Titin and myosin, but not desmin, are linked during myofibrillogenesis in postmitotic mononucleated myoblasts

We have used a model system to explore the importance of long-range lateral diffusion of membrane proteins in specific membrane-membrane adhesion. Single, cell-size phospholipid vesicles containing a dinitrophenyl (DNP)-lipid hapten were maneuvered into contact with rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells carrying fluorescent anti-DNP IgE in their cell-surface Fc epsilon receptors. Upon cell-vesicle contact the antibody molecules underwent a marked lateral redistribution, accumulating at the site of contact and becoming significantly depleted from noncontacting membrane. As assayed with a micropipette suction method, there was a time-dependent increase in the strength of cell-vesicle adhesion. This development of adhesion paralleled the kinetics of accumulation of the adhesion-mediating antibody molecules at the zone of membrane-membrane contact. Both adhesion and redistribution were absolutely dependent upon a specific interaction of the IgE with the hapten: No redistribution occurred when vesicles lacking the DNP hapten were pushed against IgE-armed RBL cells, and on cells bearing a 1:1 mixture of nonimmune rat IgE and anti-DNP mouse IgE, only the latter underwent redistribution. Vesicles containing DNP-lipids bound to RBL cells carrying anti-DNP IgE but not to cells carrying nonimmune rat IgE. Measurable nonspecific binding did not develop even after 15 min of pushing DNP-bearing vesicles against RBL cells sensitized with nonimmune IgE. Neither redistribution nor adhesion was blocked by metabolic poisons such as NaN3 and NaF. Both redistribution and adhesion occurred in plasma membrane blebs previously shown to lack cytoskeletal filaments. The above observations are consistent with contact-induced redistribution of the IgE being a result of passive diffusion-mediated trapping rather than active cellular responses. Thus, long-range diffusion of specific proteins can in some cases contribute to the formation of stable adhesion between membranes.     

Myoblast differentiation in vitro: morphological differentiation of mononucleated myoblasts.

Phospholipase C from Clostridium perfringens has been shown previously to inhibit the fusion of cultured chick myoblasts without affecting recognition or cell cycle parameters. In this paper we report that the mononucleated myoblasts, in phospholipase C, synthesize thick and thin filaments and organize them into myofibrils, and that T-tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum differentiate and join in morphologically typical junctions. The structurally differentiated myoblasts can then fuse with one another to form myotubes. We conclude that cell fusion is not necessary for muscle differentiation.     

Morphological characterization of actively fusing L6 myoblasts

We have characterized morphologically the surface of L6 myoblasts at the time of active cell fusion using transmission electron microscopy. Two subclones of the L6 line were used in these studies: the L6Cl55 line that fuses to form multinucleated syncytia and the NF44 non-fusing variant. Ultrastructural analysis revealed an electron-opaque material at localized points of cell-cell apposition in actively fusing L6Cl55 cells. This material may be transported by and secreted from smooth-surfaced cytoplasmic vesicles with an electron-dense core. In contrast to L6Cl55 cells, the electron-dense plaques were seen infrequently in cultures of the NF44 non-fusing variant. This previously unidentified substance may be associated with cell-cell recognition or adhesion, both necessary prerequisites for myoblast membrane fusion. Alternatively, the electron-dense plaques may be directly involved in the fusion event.     

The duration of the terminal G1 of fusing myoblasts

We found earlier that the initiation of fusion in cultures of embryonic myoblasts is accompanied by a marked protraction of G₁, that phase of the cycle to which fusion is restricted. To test the relationship of this increase in G₁ to the appearance of multinucleated cells we have compared the distribution of the length of G₁ in cycling myoblasts (at both prefusion and fusion stages) to the G₁ preceding fusion. Our data indicate that myoblasts spend a minimum of 4 hr in G₁ before fusing. Although 87.5% of cycling myoblasts in fusion-stage clones satisfy this minimum, only 17.5% of the myoblasts at prefusion stages would be competent by this criterion. Based on these percentages, the probability of contact between competent cells is 54-fold greater at fusion than at prefusion stages suggesting that fusion is initiated when a large enough fraction of the cycling myoblasts spends more than 4 hr in G₁. The fact that the graph of terminal G₁s exhibits two distinct peaks suggests that the distribution may be bimodal, the modal value of the first peak being close to the modal value of those myoblasts in fusing cultures which reenter S. Bimodality is confirmed by a transitional probability plot of the data, which may also indicate that, when G₁ exceeds 11 hr the probability of fusing increases. These data are compatible with the concept that myoblasts (of the first mode, at least) fuse in an indeterminate state from which they can, alternatively, reenter S. This may also be true of two-thirds of the myoblasts of the second mode the terminal G₁s of which fall within the limits of G₁ of fusion-stage cycling myoblasts.     

