F-actin binds to the cytoplasmic surface of ponticulin, a 17-kD integral glycoprotein from Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes

A protein with homology to the C-terminal repeat sequence of Octopus rhodopsin and synaptophysin is a member of a multigene family in Dictyostelium discoideum

Monoclonal antibodies were raised against a protein with a molecular mass of 24 kDa that has been described as a membrane-associated, actin binding protein from Dictyostelium discoideum [( 1985) J. Cell Biol. 100, 727-735]. Using these monoclonal antibodies we isolated from a lambda gt11 expression library cDNA clones coding for this protein. The cDNA deduced amino acid sequence revealed the presence of an unusual carboxy-terminus which has homologies to the C-termini of Octopus rhodopsin and synaptophysin. This part of the protein sequence contains 5 direct repeats with the motif GYP (P)Q(P). Southern and Northern blots showed that this sequence is present in a series of Dictyostelium genes transcribed in all stages of development.

A 39-kD plasma membrane protein (IP39) is an anchor for the unusual membrane skeleton of Euglena gracilis

The major integral plasma membrane protein (IP39) of Euglena gracilis was radiolabeled, peptide mapped, and dissected with proteases to identify cytoplasmic domains that bind and anchor proteins of the cell surface. When plasma membranes were radioiodinated and extracted with octyl glucoside, 98% of the extracted label was found in IP39 or the 68- and 110-kD oligomers of IP39. The octyl glucoside extracts were incubated with unlabeled cell surface proteins immobilized on nitrocellulose (overlays). Radiolabel from the membrane extract bound one (80 kD) of the two (80 and 86 kD) major membrane skeletal protein bands. Resolubilization of the bound label yielded a radiolabeled polypeptide identical in Mr to IP39. Intact plasma membranes were also digested with papain before or after radioiodination, thereby producing a cytoplasmically truncated IP39. The octyl glucoside extract of truncated IP39 no longer bound to the 80-kD membrane skeletal protein in the nitrocellulose overlays. EM of intact or trypsin digested plasma membranes incubated with membrane skeletal proteins under stringent conditions similar to those used in the nitrocellulose overlays revealed a partially reformed membrane skeletal layer. Little evidence of a membrane skeletal layer was found, however, when plasma membranes were predigested with papain before reassociation. A candidate 80-kD binding domain of IP39 has been tentatively identified as a peptide fragment that was present after trypsin digestion of plasma membranes, but was absent after papain digestion in two-dimensional peptide maps of IP39. Together, these data suggest that the unique peripheral membrane skeleton of Euglena binds to the plasma membrane through noncovalent interactions between the major 80-kD membrane skeletal protein and a small, papain sensitive cytoplasmic domain of IP39. Other (62, 51, and 25 kD) quantitatively minor peripheral proteins also interact with IP39 on the nitrocellulose overlays, and the possible significance of this binding is discussed.

Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes contain an actin-nucleating activity that requires ponticulin, an integral membrane glycoprotein

In previous equilibrium binding studies, Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes have been shown to bind actin and to recruit actin into filaments at the membrane surface. However, little is known about the kinetic pathway(s) through which actin assembles at these, or other, membranes. We have used actin fluorescently labeled with N-(1-pyrenyl)iodoacetamide to examine the kinetics of actin assembly in the presence of D. discoideum plasma membranes. We find that these membranes increase the rate of actin polymerization. The rate of membrane-mediated actin polymerization is linearly dependent on membrane protein concentrations up to 20 micrograms/ml. Nucleation (the association of activated actin monomers into oligomers) appears to be the primary step of polymerization that is accelerated. A sole effect on the initial salt-induced actin conformational change (activation) is ruled out because membranes accelerate the polymerization of pre-activated actin as well as actin activated in the presence of membranes. Elongation of preexisting filaments also is not the major step of polymerization facilitated by membranes since membranes stripped of all peripheral components, including actin, increase the rate of actin assembly to about the same extent as do membranes containing small amounts of endogenous actin. Acceleration of the nucleation step by membranes also is supported by an analysis of the dependence of polymerization lag time on actin concentration. The barbed ends of membrane-induced actin nuclei are not obstructed by the membranes because the barbed end blocking agent, cytochalasin D, reduces the rate of membrane-mediated actin nucleation. Similarly, the pointed ends of the nuclei are not blocked by membranes since the depolymerization rate of gelsolin-capped actin is unchanged in the presence of membranes. These results are consistent with previous observations of lateral interactions between membranes and actin filaments. These results also are consistent with two predictions from a model based on equilibrium binding studies; i.e., that plasma membranes should nucleate actin assembly and that membrane-bound actin nuclei should have both ends free (Schwartz, M. A., and E. J. Luna. 1988. J. Cell Biol. 107:201-209). Integral membrane proteins mediate the actin nucleation activity because activity is eliminated by heat denaturation, treatment with reducing agents, or proteolysis of membranes. Activity also is abolished by solubilization with octylglucoside but is reconstituted upon removal or dilution of the detergent. Ponticulin, the major actin-binding protein in plasma membranes, appears to be necessary for nucleation activity since activity is not reconstituted from detergent extracts depleted of ponticulin.

