A new Acanthamoeba myosin heavy chain. Cloning of the gene and immunological identification of the polypeptide

Discovery of the first unconventional myosin: Acanthamoeba myosin-I

Having characterized actin from Acanthamoeba castellanii (Weihing and Korn, Biochemistry, 1971, 10, 590-600) and knowing that myosin had been isolated from the slime mold Physarum (Hatano and Tazawa, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1968, 154, 507-519; Adelman and Taylor, Biochemistry, 1969, 8, 4976-4988), we set out in 1969 to find myosin in Acanthamoeba. We used K-EDTA-ATPase activity to assay myosin, because it is a unique feature of muscle myosins. After slightly less than 3 years, we purified a K-EDTA ATPase that interacted with actin. Actin filaments stimulated the Mg-ATPase activity of the crude enzyme, but this was lost with further purification. Recombining fractions from the column where this activity was lost revealed a "cofactor" that allowed actin filaments to stimulate the Mg-ATPase of the purified enzyme. The small size of the heavy chain and physical properties of the purified myosin were unprecedented, so many were skeptical, assuming that our myosin was a proteolytic fragment of a larger myosin similar to muscle or Physarum myosin. Subsequently our laboratories confirmed that Acanthamoeba myosin-I is a novel unconventional myosin that interacts with membrane lipids (Adams and Pollard, Nature, 1989, 340 (6234), 565-568) and that the cofactor is a myosin heavy chain kinase (Maruta and Korn, J. Biol. Chem., 1977, 252, 8329-8332). Phylogenetic analysis (Odronitz and Kollmar, Genome Biology, 2007, 8, R196) later established that class I myosin was the first myosin to appear during the evolution of eukaryotes.

Proteomic profiling of the infective trophozoite stage of Acanthamoeba polyphaga

Acanthamoeba polyphaga is a free-living protozoan pathogen, whose infective trophozoite form is capable of causing a blinding keratitis and fatal granulomatous encephalitis in humans. The damage caused by A. polyphaga trophozoites in human corneal or brain infections is the result of several different pathogenic mechanisms that have not yet been elucidated at the molecular level. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the proteins expressed by A. polyphaga trophozoites, based on complementary 2-DE MS/MS and gel-free LC-MS/MS approaches. Overall, 202 non-redundant proteins were identified. An A. polyphaga proteomic map in the pH range 3-10 was produced, with protein identification for 184 of 370 resolved spots, corresponding to 142 proteins. Additionally, 94 proteins were identified by gel-free LC-MS/MS. Functional classification revealed several proteins with potential importance for pathogen survival and infection of mammalian hosts, including surface proteins and proteins related to defense mechanisms. Our study provided the first comprehensive proteomic survey of the trophozoite infective stage of an Acanthamoeba species, and established foundations for prospective, comparative and functional studies of proteins involved in mechanisms of survival, development, and pathogenicity in A. polyphaga and other pathogenic amoebae.

Myo1e binds anionic phospholipids with high affinity

Myo1e is a single-headed motor protein that has been shown to play roles in clathrin-mediated endocytosis in HeLa cells and podocyte function in the kidney. The myo1e C-terminal tail domain includes a basic region that is required for localization to clathrin-coated vesicles and contains a putative pleckstrin-homology (PH) domain that has been shown to play a role in phospholipid binding in other myosin-I proteins. We used sedimentation assays, stopped-flow fluorescence, and fluorescence microscopy to determine the membrane binding affinities, kinetics, and in vivo localization of fluorescently labeled recombinant myo1e-tail constructs. We found that the myo1e tail binds tightly to large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) containing physiological concentrations of the anionic phospholipids phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P(2)) or phosphatidylserine. The rate of myo1e attachment to LUVs nears the diffusion limit while the calculated rate of detachment from LUVs is slow (k(diss) ≤ 0.4 s(-1)). Mutation of conserved residues in the myo1e PH domain has little effect on lipid binding in vitro or membrane localization in vivo. Soluble inositol phosphate headgroups, such as inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, can compete with PtdIns(4,5)P(2) for binding, but the apparent affinity for the soluble inositol phosphate is substantially lower than that for PtdIns(4,5)P(2). These results suggest that myo1e binds lipids through nonspecific electrostatic interactions rather than a stereospecific protein-phosphoinositide interaction.

