An axoplasmic myosin with a calmodulin-like light chain

Compartment-Specific Phosphorylation of Squid Neurofilaments

Studies of the giant axon and synapse of third-order neurons in the squid stellate ganglion have provided a vast literature on neuronal physiology and axon transport. Large neuronal size also lends itself to comparative biochemical studies of cell body versus axon. These have focused on the regulation of synthesis, assembly, posttranslational modification and function of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins (microtubules (MTs) and neurofilaments (NFs)), the predominant proteins in axoplasm. These contribute to axonal organization, stability, transport, and impulse transmission responsible for rapid contractions of mantle muscles underlying jet propulsion. Studies of vertebrate NFs have established an extensive literature on NF structure, organization, and function; studies of squid NFs, however, have made it possible to compare compartment-specific regulation of NF synthesis, assembly, and function in soma versus axoplasm. Since NFs contain over 100 eligible sites for phosphorylation by protein kinases, the compartment-specific patterns of phosphorylation have been a primary focus of biochemical studies. We have learned that NF phosphorylation is tightly compartmentalized; extensive phosphorylation occurs only in the axonal compartment in squid and in vertebrate neurons. This extensive phosphorylation plays a key role in organizing NFs, in association with microtubules (MTs), into a stable, dynamic functional lattice that supports axon growth, diameter, impulse transmission, and synaptic activity. To understand how cytoskeletal phosphorylation is topographically regulated, the kinases and phosphatases, bound to NFs isolated from cell bodies and axoplasm, have also been studied.

Identification of molecular motors in the Woods Hole squid, Loligo pealei: an expressed sequence tag approach

The squid giant axon and synapse are unique systems for studying neuronal function. While a few nucleotide and amino acid sequences have been obtained from squid, large scale genetic and proteomic information is lacking. We have been particularly interested in motors present in axons and their roles in transport processes. Here, to obtain genetic data and to identify motors expressed in squid, we initiated an expressed sequence tag project by single-pass sequencing mRNAs isolated from the stellate ganglia of the Woods Hole Squid, Loligo pealei. A total of 22,689 high quality expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences were obtained and subjected to basic local alignment search tool analysis. Seventy six percent of these sequences matched genes in the National Center for Bioinformatics databases. By CAP3 analysis this library contained 2459 contigs and 7568 singletons. Mining for motors successfully identified six kinesins, six myosins, a single dynein heavy chain, as well as components of the dynactin complex, and motor light chains and accessory proteins. This initiative demonstrates that EST projects represent an effective approach to obtain sequences of interest.

Fast anterograde transport of herpes simplex virus: role for the amyloid precursor protein of alzheimer's disease

Anterograde transport of herpes simplex virus (HSV) from its site of synthesis in the neuronal cell body out the neuronal process to the mucosal membrane is crucial for transmission of the virus from one person to another, yet the molecular mechanism is not known. By injecting GFP-labeled HSV into the giant axon of the squid, we reconstitute fast anterograde transport of human HSV and use this as an assay to uncover the underlying molecular mechanism. HSV travels by fast axonal transport at velocities four-fold faster (0.9 microm/sec average, 1.2 microm/sec maximal) than that of mitochondria moving in the same axon (0.2 microm/sec) and ten-fold faster than negatively charged beads (0.08 microm/sec). Transport of HSV utilizes cellular transport mechanisms because it appears to be driven from inside cellular membranes as revealed by negative stain electron microscopy and by the association of TGN46, a component of the cellular secretory pathway, with GFP-labeled viral particles. Finally, we show that amyloid precursor protein (APP), a putative receptor for the microtubule motor, kinesin, is a major component of viral particles, at least as abundant as any viral encoded protein, while another putative motor receptor, JIP 1/2, is not detected. Conventional kinesin is also associated with viral particles. This work links fast anterograde transport of the common pathogen, HSV, with the neurodegenerative Alzheimer's disease. This novel connection should prompt new ideas for treatment and prevention strategies.

Association of a nonmuscle myosin II with axoplasmic organelles

Association of motor proteins with organelles is required for the motors to mediate transport. Because axoplasmic organelles move on actin filaments, they must have associated actin-based motors, most likely members of the myosin superfamily. To gain a better understanding of the roles of myosins in the axon we used the giant axon of the squid, a powerful model for studies of axonal physiology. First, a approximately 220 kDa protein was purified from squid optic lobe, using a biochemical protocol designed to isolate myosins. Peptide sequence analysis, followed by cloning and sequencing of the full-length cDNA, identified this approximately 220 kDa protein as a nonmuscle myosin II. This myosin is also present in axoplasm, as determined by two independent criteria. First, RT-PCR using sequence-specific primers detected the transcript in the stellate ganglion, which contains the cell bodies that give rise to the giant axon. Second, Western blot analysis using nonmuscle myosin II isotype-specific antibodies detected a single approximately 220 kDa band in axoplasm. Axoplasm was fractionated through a four-step sucrose gradient after 0.6 M KI treatment, which separates organelles from cytoskeletal components. Of the total nonmuscle myosin II in axoplasm, 43.2% copurified with organelles in the 15% sucrose fraction, while the remainder (56.8%) was soluble and found in the supernatant. This myosin decorates the cytoplasmic surface of 21% of the axoplasmic organelles, as demonstrated by immunogold electron-microscopy. Thus, nonmuscle myosin II is synthesized in the cell bodies of the giant axon, is present in the axon, and is associated with isolated axoplasmic organelles. Therefore, in addition to myosin V, this myosin is likely to be an axoplasmic organelle motor.

