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Nature Communications Sep 2023Processive transport by the microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein requires the regulated assembly of a dynein-dynactin-adapter complex. Interactions between dynein and...
Processive transport by the microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein requires the regulated assembly of a dynein-dynactin-adapter complex. Interactions between dynein and dynactin were initially ascribed to the dynein intermediate chain N-terminus and the dynactin subunit p150. However, recent cryo-EM structures have not resolved this interaction, questioning its importance. The intermediate chain also interacts with Nde1/Ndel1, which compete with p150 for binding. We reveal that the intermediate chain N-terminus is a critical evolutionarily conserved hub that interacts with dynactin and Ndel1, the latter of which recruits LIS1 to drive complex assembly. In additon to revealing that the intermediate chain N-terminus is likely bound to p150 in active transport complexes, our data support a model whereby Ndel1-LIS1 must dissociate prior to LIS1 being handed off to dynein in temporally discrete steps. Our work reveals previously unknown steps in the dynein activation pathway, and provide insight into the integrated activities of LIS1/Ndel1 and dynactin/cargo-adapters.
Topics: Dyneins; Dynactin Complex; Cytoplasmic Dyneins; Actin Cytoskeleton; Cytoskeleton
PubMed: 37730751
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41466-5 -
Advanced Science (Weinheim,... Nov 2023The principal cause of death in cancer patients is metastasis, which remains an unresolved problem. Conventionally, metastatic dissemination is linked to...
The principal cause of death in cancer patients is metastasis, which remains an unresolved problem. Conventionally, metastatic dissemination is linked to actomyosin-driven cell locomotion. However, the locomotion of cancer cells often does not strictly line up with the measured actomyosin forces. Here, a complementary mechanism of metastatic locomotion powered by dynein-generated forces is identified. These forces arise within a non-stretchable microtubule network and drive persistent contact guidance of migrating cancer cells along the biomimetic collagen fibers. It is also shown that the dynein-powered locomotion becomes indispensable during invasive 3D migration within a tissue-like luminal network formed by spatially confining granular hydrogel scaffolds (GHS) made up of microscale hydrogel particles (microgels). These results indicate that the complementary motricity mediated by dynein is always necessary and, in certain instances, sufficient for disseminating metastatic breast cancer cells. These findings advance the fundamental understanding of cell locomotion mechanisms and expand the spectrum of clinical targets against metastasis.
Topics: Humans; Female; Dyneins; Breast Neoplasms; Actomyosin; Cell Movement; Hydrogels
PubMed: 37726225
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202302229 -
Genetics Dec 2023Functions of protein SUMOylation remain incompletely understood in different cell types. Via forward genetics, here we identified ubaBQ247*, a loss-of-function mutation...
Functions of protein SUMOylation remain incompletely understood in different cell types. Via forward genetics, here we identified ubaBQ247*, a loss-of-function mutation in a SUMO activation enzyme UbaB in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. The ubaBQ247*, ΔubaB, and ΔsumO mutants all produce abnormal chromatin bridges, indicating the importance of SUMOylation in the completion of chromosome segregation. The bridges are enclosed by nuclear membrane containing peripheral nuclear pore complex proteins that normally get dispersed during mitosis, and the bridges are also surrounded by cytoplasmic microtubules typical of interphase cells. Time-lapse sequences further indicate that most bridges persist through interphase prior to the next mitosis, and anaphase chromosome segregation can produce new bridges that persist into the next interphase. When the first mitosis happens at a higher temperature of 42°C, SUMOylation deficiency produces not only chromatin bridges but also many abnormally shaped single nuclei that fail to divide. UbaB-GFP localizes to interphase nuclei just like the previously studied SumO-GFP, but the nuclear signals disappear during mitosis when the nuclear pores are partially open, and the signals reappear after mitosis. The nuclear localization is consistent with many SUMO targets being nuclear proteins. Finally, although the budding yeast SUMOylation machinery interacts with LIS1, a protein critical for dynein activation, loss of SUMOylation does not cause any obvious defect in dynein-mediated transport of nuclei and early endosomes, indicating that SUMOylation is unnecessary for dynein activation in A. nidulans.
Topics: Chromatin; Chromosome Segregation; Dyneins; Sumoylation; Mitosis; Aspergillus
PubMed: 37724751
DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad169 -
The EMBO Journal Oct 2023The localization of RNAs in cells is critical for many cellular processes. Whereas motor-driven transport of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates plays a prominent role...