Directed motility of phagosomes inTetrahymena thermophila requires actin and Myo1p, a novel unconventional myosin

The phagosome cycle was investigated in Tetrahymena thermophila, which had internalized fluorescent latex beads. Confocal microscopy of cells from a GFP-actin strain revealed actin filaments that extended 3-5 mum from the periphery of fluorescent phagosomes. In GFP-actin cells and in wild-type cells, motility of fluorescent phagosomes was directed from the oral cavity to the posterior end of the cell. Although 60% of fluorescent phagosomes in the MYO1-knockout strain were motile, movement of phagosomes was not directed toward the posterior end of the cell and was random. Forty percent of fluorescent phagosomes in knockout cells were non-motile in contrast to only 20% non-motile phagosomes in wild-type cells. The increased incidence of non-motile phagosomes in the knockout strain could reflect absence of Myo1p as a motor. Another myosin or other molecular motors could power random movement of phagosomes in the MYO1-knockout strain. In latrunculin-treated GFP-actin cells, movement of fluorescent phagosomes was random. Average velocity of random movement of fluorescent phagosomes in the knockout strain and in latrunculin-treated cells was statistically the same as the average velocity (2.0 +/- 1.9 microm/min) of phagosomes in GFP-actin cells. These findings are an indication that dynamic actin and Myo1p are required for directed motility of phagosomes.

Myosin superfamily evolutionary history

The superfamily of myosin proteins found in eukaryotic cells is known to contain at least 18 different classes. Members are classified based on the phylogenetic analysis of the head domains located at the amino terminus of the polypeptide. While phylogenetic relationships provide insights into the functional relatedness of myosins within and between families, the evolutionary history of the myosin superfamily is not revealed by such studies. In order to establish the evolutionary history of the superfamily, we analyzed the representation of myosin gene families in a range of organisms covering the taxonomic spectrum. The amino acid sequences of 232 myosin heavy chains, as well as 65 organisms representing the protist, plant, and animal kingdoms, were included in this study. A phylogenetic tree of organisms was constructed based on several complementary taxonomic classification schemes. The results of the analysis support an evolutionary hypothesis in which myosins II and I evolved the earliest of all the myosin groups. Myosins V and XI evolved from a common myosin II-like ancestor, but the two families diverged to either the plant (XI) or animal (V) lineage. Class VII myosin appeared fourth among the families, and classes VI and IX appeared later during the early period of metazoan radiation. Myosins III, XV, and XVIII appeared after this group, and X appeared during the formative phases of vertebrate evolution. The remaining members of the myosin superfamily (IV, VI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVI, and XVII) are limited in distribution to one or more groups of organisms. The evolutionary data permits one to predict the likelihood that myosin genes absent from a given species are either missing (not found yet because of insufficient data) or lost due to a mutation that removed the gene from an organism's lineage. In conclusion, an analysis of the evolutionary history of the myosin superfamily suggests that early-appearing myosin families function as generalists, carrying out a number of functions in a variety of cell types, while more recently evolved myosin families function as specialists and are limited to a few organisms or a few cell types within organisms.

Myosins in protists

This review focuses on selected papers that illustrate an historical perspective and the current knowledge of myosin structure and function in protists. The review contains a general description of myosin structure, a phylogenetic tree of the myosin classes, and descriptions of myosin isoforms identified in protists. Each myosin is discussed within the context of the taxonomic group of the organism in which the myosin has been identified. Domain structure, cellular location, function, and regulation are described for each myosin.

