Molecular cloning and characterization of DdCAD-1, a Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule, in Dictyostelium discoideum

Involvement of a triton-insoluble floating fraction in Dictyostelium cell-cell adhesion

We have isolated and characterized a Triton-insoluble floating fraction (TIFF) from Dictyostelium. Ten major proteins were consistently detected in TIFF, and six species were identified by mass spectrometry as actin, porin, comitin, regulatory myosin light chain, a novel member of the CD36 family, and the phospholipid-anchored cell adhesion molecule gp80. TIFF was enriched with many acylated proteins. Also, the sterol/phospholipid ratio of TIFF was 10-fold higher than that of the bulk plasma membrane. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that TIFF has vesicular morphology and confirmed the association of gp80 and comitin with TIFF membranes. Several TIFF properties were similar to those of Dictyostelium contact regions, which were isolated as a cytoskeleton-associated membrane fraction. Mass spectrometry demonstrated that TIFF and contact regions shared the same major proteins. During development, gp80 colocalized with F-actin, porin, and comitin at cell-cell contacts. These proteins were also recruited to gp80 caps induced by antibody cross-linking. Filipin staining revealed high sterol levels in both gp80-enriched cell-cell contacts and gp80 caps. Moreover, sterol sequestration by filipin and digitonin inhibited gp80-mediated cell-cell adhesion. This study reveals that Dictyostelium TIFF has structural properties previously attributed to vertebrate TIFF and establishes a role for Dictyostelium TIFF in cell-cell adhesion during development.

Calcium requirement for efficient phagocytosis by Dictyostelium discoideum

Extracellular EDTA suppressed in a dose-dependent manner the phagocytosis of yeast particles by Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Activity was restored fully by the addition of Ca(2+), and partially by the addition of Mn(2+)or Zn(2+), but Mg(2+)was ineffective. The pH-sensitive, Ca(2+)-specific chelator EGTA also inhibited phagocytosis at pH 7.5, but not at pH 5, and Ca(2+)restored the inhibited phagocytosis. In contrast, pinocytosis was unaffected by EDTA. Consistent with the idea that Ca(2+)was required for phagocytosis, D. discoideum growth on bacteria was inhibited by EDTA, which was then restored by the addition of Ca(2+). It is concluded that Ca(2+)was needed for efficient phagocytosis by D. discoideum amoebae. A search for Ca(2+)-dependent membrane proteins enriched in phagosomes revealed the presence of p24, a Ca(2+)-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule-1 (DdCAD-1) that could be the target of the observed EDTA and EGTA inhibition. DdCAD-1-minus cells, however, had normal phagocytic activity. Furthermore, phagocytosis was inhibited by EDTA and rescued by Ca(2+)in the mutant just as in wild type. Thus, DdCAD-1 was not responsible for the observed Ca(2+)-dependence of phagocytosis, indicating that one or more different Ca(2+)-dependent molecule(s) was involved in the process.

Cell adhesion: Ushering in a new understanding of myosin VII

The myosin VII motor protein has recently been found to have a role in cell adhesion. This new function is conserved from amoebae to man and provides an explanation for deafness in Usher syndrome patients.

The membrane glycoprotein gp150 is encoded by the lagC gene and mediates cell-cell adhesion by heterophilic binding during Dictyostelium development

gp150 is a membrane glycoprotein which has been implicated in cell-cell adhesion in the postaggregation stages of Dictyostelium development. An analysis of its tryptic peptides by mass spectrometry has identified gp150 as the product of the lagC gene, which was previously shown to play a role in morphogenesis and cell-type specification. Antibodies raised against the GST-LagC fusion protein specifically recognized gp150 in wild-type cells and showed that it is missing in lagC-null cells. Immunolocalization studies have confirmed its enrichment in cell-cell contact regions. In mutant cells that lack the aggregation stage-specific cell adhesion molecule gp80, gp150 is expressed precociously. Moreover, these cells acquire EDTA-resistant cell-cell binding during aggregation, suggesting a role for gp150 in this process. Cells in which the genes encoding gp80 and gp150 are both inactivated do not acquire EDTA-resistant cell adhesion during aggregation. Strains transformed with an actin 15::lagC construct express gp150 precociously, but do not show EDTA-resistant adhesion during early development. However, vegetative cells expressing gp150 can be recruited into aggregates of 16-h lagC-null cells. These results, together with those obtained with the cell-to-substratum binding assay, indicate that gp150 mediates cell-cell adhesion via heterophilic interactions with another component that accumulates during the aggregation stage.

