Dephosphorylation-dependent inhibitory activity of juxtanodin on filamentous actin disassembly

Ermin is a p116RIP -interacting protein promoting oligodendroglial differentiation and myelin maintenance

Myelin sheaths, which insulate the axons and ensure saltatory conduction of the nerve impulse, are generated and maintained via largely uncharacterized mechanisms. Ermin is an oligodendrocyte-specific protein associated with the cytoskeleton, but how it regulates cytoskeletal remodeling during oligodendrocyte differentiation and its role in myelin maintenance are not clear. To address this, we generated mice constitutively deficient for Ermn, the Ermin-coding gene. We found that aged Ermn-knockout mice exhibit an aberrant myelin architecture, with splitting of myelin layers, peeling of the myelin sheath from axons, and breakdown of myelinated fibers. As a result, these mice had remarkably impaired motor coordination. Ermn knockout also accelerated cuprizone-induced demyelination and exacerbated the associated movement disorders. Ermin was found to contribute to oligodendrocyte morphogenesis by associating with the myosin phosphatase Rho interacting protein (Mprip/p116^RIP ) and inactivating RhoA, a GTPase that controls cytoskeletal rearrangement in differentiating cells. These findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms regulating oligodendroglial differentiation, the maintenance of the myelin sheaths, and remyelination.

Sustentacular Cell Enwrapment of Olfactory Receptor Neuronal Dendrites: An Update

The pseudostratified olfactory epithelium (OE) may histologically appear relatively simple, but the cytological relations among its cell types, especially those between olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and olfactory sustentacular cells (OSCs), prove more complex and variable than previously believed. Adding to the complexity is the short lifespan, persistent neurogenesis, and continuous rewiring of the ORNs. Contrary to the common belief that ORN dendrites are mostly positioned between OSCs, recent findings indicate a sustentacular cell enwrapped configuration for a majority of mature ORN dendrites at the superficial layer of the OE. After vertically sprouting out from the borderlines between OSCs, most of the immature ORN dendrites undergo a process of sideways migration and terminal maturation to become completely invaginated into and enwrapped by OSCs. Trailing the course of the dendritic sideways migration is the mesodendrite (mesentery of the enwrapped dendrite) made of closely apposed, cell junction connected plasma membrane layers of neighboring folds of the host sustentacular cell. Only a minority of the mature ORN dendrites at the OE apical surface are found at the borderlines between OSCs (unwrapped). Below I give a brief update on the cytoarchitectonic relations between the ORNs and OSCs of the OE. Emphasis is placed on the enwrapment of ORN dendrites by OSCs, on the sideways migration of immature ORN dendrites after emerging from the OE surface, and on the terminal maturation of the ORNs. Functional implications of ORN dendrite enwrapment and a comparison with myelination or Remak’s bundling of axons or axodendrites in the central and peripheral nervous system are also discussed.

Flexible Players within the Sheaths: The Intrinsically Disordered Proteins of Myelin in Health and Disease

Myelin ensheathes selected axonal segments within the nervous system, resulting primarily in nerve impulse acceleration, as well as mechanical and trophic support for neurons. In the central and peripheral nervous systems, various proteins that contribute to the formation and stability of myelin are present, which also harbor pathophysiological roles in myelin disease. Many myelin proteins have common attributes, including small size, hydrophobic segments, multifunctionality, longevity, and regions of intrinsic disorder. With recent advances in protein biophysical characterization and bioinformatics, it has become evident that intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are abundant in myelin, and their flexible nature enables multifunctionality. Here, we review known myelin IDPs, their conservation, molecular characteristics and functions, and their disease relevance, along with open questions and speculations. We place emphasis on classifying the molecular details of IDPs in myelin, and we correlate these with their various functions, including susceptibility to post-translational modifications, function in protein–protein and protein–membrane interactions, as well as their role as extended entropic chains. We discuss how myelin pathology can relate to IDPs and which molecular factors are potentially involved.

Olfactory receptor neuronal dendrites become mostly intra-sustentacularly enwrapped upon maturity

