On the use of in vivo cargo velocity as a biophysical marker

On the use of thermal forces to probe kinesin's response to force

The stepping dynamics of cytoskeletal motor proteins determines the dynamics of cargo transport. In its native cellular environment, a molecular motor is subject to forces from several sources including thermal forces and forces ensuing from the interaction with other motors bound to the same cargo. Understanding how the individual motors respond to these forces can allow us to predict how they move their cargo when part of a team. Here, using simulation, we show that details of how the kinesin motor responds to small assisting forces-which, at the moment, are not experimentally constrained-can lead to significant changes in cargo dynamics. Using different models of the force-dependent detachment probability of the kinesin motor leads to different predictions on the run-length of the cargo they carry. These differences emerge from the thermal forces acting on the cargo and transmitted to the motor through the motor tail that tethers the motor head to the microtubule. We show that these differences appear for cargo carried by individual motors or motor teams, and use our findings to propose the use of thermal forces as a probe of kinesin's response to force in this otherwise inaccessible force regime.

Autophagy in Age-Associated Neurodegeneration

The elimination of abnormal and dysfunctional cellular constituents is an essential prerequisite for nerve cells to maintain their homeostasis and proper function. This is mainly achieved through autophagy, a process that eliminates abnormal and dysfunctional cellular components, including misfolded proteins and damaged organelles. Several studies suggest that age-related decline of autophagy impedes neuronal homeostasis and, subsequently, leads to the progression of neurodegenerative disorders due to the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates in neurons. Here, we discuss the involvement of autophagy perturbation in neurodegeneration and present evidence indicating that upregulation of autophagy holds potential for the development of therapeutic interventions towards confronting neurodegenerative diseases in humans.

Manipulation and Motion of Organelles and Single Molecules in Living Cells

The biomolecule is among the most important building blocks of biological systems, and a full understanding of its function forms the scaffold for describing the mechanisms of higher order structures as organelles and cells. Force is a fundamental regulatory mechanism of biomolecular interactions driving many cellular processes. The forces on a molecular scale are exactly in the range that can be manipulated and probed with single molecule force spectroscopy. The natural environment of a biomolecule is inside a living cell, hence, this is the most relevant environment for probing their function. In vivo studies are, however, challenged by the complexity of the cell. In this review, we start with presenting relevant theoretical tools for analyzing single molecule data obtained in intracellular environments followed by a description of state-of-the art visualization techniques. The most commonly used force spectroscopy techniques, namely optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, and atomic force microscopy, are described in detail, and their strength and limitations related to in vivo experiments are discussed. Finally, recent exciting discoveries within the field of in vivo manipulation and dynamics of single molecule and organelles are reviewed.

Retrograde NGF axonal transport--motor coordination in the unidirectional motility regime

We present a detailed motion analysis of retrograde nerve growth factor (NGF) endosomes in axons to show that mechanical tugs-of-war and intracellular motor regulation are complimentary features of the near-unidirectional endosome directionality. We used quantum dots to fluorescently label NGF and acquired trajectories of retrograde quantum-dot-NGF-endosomes with <20-nm accuracy at 32 Hz in microfluidic neuron cultures. Using a combination of transient motion analysis and Bayesian parsing, we partitioned the trajectories into sustained periods of retrograde (dynein-driven) motion, constrained pauses, and brief anterograde (kinesin-driven) reversals. The data shows many aspects of mechanical tugs-of-war and multiple-motor mechanics in NGF-endosome transport. However, we found that stochastic mechanical models based on in vitro parameters cannot simulate the experimental data, unless the microtubule-binding affinity of kinesins on the endosome is tuned down by 10 times. Specifically, the simulations suggest that the NGF-endosomes are driven on average by 5-6 active dyneins and 1-2 downregulated kinesins. This is also supported by the dynamics of endosomes detaching under load in axons, showcasing the cooperativity of multiple dyneins and the subdued activity of kinesins. We discuss the possible motor coordination mechanism consistent with motor regulation and tugs-of-war for future investigations.