Cadherins in embryonic and neural morphogenesis

Cadherins not only maintain the structural integrity of cells and tissues but also control a wide array of cellular behaviours. They are instrumental for cell and tissue polarization, and they regulate cell movements such as cell sorting, cell migration and cell rearrangements. Cadherins may also contribute to neurite outgrowth and pathfinding, and to synaptic specificity and modulation in the central nervous system.

Cadherins in the central nervous system

The central nervous system (CNS) is divided into diverse embryological and functional compartments. The early embryonic CNS consists of a series of transverse subdivisions (neuromeres) and longitudinal domains. These embryonic subdivisions represent histogenetic fields in which neurons are born and aggregate in distinct cell groups (brain nuclei and layers). Different subsets of these aggregates become selectively connected by nerve fiber tracts and, finally, by synapses, thus forming the neural circuits of the functional systems in the CNS. Recent work has shown that 30 or more members of the cadherin family of morphoregulatory molecules are differentially expressed in the developing and mature brain at almost all stages of development. In a regionally specific fashion, most cadherins studied to date are expressed by the embryonic subdivisions of the early embryonic brain, by developing brain nuclei, cortical layers and regions, and by fiber tracts, neural circuits and synapses. Each cadherin shows a unique expression pattern that is distinct from that of other cadherins. Experimental evidence suggests that cadherins contribute to CNS regionalization, morphogenesis and fiber tract formation, possibly by conferring preferentially homotypic adhesiveness (or other types of interactions) between the diverse structural elements of the CNS. Cadherin-mediated adhesive specificity may thus provide a molecular code for early embryonic CNS regionalization as well as for the development and maintenance of functional structures in the CNS, from embryonic subdivisions to brain nuclei, cortical layers and neural circuits, down to the level of individual synapses.

Large-scale comparison of fungal sequence information: mechanisms of innovation in Neurospora crassa and gene loss in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We report a large-scale comparison of sequence data from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa with the complete genome sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. N. crassa is considerably more morphologically and developmentally complex than S. cerevisiae. We found that N. crassa has a much higher proportion of "orphan" genes than S. cerevisiae, suggesting that its morphological complexity reflects the acquisition or maintenance of novel genes, consistent with its larger genome. Our results also indicate the loss of specific genes from S. cerevisiae. Surprisingly, some of the genes lost from S. cerevisiae are involved in basic cellular processes, including translation and ion (especially calcium) homeostasis. Horizontal gene transfer from prokaryotes appears to have played a relatively modest role in the evolution of the N. crassa genome. Differences in the overall rate of molecular evolution between N. crassa and S. cerevisiae were not detected. Our results indicate that the current public sequence databases have fairly complete samples of gene families with ancient conserved regions, suggesting that further sequencing will not substantially change the proportion of genes with homologs among distantly related groups. Models of the evolution of fungal genomes compatible with these results, and their functional implications, are discussed.

Scanning the available Dictyostelium discoideum proteome for O-linked GlcNAc glycosylation sites using neural networks

Dictyostelium discoideum has been suggested as a eukaryotic model organism for glycobiology studies. Presently, the characteristics of acceptor sites for the N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferases in Dictyostelium discoideum, which link GlcNAc in an alpha linkage to hydroxyl residues, are largely unknown. This motivates the development of a species specific method for prediction of O-linked GlcNAc glycosylation sites in secreted and membrane proteins of D. discoideum. The method presented here employs a jury of artificial neural networks. These networks were trained to recognize the sequence context and protein surface accessibility in 39 experimentally determined O-alpha-GlcNAc sites found in D. discoideum glycoproteins expressed in vivo. Cross-validation of the data revealed a correlation in which 97% of the glycosylated and nonglycosylated sites were correctly identified. Based on the currently limited data set, an abundant periodicity of two (positions-3, -1, +1, +3, etc.) in Proline residues alternating with hydroxyl amino acids was observed upstream and downstream of the acceptor site. This was a consequence of the spacing of the glycosylated residues themselves which were peculiarly found to be situated only at even positions with respect to each other, indicating that these may be located within beta-strands. The method has been used for a rapid and ranked scan of the fraction of the Dictyostelium proteome available in public databases, remarkably 25-30% of which were predicted glycosylated. The scan revealed acceptor sites in several proteins known experimentally to be O-glycosylated at unmapped sites. The available proteome was classified into functional and cellular compartments to study any preferential patterns of glycosylation. A sequence based prediction server for GlcNAc O-glycosylations in D. discoideum proteins has been made available through the WWW at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/DictyOGlyc/ and via E-mail to DictyOGlyc@cbs.dtu.dk.

