Atomic model of a myosin filament in the relaxed state

Contraction of muscle involves the cyclic interaction of myosin heads on the thick filaments with actin subunits in the thin filaments. Muscles relax when this interaction is blocked by molecular switches on either or both filaments. Insight into the relaxed (switched OFF) structure of myosin has come from electron microscopic studies of smooth muscle myosin molecules, which are regulated by phosphorylation. These studies suggest that the OFF state is achieved by an asymmetric, intramolecular interaction between the actin-binding region of one head and the converter region of the other, switching both heads off. Although this is a plausible model for relaxation based on isolated myosin molecules, it does not reveal whether this structure is present in native myosin filaments. Here we analyse the structure of a phosphorylation-regulated striated muscle thick filament using cryo-electron microscopy. Three-dimensional reconstruction and atomic fitting studies suggest that the 'interacting-head' structure is also present in the filament, and that it may underlie the relaxed state of thick filaments in both smooth and myosin-regulated striated muscles over a wide range of species.     

Mechanism of sequential induction of cell-type specific mRNAs in Dictyostelium differentiation

Upon starvation, the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum initiates a 24-h programme of differentiation. Within 6 h, cells move towards aggregation centres in response to pulsatile synthesis and secretion of cyclic AMP. At about 12 h, aggregates of 10(5) cells are formed, held together by newly made surface adhesion molecules. The cells then differentiate into the two principal types found in the terminal stage of development, spores and stalks. Here we show that the chemotaxis and aggregation stages of this developmental programme can be described as a series of sequential events in which these extracellular signals--starvation, cyclic AMP and cell-cell contact--induce specific, sequential changes in the pattern of gene expression.     

An autoregulatory circuit for long-range self-organization in Dictyostelium cell populations

Nutrient-deprived Dictyostelium amoebae aggregate to form a multicellular structure by chemotaxis, moving towards propagating waves of cyclic AMP that are relayed from cell to cell. Organizing centres are not formed by founder cells, but are dynamic entities consisting of cores of outwardly rotating spiral waves that self-organize in a homogeneous cell population. Spiral waves are ubiquitously observed in chemical reactions as well as in biological systems. Although feedback control of spiral waves in spatially extended chemical reactions has been demonstrated in recent years, the mechanism by which control is achieved in living systems is unknown. Here we show that mutants of the cyclic AMP/protein kinase A pathway show periodic signalling, but fail to organize coherent long-range wave territories, owing to the appearance of numerous spiral cores. A theoretical model suggests that autoregulation of cell excitability mediated by protein kinase A acts to optimize the number of signalling centres.     

Cyclic AMP stabilizes a class of developmentally regulated Dictyostelium discoideum mRNAs

The stability of mRNA is an important facet of the regulation of protein synthesis. In mammalian cells most mRNAs have long half-lives (5-15 hours) but a substantial fraction are much less stable. There are few examples where the stability of a particular mRNA or class of mRNAs is specifically affected by environmental or developmental stimuli. Certain hormones cause specific stabilization of mRNAs species and preferential mRNA stability is important in the accumulation of globin and myosin mRNAs during the terminal stages of erythropoesis or myogenesis, respectively. Disaggregation of Dictyostelium discoideum aggregates induces the specific destabilization of a large class of developmentally regulated mRNAs; thus, this system is an excellent one in which to determine how such controls are effected. Here we show that addition of cyclic AMP to disaggregated cells specifically prevents the destabilization of these mRNAs.     

