Plasma Membrane-Associated Actin in Bright Yellow 2 Tobacco Cells1 : Evidence for Interaction with Microtubules

Plasma membrane ghosts form when plant protoplasts attached to a substrate are lysed to leave a small patch of plasma membrane. We have identified several factors, including the use of a mildly acidic actin stabilization buffer and the inclusion of glutaraldehyde in the fixative, that allow immunofluorescent visualization of extensive cortical actin arrays retained on membrane ghosts made from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) suspension-cultured cells (line Bright Yellow 2). Normal microtubule arrays were also retained using these conditions. Membrane-associated actin is random; it exhibits only limited coalignment with the microtubules, and microtubule depolymerization in whole cells before wall digestion and ghost formation has little effect on actin retention. Actin and microtubules also exhibit different sensitivities to the pH and K+ and Ca2+ concentrations of the lysis buffer. There is, however, strong evidence for interactions between actin and the microtubules at or near the plasma membrane, because both ghosts and protoplasts prepared from taxol-pretreated cells have microtubules arranged in parallel arrays and an increased amount of actin coaligned with the microtubules. These experiments suggest that the organization of the cortical actin arrays may be dependent on the localization and organization of the microtubules.

Myosin Vb Is Associated with Plasma Membrane Recycling Systems

Myosin Va is associated with discrete vesicle populations in a number of cell types, but little is known of the function of myosin Vb. Yeast two-hybrid screening of a rabbit parietal cell cDNA library with dominant active Rab11a (Rab11aS20V) identified myosin Vb as an interacting protein for Rab11a, a marker for plasma membrane recycling systems. The isolated clone, corresponding to the carboxyl terminal 60 kDa of the myosin Vb tail, interacted with all members of the Rab11 family (Rab11a, Rab11b, and Rab25). GFP-myosin Vb and endogenous myosin Vb immunoreactivity codistributed with Rab11a in HeLa and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. As with Rab11a in MDCK cells, the myosin Vb immunoreactivity was dispersed with nocodazole treatment and relocated to the apical corners of cells with taxol treatment. A green fluorescent protein (GFP)-myosin Vb tail chimera overexpressed in HeLa cells retarded transferrin recycling and caused accumulation of transferrin and the transferrin receptor in pericentrosomal vesicles. Expression of the myosin Vb tail chimera in polarized MDCK cells stably expressing the polymeric IgA receptor caused accumulation of basolaterally endocytosed polymeric IgA and the polymeric IgA receptor in the pericentrosomal region. The myosin Vb tail had no effects on transferrin trafficking in polarized MDCK cells. The GFP-myosin Va tail did not colocalize with Rab11a and had no effects on recycling system vesicle distribution in either HeLa or MDCK cells. The results indicate myosin Vb is associated with the plasma membrane recycling system in nonpolarized cells and the apical recycling system in polarized cells. The dominant negative effects of the myosin Vb tail chimera indicate that this unconventional myosin is required for transit out of plasma membrane recycling systems.

Antagonistic forces generated by myosin II and cytoplasmic dynein regulate microtubule turnover, movement, and organization in interphase cells

Photoactivation of caged fluorescent tubulin was used mark the microtubule (MT) lattice and monitor MT behavior in interphase cells. A broadening of the photoactivated region occurred as MTs moved bidirectionally. MT movement was not inhibited when MT assembly was suppressed with nocodazole or Taxol; MT movement was suppressed by inhibition of myosin light chain kinase with ML7 or by a peptide inhibitor. Conversely, MT movement was increased after inhibition of cytoplasmic dynein with the antibody 70.1. In addition, the half-time for MT turnover was decreased in cells treated with ML7. These results demonstrate that myosin II and cytoplasmic dynein contribute to a balance of forces that regulates MT organization, movement, and turnover in interphase cells.

ATP-dependent uptake of natural product cytotoxic drugs by membrane vesicles establishes MRP as a broad specificity transporter.

MRP is a recently isolated ATP-binding cassette family transporter. We previously reported transfection studies that established that MRP confers multidrug resistance [Kruh, G. D., Chan, A., Myers, K., Gaughan, K., Miki, T. & Aaronson, S. A. (1994) Cancer Res. 54, 1649-1652] and that expression of MRP is associated with enhanced cellular efflux of lipophilic cytotoxic agents [Breuninger, L. M., Paul, S., Gaughan, K., Miki, T., Chan, A., Aaronson, S. A. & Kruh, G. D. (1995) Cancer Res. 55, 5342-5347]. To examine the biochemical mechanism by which MRP confers multidrug resistance, drug uptake experiments were performed using inside-out membrane vesicles prepared from NIH 3T3 cells transfected with an MRP expression vector. ATP-dependent transport was observed for several lipophilic cytotoxic agents including daunorubicin, etoposide, and vincristine, as well as for the glutathione conjugate leukotriene C4 (LTC4). However, only marginally increased uptake was observed for vinblastine and Taxol. Drug uptake was osmotically sensitive and saturable with regard to substrate concentration, with Km values of 6.3 microM, 4.4 microM, 4.2 microM, 35 nM, and 38 microM, for daunorubicin, etoposide, vincristine, LTC4, and ATP, respectively. The broad substrate specificity of MRP was confirmed by the observation that daunorubicin transport was competitively inhibited by reduced and oxidized glutathione, the glutathione conjugates S-(p-azidophenacyl)-glutathione (APA-SG) and S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)glutathione (DNP-SG), arsenate, and the LTD4 antagonist MK571. This study establishes that MRP pumps unaltered lipophilic cytotoxic drugs, and suggests that this activity is an important mechanism by which the transporter confers multidrug resistance. The present study also indicates that the substrate specificity of MRP is overlapping but distinct from that of P-glycoprotein, and includes both the neutral or mildly cationic natural product cytotoxic drugs and the anionic products of glutathione conjugation. The widespread expression of MRP in tissues, combined with its ability to transport both lipophilic xenobiotics and the products of phase II detoxification, indicates that the transporter represents a widespread and remarkably versatile cellular defense mechanism.