The localization of RNAs in cells is critical for many cellular processes. Whereas motor-driven transport of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates plays a prominent role in RNA localization in cells, their study remains limited by the scarcity of available tools allowing to manipulate condensates in a spatial manner. To fill this gap, we reconstitute in cellula a minimal RNP transport system based on bioengineered condensates, which were functionalized with kinesins and dynein-like motors, allowing for their positioning at either the cell periphery or centrosomes. This targeting mostly occurs through the active transport of the condensate scaffolds, which leads to localized nucleation of phase-separated condensates. Then, programming the condensates to recruit specific mRNAs is able to shift the localization of these mRNAs toward the cell periphery or the centrosomes. Our method opens novel perspectives for examining the role of RNA localization as a driver of cellular functions.
Topics: Microtubules; Ribonucleoproteins; RNA; RNA, Messenger; Dyneins
PubMed: 37724036
DOI: 10.15252/embj.2023114106 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Sep 2023In many species, only one oocyte is specified among a group of interconnected germline sister cells. In , 16 interconnected cells form a germline cyst, where one cell...
In many species, only one oocyte is specified among a group of interconnected germline sister cells. In , 16 interconnected cells form a germline cyst, where one cell differentiates into an oocyte, while the rest become nurse cells that supply the oocyte with mRNAs, proteins, and organelles through intercellular cytoplasmic bridges named ring canals via microtubule-based transport. In this study, we find that a microtubule polymerase Mini spindles (Msps), the homolog of XMAP215, is essential for maintenance of the oocyte specification. mRNA encoding Msps is transported and concentrated in the oocyte by dynein-dependent transport along microtubules. Translated Msps stimulates microtubule polymerization in the oocyte, causing more microtubule plus ends to grow from the oocyte through the ring canals into nurse cells, further enhancing nurse cell-to-oocyte transport by dynein. Knockdown of blocks the oocyte growth and causes gradual loss of oocyte determinants. Thus, the Msps-dynein duo creates a positive feedback loop, ensuring oocyte fate maintenance by promoting high microtubule polymerization activity in the oocyte, and enhancing dynein-dependent nurse cell-to-oocyte transport.
Topics: Animals; Cytoplasmic Dyneins; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Microtubules; Nucleotidyltransferases; Oocytes
PubMed: 37722034
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303376120 -
Nature Communications Sep 2023Cilia are hairlike protrusions that project from the surface of eukaryotic cells and play key roles in cell signaling and motility. Ciliary motility is regulated by the...
Cilia are hairlike protrusions that project from the surface of eukaryotic cells and play key roles in cell signaling and motility. Ciliary motility is regulated by the conserved nexin-dynein regulatory complex (N-DRC), which links adjacent doublet microtubules and regulates and coordinates the activity of outer doublet complexes. Despite its critical role in cilia motility, the assembly and molecular basis of the regulatory mechanism are poorly understood. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy in conjunction with biochemical cross-linking and integrative modeling, we localize 12 DRC subunits in the N-DRC structure of Tetrahymena thermophila. We also find that the CCDC96/113 complex is in close contact with the DRC9/10 in the linker region. In addition, we reveal that the N-DRC is associated with a network of coiled-coil proteins that most likely mediates N-DRC regulatory activity.
Topics: Dyneins; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Microtubule-Associated Proteins; Cytoskeleton; Axoneme; Amyloidogenic Proteins
PubMed: 37714832
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41480-7 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Sep 2023Protein import into chloroplasts is powered by ATP hydrolysis in the stroma. Establishing the identity and functional mechanism of the stromal ATPase motor that drives...
Protein import into chloroplasts is powered by ATP hydrolysis in the stroma. Establishing the identity and functional mechanism of the stromal ATPase motor that drives import is critical for understanding chloroplast biogenesis. Recently, a complex consisting of Ycf2, FtsHi1, FtsHi2, FtsHi4, FtsHi5, FtsH12, and malate dehydrogenase was shown to be important for chloroplast protein import, and it has been proposed to act as the motor driving protein translocation across the chloroplast envelope into the stroma. To gain further mechanistic understanding of how the motor functions, we performed membrane association and topology analyses on two of its subunits, FtsHi1 and FtsHi2. We isolated cDNA clones encoding FtsHi1 and FtsHi2 preproteins to perform in vitro import experiments in order to determine the exact size of each mature protein. We also generated antibodies against the C-termini of the proteins, i.e., where their ATPase domains reside. Protease treatments and alkaline and high-salt extractions of chloroplasts with imported and endogenous proteins revealed that FtsHi1 is an integral membrane protein with its C-terminal portion located in the intermembrane space of the envelope, not the stroma, whereas FtsHi2 is a soluble protein in the stroma. We further complemented an -knockout mutant with a C-terminally tagged FtsHi1 and obtained identical results for topological analyses. Our data indicate that the model of a single membrane-anchored pulling motor at the stromal side of the inner membrane needs to be revised and suggest that the Ycf2-FtsHi complex may have additional functions.
