Macromolecular assemblies of myosin

Fission yeast Myo2: Molecular organization and diffusion in the cytoplasm

Myosin-II is required for the assembly and constriction of cytokinetic contractile rings in fungi and animals. We used electron microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to characterize the physical properties of Myo2 from fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. By electron microscopy, Myo2 has two heads and a coiled-coiled tail like myosin-II from other species. The first 65 nm of the tail is a stiff rod, followed by a flexible, less-ordered region up to 30 nm long. Myo2 sediments as a 7 S molecule in high salt, but aggregates rather than forming minifilaments at lower salt concentrations; this is unaffected by heavy chain phosphorylation. We used FRAP and FCS to observe the dynamics of Myo2 in live S. pombe cells and in cell extracts at different salt concentrations; both show that Myo2 with an N-terminal mEGFP tag has a diffusion coefficient of ∼ 3 µm² s^-1 in the cytoplasm of live cells during interphase and mitosis. Photon counting histogram analysis of the FCS data confirmed that Myo2 diffuses as doubled-headed molecules in the cytoplasm. FCS measurements on diluted cell extracts showed that mEGFP-Myo2 has a diffusion coefficient of ∼ 30 µm² s^-1 in 50 to 400 mM KCl concentrations.

Whole length myosin binding protein C stabilizes myosin S2 as measured by gravitational force spectroscopy

The mechanical stability of the myosin subfragment-2 (S2) was tested with simulated force spectroscopy (SFS) and gravitational force spectroscopy (GFS). Experiments examined unzipping S2, since it required less force than stretching parallel to the coiled coil. Both GFS and SFS demonstrated that the force required to destabilize the light meromyosin (LMM) was greater than the force required to destabilize the coiled coil at each of three different locations along S2. GFS data also conveyed that the mechanical stability of the S2 region is independent from its association with the myosin thick filament using cofilaments of myosin tail and a single intact myosin. The C-terminal end of myosin binding protein C (MyBPC) binds to LMM and the N-terminal end can bind either S2 or actin. The force required to destabilize the myosin coiled coil molecule was 3 times greater in the presence of MyBPC than in its absence. Furthermore, the in vitro motility assay with full length slow skeletal MyBPC slowed down the actin filament sliding over myosin thick filaments. This study demonstrates that skeletal MyBPC both enhanced the mechanical stability of the S2 coiled coil and reduced the sliding velocity of actin filaments over polymerized myosin filaments.

Mg(2+)-linked self-assembly of FtsZ in the presence of GTP or a GTP analogue involves the concerted formation of a narrow size distribution of oligomeric species

The assembly of the bacterial cell division FtsZ protein in the presence of constantly replenished GTP was studied as a function of Mg(2+) concentration (at neutral pH and 0.5 M potassium) under steady-state conditions by sedimentation velocity, concentration-gradient light scattering, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering. Sedimentation velocity measurements confirmed previous results indicating cooperative appearance of a narrow size distribution of finite oligomers with increasing protein concentration. The concentration dependence of light scattering and diffusion coefficients independently verified the cooperative appearance of a narrow distribution of high molecular weight oligomers, and in addition provided a measurement of the average size of these species, which corresponds to 100 ± 20 FtsZ protomers at millimolar Mg(2+) concentration. Parallel experiments on solutions containing guanosine-5'-[(α,β)-methyleno]triphosphate, sodium salt (GMPCPP), a slowly hydrolyzable analogue of GTP, in place of GTP, likewise indicated the concerted formation of a narrow size distribution of fibrillar oligomers with a larger average mass (corresponding to 160 ± 20 FtsZ monomers). The closely similar behavior of FtsZ in the presence of both GTP and GMPCPP suggests that the observations reflect equilibrium rather than nonequilibrium steady-state properties of both solutions and exhibit parallel manifestations of a common association scheme.