Formation of reverse rigor chevrons by myosin heads

The uniform angle and conformation of myosin subfragment 1 (S1) bound to actin filaments (F-actin) attest to the precise alignment and stereospecificity of the binding of these two contractile proteins. Because actin filaments are polar, myosin heads must swing or rotate about the head-tail junction in order to bind. Electron microscopy of isolated thick filaments and of myosin molecules suggests that the molecules are flexible, but myosin fragments and crossbridges have been reported not to interact with inappropriately oriented actin filaments. Here we describe myofibrillar defects engendered by a site-directed mutation within the flight-muscle-specific actin gene of the fruitfly Drosophila. The mutation apparently retards sarcomere assembly: peripheral thick and thin filaments are misregistered and not incorporated into the Z-line. Therefore, a myosin filament encounters thin filaments with the 'wrong' polarity. We show that myosin heads tethered in a single thick filament can bind with opposite rigor crossbridge angles to flanking thin filaments, which are apparently of opposite polarities. Preservation of identical actomyosin interfaces requires that sets of heads originating from opposite sides of the thick filament swivel 180 degrees relative to each other, implying that myosin crossbridges are as flexible as isolated molecules.     

Cyclic GMP increases photocurrent and light sensitivity of retinal cones

Like retinal rods, cone photoreceptors contain cyclic GMP and light-activated phosphodiesterase. The cGMP phosphodiesterase cascade is thought to mediate phototransduction in rods. Biochemical assays of nucleotide content in cone-dominant retinas, however, have failed to demonstrate light-induced changes in cGMP. Changes in cyclic AMP following light exposure have been reported, leading to the suggestion that in cone phototransduction cAMP assumes a role analogous to that played by cGMP in rods. Cyclic GMP introduced from tight-seal pipettes into isolated cones of the larval tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, rapidly increases light-modulated membrane current more than 10-fold. In cones, as in rods, cGMP also causes an approximately 10-fold increase in photocurrent duration and a 5- to 10-fold increase in light-sensitivity. Cyclic AMP has no effect on cone photocurrents under the same conditions. Because cGMP has similar effects on photocurrent magnitude and kinetics in both rods and cones, we conclude that cGMP plays corresponding roles in transduction in both vertebrate photoreceptor classes.     

Stimulation of Acanthamoeba actomyosin ATPase activity by myosin-II polymerization

Phosphorylation of the regulatory light chains of vertebrate smooth muscle or cytoplasmic myosins alters the structure of myosin monomers, favours myosin filament formation and stimulates the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase of myosin. Similarly, in Dictyostelium and Acanthamoeba phosphorylation of the myosin heavy chains exhibits both polymerization and actin-activated Mg2+ATPase. Unfortunately, the relationships between phosphorylation, myosin assembly and activation of ATP hydrolysis are not fully understood in any of these systems, as there has been no way of varying the extent of polymerization of intact myosin without changing solution conditions or the level of myosin phosphorylation, parameters that may have independent effects on ATPase activity. Taking an entirely new approach, we have used monoclonal antibodies against the tail of Acanthamoeba myosin-II that cause filament disassembly to show that myosin polymerization itself stimulates actomyosin ATPase activity. With a fixed level of myosin-II phosphorylation and constant solution conditions, depolymerization of myosin-II filaments by antibodies causes a concomitant loss of actin-activated ATPase activity.     

Myosin I is located at the leading edges of locomoting Dictyostelium amoebae

Movement of a eukaryotic cell along a substrate occurs by extension of lamellipodia and pseudopodia at the anterior and retraction at the posterior of the cell. The molecular and structural mechanisms of these movements are uncertain. Dictyostelium discoideum contains two forms of myosin. Here we show by immunofluorescence microscopy that non-filamentous myosin I occurs at the leading edges of the lamellipodial projections of migrating Dictyostelium amoebae, which are devoid of myosin II, whereas filamentous myosin II is concentrated in the posterior of the cells. On the basis of these locations of the two forms of myosin and their known biochemical and biophysical properties, we suggest that actomyosin I may contribute to the forces that cause extension at the leading edge of a motile cell, while the contraction of actomyosin II at the rear squeezes the cell mass forward. Myosin I isozymes might have similar roles in metazoan cells, for example at the leading edges of neuronal growth cones, and in the extension of lamellipodia and pseudopodia of leukocytes, macrophages and fibroblasts.     

