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Megaw R, Moye A, Zhang Z, Newton F, McPhie F, Murphy LC, McKie L, He F, Jungnickel MK, von Kriegsheim A, Tennant PA, Brotherton C, Gurniak C, Gross AK, Machesky LM, Wensel TG, Mill P. Ciliary tip actin dynamics regulate photoreceptor outer segment integrity. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4316. [PMID: 38773095 PMCID: PMC11109262 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48639-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
As signalling organelles, cilia regulate their G protein-coupled receptor content by ectocytosis, a process requiring localised actin dynamics to alter membrane shape. Photoreceptor outer segments comprise an expanse of folded membranes (discs) at the tip of highly-specialised connecting cilia, into which photosensitive GPCRs are concentrated. Discs are shed and remade daily. Defects in this process, due to mutations, cause retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Whilst fundamental for vision, the mechanism of photoreceptor disc generation is poorly understood. Here, we show membrane deformation required for disc genesis is driven by dynamic actin changes in a process akin to ectocytosis. We show RPGR, a leading RP gene, regulates actin-binding protein activity central to this process. Actin dynamics, required for disc formation, are perturbed in Rpgr mouse models, leading to aborted membrane shedding as ectosome-like vesicles, photoreceptor death and visual loss. Actin manipulation partially rescues this, suggesting the pathway could be targeted therapeutically. These findings help define how actin-mediated dynamics control outer segment turnover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roly Megaw
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
- Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, EH3 9HA, UK.
| | - Abigail Moye
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Zhixian Zhang
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Fay Newton
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Fraser McPhie
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Laura C Murphy
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Lisa McKie
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Feng He
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Melissa K Jungnickel
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Alex von Kriegsheim
- Edinburgh Cancer Research United Kingdom Centre, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Peter A Tennant
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Chloe Brotherton
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Christine Gurniak
- Institute fur Genetik, Universitat Bonn, Karlrobert-Kreiten-Strasse, 53115, Bonn, Germany
| | - Alecia K Gross
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2nd Ave South, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA
| | - Laura M Machesky
- CRUK Scotland Institute, Switchback Road, Bearsden, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB1 7UY, UK
| | - Theodore G Wensel
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Pleasantine Mill
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, MRC Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK
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2
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Zhang Z, Moye AR, He F, Chen M, Agosto MA, Wensel TG. Centriole and transition zone structures in photoreceptor cilia revealed by cryo-electron tomography. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202302409. [PMID: 38182160 PMCID: PMC10770417 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Primary cilia mediate sensory signaling in multiple organisms and cell types but have structures adapted for specific roles. Structural defects in them lead to devastating diseases known as ciliopathies in humans. Key to their functions are structures at their base: the basal body, the transition zone, the "Y-shaped links," and the "ciliary necklace." We have used cryo-electron tomography with subtomogram averaging and conventional transmission electron microscopy to elucidate the structures associated with the basal region of the "connecting cilia" of rod outer segments in mouse retina. The longitudinal variations in microtubule (MT) structures and the lumenal scaffold complexes connecting them have been determined, as well as membrane-associated transition zone structures: Y-shaped links connecting MT to the membrane, and ciliary beads connected to them that protrude from the cell surface and form a necklace-like structure. These results represent a clearer structural scaffold onto which molecules identified by genetics, proteomics, and superresolution fluorescence can be placed in our emerging model of photoreceptor sensory cilia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhixian Zhang
- https://ror.org/02pttbw34 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Abigail R Moye
- https://ror.org/02pttbw34 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Ophthalmic Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Feng He
- https://ror.org/02pttbw34 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Muyuan Chen
- https://ror.org/02pttbw34 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Division of CryoEM and Bioimaging, SSRL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Melina A Agosto
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Theodore G Wensel
- https://ror.org/02pttbw34 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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3
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Jiang J, Cheong KY, Falkowski PG, Dai W. Integrating on-grid immunogold labeling and cryo-electron tomography to reveal photosystem II structure and spatial distribution in thylakoid membranes. J Struct Biol 2021; 213:107746. [PMID: 34010667 PMCID: PMC8577061 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2021.107746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A long-standing challenge in cell biology is elucidating the structure and spatial distribution of individual membrane-bound proteins, protein complexes and their interactions in their native environment. Here, we describe a workflow that combines on-grid immunogold labeling, followed by cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) imaging and structural analyses to identify and characterize the structure of photosystem II (PSII) complexes. Using an antibody specific to a core subunit of PSII, the D1 protein (uniquely found in the water splitting complex in all oxygenic photoautotrophs), we identified PSII complexes in biophysically active thylakoid membranes isolated from a model marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Subsequent cryoET analyses of these protein complexes resolved two PSII structures: supercomplexes and dimeric cores. Our integrative approach establishes the structural signature of multimeric membrane protein complexes in their native environment and provides a pathway to elucidate their high-resolution structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Jiang
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States; Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States
| | - Kuan Yu Cheong
- Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States
| | - Paul G Falkowski
- Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States; Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States
| | - Wei Dai
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States; Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States.