Oxidation of porcine Myosin by hypervalent myoglobin: the role of thiol groups

Oxidation of the myofibrillar muscle protein myosin from pork by hypervalent myoglobin species (MbFe(III)/H 2O2 radical generating system) was investigated in aqueous solution in the pH range of 5.0-7.8 by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy using N- tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone (PBN) as spin trap and indirectly by determination of the rate of reduction of hypervalent myoglobin species by UV spectroscopy. Cross-linking of myosin was examined by SDS-PAGE. The target for oxidative modification of myosin was studied by thiol blocking by N-acetylmaleimide (NEM) and by determining oxidative modification of myosin thiols. The reaction between myosin and hypervalent myoglobin was fast and showed little dependence on pH. The myosin radicals formed were observed to be short-lived. Myosin thiols are suggested to be the main target for oxidative modification, as NEM-treated myosin did not form radicals in the presence of hypervalent myoglobin. A significant decrease in thiol content was already demonstrated 25 s after initiation of oxidation of myosin. The majority of myosin heavy chain (MHC) was demonstrated to be cross-linked through intermolecular disulfide bonding 1 h after initiation of oxidation. This demonstrates that thiols are important for radical formation and cross-linking of myosin during oxidation with hypervalent myoglobin at the pH of meat products.

Quantitative atomic force microscopy image analysis of unusual filaments formed by the Acanthamoeba castellanii myosin II rod domain

We describe a quantitative analysis of Acanthamoeba castellanii myosin II rod domain images collected from atomic force microscope experiments. These images reveal that the rod domain forms a novel filament structure, most likely requiring unusual head-to-tail interactions. Similar filaments are seen also in negatively stained electron microscopy images. Truncated myosins from Acanthamoeba and other model organisms have been visualized before, revealing laterally associated bipolar minifilaments. In contrast, the filament structures that we observe are dominated by axial rather than lateral polymerization. The unusually small features in this structure (1-5 nm) required the development of quantitative and statistical techniques for filament image analysis. These techniques enhance the extraction of features that hitherto have been difficult to ascertain from more qualitative imaging approaches. The heights of the filaments are observed to have a bimodal distribution consistent with the diameters of a single rod domain and a pair of close-packed rod domains. Further quantitative analysis indicates that in-plane association is limited to at most a pair of rod domains. Taken together, this implies that the filaments contain no more than four rod domains laterally associated with one another, somewhat less than that seen in bipolar minifilaments. Analysis of images of the filaments decorated with an anti-FLAG antibody reveals head-to-tail association with mean distances between the antibodies of 75 +/- 15 nm. We consider a set of molecular models to help interpret possible structures of the filaments.

Filament assembly properties of the sarcomeric myosin heavy chain

Meat is the edible muscle tissue of animals. The sarcomere is the fundamental functional unit of muscle. Growth and development of muscle is accomplished by the highly ordered accretion and assembly of the constituent proteins in the sarcomere. Primary amino acid sequence elements of the constitutive proteins carry the information necessary for determining the final architecture of the sarcomere. The mechanisms by which the constitutive proteins are assembled and function together to form the sarcomere and produce muscle contraction is just now beginning to be understood. The predominant protein in the sarcomere, found in the thick filament system, is myosin. In physiological buffers purified myosin spontaneously assembles into a synthetic thick filament with a dramatic resemblance to the native thick filament. Some of the amino acid sequence elements contributing to myosin's assembly properties may also be critical to myosin's solubility function, which is so crucial to the manufacture of high quality prepared meat products. This review summarizes recent experimental results contributing to our understanding of the mechanism of sarcomeric muscle myosin assembly.

The mechanism of assembly of Acanthamoeba myosin-II minifilaments: minifilaments assemble by three successive dimerization steps

We used 90 degrees light scattering, analytical ultracentrifugation, and electron microscopy to deduce that Acanthamoeba myosin-II minifilaments, composed of eight molecules each, assemble by a novel mechanism consisting of three successive dimerization steps rather than by the addition of monomers or parallel dimers to a nucleus. Above 200 mM KCl, Acanthamoeba myosin-II is monomeric. At low ionic strength (less than 100 mM KCl), myosin-II polymerizes into bipolar minifilaments. Between 100 and 200 mM KCl, plots of light scattering vs. myosin concentration all extrapolate to the origin but have slopes which decrease with increasing KCl. This indicates that structures intermediate in size between monomers and full length minifilaments are formed, and that the critical concentrations for assembly of these structures is very low. Analytical ultracentrifugation has confirmed that intermediate structures exist at these salt concentrations, and that they are in rapid equilibrium with each other. We believe these structures represent assembly intermediates and have used equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy to identify them. Polymerization begins with the formation of antiparallel dimers, with the two tails overlapping by approximately 15 nm. Two antiparallel dimers then associated with a 15-nm stagger to form an antiparallel tetramer. Finally, two tetramers associate with a 30-nm stagger to form the completed minifilament. At very low ionic strengths, the last step in the assembly mechanism is largely reversed and antiparallel tetramers are the predominant species. Alkaline pH, which can also induce minifilament disassembly, produces the same assembly intermediates as are found for salt induced disassembly.

