Lipid Segregation and Membrane Budding Induced by the Peripheral Membrane Binding Protein Annexin A2

The formation of dynamic membrane microdomains is an important phenomenon in many signal transduction and membrane trafficking events. It is driven by intrinsic properties of membrane lipids and integral as well as membrane-associated proteins. Here we analyzed the ability of one peripherally associated membrane protein, annexin A2 (AnxA2), to induce the formation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P₂)-rich domains in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) of complex lipid composition. AnxA2 is a cytosolic protein that can bind PI(4,5)P₂ and other acidic phospholipids in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner and that has been implicated in cellular membrane dynamics in endocytosis and exocytosis. We show that AnxA2 binding to GUVs induces lipid phase separation and the recruitment of PI(4,5)P₂, cholesterol and glycosphingolipids into larger clusters. This property is observed for the full-length monomeric protein, a mutant derivative comprising the C-terminal protein core domain and for AnxA2 residing in a heterotetrameric complex with its intracellular binding partner S100A10. All AnxA2 derivatives inducing PI(4,5)P₂ clustering are also capable of forming interconnections between PI(4,5)P₂-rich microdomains of adjacent GUVs. Furthermore, they can induce membrane indentations rich in PI(4,5)P₂ and inward budding of these membrane domains into the lumen of GUVs. This inward vesiculation is specific for AnxA2 and not shared with other PI(4,5)P₂-binding proteins such as the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of phospholipase Cδ1. Together our results indicate that annexins such as AnxA2 can efficiently induce membrane deformations after lipid segregation, a mechanism possibly underlying annexin functions in membrane trafficking.     

Model membranes to shed light on the biochemical and physical properties of ezrin/radixin/moesin

Ezrin, radixin and moesin (ERM) proteins are more and more recognized to play a key role in a large number of important physiological processes such as morphogenesis, cancer metastasis and virus infection. Recent reviews extensively discuss their biological functions 1, 2, 3 and 4. In this review, we will first remind the main features of this family of proteins, which are known as linkers and regulators of plasma membrane/cytoskeleton linkage. We will then briefly review their implication in pathological processes such as cancer and viral infection. In a second part, we will focus on biochemical and biophysical approaches to study ERM interaction with lipid membranes and conformational change in well-defined environments. In vitro studies using biomimetic lipid membranes, especially large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) and recombinant proteins help to understand the molecular mechanism of conformational activation of ERM proteins. These tools are aimed to decorticate the different steps of the interaction, to simplify the experiments performed in vivo in much more complex biological environments.     

Mechanoformation of neutral giant phospholipid vesicles in high ionic strength solution

We present new and simple method for formation of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) in high ionic strength solutions, such as phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Mechanoformation method is an alternative method to electroformation method. The advantage of the mechanoformation procedure is that there are no limitations with respect to the ionic strength of the aqueous solutions, because there is no applied electric potential thus no current flow through the formation cell and no electrolysis is induced.     

A gradient of synaptic efficacy and its presynaptic basis in the cercal system of the cockroach

1. The cerci of the cockroach Periplaneta americana bear longitudinal columns of wind-sensitive receptors which provide excitatory inputs to the giant interneurons (GIs) of the abdominal nerve cord. By using sound stimuli, we showed that spikes were more easily induced in the GIs from the most proximal than from the most distal receptors of the same column. 2. This was not due to a greater responsiveness of proximal sensilla to tones but to stronger synaptic connections; for the 3 largest GIs, the amplitude of the monosynaptic unitary EPSP tended to be all the higher as the stimulated sensillum was more proximal in each column. 3. The differences in EPSP size were due, at least partly, to presynaptic factors: a statistical analysis of the amplitude fluctuations of single-fibre EPSPs, showed that the amount of transmitter released per presynaptic impulse was larger for proximal than for distal sensory neurons in each column. 4. These differences in synaptic strength were correlated with differences in the structure of the afferent terminals. The location, the size and the shape of the axonal arbors are nearly the same for all sensory neurons of the same column, but proximal neurons arborize more profusely, and the terminal arbor of distal neurons is generally characterized by dorsal clusters of varicosities. 5. During postembryonic development, a decrease in the connection strength of 2 identified cercal neurons was accompanied by a retraction of ramifications on the medial side of their axonal arbor. 6. Possible mechanisms involved in the genesis and the remodelling of the gradient of synaptic strength are discussed in the light of available data and hypotheses relative to the development of ordered afferent connections.     