Research on the mechanism of interaction between actin and membrane lipids

Using an in vitro system involving pure actin and liposomes, we have established that actin may interact with membrane lipids without any intermediate proteins, and that the mechanism of interaction depends upon the concentration of divalent cation. In the absence of divalent cation, actin increases membrane permeability. Low concentrations (1 mM) of divalent cation potentialize this interaction. In the presence of high divalent cation concentration, actin deposits on the surface of liposomes in a crystalline organization and reduces the membrane microviscosity as shown by the polarization of fluorescence of the DPH probe. We propose that actin interacts with lipids by hydrophobic association which is facilitated by initial electrostatic binding.

Ponticulin, a developmentally-regulated plasma membrane glycoprotein, mediates actin binding and nucleation

Ponticulin is a 17,000-dalton transmembrane glycoprotein that is involved in the binding and nucleation of actin filaments by Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes. The major actin-binding protein isolated from these membranes by F-actin affinity chromatography, ponticulin also binds F-actin on blot overlays. The actin-binding activity of ponticulin in vitro is identical to that observed for purified plasma membranes: it resists extraction with 0.1 N NaOH, is sensitive to high salt concentrations, and is destroyed by heat, proteolysis, and thiol reduction and alkylation. A cytoplasmic domain of ponticulin mediates binding to actin because univalent antibody fragments directed against the cytoplasmic surface of this protein inhibit 96% of the actin-membrane binding in sedimentation assays. Antibody specific for ponticulin removes both ponticulin and the ability to reconstitute actin nucleation activity from detergent extracts of solubilized plasma membranes. Levels of plasma membrane ponticulin increase 2- to 3-fold during aggregation streaming, when cells adhere to each other and are highly motile. Although present throughout the plasma membrane, ponticulin is preferentially localized to some actin-rich membrane structures, including sites of cell-cell adhesion and arched regions of the plasma membrane reminiscent of the early stages of pseudopod formation. Ponticulin also is present but not obviously enriched at phagocytic cups of log-phase amebae. These results indicate that ponticulin may function in vivo to attach and nucleate actin filaments at the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane. A 17,000-dalton analogue of ponticulin has been identified in human polymorphonuclear leukocyte plasma membranes by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence microscopy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Actin-associated proteins in Dictyostelium discoideum

The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is becoming the premier system for the explication of the biochemical and cellular events that occur during motile processes. Proteins associated with the actin cytoskeleton, in particular, appear to play key roles in cellular responses to many external stimuli. This review summarizes our present understanding of the actin-associated proteins in Dictyostelium, including their in vitro activities and their structural and/or functional analogues in mammalian cells.

Evidence for a direct, nucleotide-sensitive interaction between actin and liver cell membranes

We have investigated the association of actin with membranes isolated from rat liver. A plasma membrane-enriched fraction prepared by homogenization in a low salt/CaCl2 buffer was found to contain a substantial amount of residual actin which could be removed by treatment with 1 M Na2CO3/NaHCO3, pH 10.5. Using a sedimentation binding assay that uses gelsolin to shorten actin filaments and render membrane binding saturable (Schwartz, M. A., and E. J. Luna. 1986. J. Cell Biol. 102:2067-2075), we found that membranes stripped of endogenous actin bound 125I-actin in a specific and saturable manner. Scatchard plots of binding data were linear, indicating a single class of binding sites with a Kd of 1.6 microns; 66 micrograms actin bound/mg membrane protein at saturation. Binding of actin to liver cell membranes was negligible with unstripped membranes, was competed by excess unlabeled actin, and was greatly reduced by preheating or proteolytic digestion of the membranes. Kinetic measurements showed that binding had an initial lag phase and was strongly temperature dependent. The binding of actin to liver cell membranes was also found to be competitively inhibited by ATP and other nucleotides, including the nonhydrolyzable analogue AMP-PNP. We conclude that we have reconstituted an interaction between actin and integral membrane proteins from the rat liver. This interaction exhibits a number of distinctive features which have not been observed in other actin-membrane systems.