Structure-function studies on Acanthamoeba myosins IA, IB, and II

Myosins IA and IB are globular proteins with only a single, short (for myosins) heavy chain (140,000 and 125,000 daltons for IA and IB, respectively) and are unable to form bipolar filaments. The amino acid sequence of IB heavy chain shows 55% similarity to muscle myosins in the N-terminal 670 residues, which contain the active sites, and a unique 500-residue C-terminus highly enriched in proline, glycine, and alanine. The C-terminal region contains a second actin-binding site which allows myosins IA and IB to cross-link actin filaments and support contractile activity. Myosins IA and IB are regulated solely by phosphorylation of one serine on the heavy chain positioned between the catalytic site and the actin-binding site that activates ATPase. Myosin II is a more conventional myosin in composition (two heavy chains and two pairs of light chains), heavy chain sequence (globular head 45% identical to muscle myosins and a coiled-coil helical tail), and structure (bipolar filaments). The tail of myosin II is much shorter than that of other conventional myosins, and it contains a 25 amino acid sequence in which helical structure is predicted to be weak or absent. The position of this sequence corresponds to the position of a bend in the monomer. Myosin II heavy chains also have a 29-residue nonhelical tailpiece which contains three regulatory, phosphorylatable serines. Phosphorylation at the tip of the tail regulates ATPase activity in the globular head apparently through an effect on filament structure.

Assembly of smooth muscle myosin minifilaments: effects of phosphorylation and nucleotide binding

Small bipolar filaments, or "minifilaments," are formed when smooth muscle myosin is dialyzed against low ionic strength pyrophosphate or citrate/Tris buffers. Unlike synthetic filaments formed at approximately physiological ionic conditions, minifilaments are homogeneous as indicated by their hypersharp boundary during sedimentation velocity. Electron microscopy and hydrodynamic techniques were used to show that 20-22S smooth muscle myosin minifilaments are 380 nm long and composed of 12-14 molecules. By varying solvents, a continuum of different size polymers in the range of 15-30S could be obtained. Skeletal muscle myosin, in contrast, preferentially forms a stable 32S minifilament (Reisler, E., P. Cheung, and N. Borochov. 1986. Biophys. J. 49:335-342), suggesting underlying differences in the assembly properties of the two myosins. Addition of salt to the smooth muscle myosin minifilaments caused unidirectional growth into a longer "side-polar" type of filament, whereas bipolar filaments were consistently formed by skeletal muscle myosin. As with synthetic filaments, addition of 1 mM MgATP caused dephosphorylated minifilaments to dissociate to a mixture of folded monomers and dimers. Phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain prevented disassembly by nucleotide, even though it had no detectable effect on the structure of the minifilament. These results suggest that differences in filament stability as a result of phosphorylation are due largely to conformational changes occurring in the myosin head, and are not due to differences in filament packing.

Low ionic strength solubility of myosin in sea urchin egg extracts is mediated by a myosin-binding protein

We identify a novel myosin-binding protein, designated 53K, which appears to mediate the low ionic strength solubility of myosin in extracts of unfertilized sea urchin eggs. The protein possesses a subunit molecular mass on SDS-PAGE of 53 kD, an S value of 7, may be organized into disulfide-linked oligomers, and is associated with myosin in egg extracts. Both myosin and 53K co-precipitate from extract upon the addition of nucleoside triphosphates and co-sediment with an S value of 24 by sedimentation velocity centrifugation. Myosin in extracts not associated with 53K has an S value of 10. Further, myosin can be immunoprecipitated from extract with antibody to 53K and the 53K in extracts binds to a myosin affinity column. When extract is depleted of 53K, a majority of the myosin precipitates out of extract in a nucleotide-independent manner. Whereas purified myosin precipitates in the absence of nucleotide when recombined with dialysis buffer or myosin-depleted extract, reconstituting 53K and myosin before addition to buffer or myosin-depleted extract partially restores the low ionic strength solubility demonstrated by myosin in fresh egg extracts. The 53-kD protein may represent a new class of authentic myosin-binding proteins that may regulate the supramolecular organization of myosin in nonmuscle cells.