Nanoparticle-assisted optical tethering of endosomes reveals the cooperative function of dyneins in retrograde axonal transport

Dynein-dependent transport of organelles from the axon terminals to the cell bodies is essential to the survival and function of neurons. However, quantitative knowledge of dyneins on axonal organelles and their collective function during this long-distance transport is lacking because current technologies to do such measurements are not applicable to neurons. Here, we report a new method termed nanoparticle-assisted optical tethering of endosomes (NOTE) that made it possible to study the cooperative mechanics of dyneins on retrograde axonal endosomes in live neurons. In this method, the opposing force from an elastic tether causes the endosomes to gradually stall under load and detach with a recoil velocity proportional to the dynein forces. These recoil velocities reveal that the axonal endosomes, despite their small size, can recruit up to 7 dyneins that function as independent mechanical units stochastically sharing load, which is vital for robust retrograde axonal transport. This study shows that NOTE, which relies on controlled generation of reactive oxygen species, is a viable method to manipulate small cellular cargos that are beyond the reach of current technology.

As the fat flies: The dynamic lipid droplets of Drosophila embryos

Research into lipid droplets is rapidly expanding, and new cellular and organismal roles for these lipid-storage organelles are continually being discovered. The early Drosophila embryo is particularly well suited for addressing certain questions in lipid-droplet biology and combines technical advantages with unique biological phenomena. This review summarizes key features of this experimental system and the techniques available to study it, in order to make it accessible to researchers outside this field. It then describes the two topics most heavily studied in this system, lipid-droplet motility and protein sequestration on droplets, discusses what is known about the molecular players involved, points to open questions, and compares the results from Drosophila embryo studies to what it is known about lipid droplets in other systems.

Lysosome transport as a function of lysosome diameter

Lysosomes are membrane-bound organelles responsible for the transport and degradation of intracellular and extracellular cargo. The intracellular motion of lysosomes is both diffusive and active, mediated by motor proteins moving lysosomes along microtubules. We sought to determine how lysosome diameter influences lysosome transport. We used osmotic swelling to double the diameter of lysosomes, creating a population of enlarged lysosomes. This allowed us to directly examine the intracellular transport of the same organelle as a function of diameter. Lysosome transport was measured using live cell fluorescence microscopy and single particle tracking. We find, as expected, the diffusive component of intracellular transport is decreased proportional to the increased lysosome diameter. Active transport of the enlarged lysosomes is not affected by the increased lysosome diameter.

Cytoplasmic dynein

The organization and function of eukaryotic cells rely on the action of many different molecular motor proteins. Cytoplasmic dynein drives the movement of a wide range of cargoes towards the minus ends of microtubules, and these events are needed, not just at the single-cell level, but are vital for correct development. In the present paper, I review recent progress on understanding dynein's mechanochemistry, how it is regulated and how it binds to such a plethora of cargoes. The importance of a number of accessory factors in these processes is discussed.

Roles of dynein and dynactin in early endosome dynamics revealed using automated tracking and global analysis

Microtubule-dependent movement is crucial for the spatial organization of endosomes in most eukaryotes, but as yet there has been no systematic analysis of how a particular microtubule motor contributes to early endosome dynamics. Here we tracked early endosomes labeled with GFP-Rab5 on the nanometer scale, and combined this with global, first passage probability (FPP) analysis to provide an unbiased description of how the minus-end microtubule motor, cytoplasmic dynein, supports endosome motility. Dynein contributes to short-range endosome movement, but in particular drives 85-98% of long, inward translocations. For these, it requires an intact dynactin complex to allow membrane-bound p150(Glued) to activate dynein, since p50 over-expression, which disrupts the dynactin complex, inhibits inward movement even though dynein and p150(Glued) remain membrane-bound. Long dynein-dependent movements occur via bursts at up to ∼8 µms(-1) that are linked by changes in rate or pauses. These peak speeds during rapid inward endosome movement are still seen when cellular dynein levels are 50-fold reduced by RNAi knock-down of dynein heavy chain, while the number of movements is reduced 5-fold. Altogether, these findings identify how dynein helps define the dynamics of early endosomes.