Three actin cross-linking proteins, the 34 kDa actin-bundling protein, alpha-actinin and gelation factor (ABP-120), have both unique and redundant roles in the growth and development of Dictyostelium

The contribution of three actin cross-linking proteins, alpha-actinin (alphaA), gelation factor (ABP-120), and the 34 kDa actin-bundling protein to cellular functions has been studied in three single mutant (alphaA-, 120-, and 34-) and three double mutant (alphaA-/120-, 34-/alphaA-, 34-/120-) strains of Dictyostelium generated by homologous recombination. Strains alphaA-/120- and 34-/alphaA- exhibited a reduced rate of pinocytosis, grew to lower saturation densities, and produced small cells in shaking cultures. All strains grew normally in bacterial suspensions and on agar plates with a bacterial lawn. Slow growth under conditions of reduced temperature and increased osmolarity was observed in single mutants 34- and alphaA-, respectively, as well as in some of the double mutant strains. Motility, chemotaxis, and development were largely unaltered in 34-/alphaA- and 34-/120- cells. However, 34-/alphaA- cells showed enhanced aggregation when starved in suspension. Moreover, morphogenesis was impaired in both double mutant strains and fruiting bodies of aberrant morphology were observed. These defects were reverted by re-expression of one of the lacking cross-linking proteins. The additive and synthetic phenotypes of these mutations indicate that actin cross-linking proteins serve both unique and overlapping functions in the actin cytoskeleton.

Identification of a Cytoplasmic Region of CD20 Required for Its Redistribution to a Detergent-Insoluble Membrane Compartment

CD20 is a B lymphocyte integral membrane protein with signal-transducing properties. Abs directed toward extracellular CD20 epitopes activate nonreceptor tyrosine kinases and modulate cell cycle progression of B lymphocytes. Recently, we demonstrated that binding of CD20 Abs to B cells induces the rapid redistribution of up to 95% of CD20 molecules to low density, detergent-insoluble membrane microdomains and induces the appearance of an approximately 50-kDa tyrosine-phosphorylated protein in the same compartment. Active relocalization of CD20 may thus be critical to the initiation of signaling events by CD20. The CD20 cDNA sequence predicts a nonglycosylated protein with four transmembrane-spanning regions and intracellular amino and carboxyl termini. Here we provide verification of the location of both the intracellular and extracellular regions of the CD20 molecule and identify a membrane-proximal sequence in the cytoplasmic carboxyl tail that is required for CD20 to redistribute to detergent-insoluble membrane microdomains.

A novel Dictyostelium cell surface protein important for both cell adhesion and cell sorting

A mutant of Dictyostelium that is aberrant in the process of tip formation (dtfA-: defective in tip formation A) has been isolated by gene tagging. The dtfA gene is predicted to encode a protein of 163 kDa. There are no extensive sequence homologies between DTFA and previously identified proteins, but four short N-terminal sequence motifs show partial homology to repeats found in mammalian mucins. Immunofluorescence reveals a lattice-like arrangement of DTFA protein at the cell surface. When developing on a bacterial lawn, cells of the mutant strain (dtfA- cells) aggregate to form tight mounds, but development then becomes arrested. When developed in the absence of nutrients, a fraction of dtfA- cells complete development, but there is a long delay at the tight mound stage and the culminants that eventually form are aberrant. In such dtfA- mounds the prestalk cells fail to move to the apex on cue and so tip formation is delayed. dtfA- cells also show a conditional defect in early development, in that they are unable to aggregate when plated at low density. In addition dtfA- cells do not agglomerate efficiently when shaken in suspension. In combination, these results suggest that DTFA may form part of a cell-cell adhesion system that is needed both for optimal aggregation and for efficient cell sorting during multicellular development. The DTFA protein also appears to be important during cell growth, because cytokinesis is defective and the actin cytoskeleton aberrant in growing dtfA- cells.

