Immunoelectron microscope studies of membrane-microfilament interactions: distributions of alpha-actinin, tropomyosin, and vinculin in intestinal epithelial brush border and chicken gizzard smooth muscle cells

Identification and Characterization of Novel circRNAs Involved in Muscle Growth of Blunt Snout Bream (Megalobrama amblycephala)

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of endogenous RNAs, have been recognized to play important roles in the growth of animals. However, the regulatory mechanism of circRNAs on fish muscle growth is still unclear. In this study, we performed whole transcriptome analysis of skeletal muscles from two populations with different growth rates (fast-growing and slow-growing) of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala), an important fish species for aquaculture. The selected circRNAs were validated by qPCR and Sanger sequencing. Pairs of circRNA–miRNA–mRNA networks were constructed with the predicted differentially expressed (DE) pairs, which revealed regulatory roles in muscle myogenesis and hypertrophy. As a result, a total of 445 circRNAs were identified, including 42 DE circRNAs between fast-growing (FG) and slow-growing (SG) groups. Many of these DE circRNAs were related with aminoglycan biosynthetic and metabolic processes, cytokinetic processes, and the adherens junction pathway. The functional prediction results showed that novel_circ_0001608 and novel_circ_0002886, competing to bind with dre-miR-153b-5p and dre-miR-124-6-5p, might act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to control MamblycephalaGene14755 (pik3r1) and MamblycephalaGene10444 (apip) level, respectively, thus playing an important regulatory role in muscle growth. Overall, these results will not only help us to further understand the novel RNA transcripts in M. amblycephala, but also provide new clues to investigate the potential mechanism of circRNAs regulating fish growth and muscle development.

Vinculin is critical for the robustness of the epithelial cell sheet paracellular barrier for ions

Vinculin in the apical junctional complex maintains the paracellular barrier function specifically for ions, but not for large solutes, by buffering mechanical fluctuations.

The paracellular barrier function of tight junctions (TJs) in epithelial cell sheets is robustly maintained against mechanical fluctuations, by molecular mechanisms that are poorly understood. Vinculin is an adaptor of a mechanosensory complex at the adherens junction. Here, we generated vinculin KO Eph4 epithelial cells and analyzed their confluent cell-sheet properties. We found that vinculin is dispensable for the basic TJ structural integrity and the paracellular barrier function for larger solutes. However, vinculin is indispensable for the paracellular barrier function for ions. In addition, TJs stochastically showed dynamically distorted patterns in vinculin KO cell sheets. These KO phenotypes were rescued by transfecting full-length vinculin and by relaxing the actomyosin tension with blebbistatin, a myosin II ATPase activity inhibitor. Our findings indicate that vinculin resists mechanical fluctuations to maintain the TJ paracellular barrier function for ions in epithelial cell sheets.

Modelling apical columnar epithelium mechanics from circumferential contractile fibres

Simple columnar epithelia are formed by individual epithelial cells connecting together to form single cell high sheets. They are a main component of many important body tissues and are heavily involved in both normal and cancerous cell activities. Prior experimental observations have identified a series of contractile fibres around the circumference of a cross section located in the upper (apical) region of each cell. While other potential mechanisms have been identified in both the experimental and theoretical literature, these circumferential fibres are considered to be the most likely mechanism controlling movement of this cross section. Here, we investigated the impact of circumferential contractile fibres on movement of the cross section by creating an alternate model where movement is driven from circumferential contractile fibres, without any other potential mechanisms. In this model, we utilised a circumferential contractile fibre representation based on investigations into the movement of contractile fibres as an individual system, treated circumferential fibres as a series of units, and matched our model simulation to experimental geometries. By testing against laser ablation datasets sourced from existing literature, we found that circumferential fibres can reproduce the majority of cross-sectional movements. We also investigated model predictions related to various aspects of cross-sectional movement, providing insights into epithelium mechanics and demonstrating the usefulness of our modelling approach.

Arg kinase-binding protein 2 (ArgBP2) interaction with α-actinin and actin stress fibers inhibits cell migration

Cell migration requires dynamic remodeling of the actomyosin network. We report here that an adapter protein, ArgBP2, is a component of α-actinin containing stress fibers and inhibits migration. ArgBP2 is undetectable in many commonly studied cancer-derived cell lines. COS-7 and HeLa cells express ArgBP2 (by Western analysis), but expression was detectable only in approximately half the cells by immunofluorescence. Short term clonal analysis demonstrated 0.2-0.3% of cells switch ArgBP2 expression (on or off) per cell division. ArgBP2 can have a fundamental impact on the actomyosin network: ArgBP2 positive COS-7 cells, for example, are clearly distinguishable by their denser actomyosin (stress fiber) network. ArgBP2γ binding to α-actinin appears to underlie its ability to localize to stress fibers and decrease cell migration. We map a small α-actinin binding region in ArgBP2 (residues 192-228) that is essential for these effects. Protein kinase A phosphorylation of ArgBP2γ at neighboring Ser-259 and consequent 14-3-3 binding blocks its interaction with α-actinin. ArgBP2 is known to be down-regulated in some aggressively metastatic cancers. Our work provides a biochemical explanation for the anti-migratory effect of ArgBP2.

Vinculin phosphorylation at Tyr1065 regulates vinculin conformation and tension development in airway smooth muscle tissues

Vinculin localizes to membrane adhesion junctions in smooth muscle tissues, where its head domain binds to talin and its tail domain binds to filamentous actin, thus linking actin filaments to the extracellular matrix. Vinculin can assume a closed conformation, in which the head and tail domains bind to each other and mask the binding sites for actin and talin, and an open activated conformation that exposes the binding sites for talin and actin. Acetylcholine stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle tissues induces the recruitment of vinculin to the cell membrane and its interaction with talin and actin, which is required for active tension development. Vinculin phosphorylation at Tyr(1065) on its C terminus increases concurrently with tension development in tracheal smooth muscle tissues. In the present study, the role of vinculin phosphorylation at Tyr(1065) in regulating the conformation and function of vinculin during airway smooth muscle contraction was evaluated. Vinculin constructs with point mutations at Tyr(1065) (vinculin Y1065F and vinculin Y1065E) and vinculin conformation-sensitive FRET probes were expressed in smooth muscle tissues to determine how Tyr(1065) phosphorylation affects smooth muscle contraction and the conformation and cellular functions of vinculin. The results show that vinculin phosphorylation at tyrosine 1065 is required for normal tension generation in airway smooth muscle during contractile stimulation and that Tyr(1065) phosphorylation regulates the conformation and scaffolding activity of the vinculin molecule. We conclude that the phosphorylation of vinculin at tyrosine 1065 provides a mechanism for regulating the function of vinculin in airway smooth muscle in response to contractile stimulation.

Effects of basic calponin on the flexural mechanics and stability of F-actin

The cellular actin cytoskeleton plays a central role in the ability of cells to properly sense, propagate, and respond to external stresses and other mechanical stimuli. Calponin, an actin-binding protein found both in muscle and non-muscle cells, has been implicated in actin cytoskeletal organization and regulation. In this work, we studied the mechanical and structural interaction of actin with basic calponin, a differentiation marker in smooth muscle cells, on a single filament level. We imaged fluorescently labeled thermally fluctuating actin filaments and found that at moderate calponin binding densities, actin filaments were more flexible, evident as a reduction in persistence length from 8.0 to 5.8 μm. When calponin-decorated actin filaments were subjected to shear, we observed a marked reduction of filament lengths after decoration with calponin, which we argue was due to shear-induced filament rupture rather than depolymerization. This increased shear susceptibility was exacerbated with calponin concentration. Cryo-electron microscopy results confirmed previously published negative stain electron microscopy results and suggested alterations in actin involving actin subdomain 2. A weakening of F-actin intermolecular association is discussed as the underlying cause of the observed mechanical perturbations.