Regulation of rat myosin light-chain synthesis in heterokaryons between 5-bromodeoxyuridine-blocked rat myoblasts and differentiated chick myocytes

Terminal cell differentiation in a variety of model systems is inhibited by the thymidine analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR). We investigated the mode of action of BUdR by forming heterokaryons between undifferentiated BUdR-blocked rat myoblasts and differentiated chick skeletal myocytes. We analyzed newly synthesized proteins on two- dimensional polyacrylamide gels. The induction of rat skeletal myosin light-chain synthesis was reduced fivefold, as compared with controls, when chick myocytes were fused to BUdR-blocked rat myoblasts. This indicates that plasma membrane effects cannot be the proximate cause for the inhibition of myogenesis by BUdR, since BUdR is able to block the effect of chick inducing factors even when a differentiated chick myocyte is in direct cytoplasmic continuity with the BUdR-blocked rat nucleus. The observation that chick cells required an 80% substitution of BUdR for thymidine to block myogenesis, whereas L6 rat myoblasts required only a 20% substitution led to a hypothesis involving a DNA- mediated action of BUdR. This model yielded three testable predictions: (a) putative chick inducing molecules should be present in limiting quantities, (b) exploiting gene-dosage effects to increase the quantity of putative chick inducing factors might overcome the inhibition produced in the rat myoblasts by a 35% BUdR for thymidine substitution, and (c) these gene-dosage effects should be abolished by increasing the level of BUdR substitution in the rat myoblast to 60-80%. All three of these predictions have been verified, providing strong indirect evidence that the inhibition of myogenesis produced by BUdR is a direct result of its incorporation into cellular DNA.     

Detection of myosin in prefusion G0 lizard myoblasts in vitro.

The relationships between withdrawal of myoblasts from the cell cycle, myosin synthesis, and myoblast fusion have been examined in cultures of skeletal muscle derived from the regenerating tail of the lizard Anolis carolinensis. Utilizing both immunocytochemistry and transmission electron microscopy, we have demonstrated the presence of myosin in mononucleated lizard myoblasts which have entered a prefusion G₀ period. A model is presented summarizing our current view of lizard myogenesis in vitro.     

The dissipative contribution of myosin II in the cytoskeleton dynamics of myoblasts

We have determined the microrheological response of the actin meshwork for individual cells. We applied oscillating forces with an optical tweezer to a micrometric bead specifically bound to the actin meshwork of C2 myoblasts, and measured the amplitude and phase shift of the induced cell deformation. For a non-perturbed single cell, we have shown that the elastic and loss moduli G and G behave as power laws f and f of the frequency f (0.01<f <50 Hz), and being in the range 0.15–0.35. This demonstrates that the dissipation mechanisms in a single cell involve a broad and continuous distribution of relaxation times. After adding blebbistatin, an inhibitor of myosin II activity, the exponent of G decreases to about 0.10, and G becomes roughly constant for 0.01<f<10 Hz. The actin meshwork appears less rigid and less dissipative than in the control experiment. This is consistent with an inhibition of ATPase and reduction of the gliding mobility of myosin II on actin filaments. In this frequency range, the actomyosin activity appears as an essential mechanism allowing the cell to adapt to an external mechanical stress.     

Slow muscle myoblasts differentiating in vitro synthesize both slow and fast myosin light chains

Whether fast and slow skeletal muscles of the embryo develop from cells of a common origin or from two separate cellular origins is not known. Recent evidence suggests that prior to innervation all muscles of the embryo are of one type, the fast type, i.e., all synthesize fast but not slow myosin light chains. Innervation has been thought to play the central role in the shift of a fast to a slow muscle. Experiments reported here demonstrate that myoblasts from slow muscle regions of the embryo when isolated in tissue culture differentiate into myotubes which synthesize both fast and slow myosin light chains, and that innervation is not required to initiate slow myosin light-chain synthesis.     