Redistribution of intermediate filaments during capping of lymphocyte surface molecules

Intermediate filaments (IF) constitute a major cytoplasmic filamentous network of higher eukaryotic cells that is distinct from actin and myosin microfilaments or microtubules. Although structurally similar, these filaments are formed by chemically and antigenically different proteins. Vimentin is the major IF polypeptide of mesenchymal cells and cultured non-mesenchymal cell lines. Recently, we have characterized a monoclonal IgM antibody from a patient with Waldenstr?m's macroglobulinaemia which is directed against vimentin. Using this monoclonal antibody, we have shown by direct immunofluorescence that intermediate filaments of human B and T lymphocytes consist of vimentin. In cells exposed to colcemid, the intermediate filaments retracted into a juxtanuclear aggregate ('coli') characteristic of vimentin filaments. As most components of the cytoskeleton, especially actin and myosin, have been implicated in the capping phenomenon, we investigated the effect of capping of either beta 2-microglobulin or membrane immunoglobulins on the organization of the intermediate filament network. We report that capping of these surface molecules induced the redistribution of vimentin just beneath the cap. When colcemid-treated cells were allowed to cap, the location of the cap always coincided with the coil, suggesting that the anchorage point of intermediate filaments is situated within the uropod.     

Effect of internal deletion of Myosin Ⅱ on growth and development of Dictyostelium discoideum

Four deletion mutant Dictyostelium myosin Ⅱ heavy chain genes, MyΔ824-941 (Δ1/ 3S2), MyΔ934-1454 (ΔS2), MyΔ934-1194 (ΔS2-1) and MyΔ1157-1454 (ΔS2-2), were transformed by standard electroporation into mhcA- cells (T-null), a mutant Dictyostelium cell devoid of endogenous myosin Ⅱ heavy chain gene. The growth, development and formation of fruiting bodies of cells expressing those mutant myosin Ⅱ s under suspension culture were investigated by comparison with the wild type cell. The results indicate that internal deletion of myosin Ⅱ affects the growth and development of Dictyostelium. Furthermore, the longer the length of deletion , the more serious the defect in phenotype.     

Low Ca2+ impedes cross-bridge detachment in chemically skinned Taenia coli

Muscle force is generated by cycling cross-bridges between actin and myosin filaments. In smooth muscle, cyclic attachment and detachment of cross-bridges is thought to be induced by a Ca2+- and calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase which phosphorylates myosin. The relaxation that occurs after Ca2+ removal is usually ascribed to dephosphorylation of myosin by a phosphatase as non-phosphorylated myosin is unable to form force-generating criss-bridges. Recently, Dillon et al. claimed, however, that dephosphorylation of attached cross-bridges may impede cross-bridge detachment, thus forming so-called 'latch bridges'. Here we present evidence that after a Ca2+- and calmodulin-induced contraction of chemically skinned guinea pig Taenia coli, the rapid removal of Ca2+ impedes the detachment of the myosin cross-bridges from the actin filament; force can then be maintained without energy consumption. The extremely slowly detaching cross-bridges which maintain the force after Ca2+ removal may indeed correspond to the 'latch bridges' mentioned above.     

Sliding movement of single actin filaments on one-headed myosin filaments

The myosin molecule consists of two heads, each of which contains an enzymatic active site and an actin-binding site. The fundamental problem of whether the two heads function independently or cooperatively during muscle contraction has been studied by methods using an actomyosin thread, superprecipitation and chemical modification of muscle fibres. No clear conclusion has yet been reached. We have approached this question using an assay system in which sliding movements of fluorescently labelled single actin filaments along myosin filaments can be observed directly. Here, we report direct measurement of the sliding of single actin filaments along one-headed myosin filaments in which the density of heads was varied over a wide range. Our results show that cooperative interaction between the two heads of myosin is not essential for inducing the sliding movement of actin filaments.     

Direct observation of motion of single F-actin filaments in the presence of myosin

Actin is found in almost all kinds of non-muscle cells where it is thought to have an important role in cell motility. A proper understanding of that role will only be possible when reliable in vitro systems are available for investigating the interaction of cellular actin and myosin. A start has been made on several systems, most recently by Sheetz and Spudich who demonstrated unidirectional movement of HMM-coated beads along F-actin cables on arrays of chloroplasts exposed by dissection of a Nitella cell. As an alternative approach, we report here the direct observation by fluorescence microscopy of the movements of single F-actin filaments interacting with soluble myosin fragments energized by Mg2+-ATP.     