Reconstructing adhesion structures in tissues by cryo-electron tomography of vitrified frozen sections

Cryo-electron tomography enables three-dimensional insights into the macromolecular architecture of cells in a close-to-life state. However, it is limited to thin specimens, <1.0 μm in thickness, typically restricted to the peripheral areas of intact eukaryotic cells. Analysis of tissue ultrastructure, on the other hand, requires physical sectioning approaches, preferably cryo-sectioning, following which electron tomography (ET) may be performed. Nevertheless, cryo-electron microscopy of vitrified sections is a demanding technique and typically cannot be used to examine thick sections, >80-100 nm, due to surface crevasses. Here, we explore the potential use of cryo-ET of vitrified frozen sections (VFSs) for imaging cell adhesions in chicken smooth muscle and mouse epithelial tissues. By investigating 300-400 nm thick sections, which are collected on the EM grid and re-vitrified, we resolved fine 3D structural details of the membrane-associated dense plaques and flanking caveoli in smooth muscle tissue, and desmosomal adhesions in stratified epithelium. Technically, this method offers a simple approach for reconstructing thick volumes of hydrated frozen sections.

Limited digestion of α-actinin in the presence of F-actin

N-terminal actin-binding domain of α-actinin is connected to central rod domain through flexible neck region that is susceptible to proteolysis. It is suggested that the neck region assumes variable orientations by actin binding. In order to examine the effect of actin binding to α-actinin, we carried out limited digestion of α-actinin by chymotrypsin in the presence and absence of F-actin. Although the cleavage process was retarded when bound to F-actin, digestion to 32 kDa-head and 55 kDa-rod domains occurred through the same intermediate products as the digestion in the absence of F-actin. N-terminal sequencing of 55 kDa-fragment showed the neck region was cleaved at 276-Leu. The cleavage site was not affected by binding to F-actin nor ionic strength of the solvent. It was also indicated that α-actinin was cleaved at 15-Tyr by chymotrypsin. Quantitation of the cleavage products by densitometry of the SDS-gels suggested the conformational change of α-actinin at domain-connecting regions by F-actin binding.

Multiple-labelling immunoEM using different sizes of colloidal gold: alternative approaches to test for differential distribution and colocalization in subcellular structures

Various methods for quantifying cellular immunogold labelling on transmission electron microscope thin sections are currently available. All rely on sound random sampling principles and are applicable to single immunolabelling across compartments within a given cell type or between different experimental groups of cells. Although methods are also available to test for colocalization in double/triple immunogold labelling studies, so far, these have relied on making multiple measurements of gold particle densities in defined areas or of inter-particle nearest neighbour distances. Here, we present alternative two-step approaches to codistribution and colocalization assessment that merely require raw counts of gold particles in distinct cellular compartments. For assessing codistribution over aggregate compartments, initial statistical evaluation involves combining contingency table and chi-squared analyses to provide predicted gold particle distributions. The observed and predicted distributions allow testing of the appropriate null hypothesis, namely, that there is no difference in the distribution patterns of proteins labelled by different sizes of gold particle. In short, the null hypothesis is that of colocalization. The approach for assessing colabelling recognises that, on thin sections, a compartment is made up of a set of sectional images (profiles) of cognate structures. The approach involves identifying two groups of compartmental profiles that are unlabelled and labelled for one gold marker size. The proportions in each group that are also labelled for the second gold marker size are then compared. Statistical analysis now uses a 2 × 2 contingency table combined with the Fisher exact probability test. Having identified double labelling, the profiles can be analysed further in order to identify characteristic features that might account for the double labelling. In each case, the approach is illustrated using synthetic and/or experimental datasets and can be refined to correct observed labelling patterns to specific labelling patterns. These simple and efficient approaches should be of more immediate utility to those interested in codistribution and colocalization in multiple immunogold labelling investigations.

New insights into vinculin function and regulation

Vinculin is a cytoplasmic actin-binding protein enriched in focal adhesions and adherens junctions that is essential for embryonic development. Much is now known regarding the role of vinculin in governing cell-matrix adhesion. In the past decade that the crystal structure of vinculin and the molecular details for how vinculin regulates adhesion events have emerged. The recent data suggests a critical function for vinculin in regulating integrin clustering, force generation, and strength of adhesion. In addition to an important role in cell-matrix adhesion, vinculin is also emerging as a regulator of apoptosis, Shigella entry into host cells, and cadherin-based cell-cell adhesion. A close inspection of this work reveals that there are similarities between vinculin's role in focal adhesions and these processes and also some intriguing differences.

Activation of vinculin induced by cholinergic stimulation regulates contraction of tracheal smooth muscle tissue

Vinculin localizes to membrane adhesion junctions where it links actin filaments to the extracellular matrix by binding to the integrin-binding protein talin at its head domain (Vh) and to actin filaments at its tail domain (Vt). Vinculin can assume an inactive (closed) conformation in which Vh and Vt bind to each other, masking the binding sites for actin and talin, and an active (open) conformation in which the binding sites for talin and actin are exposed. We hypothesized that the contractile activation of smooth muscle tissues might regulate the activation of vinculin and thereby contribute to the regulation of contractile tension. Stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle tissues with acetylcholine (ACh) induced the recruitment of vinculin to cell membrane and its interaction with talin and increased the phosphorylation of membrane-localized vinculin at the C-terminal Tyr-1065. Expression of recombinant vinculin head domain peptide (Vh) in smooth muscle tissues, but not the talin-binding deficient mutant head domain, VhA50I, inhibited the ACh-induced recruitment of endogenous vinculin to the membrane and the interaction of vinculin with talin and also inhibited vinculin phosphorylation. Expression of Vh peptide also inhibited ACh-induced smooth muscle contraction and inhibited ACh-induced actin polymerization; however, it did not affect myosin light chain phosphorylation, which is necessary for cross-bridge cycling. Inactivation of RhoA inhibited vinculin activation in response to ACh. We conclude that ACh stimulation regulates vinculin activation in tracheal smooth muscle via RhoA and that vinculin activation contributes to the regulation of active tension by facilitating connections between actin filaments and talin-integrin adhesion complexes and by mediating the initiation of actin polymerization.

Vinculin, an adapter protein in control of cell adhesion signalling

Vinculin, discovered in 1979 (Geiger, 1979), is an adapter protein with binding sites for more than 15 proteins. Biochemical and structural analyses have contributed to detailed knowledge about potential binding partners and the understanding of how their binding may be regulated. Despite all this information the molecular basis of how vinculin acts in cells and controls a wide variety of signals remains elusive. This review aims to highlight recent discoveries with an emphasis on how vinculin is involved in the coordination of a network of signals.

Vinculin regulates cell-surface E-cadherin expression by binding to beta-catenin

Vinculin was identified as a component of adherens junctions 30 years ago, yet its function there remains elusive. Deletion studies are consistent with the idea that vinculin is important for the organization of cell-cell junctions. However, this approach removes vinculin from both cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesions, making it impossible to distinguish its contribution at each site. To define the role of vinculin in cell-cell junctions, we established a powerful short hairpin-RNA-based knockdown/substitution model system that perturbs vinculin preferentially at sites of cell-cell adhesion. When this system was applied to epithelial cells, cell morphology was altered, and cadherin-dependent adhesion was reduced. These defects resulted from impaired E-cadherin cell-surface expression. We have investigated the mechanism for the effects of vinculin and found that the reduced surface E-cadherin expression could be rescued by introduction of vinculin, but not of a vinculin A50I substitution mutant that is defective for beta-catenin binding. These findings suggest that an interaction between beta-catenin and vinculin is crucial for stabilizing E-cadherin at the cell surface. This was confirmed by analyzing a beta-catenin mutant that fails to bind vinculin. Thus, our study identifies vinculin as a novel regulator of E-cadherin function and provides important new insight into the dynamic regulation of adherens junctions.