The human CAS protein which is homologous to the CSE1 yeast chromosome segregation gene product is associated with microtubules and mitotic spindle.

Human CAS cDNA contains a 971-aa open reading frame that is homologous to the essential yeast gene CSE1. CSE1 is involved in chromosome segregation and is necessary for B-type cyclin degradation in mitosis. Using antibodies to CAS, it was shown that CAS levels are high in proliferating and low in nonproliferating cells. Here we describe the distribution of CAS in cells and tissues analyzed with antibodies against CAS. CAS is an approximately 100-kDa protein present in the cytoplasm of proliferating cells at levels between 2 x 10(5) and 1 x 10(6) molecules per cell. The intracellular distribution of CAS resembles that of tubulin. In interphase cells, anti-CAS antibody shows microtubule-like patterns and in mitotic cells it labels the mitotic spindle. CAS is removed from microtubules by mild detergent treatment (cytoskeleton preparations) and in vincristine- or taxol-treated cells. CAS is diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm with only traces present in tubulin paracrystals or bundles. Thus, CAS appears to be associated with but not to be an integral part of microtubules. Immunohistochemical staining of frozen tissues shows elevated amounts of CAS in proliferating cells such as testicular spermatogonia and cells in the basal layer cells of the colon. CAS was also concentrated in the respiratory epithelium of the trachea and in axons and Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. These cells contain many microtubules. The cellular location of CAS is consistent with an important role in cell division as well as in ciliary movement and vesicular transport.

Contraction due to microtubule disruption is associated with increased phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain.

Microtubules have been proposed to function as rigid struts which oppose cellular contraction. Consistent with this hypothesis, microtubule disruption strengthens the contractile force exerted by many cell types. We have investigated alternative explanation for the mechanical effects of microtubule disruption: that microtubules modulate the mechanochemical activity of myosin by influencing phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain (LC20). We measured the force produced by a population of fibroblasts within a collagen lattice attached to an isometric force transducer. Treatment of cells with nocodazole, an inhibitor of microtubule polymerization, stimulated an isometric contraction that reached its peak level within 30 min and was typically 30-45% of the force increase following maximal stimulation with 30% fetal bovine serum. The contraction following nocodazole treatment was associated with a 2- to 4-fold increase in LC20 phosphorylation. The increases in both force and LC20 phosphorylation, after addition of nocodazole, could be blocked or reversed by stabilizing the microtubules with paclitaxel (former generic name, taxol). Increasing force and LC20 phosphorylation by pretreatment with fetal bovine serum decreased the subsequent additional contraction upon microtubule disruption, a finding that appears inconsistent with a load-shifting mechanism. Our results suggest that phosphorylation of LC20 is a common mechanism for the contractions stimulated both by microtubule poisons and receptor-mediated agonists. The modulation of myosin activity by alterations in microtubule assembly may coordinate the physiological functions of these cytoskeletal components.

Function of the p86 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor (iso)4F as a microtubule-associated protein in plant cells.

The isozyme form of eukaryotic initiation factor 4F [eIF-(iso)4F] from wheat germ is composed of a p28 subunit that binds the 7-methylguanine cap of mRNA and a p86 subunit having unknown function. The p86 subunit was found to have limited sequence similarity to a kinesin-like protein encoded by the katA gene of Arabidopsis thaliana. Native wheat germ eIF-(iso)4F and bacterially expressed p86 subunit and p86-p28 complex bound to taxol-stabilized maize microtubules (MTs) in vitro. Binding saturation occurred at 1 mol of p86 per 5-6 mol of polymerized tubulin dimer, demonstrating a substoichiometric interaction of p86 with MTs. No evidence was found for a direct interaction of the p28 subunit with MTs. Unlike kinesin, cosedimentation of eIF-(iso)4F with MTs was neither reduced by MgATP nor enhanced by adenosine 5'-[gamma-imido]triphosphate. Both p86 subunit and p86-p28 complex induced the bundling of MTs in vitro. The p86 subunit was immunolocalized to the cytosol in root maize cells and existed in three forms: fine particles, coarse particles, and linear patches. Many coarse particles and linear patches were colocalized or closely associated with cortical MT bundles in interphase cells. The results indicate that the p86 subunit of eIF-(iso)4F is a MT-associated protein that may simultaneously link the translational machinery to the cytoskeleton and regulate MT disposition in plant cells.

Inactivation of Bcl-2 by phosphorylation.

The antiapoptosis potential of Bcl-2 protein is well established, but the mechanism of Bcl-2 action is still poorly understood. Using the phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid or the chemotherapeutic drug taxol, we found that Bcl-2 was phosphorylated in lymphoid cells. Phospho amino acid analysis revealed that Bcl-2 was phosphorylated on serine. Under similar conditions, okadaic acid or taxol treatment led to the induction of apoptosis in these cells. Thus, phosphorylation of Bcl-2 seems to inhibit its ability to interfere with apoptosis. In addition, phosphorylated Bcl-2 can no longer prevent lipid peroxidation as required to protect cells from apoptosis.