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Radler P, Loose M. A dynamic duo: Understanding the roles of FtsZ and FtsA for Escherichia coli cell division through in vitro approaches. Eur J Cell Biol 2024; 103:151380. [PMID: 38218128 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2023.151380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Bacteria divide by binary fission. The protein machine responsible for this process is the divisome, a transient assembly of more than 30 proteins in and on the surface of the cytoplasmic membrane. Together, they constrict the cell envelope and remodel the peptidoglycan layer to eventually split the cell into two. For Escherichia coli, most molecular players involved in this process have probably been identified, but obtaining the quantitative information needed for a mechanistic understanding can often not be achieved from experiments in vivo alone. Since the discovery of the Z-ring more than 30 years ago, in vitro reconstitution experiments have been crucial to shed light on molecular processes normally hidden in the complex environment of the living cell. In this review, we summarize how rebuilding the divisome from purified components - or at least parts of it - have been instrumental to obtain the detailed mechanistic understanding of the bacterial cell division machinery that we have today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Radler
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria; University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Wien, Austria.
| | - Martin Loose
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria.
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Radler P, Baranova N, Caldas P, Sommer C, López-Pelegrín M, Michalik D, Loose M. In vitro reconstitution of Escherichia coli divisome activation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2635. [PMID: 35550516 PMCID: PMC9098913 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30301-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The actin-homologue FtsA is essential for E. coli cell division, as it links FtsZ filaments in the Z-ring to transmembrane proteins. FtsA is thought to initiate cell constriction by switching from an inactive polymeric to an active monomeric conformation, which recruits downstream proteins and stabilizes the Z-ring. However, direct biochemical evidence for this mechanism is missing. Here, we use reconstitution experiments and quantitative fluorescence microscopy to study divisome activation in vitro. By comparing wild-type FtsA with FtsA R286W, we find that this hyperactive mutant outperforms FtsA WT in replicating FtsZ treadmilling dynamics, FtsZ filament stabilization and recruitment of FtsN. We could attribute these differences to a faster exchange and denser packing of FtsA R286W below FtsZ filaments. Using FRET microscopy, we also find that FtsN binding promotes FtsA self-interaction. We propose that in the active divisome FtsA and FtsN exist as a dynamic copolymer that follows treadmilling filaments of FtsZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Radler
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Natalia Baranova
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria
- University of Vienna, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Paulo Caldas
- UCIBIO-Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Christoph Sommer
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Mar López-Pelegrín
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - David Michalik
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Martin Loose
- Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
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FtsZ treadmilling is essential for Z-ring condensation and septal constriction initiation in Bacillus subtilis cell division. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2448. [PMID: 33907196 PMCID: PMC8079713 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22526-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the central role of division in bacterial physiology, how division proteins work together as a nanoscale machine to divide the cell remains poorly understood. Cell division by cell wall synthesis proteins is guided by the cytoskeleton protein FtsZ, which assembles at mid-cell as a dense Z-ring formed of treadmilling filaments. However, although FtsZ treadmilling is essential for cell division, the function of FtsZ treadmilling remains unclear. Here, we systematically resolve the function of FtsZ treadmilling across each stage of division in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis using a combination of nanofabrication, advanced microscopy, and microfluidics to measure the division-protein dynamics in live cells with ultrahigh sensitivity. We find that FtsZ treadmilling has two essential functions: mediating condensation of diffuse FtsZ filaments into a dense Z-ring, and initiating constriction by guiding septal cell wall synthesis. After constriction initiation, FtsZ treadmilling has a dispensable function in accelerating septal constriction rate. Our results show that FtsZ treadmilling is critical for assembling and initiating the bacterial cell division machine. Bacterial cell division by cell wall synthesis proteins is guided by treadmilling filaments of the cytoskeleton protein FtsZ. Here authors use nanofabrication, advanced microscopy, and microfluidics to resolve the function of FtsZ treadmilling in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis.
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Ishihara K, Decker F, Caldas P, Pelletier JF, Loose M, Brugués J, Mitchison TJ. Spatial variation of microtubule depolymerization in large asters. Mol Biol Cell 2021; 32:869-879. [PMID: 33439671 PMCID: PMC8108532 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e20-11-0723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Microtubule plus-end depolymerization rate is a potentially important target of physiological regulation, but it has been challenging to measure, so its role in spatial organization is poorly understood. Here we apply a method for tracking plus ends based on time difference imaging to measure depolymerization rates in large interphase asters growing in Xenopus egg extract. We observed strong spatial regulation of depolymerization rates, which were higher in the aster interior compared with the periphery, and much less regulation of polymerization or catastrophe rates. We interpret these data in terms of a limiting component model, where aster growth results in lower levels of soluble tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) in the interior cytosol compared with that at the periphery. The steady-state polymer fraction of tubulin was ∼30%, so tubulin is not strongly depleted in the aster interior. We propose that the limiting component for microtubule assembly is a MAP that inhibits depolymerization, and that egg asters are tuned to low microtubule density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisuke Ishihara
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska Decker
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Paulo Caldas
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - James F Pelletier
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.,Cell Division Group, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543.,Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Martin Loose
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Jan Brugués
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.,Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Timothy J Mitchison
- Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.,Cell Division Group, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
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