Stress and strain in the contractile and cytoskeletal filaments of airway smooth muscle

Stress and strain are omnipresent in the lung due to constant lung volume fluctuation associated with respiration, and they modulate the phenotype and function of all cells residing in the airways including the airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell. There is ample evidence that the ASM cell is very sensitive to its physical environment, and can alter its structure and/or function accordingly, resulting in either desired or undesired consequences. The forces that are either conferred to the ASM cell due to external stretching or generated inside the cell must be borne and transmitted inside the cytoskeleton (CSK). Thus, maintaining appropriate levels of stress and strain within the CSK is essential for maintaining normal function. Despite the importance, the mechanisms regulating/dysregulating ASM cytoskeletal filaments in response to stress and strain remained poorly understood until only recently. For example, it is now understood that ASM length and force are dynamically regulated, and both can adapt over a wide range of length, rendering ASM one of the most malleable living tissues. The malleability reflects the CSK's dynamic mechanical properties and plasticity, both of which strongly interact with the loading on the CSK, and all together ultimately determines airway narrowing in pathology. Here we review the latest advances in our understanding of stress and strain in ASM cells, including the organization of contractile and cytoskeletal filaments, range and adaptation of functional length, structural and functional changes of the cell in response to mechanical perturbation, ASM tone as a mediator of strain-induced responses, and the novel glassy dynamic behaviors of the CSK in relation to asthma pathophysiology.

Cardiac-myocyte-specific excision of the vinculin gene disrupts cellular junctions, causing sudden death or dilated cardiomyopathy

Vinculin is a ubiquitously expressed multiliganded protein that links the actin cytoskeleton to the cell membrane. In myocytes, it is localized in protein complexes which anchor the contractile apparatus to the sarcolemma. Its function in the myocardium remains poorly understood. Therefore, we developed a mouse model with cardiac-myocyte-specific inactivation of the vinculin (Vcl) gene by using Cre-loxP technology. Sudden death was found in 49% of the knockout (cVclKO) mice younger than 3 months of age despite preservation of contractile function. Conscious telemetry documented ventricular tachycardia as the cause of sudden death, while defective myocardial conduction was detected by optical mapping. cVclKO mice that survived through the vulnerable period of sudden death developed dilated cardiomyopathy and died before 6 months of age. Prior to the onset of cardiac dysfunction, ultrastructural analysis of cVclKO heart tissue showed abnormal adherens junctions with dissolution of the intercalated disc structure, expression of the junctional proteins cadherin and beta1D integrin were reduced, and the gap junction protein connexin 43 was mislocalized to the lateral myocyte border. This is the first report of tissue-specific inactivation of the Vcl gene and shows that it is required for preservation of normal cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesive structures.

The desmosomal plaque and the cytoskeleton

Two major plasma membrane domains are involved in the architectural organization of the cytoskeleton. Both are junctions of the adherens category characterized by the presence of dense plaques associated with the cytoplasmic surface of their membranes. The plaques serve as specific anchorage structures for two different types of cytoplasmic filaments. Intermediate-sized filaments (IF) of several types, i.e. cytokeratin IF in epithelial cells, desmin IF in cardiac myocytes and vimentin IF in arachnoidal cells of meninges, meningiomas and several other cells, attach to the desmosomal plaques, whereas actin-containing microfilaments associate with non-desmosomal adhering junctions such as the zonula adherens, fascia adherens and punctum adherens. The plaques of both kinds of adhering junctions contain a common acidic polypeptide of Mr 83,000 identical to 'band 5 protein' of bovine snout epidermal desmosomes. However, other plaque components are mutually exclusive to one of the two subclasses of adhering junctions. The desmosomal plaque structure, which does not contain vinculin and alpha-actinin, comprises representatives of cytoplasmic, non-membrane-integrated proteins such as desmoplakin(s) and the cytoplasmic portions of transmembrane glycoproteins such as 'band 3 glycoprotein'. The analysis of both categories of junction-associated plaques should provide a basis for understanding the establishment and the dynamics of junction-cytoskeleton interaction.

Partial reversal of transformed fusiform phenotype by overexpression of calreticulin

Calreticulin, a Ca²⁺-storage and chaperone protein of the ER, has also been shown to affect cell adhesiveness. To examine the effects of differential expression of calreticulin on cellular adhesiveness, we used L fibroblast cell lines stably expressing either elevated or reduced amounts of full length, ER-targeted calreticulin. Overexpression of calreticulin correlates with an increase in adhesiveness of L fibroblasts such that these transformed cells acquire epithelioid morphology and form an epithelial-cell sheet when crowded. Functionally, the “reversal” of transformed phenotype in L fibroblasts differentially overexpressing calreticulin can be accounted for by changes in levels of expression of N-cadherin and vinculin. Structurally, however, although the form and extent of cell-cell contacts in L fibroblasts overexpressing calreticulin mimicked those in normal epithelia, electron microscopical examination revealed that cell-cell junctions formed by these transformed cells bore only superficial resemblance to those of normal epithelia in culture. Our data imply that overexpression of calreticulin, while partially reverses fusiform transformed phenotype is in itself insufficient to re-establish bona fide zonulae adherens in transformed fibroblasts.

Dynamic association between alpha-actinin and beta-integrin regulates contraction of canine tracheal smooth muscle

The adhesion junctions of smooth muscle cells may be dynamically regulated during smooth muscle contraction, and this dynamic regulation may be important for the development of active tension. In the present study, the role of alpha-actinin during smooth muscle contraction was evaluated in tracheal smooth muscle tissues and freshly dissociated cells. Stimulation with acetylcholine (ACh) increased the localization of alpha-actinin at the membrane of freshly dissociated smooth muscle cells, and increased the amount of beta1 integrin that coprecipitated with alpha-actinin from muscle tissue homogenates. GFP-alpha-actinin fusion proteins were expressed in muscle tissues and visualized in live freshly dissociated cells. GFP-alpha-actinin translocated to the membrane within seconds of stimulation of the cells with ACh. Expression of the integrin-binding rod domain of alpha-actinin in smooth muscle tissues depressed active contraction in response to ACh. Expression of the alpha-actinin rod domain also inhibited the translocation of endogenous alpha-actinin to the membrane, and inhibited the association of endogenous alpha-actinin with beta1-integrin in alpha-actinin immunoprecipitates from tissue extracts. However, the expression of alpha-actinin rod domain peptides did not inhibit increases in myosin light chain phosphorylation or actin polymerization in response to stimulation with ACh. Results suggest that contractile stimulation of smooth muscle causes the rapid recruitment of alpha-actinin to beta-integrin complexes at the membrane, and that the recruitment of alpha-actinin to integrin complexes is necessary for active tension development in smooth muscle.