Retrograde axonal transport of herpes simplex virus: evidence for a single mechanism and a role for tegument

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV) typically enters peripheral nerve terminals and then travels back along the nerve to reach the neuronal cell body, where it replicates or enters latency. To monitor axoplasmic transport of HSV, we used the giant axon of the squid, Loligo pealei, a well known system for the study of axoplasmic transport. To deliver HSV into the axoplasm, viral particles stripped of their envelopes by detergent were injected into the giant axon, thereby bypassing the infective process. Labeling the viral tegument protein, VP16, with green fluorescent protein allowed viral particles moving inside the axon to be imaged by confocal microscopy. Viral particles moved 2.2 +/- 0.26 micrometer/sec in the retrograde direction, a rate comparable to that of the transport of endogenous organelles and of virus in mammalian neurons in culture. Electron microscopy confirmed that 96% of motile (stripped) viral particles had lost their envelope but retained tegument, and Western blot analysis revealed that these particles had retained protein from capsid but not envelope. We conclude that (i) HSV recruits the squid retrograde transport machinery; (ii) viral tegument and capsid but not envelope are sufficient for this recruitment; and (iii) the giant axon of the squid provides a unique system to dissect the viral components required for transport and to identify the cellular transport mechanisms they recruit.

Disassembly of actin filaments leads to increased rate and frequency of mitochondrial movement along microtubules

In activated sea urchin coelomocytes, cytoplasmic organelles move along distinct actin and microtubule dependent pathways, actin-based motility is driven by an unconventional myosin, and microtubule disassembly does not effect actin-dependent organelle motility [D'Andrea et al., 1994: J. Cell Sci. 107:2081-2094]. Given the growing evidence for potential interactions between components of the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons, we examined the effect of actin filament disassembly on the movement of mitochondria along microtubules in activated coelomocytes. Coelomocytes treated with cytochalasin B (CB), to disrupt actin filaments, exhibited a thinning of the cytoplasm, enhanced lateral undulation of microtubules, and ceased centripetal cortical flow of actin. Interestingly, the loss of actin filaments resulted in a approximately 1.5-fold increase in the average velocity of outward and inward moving mitochondria and increased the frequency of centripetal movement. To test if enhanced motility along microtubules was a consequence of decreased actin-myosin interaction, coelomocytes were treated with 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM), a potent inhibitor of myosin activity [Cramer and Mitchison, 1995: J. Cell Biol. 131:179-189]. BDM inhibited all types of actin-based motility observed in these cells including retrograde cortical flow, protrusion and retraction of the cell edge, and movement of intracellular organelles. Surprisingly, BDM treatment stopped the movement of mitochondria in CB-exposed cells, suggesting that BDM can also act as an inhibitor of organelle movement along microtubules. Collectively, these data demonstrated that microtubule-dependent mitochondrial motility and microtubule movement were sensitive to changes in the assembly state of the actin cytoskeleton.

Association of myosin I alpha with endosomes and lysosomes in mammalian cells

Myosin Is, which constitute a ubiquitous monomeric subclass of myosins with actin-based motor properties, are associated with plasma membrane and intracellular vesicles. Myosin Is have been proposed as key players for membrane trafficking in endocytosis or exocytosis. In the present paper we provide biochemical and immunoelectron microscopic evidence indicating that a pool of myosin I alpha (MMIalpha) is associated with endosomes and lysosomes. We show that the overproduction of MMIalpha or the production of nonfunctional truncated MMIalpha affects the distribution of the endocytic compartments. We also show that truncated brush border myosin I proteins, myosin Is that share 78% homology with MMIalpha, promote the dissociation of MMIalpha from vesicular membranes derived from endocytic compartments. The analysis at the ultrastructural level of cells producing these brush border myosin I truncated proteins shows that the delivery of the fluid phase markers from endosomes to lysosomes is impaired. MMIalpha might therefore be involved in membrane trafficking occurring between endosomes and lysosomes.