A millennial myosin census

The past decade has seen a remarkable explosion in our knowledge of the size and diversity of the myosin superfamily. Since these actin-based motors are candidates to provide the molecular basis for many cellular movements, it is essential that motility researchers be aware of the complete set of myosins in a given organism. The availability of cDNA and/or draft genomic sequences from humans, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Dictyostelium discoideum has allowed us to tentatively define and compare the sets of myosin genes in these organisms. This analysis has also led to the identification of several putative myosin genes that may be of general interest. In humans, for example, we find a total of 40 known or predicted myosin genes including two new myosins-I, three new class II (conventional) myosins, a second member of the class III/ninaC myosins, a gene similar to the class XV deafness myosin, and a novel myosin sharing at most 33% identity with other members of the superfamily. These myosins are in addition to the recently discovered class XVI myosin with N-terminal ankyrin repeats and two human genes with similarity to the class XVIII PDZ-myosin from mouse. We briefly describe these newly recognized myosins and extend our previous phylogenetic analysis of the myosin superfamily to include a comparison of the complete or nearly complete inventories of myosin genes from several experimentally important organisms.

Regulation and expression of metazoan unconventional myosins

Unconventional myosins are molecular motors that convert adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis into movement along actin filaments. On the basis of primary structure analysis, these myosins are represented by at least 15 distinct classes (classes 1 and 3-16), each of which is presumed to play a specific cellular role. However, in contrast to the conventional myosins-2, which drive muscle contraction and cytokinesis and have been studied intensively for many years in both uni- and multicellular organisms, unconventional myosins have only been subject to analysis in metazoan systems for a short time. Here we critically review what is known about unconventional myosin regulation, function, and expression. Several points emerge from this analysis. First, in spite of the high relative conservation of motor domains among the myosin classes, significant differences are found in biochemical and enzymatic properties of these motor domains. Second, the idea that characteristic distributions of unconventional myosins are solely dependent on the myosin tail domain is almost certainly an oversimplification. Third, the notion that most unconventional myosins function as transport motors for membranous organelles is challenged by recent data. Finally, we present a scheme that clarifies relationships between various modes of myosin regulation.

Myosins: a diverse superfamily

Myosins constitute a large superfamily of actin-dependent molecular motors. Phylogenetic analysis currently places myosins into 15 classes. The conventional myosins which form filaments in muscle and non-muscle cells form class II. There has been extensive characterization of these myosins and much is known about their function. With the exception of class I and class V myosins, little is known about the structure, enzymatic properties, intracellular localization and physiology of most unconventional myosin classes. This review will focus on myosins from class IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV and XV. In addition, the function of myosin II in non-muscle cells will also be discussed.

Organization and ligand binding properties of the tail of Acanthamoeba myosin-IA. Identification of an actin-binding site in the basic (tail homology-1) domain

The Acanthamoeba myosin-IA heavy chain gene encodes a 134-kDa protein with a catalytic domain, three potential light chain binding sites, and a tail with separately folded tail homology (TH) -1, -2, and -3 domains. TH-1 is highly resistant to trypsin digestion despite consisting of 15% lysine and arginine. TH-2/3 is resistant to alpha-chymotrypsin digestion. The peptide link between TH-1 and TH-2/3 is cleaved by trypsin, alpha-chymotrypsin, and endo-AspN but not V8 protease. The CD spectra of TH-2/3 indicate predominantly random structure, turns, and beta-strands but no alpha-helix. The hydrodynamic properties of TH-2/3 (Stokes' radius of 3.0 nm, sedimentation coefficient of 1.8 S, and molecular mass of 21.6 kDa) indicate that these domains are as long as the whole myosin-I tail in reconstructions of electron micrographs. Furthermore, separately expressed and purified TH-1 binds with high affinity to TH-2/3. Thus we propose that TH-1 and TH-2/3 are arranged side by side in the myosin-IA tail. Separate TH-1, TH-2, and TH-2/3 each binds muscle actin filaments with high affinity. Salt inhibits TH-2/3 binding to muscle actin but not amoeba actin filaments. TH-1 enhances binding of TH-2/3 to muscle actin filaments at physiological salt concentration, indicating that TH-1 and TH-2/3 cooperate in actin binding. An intrinsic fluorescence assay shows that TH-2/3 also binds with high affinity to the protein Acan125 similar to the SH3 domain of myosin-IC. Phylogenetic analysis of SH3 sequences suggests that myosin-I acquired SH3 domain after the divergence of the genes for myosin-I isoforms.