Smooth muscle adherens junctions associated proteins are stable at the cell periphery during relaxation and activation

This study was performed to determine the stability of the adherens junction (AJ)-associated proteins at the smooth muscle cell (SMC) plasma membrane during relaxing and activating conditions. Dog stomach, ileum, colon, and trachea tissues were stored in Ca2+-free PSS or regular PSS or were activated in 10 μM carbachol in PSS before rapid freezing. The tissues were subsequently sectioned and immunoreacted using antibodies for vinculin, talin, fibronectin, and caveolin to determine their cellular distribution in these tissues under these conditions. In all four tissues and under all three conditions, the distribution of these four proteins remained localized to the periphery of the cell. In transverse tissue sections, the AJ-associated proteins formed a distinct punctate pattern around the periphery of the SMCs at the plasma membrane. These domains alternated with the caveolae (as identified by the presence of caveolin). In longitudinal tissue sections, the AJ-associated proteins formed continuous tracks or staves, while the caveolae remained punctate in this dimension as well. Caveolin is not present in the tapered ends of the SMCs, where the AJ-associated proteins appear continuous around the periphery. Densitometry of the fluorophore distribution of these proteins showed no shift in their localization from the SMC periphery when the tissues were relaxed or when they were activated before freezing. These results suggest that under physiologically relaxing and activating conditions, AJ-associated proteins remain stably localized at the plasma membrane.

Analyzing focal adhesion structure by atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can produce high-resolution topographic images of biological samples in physiologically relevant environments and is therefore well suited for the imaging of cellular surfaces. In this work we have investigated focal adhesion complexes by combined fluorescence microscopy and AFM. To generate high-resolution AFM topographs of focal adhesions, REF52 (rat embryo fibroblast) cells expressing YFP-paxillin as a marker for focal adhesions were de-roofed and paxillin-positive focal adhesions subsequently imaged by AFM. The improved resolution of the AFM topographs complemented the optical images and offered ultrastructural insight into the architecture of focal adhesions. Focal adhesions had a corrugated dorsal surface formed by microfilament bundles spaced 127+/-50 nm (mean+/-s.d.) apart and protruding 118+/-26 nm over the substratum. Within focal adhesions microfilaments were sometimes branched and arranged in horizontal layers separated by 10 to 20 nm. From the AFM topographs focal adhesion volumes could be estimated and were found to range from 0.05 to 0.50 microm(3). Furthermore, the AFM topographs show that focal adhesion height increases towards the stress-fiber-associated end at an angle of about 3 degrees . Finally, by correlating AFM height information with fluorescence intensities of YFP-paxillin and F-actin staining, we show that the localization of paxillin is restricted to the ventral half of focal adhesions, whereas F-actin-containing microfilaments reside predominantly in the membrane-distal half.

Immunomolecular mapping of adherens junction and desmosomal components in normal human epidermis

Adherens junctions (AJs) are cell-cell and cell-matrix junctions that are known to comprise the transmembrane and cytoplasmic components linked to the f-actin cytoskeleton. Although the presence of AJs han been confirmed in normal human epidermis, previous studies immunolocalizing AJ-related antigens have been controversial. The purpose of this study was to produce a more precise molecular mapping of AJs and their constituents in relation to desmosomes in normal human epidermal keratinocytes. Using an electron microscope (EM) method to optimally fix plasma membranes. AJ structures were typically seen as a narrowing of the intercellular space between two keratinocytes that was distinct from desmosomes and gap junctions. Such structures were consistently found more frequently in the upper epidermis than in the basal layer. Immunogold electron microscopy showed an absence of the AJ components (E-cadherin and beta-catenin) from desmosomal areas but they were present at interdesmosomal areas at sites of close membrane association. Conversely, the desmosomal components plakoglobin and plakophilin 1 were restricted only to the outer attachment plaque of the desmosome. These results further confirm that AJs have a distinct molecular composition and distribution from desmosomes and that they regularly occur between desmosomes along the keratinocyte plasma membrane to provide alternative cell-cell adhesion mechanisms.

Urinary bladder contraction and relaxation: physiology and pathophysiology

The detrusor smooth muscle is the main muscle component of the urinary bladder wall. Its ability to contract over a large length interval and to relax determines the bladder function during filling and micturition. These processes are regulated by several external nervous and hormonal control systems, and the detrusor contains multiple receptors and signaling pathways. Functional changes of the detrusor can be found in several clinically important conditions, e.g., lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and bladder outlet obstruction. The aim of this review is to summarize and synthesize basic information and recent advances in the understanding of the properties of the detrusor smooth muscle, its contractile system, cellular signaling, membrane properties, and cellular receptors. Alterations in these systems in pathological conditions of the bladder wall are described, and some areas for future research are suggested.

Tension development during contractile stimulation of smooth muscle requires recruitment of paxillin and vinculin to the membrane

Cytoskeletal reorganization of the smooth muscle cell in response to contractile stimulation may be an important fundamental process in regulation of tension development. We used confocal microscopy to analyze the effects of cholinergic stimulation on localization of the cytoskeletal proteins vinculin, paxillin, talin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in freshly dissociated tracheal smooth muscle cells. All four proteins were localized at the membrane and throughout the cytoplasm of unstimulated cells, but their concentration at the membrane was greater in acetylcholine (ACh)-stimulated cells. Antisense oligonucleotides were introduced into tracheal smooth muscle tissues to deplete paxillin protein, which also inhibited contraction in response to ACh. In cells dissociated from paxillin-depleted muscle tissues, redistribution of vinculin to the membrane in response to ACh was prevented, but redistribution of FAK and talin was not inhibited. Muscle tissues were transfected with plasmids encoding a paxillin mutant containing a deletion of the LIM3 domain (paxillin LIM3 dl 444–494), the primary determinant for targeting paxillin to focal adhesions. Expression of paxillin LIM3 dl in muscle tissues also inhibited contractile force and prevented cellular redistribution of paxillin and vinculin to the membrane in response to ACh, but paxillin LIM3 dl did not inhibit increases in intracellular Ca2+or myosin light chain phosphorylation. Our results demonstrate that recruitment of paxillin and vinculin to smooth muscle membrane is necessary for tension development and that recruitment of vinculin to the membrane is regulated by paxillin. Vinculin and paxillin may participate in regulating the formation of linkages between the cytoskeleton and integrin proteins that mediate tension transmission between the contractile apparatus and the extracellular matrix during smooth muscle contraction.

Shigella interactions with the actin cytoskeleton in the absence of Ena/VASP family proteins

Shigella move through the cytosol of infected cells by assembly of a propulsive actin tail at one end of the bacterium. Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP), a member of the Ena/VASP family of proteins, is important in cellular actin dynamics and is present on intracellular Shigella. VASP binds both profilin, an actin monomer-binding protein, and vinculin, a component of intercellular contacts that also binds the Shigella actin assembly protein IcsA. It has been postulated that VASP might serve as a linker between vinculin and profilin on intracellular Shigella, thereby delivering profilin to the Shigella actin assembly machinery. We show that Shigella actin-based motility is unaltered in cells that are deficient for the Ena/VASP family of proteins. In these cells, Shigella form normal-appearing actin tails and move at rates that are comparable to the rates of bacterial movement in Ena/VASP-deficient cells complemented with the Ena/VASP family member Mena. Finally, whereas vinculin can bind the Arp2/3 complex, we show that Arp2/3 recruitment to Shigella is not correlated with vinculin recruitment, indicating that the role of vinculin in Shigella motility is not recruitment of Arp2/3. Thus, although VASP is recruited to the surface of intracellular Shigella, it is not essential for Shigella actin-based motility.