Activation of pancreatic islet myosin ATPase by ATP and actin

Previous work from our laboratory indicated that pancreatic islets contain myosin light chain kinase, a calcium- and calmodulin-activated enzyme. This enzyme catalyzes phosphorylation of myosin which, in tissues containing smooth muscle, is believed to permit the ATPase of myosin to be activated by actin. The current report shows that incubating islet cytosol with ATP under conditions that should permit phosphorylation of myosin markedly enhances islet myosin ATPase activity in the presence of actin. It has been suggested that contractile proteins power insulin granule movements in the beta cell. Phosphorylation of myosin may be one of the means of coupling stimuli to insulin secretion.     

Synthesis of rat myosin light chains in heterokaryons formed between undifferentiated rat myoblasts and chick skeletal myocytes

The control of gene expression during terminal myogenesis was explored in heterokaryons between differentiated and undifferentiated myogenic cells by analyzing the formation of species specific myosin light chains of chick and rat skeletal muscle. Dividing L6 rat myoblasts served as the biochemically undifferentiated parent. The differentiated parental cells were mononucleated muscle cells (myocytes) that were obtained from primary cultures of embryonic chick thigh muscle by blocking myotube formation with EGTA and later incubating the postimitotic cells in cytochalasin B. Heterokaryons were isolated by the selective rescue of fusion products between cells previously treated with lethal doses of different cell poisons. 95-99% pure populations of heterokaryons formed between undifferentiated rat myoblasts and differentiated chick myocytes were obtained. The cells were labeled with [35S]methionine, and whole cell extracts were analyzed on two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels. These heterokaryons synthesize the light chain of chick myosin and both embryonic and adult light chains of rat skeletal myosin. Control homokaryons formed by fusing undifferentiated cells to themselves did not synthesize skeletal myosin light chains. Control heterokaryons formed between undifferentiated rat myoblasts and chick fibroblasts also failed to synthesize myosin light chains. These results indicate that differentiated chick muscle cells provide some factor that induces L6 myoblasts to synthesize rat myosin light chains. This system provides a model for investigating the processes by which differentiated cell functions are induced.     

Activation of myosin Va function by melanophilin, a specific docking partner of myosin Va

It is known that melanophilin is a myosin Va-targeting molecule that links myosin Va and the cargo vesicles in cells. Here we found that melanophilin directly activates the actin-activated ATPase activity of myosin Va and thus its motor activity. The actin-activated ATPase activity of the melanocyte-type myosin Va having exon-F was significantly activated by melanophilin by 4-fold. Although Rab27a binds to myosin Va/melanophilin complex, it did not affect the melanophilin-induced activation of myosin Va. Deletion of the C-terminal actin binding domain and N-terminal Rab binding domain of melanophilin resulted in no change in the activation of the ATPase by melanophilin, indicating that the myosin Va binding domain (MBD) is sufficient for the activation of myosin Va. Among MBDs, the interaction of MBD-2 with exon-F of myosin Va is critical for the binding of myosin Va and melanophilin, whereas MBD-1 interacting with the globular tail of myosin Va plays a more significant role in the activation of myosin Va ATPase activity. This is the first demonstration that the binding of the cargo molecule directly activates myosin motor activity. The present finding raises the idea that myosin motors are switched upon their binding to the cargo molecules, thus avoiding the waste of ATP consumption.     