The mammalian olfactory epithelium (OE) sustains persistent neurogenesis even in the adult. Sustentacular cells therein play both epithelial and neuroglial roles, although their relation with olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and their function in ORN maturation remain insufficiently understood. Sustentacular wrapping of ORN dendrites has been long known but always considered a minor presence, as opposed to the supposedly unwrapped majority of ORN dendrites at inter-sustentacular borderlines. Using immunofluorescence, confocal and immuno-electron microscopy, the current study examined cytoarchitectonic organization and maturation of ORN dendrites at the rat OE apical layer. Contrary to common belief, the observations here on tangential histological sections of the OE apical junctional belt layer showed on average 53.93% sustentacular cell-enwrapped, 18.46% partially wrapped (in the vertical grooves on the sides of sustentacular apices) and 27.61% unwrapped ORN dendrites (at the borderlines between sustentacular cells). The enwrapped dendrites were found within the confines of sustentacular apices but linked to the sides of the latter each by a mesentery (mesodendrite) of sustentacular plasma membranes and autotypic cell junctions. Up to six dendrites were seen in one sustentacular apical process. As marked by high and low immunoreactivity for class III beta-tubulin, respectively, immature and mature ORN dendrites accounted on average for 12.46 and 87.54% of the total ORN dendrites at the OE apical layer. By correlative analysis of the maturity level and wrapping status, most immature ORN dendrites were found unwrapped (immature unwrapped = 9.71% of the total dendrites), and practically no immature dendrites appeared enwrapped. In contrast, mature ORN dendrites comprised all the enwrapped (mature enwrapped = 53.93% of the total), most of the partially wrapped (mature partially wrapped = 15.71% of the total) and a portion of the unwrapped ORN dendrites (mature unwrapped = 17.9% of the total dendrites). Based on the current findings and previous data by other researchers, it is concluded that immature ORN dendrites emerge vertically from the OE apical surface between sustentacular cell apices. A large majority of the newly emerged dendrites then undergo sideways migration, sustentacular enwrapment and further maturation. Only a small minority of the newly emerged dendrites reach maturity and remain unwrapped. These divergent maturational courses imply structural or functional differences between the enwrapped and unwrapped mature ORN dendrites.

Juxtanodin in retinal pigment epithelial cells: Expression and biological activities in regulating cell morphology and actin cytoskeleton organization

Juxtanodin (JN, also known as ermin) was initially identified as an actin cytoskeleton-related oligodendroglial protein in the rat central nervous system. It was subsequently also found in the rat olfactory neuroepithelium, especially at the apical junctional belt of the sustentacular cells. We further examined JN expression and functional roles in the retina using fluorescence histochemistry, confocal microscopy, immuno-electron microscopy, molecular biology, and cell culture. Prominent JN expression was found in the photoreceptor-supporting retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), especially in a zone corresponding to the apices of RPE cells, at the roots of the RPE microvilli, and at the base of RPE cells next to the Bruch's membrane. Partial co-localization of JN immunoreactivity with F-actin (labeled with phalloidin) was observed at the apices and bases of RPE cells. No JN was detected in other cell types of the retina. In cultured human RPE cell line ARPE-19, expression of extrinsic JN up-regulated formation of actin cytoskeleton stress fibers, caused redistribution of more F-actin fibers to the cell periphery, and promoted spreading/enlargement of transfected cells. These findings suggest possible roles of JN in RPE molecular transport, phagocytosis and formation of outer blood-retinal barrier, or possible involvement of JN expression perturbations in pathogenesis of such retinal disorders as proliferative vitreoretinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

Multiple C2 domains transmembrane protein 1 is expressed in CNS neurons and possibly regulates cellular vesicle retrieval and oxidative stress

Multiple C2 domains transmembrane protein 1 (MCTP1) contains two transmembrane regions and three C2 domains of high Ca(2+)-binding affinity. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of human MCTP1 gene is reportedly associated with bipolar disorder, but expression and function of MCTP1 in the CNS is still largely unknown. We cloned rat MCTP1 isoforms, and studied expression of MCTP1 transcript and protein in the CNS. Subcellular distribution and functional roles of MCTP1 were investigated in cultured primary neurons or PC12 cells by over-expression, cell imaging, and flow cytometry. MCTP1 immunostaining was seen in both CNS neuronal cell bodies and processes, especially in the hippocampus, dentate gyrus, medial habenular nucleus, amygdala, and selected cerebral and cerebellar cortical areas/layers. Under an electron microscope, MCTP1 immunoreactivity was observed on vesicles in neuronal cell bodies and pre-synaptic axon terminals. In cultured primary neurons and PC12 cells MCTP1 was detected on selected populations of secretory vesicles and endosomes. MCTP1 over-expression significantly inhibited neuronal transferrin endocytosis, secretory vesicle retrieval, cell migration, and oxidative stress from glutamate toxicity. Thus MCTP1 might be involved in regulating endocytic recycling of specific CNS neurons and synapses. MCTP1 abnormality might cause altered synaptic vesicle recycling, and thereby lead to vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diseases.

Juxtanodin is an intrinsically disordered F-actin-binding protein

Juxtanodin, also called ermin, is an F-actin-binding protein expressed by oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming cells of the central nervous system. While juxtanodin carries a short conserved F-actin-binding segment at its C terminus, it otherwise shares no similarity with known protein sequences. We carried out a structural characterization of recombinant juxtanodin in solution. Juxtanodin turned out to be intrinsically disordered, as evidenced by conventional and synchrotron radiation CD spectroscopy. Small-angle X-ray scattering indicated that juxtanodin is a monomeric, highly elongated, unfolded molecule. Ensemble optimization analysis of the data suggested also the presence of more compact forms of juxtanodin. The C terminus was a strict requirement for co-sedimentation of juxtanodin with microfilaments, but juxtanodin had only mild effects on actin polymerization. The disordered nature of juxtanodin may predict functions as a protein interaction hub, although F-actin is its only currently known binding partner.