Calcium-dependent and calcium-independent contractions in smooth muscles

This review examines signal transduction pathways mediating agonist-induced contraction of circular muscle in the body of the esophagus and in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). In the LES, circular muscle agonists activate a well-defined contractile pathway, involving calcium (Ca(2+))-induced activation of calmodulin and myosin kinase, causing phosphorylation of 20-kDa myosin light chains (MLCs) and contraction. In this pathway, phosphorylation and contraction may be modulated by other factors, resulting, for instance, in inhibition of phosphatase activity, which may potentiate MLC phosphorylation. The agonist-activated contractile pathway of circular muscle from the esophageal body is not as well defined, and it is different from the LES contractile pathway, as it depends on activation of a Ca(2+)-independent protein kinase C (PKC), PKC-epsilon. In this pathway, agonist-induced Ca(2+) influx and/or release activate phospholipases to produce second messengers, such as diacylglycerol and arachidonic acid. The second messengers, however, activate a PKC-epsilon and a contractile pathway, which is Ca(2+) independent. This contractile pathway depends on activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases ERK1 and ERK2 and of p38 MAP kinase. These kinases are, in turn, linked to the small heat-shock protein HSP27, to integrin-linked kinase, and perhaps to other Ca(2+)-independent kinases, such as zipper kinase capable of producing MLC phosphorylation and contraction.

Ectoplasmic specializations in the Sertoli cell: new vistas based on genetic defects and testicular toxicology

Abstract The ectoplasmic specialization is a unique junctional complex formed in two cortical areas of the Sertoli cell in the mammalian testis: one near the base of the seminiferous epithelium forming the blood-testis barrier, and the other near the lumen of the seminiferous tubule embracing the acrosome region of the developing spermatids. The specialization consists of the Sertoli cell plasma membrane, a subsurface cistern of the endoplasmic reticulum and a layer of closely packed actin filaments that is sandwiched between the plasma membrane and the subsurface cistern. No functions of the specializations other than the blood-testis barrier have been established. However, over the past decade, knowledge about the ectoplasmic specialization has been steadily accumulating and, in particular, there has been a tremendous increase in knowledge based on molecular biological approaches to specialization-associated proteins, including tight junction-associated proteins, based on phenotype analyses of gene-knockout mice and mutant animals, and based on analyses of the effects of exogenous estrogens, so-called endocrine disruptors. Progress in studies on the ectoplasmic specialization will facilitate the elucidation of numerous important questions regarding spermatogenesis, including the pathogenesis of azoospermia and the mechanisms of action of endocrine disruptors.

Development of visceral smooth muscle

The development of the smooth musculature of viscera has attracted the interest of only relatively few investigators, and thus the field appears somewhat underexplored. The major emphasis on histochemical evidence--at the expense of ultrastructural and functional studies--may have limited the progress in this area. Mature tissue is formed through the differentiation of precursors into muscle cells and through the organization of these cells into a complex tissue where distribution and orientation of muscle cells, deployment of abundant extracellular materials and addition of other cellular elements (interstitial cells, fibroblasts, nerves, blood vessels) are characteristic and specific features. The precursor cells are found at sites where a muscle develops, and they derive predominantly from the mesoderm, but also from the neuroectoderm and from the endoderm. The process starts at different times in different organs. The earliest stages of differentiation are characterized by the precursor cells aggregating and becoming elongated; their longitudinal axis lies in a position similar to the one they will have in the mature muscle. Both the cytological and the histochemical differentiation follow distinct patterns in various muscles, with characteristic temporal sequences in the appearance of key features. This process must impart distinct functional properties to a muscle cell at each stage of its development. However, the chronological correspondence between ultrastructural and histochemical development is poorly understood. Histochemical studies have detected gradients of maturation of the muscle cells, for example, across the thickness of the gizzard musculature and along the length of the small intestine; ultrastructural studies have not yet confirmed the existence of these gradients. Muscle growth is accounted for by muscle cell enlargement (without nucleus duplication) and an increase in muscle cell number by mitosis of pre-existing differentiated muscle cells. De-differentiation and division of muscle cells, migration of muscle cells and late development of muscle cell precursors have all also been considered as possible mechanisms for muscle growth. Several authors have described the presence of precursor cells within developing smooth muscles, and they have described late differentiation of some muscle cells or waves of differentiation that would give rise to phenotypic heterogeneity of the mature muscle cell population. In contrast, other studies, mainly by electron microscopy, have suggested that, within large visceral muscles, the muscle cells differentiate synchronously. There are interesting data on the influence of adjacent tissues on the development of a smooth muscle, but the interplay of these and other factors has not been fully investigated. Smooth muscles contract from early in their development, hence mechanical factors are likely to influence development: on the one hand, passive stresses imposed on the muscle by other tissues, such as adjacent muscles or the contents of the viscera and, on the other hand, active forces generated by the muscle itself. The very attraction of visceral smooth muscles in the study of cellular morphogenesis--an attraction that has not yet been highlighted or exploited in scientific studies, either descriptively or experimentally--is that, onto a single type of cell, a large range of factors interact, such as the genetic expression, chemical influences (from other muscles, endocrine glands, nerves, other intramuscular cells) and mechanical factors.

Actin-based motility of intracellular microbial pathogens

A diverse group of intracellular microorganisms, including Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella spp., Rickettsia spp., and vaccinia virus, utilize actin-based motility to move within and spread between mammalian host cells. These organisms have in common a pathogenic life cycle that involves a stage within the cytoplasm of mammalian host cells. Within the cytoplasm of host cells, these organisms activate components of the cellular actin assembly machinery to induce the formation of actin tails on the microbial surface. The assembly of these actin tails provides force that propels the organisms through the cell cytoplasm to the cell periphery or into adjacent cells. Each of these organisms utilizes preexisting mammalian pathways of actin rearrangement to induce its own actin-based motility. Particularly remarkable is that while all of these microbes use the same or overlapping pathways, each intercepts the pathway at a different step. In addition, the microbial molecules involved are each distinctly different from the others. Taken together, these observations suggest that each of these microbes separately and convergently evolved a mechanism to utilize the cellular actin assembly machinery. The current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of microbial actin-based motility is the subject of this review.

Characterization of human palladin, a microfilament-associated protein

Actin-containing microfilaments control cell shape, adhesion, and contraction. In striated muscle, alpha-actinin and other Z-disk proteins coordinate the organization and functions of actin filaments. In smooth muscle and nonmuscle cells, periodic structures termed dense bodies and dense regions, respectively, are thought to serve functions analogous to Z-discs. We describe here identification and characterization of human palladin, a protein expressed mainly in smooth muscle and nonmuscle and distributed along microfilaments in a periodic manner consistent with dense regions/bodies. Palladin contains three Ig-domains most homologous to the sarcomeric Z-disk protein myotilin. The N terminus includes an FPPPP motif recognized by the Ena-Vasp homology domain 1 domain in Ena/vasodilatator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP)/Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) protein family. Cytoskeletal proteins with FPPPP motif target Ena/VASP/WASP proteins to sites of actin modulation. We identified palladin in a yeast two-hybrid search as an ezrin-associated protein. An interaction between palladin and ezrin was further verified by affinity precipitation and blot overlay assays. The interaction was mediated by the alpha-helical domain of ezrin and by Ig-domains 2-3 of palladin. Ezrin is typically a component of the cortical cytoskeleton, but in smooth muscle cells it is localized along microfilaments. These cells express palladin abundantly and thus palladin may be involved in the microfilament localization of ezrin. Palladin expression was up-regulated in differentiating dendritic cells (DCs), coinciding with major cytoskeletal and morphological alterations. In immature DCs, palladin localized in actin-containing podosomes and in mature DCs along actin filaments. The regulated expression and localization suggest a role for palladin in the assembly of DC cytoskeleton.