Association of actin filaments with axonal microtubule tracts

Axoplasmic organelles move on actin as well as microtubules in vitro and axons contain a large amount of actin, but little is known about the organization and distribution of actin filaments within the axon. Here we undertake to define the relationship of the microtubule bundles typically found in axons to actin filaments by applying three microscopic techniques: laser-scanning confocal microscopy of immuno-labeled squid axoplasm; electronmicroscopy of conventionally prepared thin sections; and electronmicroscopy of touch preparations-a thin layer of axoplasm transferred to a specimen grid and negatively stained. Light microscopy shows that longitudinal actin filaments are abundant and usually coincide with longitudinal microtubule bundles. Electron microscopy shows that microfilaments are interwoven with the longitudinal bundles of microtubules. These bundles maintain their integrity when neurofilaments are extracted. Some, though not all microfilaments decorate with the S1 fragment of myosin, and some also act as nucleation sites for polymerization of exogenous actin, and hence are definitively identified as actin filaments. These actin filaments range in minimum length from 0.5 to 1.5 microm with some at least as long as 3.5 microm. We conclude that the microtubule-based tracks for fast organelle transport also include actin filaments. These actin filaments are sufficiently long and abundant to be ancillary or supportive of fast transport along microtubules within bundles, or to extend transport outside of the bundle. These actin filaments could also be essential for maintaining the structural integrity of the microtubule bundles.

Caldendrin, a novel neuronal calcium-binding protein confined to the somato-dendritic compartment

Using antibodies against synaptic protein preparations, we cloned the cDNA of a new Ca2+-binding protein. Its C-terminal portion displays significant similarity with calmodulin and contains two EF-hand motifs. The corresponding mRNA is highly expressed in rat brain, primarily in cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum; its expression appears to be restricted to neurons. Transcript levels increase during postnatal development. A recombinant C-terminal protein fragment binds Ca2+ as indicated by a Ca2+-induced mobility shift in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Antisera generated against the bacterial fusion protein recognize a brain-specific protein doublet with apparent molecular masses of 33 and 36 kDa. These data are confirmed by in vitro translation, which generates a single 36-kDa polypeptide, and by the heterologous expression in 293 cells, which yields a 33/36-kDa doublet comparable to that found in brain. On two-dimensional gels, the 33-kDa band separates into a chain of spots plausibly due to differential phosphorylation. This view is supported by in situ phosphorylation studies in hippocampal slices. Most of the immunoreactivity is detectable in cytoskeletal preparations with a further enrichment in the synapse-associated cytomatrix. These biochemical data, together with the ultra-structural localization in dendrites and the postsynaptic density, strongly suggest an association with the somato-dendritic cytoskeleton. Therefore, this novel Ca2+-binding protein was named caldendrin.

Primary peptide sequences from squid muscle and optic lobe myosin IIs: a strategy to identify an organelle myosin

The squid giant axon provides an excellent model system for the study of actin-based organelle transport likely to be mediated by myosins, but the identification of these motors has proven to be difficult. Here the authors purified and obtained primary peptide sequence of squid muscle myosin as a first step in a strategy designed to identify myosins in the squid nervous system. Limited digestion yielded fourteen peptides derived from the muscle myosin which possess high amino acid sequence identities to myosin II from scallop (60-95%) and chick pectoralis muscle (31-83%). Antibodies generated to this purified muscle myosin were used to isolate a potential myosin from squid optic lobe which yielded 11 peptide fragments. Sequences from six of these fragments identified this protein as a myosin II. The other five sequences matched myosin II (50-60%, identities), and some also matched unconventional myosins (33-50%). A single band that has a molecular weight similar to the myosin purified from optic lobe copurifies with axoplasmic organelles, and, like the optic lobe myosin, this band is also recognized by the antibodies raised against squid muscle myosin II. Hence, this strategy provides an approach to the identification of a myosin associated with motile axoplasmic organelles.

The amino acid sequence of the light chain of Acanthamoeba myosin IC

The amino acid sequence of the light chain of Acanthamoeba myosin IC deduced from the cDNA sequence comprises 149 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 16,739. All but the 3 N-terminal residues were also determined by amino acid sequencing of the purified protein, which also showed the N-terminus to be blocked. Phylogenetic analysis shows Acanthamoeba myosin IC light chain to be more similar to the calmodulin subfamily of EF-hand calcium-modulated proteins than to the myosin II essential light chain or regulatory light chain subfamilies. In pairwise comparisons, the myosin IC light chain sequence is most similar to sequences of calmodulins (approximately 50% identical) and a squid calcium-binding protein (approximately 43% identical); the sequence is approximately 37% identical to the calcium-binding essential light chain of Physarum myosin II and approximately 30% identical to the essential light chain of Acanthamoeba myosin II, and the essential light chain and regulatory light chain of Dictyostelium myosin II. The sequence predicts four helix-loop-helix domains with possible calcium-binding sites in domains I and III, suggesting that calcium may affect the activity of this unconventional myosin. This is the first report of the sequence of an unconventional myosin light chain other than calmodulin.