACT2), a major actin of the vegetative tissue. The three der1 alleles develop the mutant phenotype to different degrees and are all missense mutations, thus providing the means to study the effect of partially functional ACT2. The detailed characterization of the der1 phenotypes revealed that ACT2 is not only involved in root hair tip growth, but is also required for correct selection of the bulge site on the epidermal cell. Thus, the der1 mutants are useful tools to better understand the function of the actin cytoskeleton in the process of root hair formation.     

ALTERATIONS IN DISTRIBUTION OF ACTIN BINDING PROTEINS IN UTERINE STROMAL CELLS DURING DECIDUALIZATION IN THE RAT

Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the involvement of the actin-associated binding proteins, tropomyosin, α-actinin and gelsolin with the formation of the decidual cell reaction during early pregnancy in the rat. Tropomyosin was present in the uterine myometrium, but absent from the both decidual and non-decidual stromal cells. α-Actinin was absent from non-decidual stromal cells, but present in decidual cells. Gelsolin was present in non-decidual cells close to the uterine stroma as well as in transformed decidual cells. Both gelsolin and α-actinin were concentrated around the periphery of the cell. It is proposed that these actin-binding proteins may be involved with the cellular transformations associated with decidualization.     

QUANTITATION OF ACTIN IN DEVELOPING BRAIN1

Actin levels in the soluble fraction of chick embryo brain sonicates have been quantitated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Brain actin concentrations remained constant at 8.10 ± 0.9% in developing cnibryos but dropped to 6.0 ± 0.9% in adult brain. Over 80% of the total brain protein was solubilized by the sonication procedure and actin was not detected in the remaining insoluble fraction.     

芹菜韧皮部中的肌动蛋白

芹菜韧皮部初步纯化的肌动蛋白,用SDS聚丙烯酸胺凝胶电泳进行分离,得到与兔骨胳肌的肌动蛋白相似的迁移率,其分子量为43 000道尔顿,与免肌肌动蛋白的分子量相一致。韧皮部的G-肌动蛋白聚合成F-肌动蛋白,在电子显微镜下观察到直径5～7nm肌动蛋白的微丝。用兔肌的重酶解肌球蛋白处理并负染后,在电镜下观察到箭头状装饰。韧皮部的F-肌动蛋白能激活兔肌重酶解肌球蛋白ATP酶的活性,酶活性可被激活8倍以上。证明芹菜韧皮部中确实存在肌动蛋白。     

The cotton ACTIN1 gene is functionally expressed in fibers and participates in fiber elongation

Single-celled cotton fiber (Gossypium hirsutum) provides a unique experimental system to study cell elongation. To investigate the role of the actin cytoskeleton during fiber development, 15 G. hirsutum ACTIN (GhACT) cDNA clones were characterized. RNA gel blot and real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that GhACT genes are differentially expressed in different tissues and can be classified into four groups. One group, represented by GhACT1, is expressed predominantly in fiber cells and was studied in detail. A 0.8-kb GhACT1 promoter sufficient to confirm its fiber-specific expression was identified. RNA interference of GhACT1 caused significant reduction of its mRNA and protein levels and disrupted the actin cytoskeleton network in fibers. No defined actin network was observed in these fibers and, consequently, fiber elongation was inhibited. Our results suggested that GhACT1 plays an important role in fiber elongation but not fiber initiation.     

COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON THE CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTIES OF TWO FORMS OF BRAIN ACTIN SEPARABLE BY ISOELECTRIC FOCUSSING

Abstract— Actin isolated from 10-day embryonic chick brain produced a single band indistinguishable from that of muscle actin when electrophoresed in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel. Isoelectric focussing in polyacrylamide gel showed that the isolated protein was composed of two components–the β and γ forms of actin previously detected in other mammalian nonmuscle cells and tissues–in a molar ratio of 1.1/1.0. The same ratio was observed in a sonicate of 10-day embryonic chick brain and in various actin-containing fractions at each step of an actin purification procedure which involved gel filtration chromatography and polymerization-depolymerization of the protein. Additionally, the two forms of actin were found to co-precipitate with muscle myosin and to bind to a DNase I-agarose affinity column in this ratio. In contrast, a third isoelectrically distinct protein with the same electrophoretic mobility as actin was found in the whole brain sonicate, but not in any of the actin-containing fractions examined. When cellular protein in neuronal and non-neuronal cell populations isolated from 10-day embryonic chick brain was analyzed, it was found that β and β actins were also present in each class of cells in the molar ratio of 1.1/1.0. However, this ratio decreased slightly during development of the chick brain. We conclude from this study that the β and γ forms of brain actin are very similar in several characteristic properties of actin, and that it is unlikely that brain cells utilize different forms of the protein for different types of cell motility.     

ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND CHROMOSOME MAPPING OF AN ACTIN GENE FROM THE PRIMITIVE GREEN ALGA, NANNOCHLORIS BACILLARIS (CHLOROPHYCEAE)

Historically, the genus Nannochloris has been classified using the morphology of cell division, although the mechanics of division remain relatively poorly understood. Nannochloris bacillaris reproduces by binary fission. Microscopic observation with fluorescein isothiocyanate-phalloidin showed that actin filaments localized near the nucleus and appeared as a ring- or beltlike structure in the septum-forming area in the middle of the cell during cell division. In primitive unicellular Chlorophyta such as N. bacillaris, actin is also thought to play important roles in nuclear migration and cell division. The N. bacillaris actin gene has three exons and two introns defined by two exon–intron junctions with splice site consensus sequences. The two introns are located at codons specifying amino acids 3/4 and 47/48. One of these, intron position 3/4, is conserved in the actin gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The actin gene product was predicted to be 378 amino acids long with an estimated molecular weight of 42 kDa. There is only one copy of the actin gene in the N. bacillaris genome. Nannochloris bacillaris has 14 chromosomes that range in size from 230 kb to 3000 kb, and the total size of the genome was estimated to be 20.3 Mb. The actin gene is on either chromosome XI or XII. In a phylogenetic tree based on the actin gene sequence, N. bacillaris diverged before the divergence of Volvox, Chlamydomonas, and higher plants, and very shortly after the radiation of the Rhodophyta.     

洋葱鳞茎表皮Actin细胞骨架的Rh—Ph荧光和光学显微镜观察

洋葱鳞茎内表皮细胞经Triton X-100处理和多聚甲醛固定之后用Rh-Ph(Rhodamine-Phalloidin)染色,细胞质内可见较丰富的、直径为100—300nm的F-actin束。较粗的F-actin束沿细胞的长轴平行排列,并纵裂成较细的“分枝”,纵裂成的分枝又纵裂成更细的“分枝”。各种大小的F-actin束相互交织在一起构成一个三维的纤丝网络,并且与细胞膜、细胞核和其它细胞器相连。经同样方法处理和固定的细胞用考马斯亮兰R_(250)(Coomassie brilliant blue R_(250))染色之后,细胞质内可见直径为200—300nm的纤丝,形态特征和排列方式和上述在荧光显微镜下看到的F-actin束相同。本研究结果表明洋葱鳞茎内表皮的细胞骨架包含较丰富的F-actin系统;Pena的考马斯亮兰染色法(1980)所显示的结构主要代表F-actin束。     

银杏与玉米花粉肌动蛋白含量的比较研究

通过免疫印迹鉴定,证明银杏(Ginkgo biloba L.)花粉中存在肌动蛋白。同时对银杏和玉米(Zeamays L.)花粉肌动蛋白含量进行了比较。结果表明,银杏花粉肌动蛋白含量明显少于玉米花粉肌动蛋白含量。SDS-PAGE扫描图谱显示,银杏花粉肌动蛋白含量只有玉米花粉的1/6。两种花粉DNaseⅠ活性抑制结果表明,银杏花粉肌动蛋白含量约为玉米花粉的1/7。     

ACTIN GENE DUPLICATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY IN LAND PLANTS

Actin is a highly conserved cytoskeletal protein that is a key component of cells. Genes encoding actin occur in single copies in most green algae, in 2–3 copies in bryophytes, and in increasingly more complex gene families in ferns and seed plants. We use the well-resolved phylogenetic frameworks of the Streptophyta as a guide to reconstruct the patterns of actin gene duplication in early diverging land plants. Our working hypothesis is that the origin of novel tissues in the bryophytes (e.g. multicellular sporophyte) may be reflected in the functional diversification of duplicate actin genes in these taxa. Actin is used as a model cytoskeletal protein with the assumption that its evolutionary history represents those of other cytoskeletal elements and the coevolved binding proteins. Here we provide a phylogenetic perspective on the origin of green algal and land plant actin genes and use this information to speculate on the role of plant actin in early plant evolution.     

CORTICAL F‐ACTIN REORGANIZATION AND A CONTRACTILE RING‐LIKE STRUCTURE FOUND DURING THE CELL CYCLE IN THE RED CRYPTOMONAD,PYRENOMONAS HELGOLANDII1

Cortical F‐actin reorganization during the cell cycle was observed in Pyrenomonas helgolandii U. J. Santore (SAG 28.87) for the first time in Cryptophyta using fluorescein‐isothiocyanate (FITC)–phalloidin staining. In interphase, a number of F‐actin bundles were observed as straight lines running parallel to the long axis of the cell on the cell cortical region. They extended from an F‐actin bundle that runs along the margin of the vestibulum. Although the F‐actin bundles running parallel to the long axis of the cell disappeared during anaphase, they gradually reappeared in telophase. By contrast, the F‐actin bundle along the vestibulum margin remained visible during cytokinesis and dynamically changed following the enlargement of the vestibulum, suggesting that F‐actin was involved in the mechanism of vestibulum enlargement. F‐actins were not found in the cytoplasmic and nucleoplasmic regions throughout the cell cycle. In addition, a contractile ring‐like structure appeared at the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. Treatment with cytochalasin B and latrunculin B significantly inhibited the formation of cleavage furrow, resulting in forming an abnormal cell with two nuclei, suggesting that cytokinesis in P. helgolandii is controlled by the contractile ring‐like structure constituted of F‐actin.