Interaptin, an actin-binding protein of the alpha-actinin superfamily in Dictyostelium discoideum, is developmentally and cAMP-regulated and associates with intracellular membrane compartments

In a search for novel members of the alpha-actinin superfamily, a Dictyostelium discoideum genomic library in yeast artificial chromosomes (YAC) was screened under low stringency conditions using the acting-binding domain of the gelation factor as probe. A new locus was identified and 8.6 kb of genomic DNA were sequenced that encompassed the whole abpD gene. The DNA sequence predicts a protein, interaptin, with a calculated molecular mass of 204,300 D that is constituted by an actin-binding domain, a central coiled-coil rod domain and a membrane-associated domain. In Northern blot analyses a cAMP-stimulated transcript of 5.8 kb is expressed at the stage when cell differentiation occurs. Monoclonal antibodies raised against bacterially expressed interaptin polypeptides recognized a 200-kD developmentally and cAMP-regulated protein and a 160-kD constitutively expressed protein in Western blots. In multicellular structures, interaptin appears to be enriched in anterior-like cells which sort to the upper and lower cups during culmination. The protein is located at the nuclear envelope and ER. In mutants deficient in interaptin development is delayed, but the morphology of the mature fruiting bodies appears normal. When starved in suspension abpD- cells form EDTA-stable aggregates, which, in contrast to wild type, dissociate. Based on its domains and location, interaptin constitutes a potential link between intracellular membrane compartments and the actin cytoskeleton.

The cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 in Dictyostelium is targeted to the cell surface by a nonclassical transport pathway involving contractile vacuoles

DdCAD-1 is a 24-kD Ca2+-dependent cell- cell adhesion molecule that is expressed soon after the initiation of development in Dictyostelium cells. DdCAD-1 is present on the cell surface as well as in the cytosol. However, the deduced amino acid sequence of DdCAD-1 lacks a hydrophobic signal peptide or any predicted transmembrane domain, suggesting that it may be presented on the cell surface via a nonclassical transport mechanism. Here we report that DdCAD-1 is transported to the cell surface via contractile vacuoles, which are normally involved in osmoregulation. Immunofluorescence microscopy and subcellular fractionation revealed a preferential association of DdCAD-1 with contractile vacuoles. Proteolytic treatment of isolated contractile vacuoles degraded vacuole-associated calmodulin but not DdCAD-1, demonstrating that DdCAD-1 was present in the lumen. The use of hyperosmotic conditions that suppress contractile vacuole activity led to a dramatic decrease in DdCAD-1 accumulation on the cell surface and the absence of cell cohesiveness. Shifting cells back to a hypotonic condition after hypertonic treatments induced a rapid increase in DdCAD-1-positive contractile vacuoles, followed by the accumulation of DdCAD-1 on the cell membrane. 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1, 3-diazole, a specific inhibitor of vacuolar-type H+-ATPase and thus of the activity of contractile vacuoles, also inhibited the accumulation of DdCAD-1 on the cell surface. Furthermore, an in vitro reconstitution system was established, and isolated contractile vacuoles were shown to import soluble DdCAD-1 into their lumen in an ATP-stimulated manner. Taken together, these data provide the first evidence for a nonclassical protein transport mechanism that uses contractile vacuoles to target a soluble cytosolic protein to the cell surface.

Synthesis of the Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1 is regulated by multiple factors during Dictyostelium development

In Dictyostelium discoideum, the cadA gene encodes the cell adhesion molecule DdCAD-1, a protein of M(r) 24,000, which mediates Ca(2+)-dependent cell-cell adhesion during development. We have examined the effects of cAMP, cell-cell contact, and growth conditions on cadA expression. cadA has a unique pattern of expression, which appears to be a combination of the expression patterns of early genes and aggregation-stage genes. Expression of the cadA gene in bacterially grown cells is activated at the beginning of the developmental cycle, followed by a period of rapid DdCAD-1 accumulation. The mRNA level reaches its maximum at 9 h of development and then declines to the basal level at approximately 18 h, while the protein level remains constant after reaching its maximum at 12 h. Pulse-chase experiments have demonstrated that DdCAD-1 has a significantly longer half-life than the average cellular protein. Transcription of the cadA gene is stimulated by exogenous cAMP pulses, leading to a 3- to 5-fold increase in the transcription rate. In the fgdA mutant, which lacks a functional G alpha 2, cAMP fails to enhance cadA expression, suggesting that cAMP stimulates cadA transcription via a G protein-dependent pathway. However, inhibition of cell-cell contact has no effect on the synthesis of DdCAD-1. Growth conditions also have a major influence on cadA expression. Axenically grown cells produce a high level of cadA transcripts during vegetative growth. The mRNA level shows a steady decrease during development and is reduced to the basal level by 12 h. In contrast, the level of DdCAD-1 remains relatively high throughout development, suggesting that axenic growth affects the accumulation of cadA mRNA but not the stability of the protein. These results indicate that multiple mechanisms are involved to maintain a high level of DdCAD-1 during development.