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Wensel TG, Potter VL, Moye A, Zhang Z, Robichaux MA. Structure and dynamics of photoreceptor sensory cilia. Pflugers Arch 2021; 473:1517-1537. [PMID: 34050409 PMCID: PMC11216635 DOI: 10.1007/s00424-021-02564-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The rod and cone photoreceptor cells of the vertebrate retina have highly specialized structures that enable them to carry out their function of light detection over a broad range of illumination intensities with optimized spatial and temporal resolution. Most prominent are their unusually large sensory cilia, consisting of outer segments packed with photosensitive disc membranes, a connecting cilium with many features reminiscent of the primary cilium transition zone, and a pair of centrioles forming a basal body which serves as the platform upon which the ciliary axoneme is assembled. These structures form a highway through which an enormous flux of material moves on a daily basis to sustain the continual turnover of outer segment discs and the energetic demands of phototransduction. After decades of study, the details of the fine structure and distribution of molecular components of these structures are still incompletely understood, but recent advances in cellular imaging techniques and animal models of inherited ciliary defects are yielding important new insights. This knowledge informs our understanding both of the mechanisms of trafficking and assembly and of the pathophysiological mechanisms of human blinding ciliopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore G Wensel
- Vera and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Valencia L Potter
- Vera and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Abigail Moye
- Vera and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Zhixian Zhang
- Vera and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Michael A Robichaux
- Departments of Ophthalmology and Biochemistry, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
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Defining the layers of a sensory cilium with STORM and cryoelectron nanoscopy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:23562-23572. [PMID: 31690665 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902003116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Primary cilia carry out numerous signaling and sensory functions, and defects in them, "ciliopathies," cause a range of symptoms, including blindness. Understanding of their nanometer-scale ciliary substructures and their disruptions in ciliopathies has been hindered by limitations of conventional microscopic techniques. We have combined cryoelectron tomography, enhanced by subtomogram averaging, with superresolution stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) to define subdomains within the light-sensing rod sensory cilium of mouse retinas and reveal previously unknown substructures formed by resident proteins. Domains are demarcated by structural features such as the axoneme and its connections to the ciliary membrane, and are correlated with molecular markers of subcompartments, including the lumen and walls of the axoneme, the membrane glycocalyx, and the intervening cytoplasm. Within this framework, we report spatial distributions of key proteins in wild-type (WT) mice and the effects on them of genetic deficiencies in 3 models of Bardet-Biedl syndrome.
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Wensel TG, Zhang Z, Anastassov IA, Gilliam JC, He F, Schmid MF, Robichaux MA. Structural and molecular bases of rod photoreceptor morphogenesis and disease. Prog Retin Eye Res 2016; 55:32-51. [PMID: 27352937 PMCID: PMC5112133 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The rod cell has an extraordinarily specialized structure that allows it to carry out its unique function of detecting individual photons of light. Both the structural features of the rod and the metabolic processes required for highly amplified light detection seem to have rendered the rod especially sensitive to structural and metabolic defects, so that a large number of gene defects are primarily associated with rod cell death and give rise to blinding retinal dystrophies. The structures of the rod, especially those of the sensory cilium known as the outer segment, have been the subject of structural, biochemical, and genetic analysis for many years, but the molecular bases for rod morphogenesis and for cell death in rod dystrophies are still poorly understood. Recent developments in imaging technology, such as cryo-electron tomography and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, in gene sequencing technology, and in gene editing technology are rapidly leading to new breakthroughs in our understanding of these questions. A summary is presented of our current understanding of selected aspects of these questions, highlighting areas of uncertainty and contention as well as recent discoveries that provide new insights. Examples of structural data from emerging imaging technologies are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore G Wensel
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| | - Zhixian Zhang
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ivan A Anastassov
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jared C Gilliam
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Feng He
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Michael F Schmid
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Michael A Robichaux
- Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Chen HY, Kaya KD, Dong L, Swaroop A. Three-dimensional retinal organoids from mouse pluripotent stem cells mimic in vivo development with enhanced stratification and rod photoreceptor differentiation. Mol Vis 2016; 22:1077-1094. [PMID: 27667917 PMCID: PMC5017542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 09/07/2016] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The generation of three-dimensional (3D) organoids with optic cup-like structures from pluripotent stem cells has created opportunities for investigating mammalian retinal development in vitro. However, retinal organoids in culture do not completely reflect the developmental state and in vivo architecture of the rod-dominant mouse retina. The goals of this study were to develop an efficient protocol for generating retinal organoids from stem cells and examine the morphogenesis of rods in vitro. METHODS To assess rod photoreceptor differentiation in retinal organoids, we took advantage of Nrl-green fluorescent protein (GFP) mice that show rod-specific expression of GFP directed by the promoter of leucine zipper transcription factor NRL. Using embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (ESCs and iPSCs, respectively) derived from the Nrl-GFP mouse, we were successful in establishing long-term retinal organoid cultures using modified culture conditions (called High Efficiency Hypoxia Induced Generation of Photoreceptors in Retinal Organoids, or HIPRO). RESULTS We demonstrated efficient differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to retinal structures. More than 70% of embryoid bodies formed optic vesicles at day (D) 7, >50% produced optic cups by D10, and most of them survived until at least D35. The HIPRO organoids included distinct inner retina neurons in a somewhat stratified architecture and mature Müller glia spanning the entire retina. Almost 70% of the cells in the retinal organoids were rod photoreceptors that exhibited elongated cilia. Transcriptome profiles of GFP+ rod photoreceptors, purified from organoids at D25-35, demonstrated a high correlation with the gene profiles of purified rods from the mouse retina at P2 to P6, indicating their early state of differentiation. CONCLUSIONS The 3D retinal organoids, generated by HIPRO method, closely mimic in vivo retinogenesis and provide an efficient in vitro model to investigate photoreceptor development and modeling disease pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Yu Chen
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Koray Dogan Kaya
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Lijin Dong
- Genetic Engineering Core, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Anand Swaroop
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
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