Characterization of myosin heavy chain and its gene in Amoeba proteus

Monoclonal antibodies against the myosin heavy chain of Amoeba proteus were obtained and used to localize myosin inside amoebae and to clone cDNAs encoding myosin. Myosin was found throughout the amoeba cytoplasm but was more concentrated in the ectoplasmic regions as determined by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. In symbiont-bearing xD amoebae, myosin was also found on the symbiosome membranes, as checked by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and by immunoelectron microscopy. The open reading frame of a cloned myosin cDNA contained 6,414 nucleotides, coding for a polypeptide of 2,138 amino acids. While the amino-acid sequence of the globular head region of amoeba's myosin had a high degree of similarity with that of myosins from various organisms, the tail region building a coiled-coil structure did not show a significant sequence similarity. There appeared to be at least three different isoforms of myosins in amoebae, with closely related amino acids in the globular head region.

A PCR screen identifies a novel, unconventional myosin heavy chain gene (MYO1) in Tetrahymena thermophila

Degenerate primers for two regions of sequence homology in the myosin head domain were used in a polymerase chain reaction screen of Tetrahymena thermophila genomic DNA to amplify a 765 bp fragment that was cloned and sequenced. Based on the presence of conserved, myosin-specific sequences, the 765 bp PCR product was identified as a fragment of a myosin gene, the first to be discovered in ciliated protozoa and herein referred to as MYO1. An inverse polymerase chain reaction strategy was used to obtain additional sequence data that included the entire head domain of MYO1. Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequence of the MYO1 head domain with known myosin sequences identified the ATP-binding site, a phosphorylation site, and other myosin-specific consensus regions. In a northern blot analysis, a 765 bp MYO1-specific probe detected a 6.6 kb transcript under highly stringent hybridization conditions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the predicted protein encoded by MYO1 is not a member of any of the previously defined myosin classes and therefore represents a presumptive new myosin class.

Essential role of a kinesin-like protein in Arabidopsis trichome morphogenesis

Little is known about how cell shape is controlled. We are using the morphogenesis of trichomes (plant hairs) on the plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model to study how cell shape is controlled. Wild-type Arabidopsis trichomes are large, single epidermal cells with a stalk and three or four branches, whereas in zwichel (zwi) mutants the trichomes have a shortened stalk and only two branches. To further understand the role of the ZWI gene in trichome morphogenesis we have cloned the wild-type ZWICHEL (ZWI) gene by T-DNA tagging, and report here that it encodes a member of the kinesin superfamily of microtubule motor proteins. Kinesin proteins transport diverse cellular materials in a directional manner along microtubules. Kinesin-like proteins are characterized by a highly conserved "head" region that comprises the motor domain, and a nonconserved "tail" region that is thought to participate in recognition and binding of the appropriate cargo.

MOLECULAR GENETIC ANALYSIS OF TRICHOME DEVELOPMENT IN ARABIDOPSIS

Two basic questions in developmental biology are: How does a cell know when it should or should not differentiate, and once a cell is committed to differentiate, how is that process controlled? The first process regulates the arrangement or pattern of the various cell types, whereas the second makes cells functionally distinct. Together, these two processes define plant morphogenesis. Trichome development in Arabidopsis provides an excellent model to analyze these questions. First, trichome development in Arabidopsis is a relatively simple process. A single epidermal cell differentiates into a unicellular trichome. Second, this differentiation occurs in a nonrandom pattern on the plant surface. Finally, the process is amenable to genetic analysis because many mutations that affect trichome differentiation do not alter other aspects of plant development. Thus far, more than 20 genes affecting trichome development have been identified. This review examines the current state of our understanding of these genes.