Invited review: focal adhesion and small heat shock proteins in the regulation of actin remodeling and contractility in smooth muscle

Smooth muscle cells are able to adapt rapidly to chemical and mechanical signals impinging on the cell surface. It has been suggested that dynamic changes in the actin cytoskeleton contribute to the processes of contractile activation and mechanical adaptation in smooth muscle. In this review, evidence for functionally important changes in actin polymerization during smooth muscle contraction is summarized. The functions and regulation of proteins associated with "focal adhesion complexes" (membrane-associated dense plaques) in differentiated smooth muscle, including integrins, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), c-Src, paxillin, and the 27-kDa small heat shock protein (HSP27) are described. Integrins in smooth muscles are key elements of mechanotransduction pathways that communicate with and are regulated by focal adhesion proteins that include FAK, c-Src, and paxillin as well as proteins known to mediate cytoskeletal remodeling. Evidence that functions of FAK and c-Src protein kinases are closely intertwined is discussed as well as evidence that focal adhesion proteins mediate key signal transduction events that regulate actin remodeling and contraction. HSP27 is reviewed as a potentially significant effector protein that may regulate actin dynamics and cross-bridge function in response to activation of p21-activated kinase and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway by signaling pathways linked to integrin proteins. These signaling pathways are only part of a large number of yet to be defined pathways that mediate acute adaptive responses of the cytoskeleton in smooth muscle to environmental stimuli.

Vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation in culture is associated with reorganisation of contractile and cytoskeletal proteins

Smooth muscle cells (SMC) exhibit a functional plasticity, modulating from the mature phenotype in which the primary function is contraction, to a less differentiated state with increased capacities for motility, protein synthesis, and proliferation. The present study determined, using Western analysis, double-label immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, whether changes in phenotypic expression of rabbit aortic SMC in culture could be correlated with alterations in expression and distribution of structural proteins. "Contractile" state SMC (days 1 and 3 of primary culture) showed distinct sorting of proteins into subcellular domains, consistent with the theory that the SMC structural machinery is compartmentalised within the cell. Proteins specialised for contraction (alpha-SM actin, SM-MHC, and calponin) were highly expressed in these cells and concentrated in the upper central region of the cell. Vimentin was confined to the body of the cell, providing support for the contractile apparatus but not co-localising with it. In line with its role in cell attachment and motility, beta-NM actin was localised to the cell periphery and basal cortex. The dense body protein alpha-actinin was concentrated at the cell periphery, possibly stabilising both contractile and motile apparatus. Vinculin-containing focal adhesions were well developed, indicating the cells' strong adhesion to substrate. In "synthetic" state SMC (passages 2-3 of culture), there was decreased expression of contractile and adhesion (vinculin) proteins with a concomitant increase in cytoskeletal proteins (beta-non-muscle [NM] actin and vimentin). These quantitative changes in structural proteins were associated with dramatic changes in their distribution. The distinct compartmentalisation of structural proteins observed in "contractile" state SMC was no longer obvious, with proteins more evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm to accommodate altered cell function. Thus, SMC phenotypic modulation involves not only quantitative changes in contractile and cytoskeletal proteins, but also reorganisation of these proteins. Since the cytoskeleton acts as a spatial regulator of intracellular signalling, reorganisation of the cytoskeleton may lead to realignment of signalling molecules, which, in turn, may mediate the changes in function associated with SMC phenotypic modulation.

Depletion of focal adhesion kinase by antisense depresses contractile activation of smooth muscle

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation in response to the contractile stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle. We hypothesized that FAK may play an important role in signaling pathways that regulate smooth muscle contraction. FAK antisense or FAK sense was introduced into muscle strips by reversible permeabilization, and strips were incubated with antisense or sense for 7 days. Antisense decreased FAK expression compared with that in untreated and sense-treated tissues, but it did not affect the expression of vinculin or myosin light chain kinase. Increases in force, intracellular free Ca2+ and myosin light chain phosphorylation in response to stimulation with ACh or KCl were depressed in FAK-depleted tissues, but FAK depletion did not affect the activation of permeabilized tracheal muscle strips with Ca2+. The tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin, a substrate for FAK, was also significantly reduced in FAK-depleted strips. We conclude that FAK is a necessary component of the signaling pathways that regulate smooth muscle contraction and that FAK plays a role in regulating intracellular free Ca2+ and myosin light chain phosphorylation.

A prospective evaluation of the pathogenesis of detrusor instability in women, using electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the types of detrusor smooth muscle junctions in the bladders of women with detrusor instability and in a control group without, and to assess whether there are differences in the cell junctions between these groups.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included 13 women with detrusor instability (median age 57 years, range 32-86) and 11 control women (median age 50 years, range 33-62). Bladder biopsies were taken from each participant, processed for electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry (using a labelled antibody to vinculin) and analysed by investigators who were unaware of the patients' diagnoses.

RESULTS

Adherens (intermediate) junctions in classic and rudimentary forms were present in all biopsies from patients and controls. Adherens junctions and dense plaques occupied almost the complete cell border in most samples. Complete immunohistochemistry was possible in seven patients and five controls. In almost every detrusor smooth muscle cell studied, there was staining of the entire cell border with labelled antibody to vinculin in all biopsies.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence against an ultrastructural basis for idiopathic detrusor instability based on possible differences in detrusor smooth muscle intercellular junctions. Virtually the entire cell membrane of detrusor smooth muscle fibres is occupied by adherens junctions in classic and rudimentary forms, and with dense plaques present in samples from women with an unstable bladder and from controls. There was no junction detected in those with instability that was not present in the control group. The adherens junctions in the bladder facilitate mechanical coupling between cells.

Ankycorbin: a novel actin cytoskeleton-associated protein

BACKGROUND

Actin cytoskeleton structures are essential for a wide variety of cell functions, including cell shape change, cell motility, cell adhesion, cell polarity and cytokinesis. Many actin filament (F-actin)-binding proteins have been isolated and implicated in the maintenance and reorganization of actin cytoskeleton structures.

RESULTS

We purified here a novel protein with a molecular mass of about 125 kDa (p125) from rat liver. We cloned its cDNA from a mouse kidney cDNA library and determined its nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences. p125 was a protein of 979 amino acids with a calculated Mr of 108 847. p125 contained six ankyrin repeats in the N-terminal region and a domain predicted to form a coiled-coil structure in the C-terminal region. We named p125 ankycorbin (ankyrin repeat- and coiled-coil structure-containing protein). Northern blot analysis indicated that ankycorbin was ubiquitously expressed in all the tissues examined. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscope analyses revealed that ankycorbin was associated with the cortical actin cytoskeleton structures in terminal web and cell-cell adhesion sites and stress fibres. However, ankycorbin did not directly bind to F-actin as estimated by the F-actin co-sedimentation assay.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that ankycorbin is indirectly associated with the actin cytoskeleton structures, presumably through an unidentified factor and suggest that it is involved in their maintenance and/or reorganization.