Topics: Membranes; Nuclear Envelope; Intracellular Membranes; Adenosine Triphosphatases; Chloroplasts; Dyneins; Kinesins
PubMed: 37669373
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307747120 -
Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark) Dec 2023Epithelial polarity is critical for proper functions of epithelial tissues, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. The evolutionarily conserved transmembrane protein Crumbs...
Epithelial polarity is critical for proper functions of epithelial tissues, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. The evolutionarily conserved transmembrane protein Crumbs (Crb) is a key regulator of epithelial polarity. Both Crb protein and its transcripts are apically localized in epithelial cells. However, it remains not fully understood how they are targeted to the apical domain. Here, using Drosophila ovarian follicular epithelia as a model, we show that epithelial polarity is lost and Crb protein is absent in the apical domain in follicular cells (FCs) in the absence of Diamond (Dind). Interestingly, Dind is found to associate with different components of the dynactin-dynein complex through co-IP-MS analysis. Dind stabilizes dynactin and depletion of dynactin results in almost identical defects as those observed in dind-defective FCs. Finally, both Dind and dynactin are also required for the apical localization of crb transcripts in FCs. Thus our data illustrate that Dind functions through dynactin/dynein-mediated transport of both Crb protein and its transcripts to the apical domain to control epithelial apico-basal (A/B) polarity.
Topics: Animals; Cell Polarity; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila Proteins; Dynactin Complex; Dyneins; Epithelial Cells; Membrane Proteins
PubMed: 37642208
DOI: 10.1111/tra.12917 -
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Sep 2023Cytoplasmic dynein-1 transports intracellular cargo towards microtubule minus ends. Dynein is autoinhibited and undergoes conformational changes to form an active...
Cytoplasmic dynein-1 transports intracellular cargo towards microtubule minus ends. Dynein is autoinhibited and undergoes conformational changes to form an active complex that consists of one or two dynein dimers, the dynactin complex, and activating adapter(s). The Lissencephaly 1 gene, LIS1, is genetically linked to the dynein pathway from fungi to mammals and is mutated in people with the neurodevelopmental disease lissencephaly. Lis1 is required for active dynein complexes to form, but how it enables this is unclear. Here, we present a structure of two yeast dynein motor domains with two Lis1 dimers wedged in-between. The contact sites between dynein and Lis1 in this structure, termed 'Chi,' are required for Lis1's regulation of dynein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in vivo and the formation of active human dynein-dynactin-activating adapter complexes in vitro. We propose that this structure represents an intermediate in dynein's activation pathway, revealing how Lis1 relieves dynein's autoinhibited state.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Cytoplasmic Dyneins; Dyneins; Classical Lissencephalies and Subcortical Band Heterotopias; Biological Transport; Cytoskeleton; Dynactin Complex; Oligonucleotides; Mammals
PubMed: 37620585
DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01069-6 -
Asian Journal of Andrology Jan 2024Variations in the dynein axonemal heavy chain gene, dynein axonemal heavy chain 6 ( DNAH6 ), lead to multiple morphological abnormalities of the flagella. Recent studies...
Variations in the dynein axonemal heavy chain gene, dynein axonemal heavy chain 6 ( DNAH6 ), lead to multiple morphological abnormalities of the flagella. Recent studies have reported that these deficiencies may result in sperm head deformation. However, whether DNAH6 is also involved in human acrosome biogenesis remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate DNAH6 gene variants and their potential functions in the formation of defective sperm heads and flagella. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on a cohort of 375 patients with asthenoteratozoospermia from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China). Hematoxylin and eosin staining, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were performed to analyze the sperm morphology and ultrastructure. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blot analysis were conducted to examine the effects of genetic variants. We identified three novel deleterious variants in DNAH6 among three unrelated families. The absence of inner dynein arms and radial spokes was observed in the sperm of patients with DNAH6 variants. Additionally, deficiencies in the acrosome, abnormal chromatin compaction, and vacuole-containing sperm heads were observed in these patients with DNAH6 variants. The decreased levels of the component proteins in these defective structures were further confirmed in sperm from patients with DNAH6 variants using Western blot. After intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment, the partner of one patient with a DNAH6 variant achieved successful pregnancy. Overall, novel variants in DNAH6 genes that contribute to defects in the sperm head and flagella were identified, and the findings indicated ICSI as an effective clinical treatment for such patients.
Topics: Humans; Male; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; Sperm Tail; Axonemal Dyneins; Infertility, Male; Adult; Female; Exome Sequencing; Dyneins; Pregnancy; Sperm Head; Asthenozoospermia; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 37594300
DOI: 10.4103/aja202328