Activation of myosin phosphatase targeting subunit by mitosis-specific phosphorylation

It has been demonstrated previously that during mitosis the sites of myosin phosphorylation are switched between the inhibitory sites, Ser 1/2, and the activation sites, Ser 19/Thr 18 (Yamakita, Y., S. Yamashiro, and F. Matsumura. 1994. J. Cell Biol. 124:129- 137; Satterwhite, L.L., M.J. Lohka, K.L. Wilson, T.Y. Scherson, L.J. Cisek, J.L. Corden, and T.D. Pollard. 1992. J. Cell Biol. 118:595-605), suggesting a regulatory role of myosin phosphorylation in cell division. To explore the function of myosin phosphatase in cell division, the possibility that myosin phosphatase activity may be altered during cell division was examined. We have found that the myosin phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT) undergoes mitosis-specific phosphorylation and that the phosphorylation is reversed during cytokinesis. MYPT phosphorylated either in vivo or in vitro in the mitosis-specific way showed higher binding to myosin II (two- to threefold) compared to MYPT from cells in interphase. Furthermore, the activity of myosin phosphatase was increased more than twice and it is suggested this reflected the increased affinity of myosin binding. These results indicate the presence of a unique positive regulatory mechanism for myosin phosphatase in cell division. The activation of myosin phosphatase during mitosis would enhance dephosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain, thereby leading to the disassembly of stress fibers during prophase. The mitosis-specific effect of phosphorylation is lost on exit from mitosis, and the resultant increase in myosin phosphorylation may act as a signal to activate cytokinesis.     

ATP synthesis by myosin during pH-jump

It has been shown that a fast increase in pH of myosin solution leads to ATP formation de novo from ADP and Pi (about one ATP molecule per one myosin molecule). The obligatory condition for ATP synthesis was that the value of pH 7.9-8.0 should be crossed in the course of pH-jump. The data obtained are explained in terms of the concept of conformational relaxation in enzyme catalysis.     

Influence of neurons on the occurrence of fibre types and myosin light chains in cultured presumptive slow and fast myoblasts

Myoblasts from 9-day-old quail embryo slow anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) and fast posterior and latissimus dorsi (PLD) muscles were co-cultured with neurons. The presence of neurons allowed ALD-derived muscle fibres to express characteristic features of a slow muscle (occurrence of alpha' and of beta' fibres and predominance of slow myosin light chains). On the contrary, PLD-derived fibres did not differentiate into normal fast fibres (occurrence of alpha'-like fibres and absence of LC3f). These results are compared with the differentiation of ALD and PLD myoblasts in aneural condition. It is suggested that neurons can modify some phenotypic expression of presumptive slow or fast myoblasts.     

Myosin synthesis by fusion-arrested chick embryo myoblasts in cell culture.

The synthesis and accumulation of myosin was studied in subcultures of fusion-blocked, postmitotic embryonic chicken myogenic cells. Electron micrographs and fluorescent microscopy with antimyosin revealed that most, if not all, of these cells contain myosin. It was also found that these cells are capable of accumulating myosin at rates comparable to fused cells. Incipient T-tubule formation was also present in some of the blocked cells. It is concluded that cell fusion is not a prerequisite for myosin synthesis and accumulation or T-tubule formation during myogenesis in vitro.     

Activation of the calcium-regulated thin filament by myosin strong binding

The current study was undertaken to investigate the relative contribution of calcium and myosin binding to thin filament activation. Using the in vitro motility assay, myosin strong binding to the thin filament was controlled by three mechanisms: 1), varying the myosin concentration of the motility surface, and adding either 2), inorganic phosphate (Pi) or 3), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to the motility solutions. At saturating myosin conditions, Pi had no effect on thin filament motility. However, at subsaturating myosin concentrations, velocity was reduced at maximal and submaximal calcium in the presence of Pi. Adding ADP to the motility buffers reduced thin filament sliding velocity but increased the pCa(50) of the thin filament. Thus by limiting or increasing myosin strong binding (with the addition of Pi and ADP, respectively), the calcium concentration at which half maximal activation of the thin filament is achieved can be modulated. In experiments without ADP or Pi, the myosin concentration on the motility surface required to reach maximal velocity inversely correlated with the level of calcium activation. Through this approach, we demonstrate that myosin strong binding is essential for thin filament activation at both maximal and submaximal calcium levels, with the relative contribution of myosin strong binding being greatest at submaximal calcium. Furthermore, under conditions in which myosin strong binding is not rate limiting (i.e., saturating myosin conditions), our data suggest that a modulation of myosin cross-bridge kinetics is likely responsible for the graded response to calcium observed in the in vitro motility assay.