Movement of myosin-coated beads on oriented filaments reconstituted from purified actin

Although the biochemical properties of the actin/myosin interaction have been studied extensively using actin activation of myosin ATPase as an assay, until recently no well-defined assay has been available to measure the mechanical properties of ATP-dependent movement of myosin along actin filaments. The first direct measurements of the rate of myosin movement in vitro used a naturally occurring, biochemically ill-defined array of actin filaments from the alga Nitella. We report here the construction of an oriented array of filaments reconstituted from purified muscle actin and the use of this array in a biochemically defined quantitative assay for the directed movement of myosin-coated polystyrene beads. We demonstrate for the first time that actin alone, linked to a substratum by a protein anchor, is sufficient to support movement of myosin at rates consistent with the speeds of muscle contraction and other forms of cell motility.     

Myosin subfragment-1 is sufficient to move actin filaments in vitro

The rotating crossbridge model for muscle contraction proposes that force is produced by a change in angle of the crossbridge between the overlapping thick and thin filaments. Myosin, the major component of the thick filament, is comprised of two heavy chains and two pairs of light chains. Together they form two globular heads, which give rise to the crossbridge in muscle, and a coiled-coil rod, which forms the shaft of the thick filament. The isolated head fragment, subfragment-1 (S1), contains the ATPase and actin-binding activities of myosin (Fig. 1). Although S1 seems to have the requisite enzymatic activity, direct evidence that S1 is sufficient to drive actin movement has been lacking. It has long been recognized that in vitro movement assays are an important approach for identifying the elements in muscle responsible for force generation. Hynes et al. showed that beads coated with heavy meromyosin (HMM), a soluble proteolytic fragment of myosin consisting of a part of the rod and the two heads, can move on Nitella actin filaments. Using the myosin-coated surface assay of Kron and Spudich, Harada et al. showed that single-headed myosin filaments bound to glass support movement of actin at nearly the same speed as intact myosin filaments. These studies show that the terminal portion of the rod and the two-headed nature of myosin are not required for movement. To restrict the region responsible for movement further, we have modified the myosin-coated surface assay by replacing the glass surface with a nitrocellulose film. Here we report that myosin filaments, soluble myosin, HMM or S1, when bound to a nitrocellulose film, support actin sliding movement (Fig. 2). That S1 is sufficient to cause sliding movement of actin filaments in vitro gives strong support to models of contraction that place the site of active movement in muscle within the myosin head.     

Insulin trigger, cyclic AMP-dependent activation and phosphorylation of a plasma membrane cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase

Regulation of blood glucose levels by the liver is primarily achieved by the action of two peptide hormones, insulin and glucagon, which bind to specific receptors associated with the hepatocyte plasma membrane. Whilst the molecular action of glucagon at the level of the cell plasma membrane in activating adenylate cyclase is relatively well understood, we know little, if anything, of the molecular consequences of insulin occupying its receptor. We demonstrate here that insulin, at physiologically relevant concentrations, can trigger the cyclic AMP-dependent activation and phosphorylation of a low Km cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase attached to the liver plasma membrane. Such an effect may in part explain the ability of insulin to inhibit the increase in cellular cyclic AMP content that glucagon alone produces by activation of adenylate cyclase. Our observation that basal, intracellular cyclic AMP levels are insufficient to allow insulin to activate the cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, yet those cyclic AMP levels achieved after exposure of the cells to glucagon are sufficient, gives a molecular rationale to Butcher and Sutherland's proposal that it is necessary to first elevate cellular cyclic AMP levels before they can be depressed by insulin.     