Modelling active transport in Drosophila unipolar motor neurons

This paper develops a model for simulating organelle transport in Drosophila unipolar motor neurons. The paper is motivated by a recent experimental investigation by Stone et al. (Microtubules have opposite orientation in axons and dendrites of Drosophila neurons. Mol Biol Cell.19:4122-4129) who proposed a map of microtubule (MT) orientation in Drosophila neurons, and explained why dynein mutations selectively impede dendritic growth without having much effect on axonal growth. Two different approaches to modelling the effect of dynein mutations are utilised: one through assuming a reduced average velocity of a dynein mutant motor and the other through assuming its decreased processivity (an increased detachment rate from MTs). Modified Smith-Simmons equations are used for developing a continuum model of the process. Distributions of organelle concentrations as well as distributions of diffusion, motor-driven and total organelle fluxes are simulated.

The reciprocal coordination and mechanics of molecular motors in living cells

Molecular motors in living cells are involved in whole-cell locomotion, contractility, developmental shape changes, and organelle movement and positioning. Whether motors of different directionality are functionally coordinated in cells or operate in a semirandom "tug of war" is unclear. We show here that anterograde and retrograde microtubule-based motors in the flagella of Chlamydomonas are regulated such that only motors of a common directionality are engaged at any single time. A laser trap was used to position microspheres on the plasma membrane of immobilized paralyzed Chlamydomonas flagella. The anterograde and retrograde movements of the microsphere were measured with nanometer resolution as microtubule-based motors engaged the transmembrane protein FMG-1. An average of 10 motors acted to move the microsphere in either direction. Reversal of direction during a transport event was uncommon, and quiescent periods separated every transport event, suggesting the coordinated and exclusive action of only a single motor type. After a jump to 32 degrees C, temperature-sensitive mutants of kinesin-2 (fla10) showed exclusively retrograde transport events, driven by 7 motors on average. These data suggest that molecular motors in living cells can be reciprocally coordinated to engage simultaneously in large numbers and for exclusive transport in a single direction, even when a mixed population of motors is present. This offers a unique model for studying the mechanics, regulation, and directional coordination of molecular motors in a living intracellular environment.

Force-velocity curves of motor proteins cooperating in vivo

Motor proteins convert chemical energy into work, thereby generating persistent motion of cellular and subcellular objects. The velocities of motor proteins as a function of opposing loads have been previously determined in vitro for single motors. These single molecule "force-velocity curves" have been useful for elucidating motor kinetics and for estimating motor performance under physiological loads due to, for example, the cytoplasmic drag force on transported organelles. Here we report force-velocity curves for single and multiple motors measured in vivo. Using motion enhanced differential interference contrast (MEDIC) movies of living NT2 (neuron-committed teratocarcinoma) cells at 37 degrees C, three parameters were measured--velocity (v), radius (a), and effective cytoplasmic viscosity (eta')--as they applied to moving vesicles. These parameters were combined in Stokes' equation, F = 6piaeta'v, to determine the force, F, required to transport a single intracellular particle at velocity, v. In addition, the number of active motors was inferred from the multimodal pattern seen in a normalized velocity histogram. Using this inference, the resulting in vivo force-velocity curve for a single motor agrees with previously reported in vitro single motor force-velocity curves. Interestingly, however, the curves for two and three motors lie significantly higher in both measured velocity and computed force, which suggests that motors can work cooperatively to attain higher transport forces and velocities.

Cargo Transport: Two Motors Are Sometimes Better Than One

Molecular motor proteins are crucial for the proper distribution of organelles and vesicles in cells. Much of our current understanding of how motors function stems from studies of single motors moving cargos in vitro. More recently, however, there has been mounting evidence that the cooperation of multiple motors in moving cargos and the regulation of motor-filament affinity could be key mechanisms that cells utilize to regulate cargo transport. Here, we review these recent advances and present a picture of how the different mechanisms of regulating the number of motors moving a cargo could facilitate cellular functions.