应用RAPD技术对大熊猫分类地位的探讨

采用ＰＣＲ和Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ杂交等方法对大熊猫与小熊猫、马来熊、浣熊等共有的一条１．３ｋｂ的ＲＡＰＤ产物片段进行了初步分析。研究结果显示,来自于大熊猫的此共有片段可能为一重复序列,并且其内部含有多个随机引物ＡＢ１－０８的结合位点。以此来自于大熊猫的１．３ｋｂ片段为探针进行杂交,发现马来熊ＲＡＰＤ产物中的对应片段显示了很高的同源性,而小熊猫和浣熊ＲＡＰＤ产物则无相应的杂交带。这暗示,从分类地位上来看,大熊猫与熊科马来熊的亲缘关系应更近于与小熊猫和浣熊的亲缘关系,应与马来熊一样划分为熊科。本研究为大熊猫分类地位的确定提供了又一分子生物学证据     

A visually evoked escape response of the housefly

Summary Flies (Musca domestica) avoid danger by initiating a rapid jump followed by flight. To identify the visual cues that trigger the escape response in the housefly, we measured the timing and probability of escapes when the fly was presented with a variety of visual stimuli created by moving targets toward it. Our results show that an escape response is triggered by an approaching dark disk, but not by a receding dark disk. On the other hand, a bright disk elicits escape only when it recedes. A disk with black and white rings is less effective at eliciting escape than is a dark solid disk of the same size. This indicates that the darkening contrast produced by an approaching stimulus is a more crucial parameter than expansion cues contained in the optical flow. Escape is also triggered by a horizontally moving dark edge, but not by a moving bright edge or by a grating. An examination of several visual parameters reveals that the darkening contrast, measured from the onset of stimulation to the start of escape is nearly constant for a variety of stimuli that trigger escape reliably. Thus darkening contrast, coupled with motion may be crucial in eliciting the visually evoked escape response. Other visual parameters such as time-to-contact or target angular velocity seem to be relatively unimportant to the timing of escapes.Abbreviations P _s Probability of successful escape - r _disk radius of disk target - r _arena radius of shielding arena - v _disk linear velocity of disk target - v _edge linear velocity of edge - d _disk angular velocity of disk target boundary - _edge angular velocity of edge - _escape target distance at escape - d _start target distance before onset of target movement - h _edge height of the edge above fly - x _start distance from corner of triangle to start position of edge (0 or 50 mm) - x _escape distance from corner of triangle to the position of the edge when the fly escapes - x _center distance from corner of triangle to point above the center of the pad - x _total distance from the corner of the triangle to the base (height of triangle = base of triangle)     

HS-SPME-GC / MS 在大熊猫尿液化学成分检测中的应用

尿液在大熊猫化学通讯过程中具有重要作用。对大熊猫尿液中化学成分的检测是揭示大熊猫尿液中化学物质组成及其功能的关键。本实验通过使用顶空固相微萃取技术(Headspace-solid phase microextraction,HSSPME)对大熊猫尿液样品进行前期处理,继而利用气相色谱- 质谱联用技术(Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry,GC / MS)对大熊猫尿液中化学成分进行检测。共检测到56 个峰,通过在NIST (National Institute of Standards
and Technology)质谱库中进行检索,初步推定出其中的38 种物质。除此之外,还对HS - SPME 萃取头的净化方法进行了探索和改进。结果表明,顶空固相微萃取技术结合气相色谱- 质谱联用技术能够应用于大熊猫尿液中挥发性与半挥发性化合物的检测,并且能够得到较好的实验结果,为揭示大熊猫化学通讯机理提供基础。     

Frequency-dependent electrodeformation of giant phospholipid vesicles in AC electric field

A model of vesicle electrodeformation is described which obtains a parametrized vesicle shape by minimizing the sum of the membrane bending energy and the energy due to the electric field. Both the vesicle membrane and the aqueous media inside and outside the vesicle are treated as leaky dielectrics, and the vesicle itself is modeled as a nearly spherical shape enclosed within a thin membrane. It is demonstrated (a) that the model achieves a good quantitative agreement with the experimentally determined prolate-to-oblate transition frequencies in the kilohertz range and (b) that the model can explain a phase diagram of shapes of giant phospholipid vesicles with respect to two parameters: the frequency of the applied alternating current electric field and the ratio of the electrical conductivities of the aqueous media inside and outside the vesicle, explored in a recent paper (S. Aranda et al., Biophys J 95:L19–L21, 2008). A possible use of the frequency-dependent shape transitions of phospholipid vesicles in conductometry of microliter samples is discussed.