Chemotactic peptide receptor-cytoskeletal interactions and functional correlations in differentiated HL-60 cells and human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

We studied the chemotactic peptide receptor/cytoskeletal interactions in HL-60 cells induced to differentiate with different agents and attempted to correlate these observations with the acquisition of different functional responses. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP-treated cells showed rapid superoxide anion production in response to N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) and slow, sustained response to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Retinoic acid-induced cells showed a slow, sustained response to both FMLP and PMA. Interferon-gamma-treated cells produced no superoxide anion on stimulation with FMLP, whereas tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-treated cells showed a slight response. Chemotactic peptide receptor association was the same in the HL-60 cells treated with different agents, despite marked differences in the superoxide anion generation and actin polymerization responses to FMLP and PMA in these cells. In mature neutrophils chemotactic peptide receptor association with the cytoskeleton was not affected by either pertussis or cholera toxin. However, both toxins inhibited FMLP-induced actin polymerization and superoxide anion generation. This suggested involvement of a G-protein similar to Gt, rather than Gi or Gs. Neither toxin had any effect on PMA-induced superoxide anion generation. These observations indicate that receptor association with the cytoskeleton may not have a significant role in affecting signal recognition and response. Among the several possible roles suggested, clearance of the occupied receptors may be the most important role of the cytoskeletal association. HL-60 cells induced to differentiate with different agents (because of their varied functional responses) might prove very useful in dissecting the molecular mechanisms regulating stimulus-induced activation of neutrophils.

Developmental changes in protein composition and the actin-binding protein ponticulin in Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes purified by an improved method

We have used a new combination of previously-described methods to obtain a 29-fold purification of plasma membranes from Dictyostelium discoideum. In this procedure, the pellet from a cell lysate is centrifuged through a high-pH sucrose gradient and then through a Renografin gradient. Electron microscopy shows that the resultant "Renografin membranes" are essentially homogeneous. As measured by enzymatic marker assays, contamination with mitochondria, lysosomes, and endoplasmic reticulum is minimal. As assayed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), the protein composition of Renografin membranes is similar to that of highly purified membranes isolated using concanavalin A stabilization and detergent extraction. Using Renografin membranes, we have examined developmental changes in the membrane protein composition. In agreement with previous investigations, we observe major changes in lectin-binding glycoproteins and cell-surface-labeled proteins during the first 18 h of D. discoideum development. In contrast to most previous work, which may have employed plasma membranes of lesser purity, we also observe major changes in silver-stained membrane proteins. We conclude that many developmentally regulated proteins, previously thought to be minor membrane constituents, are a larger proportion of the plasma membrane than originally believed. The observed changes in membrane protein composition may correlate with changes in plasma membrane functions during development. For instance, ponticulin, the major salt-sensitive F-actin-binding protein in plasma membranes from vegetative cells, increases at least twofold in plasma membranes during early development when the cells are chemotaxing into large aggregates. The amount of plasma membrane ponticulin then decreases during the pseudoplasmodial stage.

Phagocytosis in Dictyostelium discoideum is inhibited by antibodies directed primarily against common carbohydrate epitopes of a major cell-surface plasma membrane glycoprotein

Using a water-soluble, reversible biotinylating reagent, we retrieved three surface-exposed proteins from a complex mixture of crude membrane proteins. The compound, sulfosuccinimidyl 2-(biotinamido)ethyl-1-3'-dithiopropionate (sulfo-NHS-SS-biotin), which has a cleavable disulfide bond, was used to label Dictyostelium discoideum amebae. Cells were lysed and a crude membrane preparation was isolated and solubilized with Triton X-100. Biotinylated molecules were bound to immobilized streptavidin and then eluted from the affinity matrix with dithiothreitol. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that out of the original complex mixture of detergent-solubilized membrane proteins, three major species at 130, 100, and 77 kDa were specifically bound and eluted with thiol reagents. These three proteins were glycoproteins (gp) since they bound concanavalin A. As demonstrated by one-dimensional peptide mapping, the retrieved gp130 and gp100 also were present in specialized plasma membrane subdomains called contact regions which are regions of cell-cell cohesion isolated from aggregated, developed amebae. This finding provides preliminary evidence that the two proteins may be involved in cell-cell interactions during both the vegetative and aggregation stages of the D. discoideum life cycle. The retrieved gp130 species has a relative mobility on SDS-gels similar to that of gp126, a surface-exposed glycoprotein. gp126 has been suggested to play roles both as a phagocytosis receptor and as a cohesion molecule (C.M. Chadwick, J.E. Ellison, and D.R. Garrod, (1984) Nature (London) 307, 646). To test if the retrieved gp130 was the same as gp126, a polyclonal antiserum was raised against gel-purified, endoglycosidase F-treated gp130. The immune serum recognized epitopes, apparently carbohydrates, present on many D. discoideum membrane proteins. Univalent IgG fragments from this antiserum inhibited phagocytosis, suggesting that anti-carbohydrate activity was responsible for the functional inhibition of phagocytosis.