Conservation within the myosin motor domain: implications for structure and function

BACKGROUND

Myosins are motors that use energy supplied by ATP to travel along actin filaments. The structure of myosin is known, but the actin-binding site is not well defined, and the mechanisms by which actin activates ATP hydrolysis by myosin, and myosin moves relative to the actin filament, developing force, are not fully understood. Previous phylogenetic analyses of the motor domain of myosins have identified up to twelve classes. We set out to analyse the positions of conserved residues within this domain in detail, and relate the conserved residues to the myosin structure.

RESULTS

Our analysis indicates that there are at least thirteen myosin classes. Conserved residues in the motor domain have been positioned within the framework provided by the recent crystal structures, thus helping to define those residues involved in actin and ATP binding, in hydrolysis and in conformational change. This has revealed remarkably poor overall conservation at the site thought to be involved in actin binding, but several highly conserved residues have been identified that may be functionally important.

CONCLUSIONS

Information from such a sequence analysis is a useful tool in the further interpretation of X-ray structures. It allows the position of crucial residues from other members of a superfamily to be determined within the framework provided by the known structures and the functional significance of conserved or mutated residues to be assessed.

Dictyostelium discoideum myoJ: a member of a broadly defined myosin V class or a class XI unconventional myosin?

The simple eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum contains at least 12 unconventional myosin genes. Here we report the characterization of one of these, myoJ, a gene initially identified through a physical mapping screen. The myoJ gene encodes a high molecular weight myosin, and analysis of the available deduced amino acid sequence reveals that it possesses six IQ motifs and sequences typical of alpha helical coiled coils in the tail region. Therefore, myoJ is predicted to exist as a dimer with up to 12 associated light chains (six per heavy chain). The 7.8 kb myoJ mRNA is expressed all throughout the life cycle of D. discoideum. The myoJ gene has been disrupted and a phenotypic analysis of the mutant cells initiated. Finally, phylogenetic analysis of the head region reveals that myoJ is most similar to two plant myosin genes, Arabidopsis MYA1 and MYA2, that have been alternatively suggested to be either members of the myosin V class or founding members of the myosin XI class.

Myosins on the move to signal transduction

The continuous discovery of diverse myosin molecules reveals that the motor domain of myosin is used for many different types of functions. Recent data imply that myosins play active roles in signal transduction pathways, in which they modulate the activities of other proteins and properly position signalling activities at the cytoskeleton-membrane interface.

Putative myosin heavy and light chains in Tetrahymena: co-localization to the basal body-cage complex and association of the heavy chain with skeletal muscle actin filaments in vitro

