1
|
Sobral AF, Chan FY, Norman MJ, Osório DS, Dias AB, Ferreira V, Barbosa DJ, Cheerambathur D, Gassmann R, Belmonte JM, Carvalho AX. Plastin and spectrin cooperate to stabilize the actomyosin cortex during cytokinesis. Curr Biol 2021; 31:5415-5428.e10. [PMID: 34666005 PMCID: PMC8699742 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cytokinesis, the process that partitions the mother cell into two daughter cells, requires the assembly and constriction of an equatorial actomyosin network. Different types of non-motor F-actin crosslinkers localize to the network, but their functional contribution remains poorly understood. Here, we describe a synergy between the small rigid crosslinker plastin and the large flexible crosslinker spectrin in the C. elegans one-cell embryo. In contrast to single inhibitions, co-inhibition of plastin and the βH-spectrin (SMA-1) results in cytokinesis failure due to progressive disorganization and eventual collapse of the equatorial actomyosin network. Cortical localization dynamics of non-muscle myosin II in co-inhibited embryos mimic those observed after drug-induced F-actin depolymerization, suggesting that the combined action of plastin and spectrin stabilizes F-actin in the contractile ring. An in silico model predicts that spectrin is more efficient than plastin at stabilizing the ring and that ring formation is relatively insensitive to βH-spectrin length, which is confirmed in vivo with a sma-1 mutant that lacks 11 of its 29 spectrin repeats. Our findings provide the first evidence that spectrin contributes to cytokinesis and highlight the importance of crosslinker interplay for actomyosin network integrity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Filipa Sobral
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Fung-Yi Chan
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Michael J Norman
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Quantitative and Computational Developmental Biology Cluster, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Daniel S Osório
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Beatriz Dias
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Vanessa Ferreira
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Daniel J Barbosa
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Dhanya Cheerambathur
- Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3BF, UK
| | - Reto Gassmann
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Julio Monti Belmonte
- Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Quantitative and Computational Developmental Biology Cluster, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Ana Xavier Carvalho
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Jahnke K, Weiss M, Weber C, Platzman I, Göpfrich K, Spatz JP. Engineering Light-Responsive Contractile Actomyosin Networks with DNA Nanotechnology. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 4:e2000102. [PMID: 32696544 DOI: 10.1002/adbi.202000102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
External control and precise manipulation is key for the bottom-up engineering of complex synthetic cells. Minimal actomyosin networks have been reconstituted into synthetic cells; however, their light-triggered symmetry breaking contraction has not yet been demonstrated. Here, light-activated directional contractility of a minimal synthetic actomyosin network inside microfluidic cell-sized compartments is engineered. Actin filaments, heavy-meromyosin-coated beads, and caged ATP are co-encapsulated into water-in-oil droplets. ATP is released upon illumination, leading to a myosin-generated force which results in a motion of the beads along the filaments and hence a contraction of the network. Symmetry breaking is achieved using DNA nanotechnology to establish a link between the network and the compartment periphery. It is demonstrated that the DNA-linked actin filaments contract to one side of the compartment forming actin asters and quantify the dynamics of this process. This work exemplifies that an engineering approach to bottom-up synthetic biology, combining biological and artificial elements, can circumvent challenges related to active multi-component systems and thereby greatly enrich the complexity of synthetic cellular systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Jahnke
- Biophysical Engineering Group, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| | - Marian Weiss
- Department of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| | - Cornelia Weber
- Department of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| | - Ilia Platzman
- Department of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| | - Kerstin Göpfrich
- Biophysical Engineering Group, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| | - Joachim P Spatz
- Department of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany.,Max Planck School Matter to Life, Jahnstraße 29, Heidelberg, D 69120, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
Quantifying entropy production in various active matter phases will open new avenues for probing self-organization principles in these far-from-equilibrium systems. It has been hypothesized that the dissipation of free energy by active matter systems may be optimized, leading to system trajectories with histories of large dissipation and an accompanying emergence of ordered dynamical states. This interesting idea has not been widely tested. In particular, it is not clear whether emergent states of actomyosin networks, which represent a salient example of biological active matter, self-organize following the principle of dissipation optimization. In order to start addressing this question using detailed computational modelling, we rely on the MEDYAN simulation platform, which allows simulating active matter networks from fundamental molecular principles. We have extended the capabilities of MEDYAN to allow quantification of the rates of dissipation resulting from chemical reactions and relaxation of mechanical stresses during simulation trajectories. This is done by computing precise changes in Gibbs free energy accompanying chemical reactions using a novel formula and through detailed calculations of instantaneous values of the system's mechanical energy. We validate our approach with a mean-field model that estimates the rates of dissipation from filament treadmilling. Applying this methodology to the self-organization of small disordered actomyosin networks, we find that compact and highly cross-linked networks tend to allow more efficient transduction of chemical free energy into mechanical energy. In these simple systems, we observe that spontaneous network reorganizations tend to result in a decrease in the total dissipation rate to a low steady-state value. Future studies might carefully test whether the dissipation-driven adaptation hypothesis applies in this instance, as well as in more complex cytoskeletal geometries.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Floyd
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Garegin A. Papoian
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Christopher Jarzynski
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| |
Collapse
|