Association of gelsolin with actin filaments and cell membranes of macrophages and platelets

Recent evidence that polyphosphoinositides regulate the function of the actin-modulating protein gelsolin in vitro raises the possibility that gelsolin interacts with cell membranes. This paper reports ultrastructural immunohistochemical data revealing that gelsolin molecules localize with plasma and intracellular membranes, including rough endoplasmic reticulum, cortical vesicles and mitochondria of macrophages, and blood platelets. Anti-gelsolin gold also labeled the surface and interior of secondary lysosomes presumably representing plasma gelsolin ingested by these cells from the lung surface by endocytosis. Gelsolin molecules, visualized with colloidal gold in replicas of the cytoplasmic side of the substrate-adherent plasma membrane of mechanically unroofed and rapidly frozen and freeze-dried macrophages, associated with the ends of short actin filaments sitting on the cytoplasmic membrane surface. A generalized distribution of gelsolin molecules in thin sections of resting platelets rapidly became peripheral, and plasmalemma association increased following thrombin stimulation. At later times the distribution reverted to the cytoplasmic distribution of resting cells. These findings provide the first evidence for gelsolin binding to actin filament ends in cells and indicate that gelsolin functions in both cytoplasmic and membrane domains.

Indirect immunofluorescence localization of ponticulin in motile cells

Ponticulin is the major actin-binding integral glycoprotein in plasma membranes isolated from log-phase Dictyostelium discoideum amebae. As such, this protein appears to be an important link between the plasma membrane and actin filaments (Wuestehube and Luna: Journal of Cell Biology 105:1741-1751, 1987). In this study, indirect immunofluorescence microscopy was used to examine the distribution of ponticulin in randomly moving D. discoideum amebae and in amebae engaged in cell migration and phagocytosis. Ponticulin is distributed throughout the plasma membrane and also is present in intracellular vesicles associated with the microtubule-organizing center-Golgi complex adjacent to the nucleus. In aggregating amebae, ponticulin is concentrated in regions of lateral cell-cell contact and in arched regions of the plasma membrane. Ponticulin also is present, but not obviously enriched, in filopodia, in the actin-rich anterior end of polarized cells, and in detergent-insoluble cytoskeletons. In amebae engaged in phagocytosis of yeast, ponticulin is present but not enriched in phagocytic cups and is associated with intracellular vesicles around engulfed yeast. These results suggest that ponticulin is stably associated with actin filaments in certain regions of the plasma membrane and that the actin-binding activity of ponticulin may be tightly controlled. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoblot analysis demonstrate that human polymorphonuclear leukocytes also contain a 17 kD protein that specifically cross-reacts with antibodies affinity-purified against D. discoideum ponticulin. As in D. discoideum, the mammalian 17 kD ponticulin-analog appears to be localized in plasma membrane and is evident in actin-rich cell extensions. These results indicate that ponticulin-mediated linkages between the plasma membrane and actin may be present in higher eukaryotic cells.

Microfilament association of ASGP-2, the concanavalin A-binding glycoprotein of the cell-surface sialomucin complex of 13,762 rat mammary ascites tumor cells

