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Shiff CE, Kondev J, Mohapatra L. Ultrasensitivity of microtubule severing due to damage repair. iScience 2024; 27:108874. [PMID: 38327774 PMCID: PMC10847648 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 01/01/2024] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Microtubule-based cytoskeletal structures aid in cell motility, cell polarization, and intracellular transport. These functions require a coordinated effort of regulatory proteins which interact with microtubule cytoskeleton distinctively. In-vitro experiments have shown that free tubulin can repair nanoscale damages of microtubules created by severing proteins. Based on this observation, we theoretically analyze microtubule severing as a competition between the processes of damage spreading and tubulin-induced repair. We demonstrate that this model is in quantitative agreement with in-vitro experiments and predict the existence of a critical tubulin concentration above which severing becomes rare, fast, and sensitive to concentration of free tubulin. We show that this sensitivity leads to a dramatic increase in the dynamic range of steady-state microtubule lengths when the free tubulin concentration is varied, and microtubule lengths are controlled by severing. Our work demonstrates how synergy between tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins can bring about specific dynamical properties of microtubules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe E. Shiff
- Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jane Kondev
- Department of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA
| | - Lishibanya Mohapatra
- School of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
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2
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Lawrence EJ, Chatterjee S, Zanic M. More is different: Reconstituting complexity in microtubule regulation. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105398. [PMID: 37898404 PMCID: PMC10694663 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105398] [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: 06/11/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal filaments that undergo stochastic switching between phases of polymerization and depolymerization-a behavior known as dynamic instability. Many important cellular processes, including cell motility, chromosome segregation, and intracellular transport, require complex spatiotemporal regulation of microtubule dynamics. This coordinated regulation is achieved through the interactions of numerous microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) with microtubule ends and lattices. Here, we review the recent advances in our understanding of microtubule regulation, focusing on results arising from biochemical in vitro reconstitution approaches using purified multiprotein ensembles. We discuss how the combinatory effects of MAPs affect both the dynamics of individual microtubule ends, as well as the stability and turnover of the microtubule lattice. In addition, we highlight new results demonstrating the roles of protein condensates in microtubule regulation. Our overall intent is to showcase how lessons learned from reconstitution approaches help unravel the regulatory mechanisms at play in complex cellular environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Lawrence
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Saptarshi Chatterjee
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Marija Zanic
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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3
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Henkin G, Brito C, Thomas C, Surrey T. The minus-end depolymerase KIF2A drives flux-like treadmilling of γTuRC-uncapped microtubules. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:e202304020. [PMID: 37615667 PMCID: PMC10450741 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202304020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
During mitosis, microtubules in the spindle turn over continuously. At spindle poles, where microtubule minus ends are concentrated, microtubule nucleation and depolymerization, the latter required for poleward microtubule flux, happen side by side. How these seemingly antagonistic processes of nucleation and depolymerization are coordinated is not understood. Here, we reconstitute this coordination in vitro combining different pole-localized activities. We find that the spindle pole-localized kinesin-13 KIF2A is a microtubule minus-end depolymerase, in contrast to its paralog MCAK. Due to its asymmetric activity, KIF2A still allows microtubule nucleation from the γ-tubulin ring complex (γTuRC), which serves as a protective cap shielding the minus end against KIF2A binding. Efficient γTuRC uncapping requires the combined action of KIF2A and a microtubule severing enzyme, leading to treadmilling of the uncapped microtubule driven by KIF2A. Together, these results provide insight into the molecular mechanisms by which a minimal protein module coordinates microtubule nucleation and depolymerization at spindle poles consistent with their role in poleward microtubule flux.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gil Henkin
- Centre for Genomic Regulation(CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cláudia Brito
- Centre for Genomic Regulation(CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Thomas Surrey
- Centre for Genomic Regulation(CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
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4
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Valdez VA, Neahring L, Petry S, Dumont S. Mechanisms underlying spindle assembly and robustness. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2023; 24:523-542. [PMID: 36977834 PMCID: PMC10642710 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-023-00584-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023]