Myosin light chain kinase plays an essential role in S. flexneri dissemination

Shigella flexneri, the causitive agent of bacillary dysentery, has been shown to disseminate in colonic epithelial cells via protrusions that extend from infected cells and are endocytosed by adjacent cells. This phenomenon occurs in the region of the eukaryotic cell's adherens junctions and is inhibited by pharmacological reagents or host cell mutations that completely disrupt the junctional complex. In this study, inhibitors of the myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) were shown to dramatically decrease intercellular spread of S. flexneri but to have no inhibitory effect on bacterial entry, multiplication or actin-based motility within the host cell. Furthermore, cell-to-cell spread of Listeria monocytogenes, another bacterial pathogen that uses an actin-based mechanism to move within the eukaryotic cytoplasm and to spread from cell to cell, was not affected by the MLCK inhibitors, indicating that (1) the inhibition of S. flexneri cell-to-cell spread in treated cells is not due to a complete break down of cell-cell contacts, which was subsequently confirmed by confocal microscopy, and (2) MLCK plays a role in a S. flexneri-specific mechanism of dissemination. Myosin has been shown to play a role in a variety of membrane-based phenomena. The work presented here suggests that activation of this molecule via phosphorylation by MLCK, at the very least participates in the formation of the bacteria-containing protrusion, and could also contribute to the endocytosis of this structure by neighboring cells.

Giardia lamblia rearranges F-actin and alpha-actinin in human colonic and duodenal monolayers and reduces transepithelial electrical resistance

The mechanisms of epithelial injury in giardiasis remain unknown. The effects of live Giardia lamblia on cellular G-actin, F-actin, alpha-actinin, and electrical resistance of human intestinal epithelial monolayers were investigated using SCBN and Caco2 cell lines grown on chamber slides or Transwell filter membranes. In separate experiments, some monolayers were also exposed to sonicated trophozoites, some to supernatant from live G. lamblia cultures, and some with or without the Ca2+ channel blocker verapamil. After 2, 24, or 48 hr of coincubation with G. lamblia, monolayers were assessed for cytoskeletal arrangement under fluorescence and confocal laser microscopy, and transepithelial electrical resistance was measured. Exposure to live G. lamblia trophozoites induced localized condensation of F-actin and loss of perijunctional alpha-actinin while G-actin remained unchanged. Confocal laser microscopy indicated that F-actin rearrangement was not affected by verapamil and was localized within the terminal web area. Coincubation of monolayers with G. lamblia lysates or with spent medium alone similarly rearranged F-actin. Verapamil alone did not alter F-actin. Electrical resistance of SCBN and Caco2 monolayers exposed to G. lamblia was significantly decreased versus controls regardless of whether live or lysed trophozoite samples were used. The results indicate that G. lamblia-induced epithelial injury is associated with F-actin and alpha-actinin rearrangements in the terminal web area via mechanisms independent of extracellular Ca2+. These alterations are associated with reduced transepithelial electrical resistance and are due at least in part to trophozoite products.

Distinct localizations of tropomyosin isoforms in LLC-PK1 epithelial cells suggests specialized function at cell-cell adhesions

At least eight nonmuscle, nonbrain tropomyosin isoforms have been described. We used antibodies, microinjection, and transfection to characterize their expression and localization in LLC-PK1 kidney epithelial cells and compared them with other cells. Similar to primary enterocytes, LLC-PK1 cells exhibited predominantly TM-1 and TM-3 of the high-molecular-weight (HMW) isoforms; TM-5 and TM-5b of the low-molecular-weight (LMW) isoforms. Neither TM-4 nor TM-5a was detectable in the LLC-PKI cells. Immunofluorescence studies revealed that HMW isoforms were localized only on stress fibers, not adhesion belts, whereas the adhesion belts were stained by LMW isoform antibodies. When exogenous proteins are introduced either by transfection or microinjection, the HMW isoforms do not incorporate into the adhesion belt, whereas the LMW isoforms can incorporate into the stress fibers, thus indicating there are different mechanisms at work for the selective localization. Temporal changes in the microfilament system of the LLC-PK1 cells were studied during differentiation in culture as defined by spectrin expression and F-actin architecture. Western blot analysis indicated that TM-5b is only expressed in the LLC-PK1 cells after a certain degree of maturation in culture, which suggests isoform switching after the cell-cell contacts are developed. Collectively these results demonstrate that epithelial cells express a complex pattern of TM isoforms, which exhibit differential localizations within the cells and different patterns of expression depending on their origin and stage of differentiation. The implication of differential localization of TM isoforms on their specific functions is discussed.

Shigella actin-based motility in the absence of vinculin

Reports on the role of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) and proline-rich sequences in actin-based motility of Listeria and potentially of Shigella flexneri have led to the suggestion that vinculin might be an essential docking protein on the surface O2 motile Shigella. Therefore, whether vinculin had a functional role in Shigella actin-based motility was tested by examining Shigella infection of the vinculin-deficient F9 cell line variant 5.51. Shigella are able to form actin tails and surface protrusions in 5.51 cells that are indistinguishable from those they produce in F9 cells, and Shigella rates of intracellular movement and protrusion formation are similar in the two cell lines. These data disprove the model of Shigella actin-based motility in which vinculin is an essential docking protein for either the formation of actin tails or the acceleration of motile bacteria.

Role of NCAM, cadherins, and microfilaments in cell-cell contact formation in TM4 immature mouse sertoli cells

To determine events that lead to the formation of intercellular contacts, we examined the spatial and temporal distribution of NCAM, cadherins, and F-actin in TM4 cells by immunofluorescence and laser scanning confocal microscopy. TM4 cells exhibited epithelioid characteristics and formed large overlapping lamella-like cell-cell contacts that contained a high concentration of NCAM. NCAM-rich lamellae formed from smaller NCAM patches at the ends of filopodia-like contacts between adjacent cells. Cadherins, as visualized by a pan-cadherin antibody, were present in a pattern distinctly different from that of NCAM. Although in filopodia-like contacts, both cadherins and NCAM were often concentrated at filopodial tips, in the larger lamella-like contacts that developed later, cadherins were located in an irregular punctate pattern only at the distal and more apical margins of the slanted NCAM-rich contact regions. Patterns of NCAM and microfilament (MF) bundle distribution were distinctly different, suggesting that the ends of these MF bundles were not physically linked to NCAM. By contrast, cadherins were concentrated at the ends of MF bundles at all stages of contact formation examined. Interestingly, this association of cadherins with MF bundles was mostly seen at the edge of the overlapping processes. In the lower cell process, MF bundles at the contact site were often arranged in random fashion, indicating an asymmetric distribution of MF in the junctional region. However, N-cadherin was enriched only at sites where MF bundles from both the upper and lower cell processes were aligned and terminated at the junctional membrane. Thus the organization of the actin cytoskeleton at cell-cell contact sites is influenced by the differential localization of different cadherins. These data also suggest that different mechanisms are involved in the accumulation of NCAM and cadherins in cell-cell contact regions.

Dynein and plus-end microtubule-dependent motors are associated with specialized Sertoli cell junction plaques (ectoplasmic specializations)

The mechanism responsible for spermatid translocation in the mammalian seminiferous epithelium was proposed to be the microtubule-based transport of specialized junction plaques (ectoplasmic specializations) that occur in Sertoli cell regions attached to spermatid heads. These plaques each consist of a cistern of endoplasmic reticulum, a layer of actin filaments and the adjacent plasma membrane. It is predicted that motor proteins function to move the junction plaques, and hence the attached spermatids, first towards the base and then back to the apex of the epithelium, along microtubules. If this hypothesis is true, motor proteins should be associated with the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum component of ectoplasmic specializations. In addition, isolated junction plaques should support microtubule movement both in the plus and minus directions to account for the bidirectional translocation of spermatids in vivo. To determine if cytoplasmic dynein is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum of the plaques, perfusion-fixed rat testes were immunologically probed, at the ultrastructural level, for the intermediate chain of cytoplasmic dynein (IC74). In addition, testicular fractions enriched for spermatid/junction complexes were incubated with and without gelsolin, centrifuged and the supernatants compared, by western blot analysis, for Glucose Regulated Protein 94 (a marker for endoplasmic reticulum) and IC74. At the ultrastructural level, the probe for IC74 clearly labelled material associated with the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum component of the junction plaques. In the gelsolin experiments, both probes reacted more strongly with appropriate bands from the gelsolin-treated supernatants than with corresponding bands from controls. To determine if the junction plaques support microtubule transport in both directions, polarity-labelled microtubules were bound to isolated spermatid/junction complexes and then assessed for motility in the presence of ATP and testicular cytosol (2 mg/ml). Of 25 recorded motility events, 17 were in a direction consistent with a plus-end directed motor being present, and 8 were in the minus-end direction. The results are consistent with the conclusion that the junction plaques have the potential for moving along microtubules in both the plus and minus directions and that both a kinesin-type and a dynein-type motor may be associated with the junction plaques. The data also indicate that cytoplasmic dynein is localized to the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum component of the plaques.