Microfilament-associated proteins and membrane-microfilament interactions are being investigated in microvilli isolated from 13,762 rat mammary ascites tumor cells. "Phalloidin shift" analyses on velocity sedimentation gradients of Triton X-100 extracts of [3H]-glucosamine-labeled microvilli identified a 120-kDa cell-surface glycoprotein associated with the microvillar microfilament core. The identification was verified by concanavalin A (Con A) blots of one- and two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis gels of sedimented microfilament cores. By 2D-electrophoresis and lectin analyses the 120-kDa protein appeared to be a fraction of ASGP-2, the major Con A-binding glycoprotein of the sialomucin complex of the 13,762 cells. This identity was confirmed by immunoblot analyses using immunoblot-purified anti-ASGP-2 from anti-membrane serum prepared against microvillar membranes. Proteolysis of the microvilli with subtilisin or trypsin resulted in an increase in the amount of ASGP-2 associated with the microfilament cores. An increase was also observed with sialidase treatment of the microvilli, suggesting that negative charges, probably present on the highly sialated sialomucin ASGP-1 of the ASGP-1/ASGP-2 sialomucin complex, reduce ASGP-2 association with the microfilament core. Proteolysis of isolated microvillar membranes, which contain actin but not microfilaments, also increased the association of ASGP-2 with a Triton-insoluble, actin-containing membrane fraction. Purified ASGP-2 does not bind to microfilaments in sedimentation assays. Since the Triton-insoluble membrane residue is enriched in an actin-containing transmembrane complex, which contains a different glycoprotein, we suggest that the ASGP-2 is binding indirectly via this complex to the microfilament core in the intact microvilli.

How actin binds and assembles onto plasma membranes from Dictyostelium discoideum

We have shown previously (Schwartz, M. A., and E. J. Luna. 1986. J. Cell Biol. 102: 2067-2075) that actin binds with positive cooperativity to plasma membranes from Dictyostelium discoideum. Actin is polymerized at the membrane surface even at concentrations well below the critical concentration for polymerization in solution. Low salt buffer that blocks actin polymerization in solution also prevents actin binding to membranes. To further explore the relationship between actin polymerization and binding to membranes, we prepared four chemically modified actins that appear to be incapable of polymerizing in solution. Three of these derivatives also lost their ability to bind to membranes. The fourth derivative (EF actin), in which histidine-40 is labeled with ethoxyformic anhydride, binds to membranes with reduced affinity. Binding curves exhibit positive cooperativity, and cross-linking experiments show that membrane-bound actin is multimeric. Thus, binding and polymerization are tightly coupled, and the ability of these membranes to polymerize actin is dramatically demonstrated. EF actin coassembles weakly with untreated actin in solution, but coassembles well on membranes. Binding by untreated actin and EF actin are mutually competitive, indicating that they bind to the same membrane sites. Hill plots indicate that an actin trimer is the minimum assembly state required for tight binding to membranes. The best explanation for our data is a model in which actin oligomers assemble by binding to clustered membrane sites with successive monomers on one side of the actin filament bound to the membrane. Individual binding affinities are expected to be low, but the overall actin-membrane avidity is high, due to multivalency. Our results imply that extracellular factors that cluster membrane proteins may create sites for the formation of actin nuclei and thus trigger actin polymerization in the cell.

Actin-binding proteins are conserved from slime molds to man

DNA clones encoding the actin-binding proteins alpha-actinin and severin from Dictyostelium discoideum were isolated and sequenced. Comparisons of the deduced amino acid sequences with proteins from other species showed striking similarities at distinct regions. The F-actin cross-linking molecule alpha-actinin carries two characteristic EF-hand structures highly homologous to the Ca2+-binding loops of proteins from the calmodulin superfamily. An N-terminal region that is conserved in alpha-actinin from D. discoideum and vertebrates is also related to parts of the dystrophin sequence and might represent the F-actin binding site. Severin, gelsolin, villin, and fragmin share homologous sequences that are believed to participate in the severing activity of these proteins.

Actin polymerization and pseudopod extension during amoeboid chemotaxis

Amoebae of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum are an excellent model system for the study of amoeboid chemotaxis. These cells can be studied as a homogeneous population whose response to chemotactic stimulation is sufficiently synchronous to permit the correlation of the changes in cell shape and biochemical events during chemotaxis. Having demonstrated this synchrony of response, we show that actin polymerization occurs in two stages during stimulation with chemoattractants. The assembly of F-actin that peaks between 40 and 60 sec after the onset of stimulation is temporally correlated with the growth of new pseudopods. F-actin, which is assembled by 60 sec after stimulation begins, is localized in the new pseudopods that are extended at this time. Both stages of actin polymerization during chemotactic stimulation involve polymerization at the barbed ends of actin filaments based on the cytochalasin sensitivity of this response. We present a hypothesis in which actin polymerization is one of the major driving forces for pseudopod extension during chemotaxis. The predictions of this model, that localized regulation of actin nucleation activity and actin filament cross-linking must occur, are discussed in the context of current models for signal transduction and of recent information regarding the types of actin-binding proteins that are present in the cell cortex.