Abstract
The microtubule-based spindle orchestrates chromosome segregation during cell division. Following more than a century of study, many components and pathways contributing to spindle assembly have been described, but how the spindle robustly assembles remains incompletely understood. This process involves the self-organization of a large number of molecular parts - up to hundreds of thousands in vertebrate cells - whose local interactions give rise to a cellular-scale structure with emergent architecture, mechanics and function. In this Review, we discuss key concepts in our understanding of spindle assembly, focusing on recent advances and the new approaches that enabled them. We describe the pathways that generate the microtubule framework of the spindle by driving microtubule nucleation in a spatially controlled fashion and present recent insights regarding the organization of individual microtubules into structural modules. Finally, we discuss the emergent properties of the spindle that enable robust chromosome segregation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lila Neahring
- Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Graduate Program, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Sabine Petry
- Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
| | - Sophie Dumont
- Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Graduate Program, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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5
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Lawrence EJ, Chatterjee S, Zanic M. CLASPs stabilize the pre-catastrophe intermediate state between microtubule growth and shrinkage. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:e202107027. [PMID: 37184584 PMCID: PMC10195879 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202107027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytoplasmic linker-associated proteins (CLASPs) regulate microtubules in fundamental cellular processes. CLASPs stabilize dynamic microtubules by suppressing microtubule catastrophe and promoting rescue, the switch-like transitions between growth and shrinkage. How CLASPs specifically modulate microtubule transitions is not understood. Here, we investigate the effects of CLASPs on the pre-catastrophe intermediate state of microtubule dynamics, employing distinct microtubule substrates to mimic the intermediate state. Surprisingly, we find that CLASP1 promotes the depolymerization of stabilized microtubules in the presence of GTP, but not in the absence of nucleotide. This activity is also observed for CLASP2 family members and a minimal TOG2-domain construct. Conversely, we find that CLASP1 stabilizes unstable microtubules upon tubulin dilution in the presence of GTP. Strikingly, our results reveal that CLASP1 drives microtubule substrates with vastly different inherent stabilities into the same slowly depolymerizing state in a nucleotide-dependent manner. We interpret this state as the pre-catastrophe intermediate state. Therefore, we conclude that CLASPs suppress microtubule catastrophe by stabilizing the intermediate state between growth and shrinkage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J. Lawrence
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Saptarshi Chatterjee
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Marija Zanic
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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6
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Farmer VJ, Zanic M. Beyond the GTP-cap: Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of microtubule catastrophe. Bioessays 2023; 45:e2200081. [PMID: 36398561 PMCID: PMC10648283 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Almost 40 years since the discovery of microtubule dynamic instability, the molecular mechanisms underlying microtubule dynamics remain an area of intense research interest. The "standard model" of microtubule dynamics implicates a "cap" of GTP-bound tubulin dimers at the growing microtubule end as the main determinant of microtubule stability. Loss of the GTP-cap leads to microtubule "catastrophe," a switch-like transition from microtubule growth to shrinkage. However, recent studies, using biochemical in vitro reconstitution, cryo-EM, and computational modeling approaches, challenge the simple GTP-cap model. Instead, a new perspective on the mechanisms of microtubule dynamics is emerging. In this view, highly dynamic transitions between different structural conformations of the growing microtubule end - which may or may not be directly linked to the nucleotide content at the microtubule end - ultimately drive microtubule catastrophe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica J. Farmer
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Marija Zanic
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering, Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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7
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Striebel M, Brauns F, Frey E. Length Regulation Drives Self-Organization in Filament-Motor Mixtures. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2022; 129:238102. [PMID: 36563230 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.238102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Cytoskeletal networks form complex intracellular structures. Here we investigate a minimal model for filament-motor mixtures in which motors act as depolymerases and thereby regulate filament length. Combining agent-based simulations and hydrodynamic equations, we show that resource-limited length regulation drives the formation of filament clusters despite the absence of mechanical interactions between filaments. Even though the orientation of individual remains fixed, collective filament orientation emerges in the clusters, aligned orthogonal to their interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Striebel
- Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 Munich, Germany
| | - Fridtjof Brauns
- Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 Munich, Germany
| | - Erwin Frey
- Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 Munich, Germany
- Max Planck School Matter to Life, Hofgartenstraße 8, D-80539 Munich, Germany
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8
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Farmer V, Arpağ G, Hall SL, Zanic M. XMAP215 promotes microtubule catastrophe by disrupting the growing microtubule end. J Cell Biol 2021; 220:212518. [PMID: 34324632 PMCID: PMC8327381 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202012144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The GTP-tubulin cap is widely accepted to protect microtubules against catastrophe. The GTP-cap size is thought to increase with the microtubule growth rate, presumably endowing fast-growing microtubules with enhanced stability. It is unknown what GTP-cap properties permit frequent microtubule catastrophe despite fast growth. Here, we investigate microtubules growing in the presence and absence of the polymerase XMAP215. Using EB1 as a GTP-cap marker, we find that GTP-cap size increases regardless of whether growth acceleration is achieved by increasing tubulin concentration or by XMAP215. Despite increased mean GTP-cap size, microtubules grown with XMAP215 display increased catastrophe frequency, in contrast to microtubules grown with more tubulin, for which catastrophe is abolished. However, microtubules polymerized with XMAP215 have large fluctuations in growth rate; display tapered and curled ends; and undergo catastrophe at faster growth rates and with higher EB1 end-localization. Our results suggest that structural perturbations induced by XMAP215 override the protective effects of the GTP-cap, ultimately driving microtubule catastrophe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Farmer
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Göker Arpağ
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Sarah L Hall
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Marija Zanic
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.,Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
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9
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Abstract
The turnover of actin filament networks in cells has long been considered to reflect the treadmilling behavior of pure actin filaments in vitro, where only the pointed ends depolymerize. Newly discovered molecular mechanisms challenge this notion, as they provide evidence of situations in which growing and depolymerizing barbed ends coexist.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Romet-Lemonne
- Université de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
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10
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Burakov A, Vorobjev I, Semenova I, Cowan A, Carson J, Wu Y, Rodionov V. Persistent growth of microtubules at low density. Mol Biol Cell 2021; 32:435-445. [PMID: 33439670 PMCID: PMC8098851 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e20-08-0546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) often form a polarized array with minus ends anchored at the centrosome and plus ends extended toward the cell margins. Plus ends display behavior known as dynamic instability—transitions between rapid shortening and slow growth. It is known that dynamic instability is regulated locally to ensure entry of MTs into nascent areas of the cytoplasm, but details of this regulation remain largely unknown. Here, we test an alternative hypothesis for the local regulation of MT behavior. We used microsurgery to isolate a portion of peripheral cytoplasm from MTs growing from the centrosome, creating cytoplasmic areas locally depleted of MTs. We found that in sparsely populated areas MT plus ends persistently grew or paused but never shortened. In contrast, plus ends that entered regions of cytoplasm densely populated with MTs frequently transitioned to shortening. Persistent growth of MTs in sparsely populated areas could not be explained by a local increase in concentration of free tubulin subunits or elevation of Rac1 activity proposed to enhance MT growth at the cell leading edge during locomotion. These observations suggest the existence of a MT density–dependent mechanism regulating MT dynamics that determines dynamic instability of MTs in densely populated areas of the cytoplasm and persistent growth in sparsely populated areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Burakov
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030.,A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russia
| | - Ivan Vorobjev
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030.,A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russia.,Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Humanities and National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, 010000 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
| | - Irina Semenova
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
| | - Ann Cowan
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
| | - John Carson
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
| | - Yi Wu
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
| | - Vladimir Rodionov
- R.D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling and Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
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