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Kim TJ, Zheng S, Sun J, Muhamed I, Wu J, Lei L, Kong X, Leckband DE, Wang Y. Dynamic visualization of α-catenin reveals rapid, reversible conformation switching between tension states. Curr Biol 2015; 25:218-224. [PMID: 25544608 PMCID: PMC4302114 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2014] [Revised: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The cytosolic protein α-catenin is a postulated force transducer at cadherin complexes. The demonstration of force activation, identification of consequent downstream events in live cells, and development of tools to study these dynamic processes in living cells are central to elucidating the role of α-catenin in cellular mechanics and tissue function. Here we demonstrate that α-catenin is a force-activatable mechanotransducer at cell-cell junctions by using an engineered α-catenin conformation sensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). This sensor reconstitutes α-catenin-dependent functions in α-catenin-depleted cells and recapitulates the behavior of the endogenous protein. Dynamic imaging of cells expressing the sensor demonstrated that α-catenin undergoes immediate, reversible conformation switching in direct response to different mechanical perturbations of cadherin adhesions. Combined magnetic twisting cytometry with dynamic FRET imaging revealed rapid, local conformation switching upon the mechanical stimulation of specific cadherin bonds. At acutely stretched cell-cell junctions, the immediate, reversible conformation change further reveals that α-catenin behaves like an elastic spring in series with cadherin and actin. The force-dependent recruitment of vinculin—a principal α-catenin effector—to junctions requires the vinculin binding site of the α-catenin sensor. In cells, the relative rates of force-dependent α-catenin conformation switching and vinculin recruitment reveal that α-catenin activation and vinculin recruitment occur sequentially, rather than in a concerted process, with vinculin accumulation being significantly slower. This engineered α-catenin sensor revealed that α-catenin is a reversible, stretch-activatable sensor that mechanically links cadherin complexes and actin and is an indispensable player in cadherin-specific mechanotransduction at intercellular junctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae-Jin Kim
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Shuai Zheng
- Department of Bioengineering and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Jie Sun
- Department of Integrative and Molecular Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Ismaeel Muhamed
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Jun Wu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Lei Lei
- Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Xinyu Kong
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Deborah E Leckband
- Department of Bioengineering and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
| | - Yingxiao Wang
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Integrative and Molecular Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Bioengineering and Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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Hunt J, Keeble AH, Dale RE, Corbett MK, Beavil RL, Levitt J, Swann MJ, Suhling K, Ameer-Beg S, Sutton BJ, Beavil AJ. A fluorescent biosensor reveals conformational changes in human immunoglobulin E Fc: implications for mechanisms of receptor binding, inhibition, and allergen recognition. J Biol Chem 2012; 287:17459-17470. [PMID: 22442150 PMCID: PMC3366799 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m111.331967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2011] [Revised: 03/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
IgE binding to its high affinity receptor FcεRI on mast cells and basophils is a key step in the mechanism of allergic disease and a target for therapeutic intervention. Early indications that IgE adopts a bent structure in solution have been confirmed by recent x-ray crystallographic studies of IgEFc, which further showed that the bend, contrary to expectation, is enhanced in the crystal structure of the complex with receptor. To investigate the structure of IgEFc and its conformational changes that accompany receptor binding in solution, we created a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor using biologically encoded fluorescent proteins fused to the N- and C-terminal IgEFc domains (Cε2 and Cε4, respectively) together with the theoretical basis for quantitating its behavior. This revealed not only that the IgEFc exists in a bent conformation in solution but also that the bend is indeed enhanced upon FcεRI binding. No change in the degree of bending was seen upon binding to the B cell receptor for IgE, CD23 (FcεRII), but in contrast, binding of the anti-IgE therapeutic antibody omalizumab decreases the extent of the bend, implying a conformational change that opposes FcεRI engagement. HomoFRET measurements further revealed that the (Cε2)(2) and (Cε4)(2) domain pairs behave as rigid units flanking the conformational change in the Cε3 domains. Finally, modeling of the accessible conformations of the two Fab arms in FcεRI-bound IgE revealed a mutual exclusion not seen in IgG and Fab orientations relative to the membrane that may predispose receptor-bound IgE to cross-linking by allergens.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Hunt
- MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Division of Asthma Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Anthony H Keeble
- MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Division of Asthma Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Robert E Dale
- The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Melissa K Corbett
- The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Rebecca L Beavil
- MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Division of Asthma Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - James Levitt
- The Department of Physics, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
| | - Marcus J Swann
- Farfield Group Limited, Voyager, Chicago Avenue, Manchester Airport, Manchester, M90 3DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Klaus Suhling
- The Department of Physics, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
| | - Simon Ameer-Beg
- The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Brian J Sutton
- MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL
| | - Andrew J Beavil
- MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL; The Division of Asthma Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, Guy's Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL.
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