1
|
Lee C, Maier W, Jiang YY, Nakano K, Lechtreck KF, Gaertig J. Global and local functions of the Fused kinase ortholog CdaH in intracellular patterning in Tetrahymena. J Cell Sci 2024; 137:jcs261256. [PMID: 37667859 PMCID: PMC10565251 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.261256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Ciliates assemble numerous microtubular structures into complex cortical patterns. During ciliate division, the pattern is duplicated by intracellular segmentation that produces a tandem of daughter cells. In Tetrahymena thermophila, the induction and positioning of the division boundary involves two mutually antagonistic factors: posterior CdaA (cyclin E) and anterior CdaI (Hippo kinase). Here, we characterized the related cdaH-1 allele, which confers a pleiotropic patterning phenotype including an absence of the division boundary and an anterior-posterior mispositioning of the new oral apparatus. CdaH is a Fused or Stk36 kinase ortholog that localizes to multiple sites that correlate with the effects of its loss, including the division boundary and the new oral apparatus. CdaH acts downstream of CdaA to induce the division boundary and drives asymmetric cytokinesis at the tip of the posterior daughter. CdaH both maintains the anterior-posterior position of the new oral apparatus and interacts with CdaI to pattern ciliary rows within the oral apparatus. Thus, CdaH acts at multiple scales, from induction and positioning of structures on the cell-wide polarity axis to local organelle-level patterning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chinkyu Lee
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Wolfgang Maier
- Bioinformatics, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Yu-Yang Jiang
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Kentaro Nakano
- Degree Programs in Biology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Karl F. Lechtreck
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Jacek Gaertig
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Abstract
It is widely believed that cleavage-furrow formation during cytokinesis is driven by the contraction of a ring containing F-actin and type-II myosin. However, even in cells that have such rings, they are not always essential for furrow formation. Moreover, many taxonomically diverse eukaryotic cells divide by furrowing but have no type-II myosin, making it unlikely that an actomyosin ring drives furrowing. To explore this issue further, we have used one such organism, the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii We found that although F-actin is associated with the furrow region, none of the three myosins (of types VIII and XI) is localized there. Moreover, when F-actin was eliminated through a combination of a mutation and a drug, furrows still formed and the cells divided, although somewhat less efficiently than normal. Unexpectedly, division of the large Chlamydomonas chloroplast was delayed in the cells lacking F-actin; as this organelle lies directly in the path of the cleavage furrow, this delay may explain, at least in part, the delay in cytokinesis itself. Earlier studies had shown an association of microtubules with the cleavage furrow, and we used a fluorescently tagged EB1 protein to show that microtubules are still associated with the furrows in the absence of F-actin, consistent with the possibility that the microtubules are important for furrow formation. We suggest that the actomyosin ring evolved as one way to improve the efficiency of a core process for furrow formation that was already present in ancestral eukaryotes.
Collapse
|
3
|
Hammarton TC. Who Needs a Contractile Actomyosin Ring? The Plethora of Alternative Ways to Divide a Protozoan Parasite. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:397. [PMID: 31824870 PMCID: PMC6881465 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytokinesis, or the division of the cytoplasm, following the end of mitosis or meiosis, is accomplished in animal cells, fungi, and amoebae, by the constriction of an actomyosin contractile ring, comprising filamentous actin, myosin II, and associated proteins. However, despite this being the best-studied mode of cytokinesis, it is restricted to the Opisthokonta and Amoebozoa, since members of other evolutionary supergroups lack myosin II and must, therefore, employ different mechanisms. In particular, parasitic protozoa, many of which cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans and animals as well as considerable economic losses, employ a wide diversity of mechanisms to divide, few, if any, of which involve myosin II. In some cases, cell division is not only myosin II-independent, but actin-independent too. Mechanisms employed range from primitive mechanical cell rupture (cytofission), to motility- and/or microtubule remodeling-dependent mechanisms, to budding involving the constriction of divergent contractile rings, to hijacking host cell division machinery, with some species able to utilize multiple mechanisms. Here, I review current knowledge of cytokinesis mechanisms and their molecular control in mammalian-infective parasitic protozoa from the Excavata, Alveolata, and Amoebozoa supergroups, highlighting their often-underappreciated diversity and complexity. Billions of people and animals across the world are at risk from these pathogens, for which vaccines and/or optimal treatments are often not available. Exploiting the divergent cell division machinery in these parasites may provide new avenues for the treatment of protozoal disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tansy C Hammarton
- Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Li Y, He L, Gonzalez NAP, Graham J, Wolgemuth C, Wirtz D, Sun SX. Going with the Flow: Water Flux and Cell Shape during Cytokinesis. Biophys J 2018; 113:2487-2495. [PMID: 29212002 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2017] [Revised: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell shape changes during cytokinesis in eukaryotic cells have been attributed to contractile forces from the actomyosin ring and the actomyosin cortex. Here we propose an additional mechanism where active pumping of ions and water at the cell poles and the division furrow can also achieve the same type of shape change during cytokinesis without myosin contraction. We develop a general mathematical model to examine shape changes in a permeable object subject to boundary fluxes. We find that hydrodynamic flows in the cytoplasm and the relative drag between the cytoskeleton network phase and the water phase also play a role in determining the cell shape during cytokinesis. Forces from the actomyosin contractile ring and cortex do contribute to the cell shape, and can work together with water permeation to facilitate cytokinesis. To influence water flow, we osmotically shock the cell during cell division, and find that the cell can actively adapt to osmotic changes and complete division. Depolymerizing the actin cytoskeleton during cytokinesis also does not affect the contraction speed. We also explore the role of membrane ion channels and pumps in setting up the spatially varying water flux.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yizeng Li
- Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Lijuan He
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Nicolas A P Gonzalez
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Jenna Graham
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | | | - Denis Wirtz
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Institute of NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Sean X Sun
- Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Institute of NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Plattner H. Evolutionary Cell Biology of Proteins from Protists to Humans and Plants. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2017; 65:255-289. [PMID: 28719054 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Revised: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
During evolution, the cell as a fine-tuned machine had to undergo permanent adjustments to match changes in its environment, while "closed for repair work" was not possible. Evolution from protists (protozoa and unicellular algae) to multicellular organisms may have occurred in basically two lineages, Unikonta and Bikonta, culminating in mammals and angiosperms (flowering plants), respectively. Unicellular models for unikont evolution are myxamoebae (Dictyostelium) and increasingly also choanoflagellates, whereas for bikonts, ciliates are preferred models. Information accumulating from combined molecular database search and experimental verification allows new insights into evolutionary diversification and maintenance of genes/proteins from protozoa on, eventually with orthologs in bacteria. However, proteins have rarely been followed up systematically for maintenance or change of function or intracellular localization, acquirement of new domains, partial deletion (e.g. of subunits), and refunctionalization, etc. These aspects are discussed in this review, envisaging "evolutionary cell biology." Protozoan heritage is found for most important cellular structures and functions up to humans and flowering plants. Examples discussed include refunctionalization of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in cilia and replacement by other types during evolution. Altogether components serving Ca2+ signaling are very flexible throughout evolution, calmodulin being a most conservative example, in contrast to calcineurin whose catalytic subunit is lost in plants, whereas both subunits are maintained up to mammals for complex functions (immune defense and learning). Domain structure of R-type SNAREs differs in mono- and bikonta, as do Ca2+ -dependent protein kinases. Unprecedented selective expansion of the subunit a which connects multimeric base piece and head parts (V0, V1) of H+ -ATPase/pump may well reflect the intriguing vesicle trafficking system in ciliates, specifically in Paramecium. One of the most flexible proteins is centrin when its intracellular localization and function throughout evolution is traced. There are many more examples documenting evolutionary flexibility of translation products depending on requirements and potential for implantation within the actual cellular context at different levels of evolution. From estimates of gene and protein numbers per organism, it appears that much of the basic inventory of protozoan precursors could be transmitted to highest eukaryotic levels, with some losses and also with important additional "inventions."
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Helmut Plattner
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, P. O. Box M625, Konstanz, 78457, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Jiang YY, Maier W, Baumeister R, Minevich G, Joachimiak E, Ruan Z, Kannan N, Clarke D, Frankel J, Gaertig J. The Hippo Pathway Maintains the Equatorial Division Plane in the Ciliate Tetrahymena. Genetics 2017; 206:873-888. [PMID: 28413159 PMCID: PMC5499192 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.117.200766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms that govern pattern formation within the cell are poorly understood. Ciliates carry on their surface an elaborate pattern of cortical organelles that are arranged along the anteroposterior and circumferential axes by largely unknown mechanisms. Ciliates divide by tandem duplication: the cortex of the predivision cell is remodeled into two similarly sized and complete daughters. In the conditional cdaI-1 mutant of Tetrahymena thermophila, the division plane migrates from its initially correct equatorial position toward the cell's anterior, resulting in unequal cell division, and defects in nuclear divisions and cytokinesis. We used comparative whole genome sequencing to identify the cause of cdaI-1 as a mutation in a Hippo/Mst kinase. CdaI is a cortical protein with a cell cycle-dependent, highly polarized localization. Early in cell division, CdaI marks the anterior half of the cell, and later concentrates at the posterior end of the emerging anterior daughter. Despite the strong association of CdaI with the new posterior cell end, the cdaI-1 mutation does not affect the patterning of the new posterior cortical organelles. We conclude that, in Tetrahymena, the Hippo pathway maintains an equatorial position of the fission zone, and, by this activity, specifies the relative dimensions of the anterior and posterior daughter cell.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Yang Jiang
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
| | - Wolfgang Maier
- Bio3/Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics (Faculty of Biology) and ZMBZ (Faculty of Medicine)
| | - Ralf Baumeister
- Bio3/Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics (Faculty of Biology) and ZMBZ (Faculty of Medicine)
- Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS), Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79104 Germany
| | - Gregory Minevich
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York 10032
| | - Ewa Joachimiak
- Laboratory of Cytoskeleton and Cilia Biology, Department of Cell Biology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Zheng Ruan
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
| | - Natarajan Kannan
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
| | - Diamond Clarke
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
| | - Joseph Frankel
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
| | - Jacek Gaertig
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Frankel J, Buhse HE. In Memoriam: Norman E. Williams (1928-2016): Pioneer of Ciliate Architecture. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Frankel
- Department of Biology; The University of Iowa; Iowa City Iowa 52242
| | - Howard E. Buhse
- Department of Biological Sciences; University of Illinois at Chicago; Chicago Illinois 60607
| |
Collapse
|