Bidirectional movement of actin filaments along tracks of myosin heads

It is well established that muscle contraction results from the relative sliding of actin and myosin filaments. Both filaments have definite polarities and well-ordered structures. Thick filaments, however, are not vital for supporting movement in vitro. Previously we have demonstrated that actin filaments can move continuously on myosin fragments (subfragment-1 or heavy meromyosin (HMM] that are bound to a nitrocellulose surface. Here we report that actin filaments can move in opposite directions on tracks of myosin heads formed when actin filaments decorated with HMM are placed on a nitrocellulose surface. The actin filaments always move forward, frequently changing the direction of the movement, but never move backward reversing the polarity of the movement. The direction of movement is therefore determined by the polarity of the actin filament. These results indicate that myosin heads have considerable flexibility.     

Actin dynamics in the contractile ring during cytokinesis in fission yeast

Cytokinesis in many eukaryotes requires a contractile ring of actin and myosin that cleaves the cell in two. Little is known about how actin filaments and other components assemble into this ring structure and generate force. Here we show that the contractile ring in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an active site of actin assembly. This actin polymerization activity requires Arp3, the formin Cdc12, profilin and WASP, but not myosin II or IQGAP proteins. Both newly polymerized actin filaments and pre-existing actin cables can contribute to the initial assembly of the ring. Once formed, the ring remains a dynamic structure in which actin and other ring components continuously assemble and disassemble from the ring every minute. The rate of actin polymerization can influence the rate of cleavage. Thus, actin polymerization driven by the Arp2/3 complex and formins is a central process in cytokinesis. Our studies show that cytokinesis is a more dynamic process than previously thought and provide a perspective on the mechanism of cell division.     

Cyclic nucleotides control a system which regulates Ca2+ sensitivity of platelet secretion

Cellular responses to extracellular signals are mediated by changes in the intracellular concentrations of one or more second messengers. In platelets, inhibitory agonists increase intracellular cyclic-3',5'-AMP [( cyclic AMP]i (refs 2, 3] whereas excitatory agonists increase [Ca2+]i and/or [1,2-diacylglycerol]i (refs 4-9), and in some cases decrease [cyclic AMP]i (refs 10, 11). Both activation and inhibition of platelet responses have been attributed to an increase in [cyclic-3',5'-GMP]i (refs 8, 12). The activity of protein kinase C, which is associated with the platelet secretory response, is increased by both 1,2-diacylglycerol and Ca2+ (refs 4, 7, 8). The role of cyclic AMP may involve either inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization to the cytosol or stimulation of intracellular Ca2+ uptake, and in addition inhibition of 1,2-diacylglycerol formation. The relationship between cyclic-3',5'-GMP (cyclic GMP) and other second messengers in platelet activation has not been defined. Using platelets made permeable by exposure to an intense electric field, we demonstrate here modulation of the Ca2+ sensitivity of platelet secretion by thrombin, and by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and 1-oleyl-2- acetylglycerol ( OAG ), both potent activators of protein kinase C. The effect of thrombin is selectively modified by cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP. The response to OAG and TPA is also modulated by cyclic AMP but to a much lesser extent.     

A cyclic GMP-activated channel in dissociated cells of the chick pineal gland.

Phototransduction in the vertebrate retina is dependent in part on a cyclic GMP-activated ionic channel in the plasma membrane of rods and cones. But other vertebrate cells are also photosensitive. Cells of the chick pineal gland have a photosensitive circadian rhythm in melatonin secretion that persists in dissociated cell culture. Exposure to light causes inhibition of melatonin secretion, and entrainment of the intrinsic circadian oscillator. Chick pinealocytes express several 'retinal' proteins, including arrestin, transducin and a protein similar to the visual pigment rhodopsin. Pinealocytes of lower vertebrates display hyperpolarizing responses to brief pulses of light. Thus it is possible that some of the mechanisms of phototransduction are similar in retinal and pineal photoreceptors. We report here the first recordings of cyclic GMP-activated channels in an extraretinal photoreceptor. Application of GMP, but not cyclic AMP, to excised inside-out patches caused activation of a 15-25 pS cationic channel. These channels may be essential for phototransduction in the chick pineal gland.