A study of invertebrate actins by isoelectric focusing and immunodiffusion

Non-Straub type actin from molluscan catch muscle

We have developed a method of obtaining natural actin from smooth muscles of the bivalves on the example of the Сrenomytilus grayanus catch muscle. The muscles were previously rigorized to prevent a loss of thin filaments during homogenization and washings. Thin filaments were isolated with a low ionic strength solution in the presence of ATP and sodium pyrophosphate. Surface proteins of thin filaments-tropomyosin, troponin, calponin and some minor actin-binding proteins-were dissociated from actin filaments by increasing the ionic strength to 0.6 M KCL. Natural fibrillar actin obtained in that way depolymerizes easily in low ionic strength solutions commonly used for the extraction of Straub-type actin from acetone powder. Purification of natural actin was carried out by the polymerization-depolymerization cycle. The content of inactivated actin remaining in the supernatant is much less than at a similar purification of Straub-type actin. A comparative investigation was performed between the natural mussel actin and the Straub-type rabbit skeletal actin in terms of the key properties of actin: polymerization, activation of Mg-ATPase activity of myosin, and the electron-microscopic structure of actin polymers.

Invertebrate Muscles: Muscle Specific Genes and Proteins

This is the first of a projected series of canonic reviews covering all invertebrate muscle literature prior to 2005 and covers muscle genes and proteins except those involved in excitation-contraction coupling (e.g., the ryanodine receptor) and those forming ligand- and voltage-dependent channels. Two themes are of primary importance. The first is the evolutionary antiquity of muscle proteins. Actin, myosin, and tropomyosin (at least, the presence of other muscle proteins in these organisms has not been examined) exist in muscle-like cells in Radiata, and almost all muscle proteins are present across Bilateria, implying that the first Bilaterian had a complete, or near-complete, complement of present-day muscle proteins. The second is the extraordinary diversity of protein isoforms and genetic mechanisms for producing them. This rich diversity suggests that studying invertebrate muscle proteins and genes can be usefully applied to resolve phylogenetic relationships and to understand protein assembly coevolution. Fully achieving these goals, however, will require examination of a much broader range of species than has been heretofore performed.

Membrane-associated actin in the rhabdomeral microvilli of crayfish photoreceptors

Infiltration of compound eyes of crayfish, Cherax destructor, with the thiol protease inhibitor Ep-475 or with trifluoperazine prior to fixation for electron microscopy was found to stabilize an axial filament of 6-12 nm diam within each rhabdomeral microvillus of the photoreceptors. Rhabdoms isolated from retinal homogenates by sucrose gradient centrifugation under conditions that stabilize cytoskeletal material contained large amounts of a 42-kd polypeptide that co-migrated with insect flight muscle actin in one- and two-dimensional PAGE, inhibited pancreatic DNase l, and bound to vertebrate myosin. Vertebrate skeletal muscle actin added to retinal homogenates did not co-purify with rhabdoms, implying that actin was not a contaminant from nonmembranous structures. DNase l inhibition assays of detergent-lysed rhabdoms indicated the presence of large amounts of filamentous actin provided ATP was present. Monomeric actin in such preparations was completely polymerizable only after 90 min incubation with equimolar phalloidin. More than half of the actin present could be liberated from the membrane by sonication, indicating a loose association with the membrane. However, a large proportion of the actin was tightly bound to the rhabdomeral membrane, and washing sonicated membrane fractions with solutions of a range of ionic strengths and nonionic detergents failed to remove it. Antibodies to scallop actin only bound to frozen sections of rhabdoms after gentle permeabilization and very long incubation periods, probably because of steric hindrance and the hydrophobicity of the structure. The F-actin probe nitrobenzoxadiazol phallacidin bound to rhabdoms and labeled F-actin aggregates in other retinal components, but rhabdom fluorescence was not abolished by preincubation with phalloidin. The biochemical data indicate the existence of two distinct actin-based cytoskeletal systems, one being closely membrane associated. The other may possibly constitute the axial filament, although the evidence for this is equivocal.

Studies on the antigenic sites of actin: a comparative study of the immunogenic crossreactivity of invertebrate actins

The structural homologies of invertebrate actins with cytoplasmic vertebrate actins have recently been substantiated by comparative sequence analyses. This suggests that cytoplasmic actin is the ancestral precursor of smooth and striated muscle actin in vertebrates. We have raised antibodies in rabbits against a number of invertebrate muscle actins and have characterized the antisera by means of the highly sensitive ELISA method, which allows quantitation of nanomolar amounts of actin. Despite the fact that the invertebrate actins examined are very similar in primary structure, our results indicate that antibodies raised against them clearly distinguish between only a few amino-acid substitutions, and that the immunoreactivities quantitatively reflect the genetic divergence of this ubiquitous conservative protein. Examination of several proteolytic fragments of scallop actin for immunoreactivity with the homologous antiserum suggests that the major antigenic sites of actin are located within the amino terminal region of the molecule, while a carboxy terminal fragment comprising residues 69-372 exhibits very weak crossreactivity. Immunoadsorption experiments further indicate that species-specific antibodies are directed to antigenic determinants in the N-terminal region. This finding is supported by an examination of the effects of chemical modifications to Tyr, His, Arg, and Cys residues on the immunoreactivity of actin. Interaction with DNAase I markedly decreases the immunoreactivity of actin. This is consonant with the finding that the amino terminal peptide comprising residues 1-207 inhibits DNAase I, whilst a tryptic fragment fails to bind to the enzyme. The interaction is abolished by EDTA and the removal of the tightly bound cation is accompanied by a conformational change, shown by shifts in circular dichroic spectra. The possible involvement of the amino terminal peptide of actin in cation binding is discussed.

Coexistence of three major isoactins in a single sarcoma 180 cell

Actin is transformed sarcoma 180 cells is composed of the nonmuscle beta and gamma species and of a third, more acidic stable variant termed zeta. Two-dimensional peptide analysis shows that zeta is similar to beta actin, differing in the mobility of only one tryptic peptide. Several lines of evidence indicate that zeta is not a modified beta-actin species. This third actin species comprises 20% of the total labeled actin, has the same molecular weight as the beta and gamma actins and has a different mobility in isoelectric focusing gels from that of the known alpha actins from skeletal, cardiac and vascular smooth muscle. Like beta and gamma actin, zeta can be extracted with the actin depolymerizing factor from slime mold. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (isoelectric focusing) of the 35S-methionine-labeled polypeptides synthesized by a single sarcoma 180 cell showed that all three major actin species coexist within the same cell. This analysis also showed for the first time the coexistence and alpha and beta tubulin, vimentin, alpha actinin and three other polypeptides present in intermediate-filament-enriched cytoplast cytoskeletons (spots 12, 24 and 31). Determination of the ratio of gamma plus beta to zeta actin in different cytoskeletal preparations of intact and enucleated sarcoma 180 cells indicated that this actin species is not localized specifically to any of the major actin-containing structures preserved in the cytoskeletons.