Isoforms of alpha-actinin from cardiac, smooth, and skeletal muscle form polar arrays of actin filaments

We have used a positively charged lipid monolayer to form two-dimensional bundles of F-actin cross-linked by alpha-actinin to investigate the relative orientation of the actin filaments within them. This method prevents growth of the bundles perpendicular to the monolayer plane, thereby facilitating interpretation of the electron micrographs. Using alpha-actinin isoforms isolated from the three types of vertebrate muscle, i.e., cardiac, skeletal, and smooth, we have observed almost exclusively cross-linking between polar arrays of filaments, i.e., actin filaments with their plus ends oriented in the same direction. One type of bundle can be classified as an Archimedian spiral consisting of a single actin filament that spirals inward as the filament grows and the bundle is formed. These spirals have a consistent hand and grow to a limiting internal diameter of 0.4-0.7 microm, where the filaments appear to break and spiral formation ceases. These results, using isoforms usually characterized as cross-linkers of bipolar actin filament bundles, suggest that alpha-actinin is capable of cross-linking actin filaments in any orientation. Formation of specifically bipolar or polar filament arrays cross-linked by alpha-actinin may require additional factors that either determine the filament orientation or restrict the cross-linking capabilities of alpha-actinin.

Structure of the dimerization and beta-catenin-binding region of alpha-catenin

In adherens junctions, alpha-catenin links the cadherin-beta-catenin complex to the actin-based cytoskeleton. alpha-catenin is a homodimer in solution, but forms a 1:1 heterodimer with beta-catenin. The crystal structure of the alpha-catenin dimerization domain, residues 82-279, shows that alpha-catenin dimerizes through formation of a four-helix bundle in which two antiparallel helices are contributed by each protomer. A slightly larger fragment, comprising residues 57-264, binds to beta-catenin. A chimera consisting of the alpha-catenin-binding region of beta-catenin linked to the amino terminus of alpha-catenin 57-264 behaves as a monomer in solution, as expected, since beta-catenin binding disrupts the alpha-catenin dimer. The crystal structure of this chimera reveals the interaction between alpha- and beta-catenin, and provides a basis for understanding adherens junction assembly.

Drebrin is a widespread actin-associating protein enriched at junctional plaques, defining a specific microfilament anchorage system in polar epithelial cells

Using immunoblotting, immunprecipitation with subsequent fragment mass spectrometry, and immunolocalization techniques, we have detected the actin-binding ca. 120-kDa protein drebrin, originally identified in - and thought to be specific for - neuronal cells, in diverse kinds of human and bovine non-neuronal cells. Drebrin has been found in numerous cell culture lines and in many tissues of epithelial, endothelial, smooth muscle and neural origin but not in, for example, cardiac, skeletal and certain types of smooth muscle cells, in hepatocytes and in the human epithelium-derived cell culture line A-431. By double-label fluorescence microscopy we have found drebrin enriched in actin microfilament bundles associated with plaques of cell-cell contact sites representing adhering junctions. These drebrin-positive, adhering junction-associated bundles, however, are not identical with the vinculin-containing, junction-attached bundles, and in the same cell both subtypes of microfilament-anchoring plaques are readily distinguished by immunolocalization comparing drebrin and vinculin. The intracellular distribution of the drebrin- and the vinculin-based microfilament systems has been studied in detail by confocal fluorescence laser scanning microscopy in monolayers of the polar epithelial cell lines, MCF-7 and PLC, and drebrin has been found to be totally and selectively absent in the notoriously vinculin-rich focal adhesions. The occurrence and the possible functions of drebrin in non-neuronal cells, notably epithelial cells, and the significance of the existence of two different actin-anchoring junctional plaques is discussed.

Purification and characterization of an alpha-actinin-binding PDZ-LIM protein that is up-regulated during muscle differentiation

alpha-Actinin is required for the organization and function of the contractile machinery of muscle. In order to understand more precisely the molecular mechanisms by which alpha-actinin might contribute to the formation and maintenance of the contractile apparatus within muscle cells, we performed a screen to identify novel alpha-actinin binding partners present in chicken smooth muscle cells. In this paper, we report the identification, purification, and characterization of a 36-kDa smooth muscle protein (p36) that interacts with alpha-actinin. Using a variety of in vitro binding assays, we demonstrate that the association between alpha-actinin and p36 is direct, specific, and saturable and exhibits a moderate affinity. Furthermore, native co-immunoprecipitation reveals that the two proteins are complexed in vivo. p36 is expressed in cardiac muscle and tissues enriched in smooth muscle. Interestingly, in skeletal muscle, a closely related protein of 40 kDa (p40) is detected. The expression of p36 and p40 is dramatically up-regulated during smooth and skeletal muscle differentiation, respectively, and p40 colocalizes with alpha-actinin at the Z-lines of differentiated myotubes. We have established the relationship between p36 and p40 by molecular cloning of cDNAs that encode both proteins and have determined that they are the products of a single gene. Both proteins display an identical N-terminal PDZ domain and an identical C-terminal LIM domain; an internal 63-amino acid sequence present in p36 is replaced by a unique 111-amino acid sequence in p40. Analysis of the sequences of p36 and p40 suggest that they are the avian forms of the actinin-associated LIM proteins (ALPs) recently described in rat (Xia, H., Winokur, S. T., Kuo, W.-L., Altherr, M. R., and Bredt, D. S. (1997) J. Cell Biol. 139, 507-515). The expression of the human ALP gene has been postulated to be affected by mutations that cause facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy; thus, the characterization of ALP function may ultimately provide insight into the mechanism of this disease.

Nectin/PRR: an immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecule recruited to cadherin-based adherens junctions through interaction with Afadin, a PDZ domain-containing protein

We have isolated a novel actin filament-binding protein, named afadin, localized at cadherin-based cell-cell adherens junctions (AJs) in various tissues and cell lines. Afadin has one PDZ domain, three proline-rich regions, and one actin filament-binding domain. We found here that afadin directly interacted with a family of the immunoglobulin superfamily, which was isolated originally as the poliovirus receptor-related protein (PRR) family consisting of PRR1 and -2, and has been identified recently to be the alphaherpes virus receptor. PRR has a COOH-terminal consensus motif to which the PDZ domain of afadin binds. PRR and afadin were colocalized at cadherin-based cell-cell AJs in various tissues and cell lines. In E-cadherin-expressing EL cells, PRR was recruited to cadherin-based cell-cell AJs through interaction with afadin. PRR showed Ca2+-independent cell-cell adhesion activity. These results indicate that PRR is a cell-cell adhesion molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily which is recruited to cadherin-based cell-cell AJs through interaction with afadin. We rename PRR as nectin (taken from the Latin word "necto" meaning "to connect").