The basal body cage is a fibrillar chamber which surrounds each basal body in the ciliate cytoskeleton. The function of this chamber is unknown. In Tetrahymena, the cage contains actin filaments which connect the cage to triplet microtubules. In this study, we have examined the cage for the presence of myosin. Skeletal muscle myosin-II heavy and light chains were used to affinity-purify anti-MHC and anti-MLC antibodies, respectively, from an antiserum raised against Tetrahymena oral apparatus proteins. On western immunoblots of ATP-solubilized Tetrahymena proteins, the anti-MHC antibody detected a putative myosin heavy (180 kDa) chain, and the anti-MLC antibody detected a putative myosin light (18 kDa) chain. The anti-MHC antibody specifically labeled the AI zone of sarcomeres. In cosedimentation assays with an ATP-solubilized protein fraction, the 180 kDa polypeptide associated with skeletal muscle actin filaments in an ATP-dependent manner. The sedimented actin filaments appeared to be organized into bundles. Immunodepletion of the 180 kDa rendered the ATP-solubilized protein fraction ineffective in bundling actin filaments in a cosedimentation assay. ATP-solubilized Tetrahymena proteins, which included the 180 kDa polypeptide, exhibited F-actin-stimulated, Mg2+ ATPase activity and K+, EDTA ATPase activity which are characteristic of myosin ATPases. Immunodepletion of the 180 kDa polypeptide reduced the F-actin, Mg2+ ATPase activity of the ATP-solubilized protein fraction by more than 80%. Based on these various observations, we conclude that the 180 kDa polypeptide is a putative myosin heavy chain, probably a myosin-II and that the 18 kDa polypeptide is probably a myosin-II light chain. We have used the affinity-purified, anti-myosin antibodies with immunofluorescence microscopy and immunogold electron microscopy to map the location of the putative myosin heavy and light chains in Tetrahymena. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that the anti-myosin antibodies localized to Tetrahymena somatic and oral region basal bodies. At the ultrastructural level, the anti-myosin antibodies localized to filaments in the basal body-cage complex. The labeling patterns with both anti-myosin antibodies were identical to the labeling pattern observed with an anti-actin antibody reported in a previous study. The co-localization of myosin and actin argue for a motility system within the basal body-cage complex.

Molecular analysis of the myosin gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana

Myosin is believed to act as the molecular motor for many actin-based motility processes in eukaryotes. It is becoming apparent that a single species may possess multiple myosin isoforms, and at least seven distinct classes of myosin have been identified from studies of animals, fungi, and protozoans. The complexity of the myosin heavy-chain gene family in higher plants was investigated by isolating and characterizing myosin genomic and cDNA clones from Arabidopsis thaliana. Six myosin-like genes were identified from three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products (PCR1, PCR11, PCR43) and three cDNA clones (ATM2, MYA2, MYA3). Sequence comparisons of the deduced head domains suggest that these myosins are members of two major classes. Analysis of the overall structure of the ATM2 and MYA2 myosins shows that they are similar to the previously-identified ATM1 and MYA1 myosins, respectively. The MYA3 appears to possess a novel tail domain, with five IQ repeats, a six-member imperfect repeat, and a segment of unique sequence. Northern blot analyses indicate that some of the Arabidopsis myosin genes are preferentially expressed in different plant organs. Combined with previous studies, these results show that the Arabidopsis genome contains at least eight myosin-like genes representing two distinct classes.

Myosins

The number and variety of myosins that have been identified has increased greatly over the past few years, and is still growing. Myosins have been classified into at least six distinct classes. Research during the last year has concentrated on identifying the roles of various myosins.

Unconventional myosins

The unconventional myosins form a large and diverse group of molecular motors. The number of known unconventional myosins is increasing rapidly and in the past year alone two new classes have been identified. Substantial progress has been made towards characterizing the properties and functions of these motor proteins, which have been hypothesized to play fundamental roles in processes such as cell locomotion, phagocytosis and vesicle transport.

Novel myosins

The traditional view of myosin, drawn from studies of myosins from striated muscles, is that of an elongated two-headed molecule that assembles into filaments. However, biochemical, molecular genetic and genetic studies have uncovered a host of ubiquitous single-headed nonfilamentous myosins known collectively as myosins I. All of the myosins I possess the myosin head domain, the motor portion of muscle myosins they have tail the filament-forming tail domain of muscle myosins they have tail domains that interact variously with membranes, actin and calmodulin. These alternative molecular interactions confer novel motile properties on myosins I, such as the ability to move membranes relative to actin and to move actin relative to actin without having to assemble into filaments. The numerous actin-based movements retained by cells lacking myosin II, the two-headed filamentous form of nonmuscle myosin, may be supported by myosins I.

Molecular links between the cytoskeleton and membranes

This review covers recent advances in non-erythroid spectrin re-distributions during development, structural motifs recently discovered in ankyrin, band 4.2, band 4.1, ezrin, talin, and myosin I, and our present understanding of actin-membrane interactions at focal adhesions and in liver, platelet, and Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membranes.