Actin filaments polymerization

Kuhn, J. R. and Pollard, T. D. (2005) Realtime measurements of actin filament polymerization by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. Biophys.J. 88, 1387-1402. 

In contrast, jasplakinolide, a cyclodepsipeptide from the marine sponge Jaspis johnstoni, rapidly penetrates the cell membrane. It competes with phalloidin for F-actin binding and has a dissociation constant of approximately 15 nM. It induces actin polymerization and stabilizes pre-existing actin filaments. Dolastatin 11, a depsipeptide from the mollusk Dolabella auricu-laria, induces F-actin polymerization. Its binding site differs from that of phalloidin or jasplakinolide. 

Nonmuscle Actin-Binding Proteins Drugs Affecting Actin Polymerization Patterns of Arrangement of Actin Filaments in Animal Cells Three-Dimensional Networks The Microtrabecular Lattice... 

Blood platelets are key players in the blood-clotting mechanism. These tiny fragments of cytoplasm are shed into the circulation from the surface of megakaryocytes located in the bone marrow. When the lining of a blood vessel is injured, activated platelets release clotting factors, adhere to each other and to damaged surfaces, and send out numerous filopodia. The shape changes that occur in activated platelets are the result of actin polymerization. Before activation, there are no microfilaments because profilin binds to G-actin and prevents its polymerization. After activation, profilin dissociates from G-actin, and bundles and networks of F-actin filaments rapidly appear within the platelet. 

Monomeric actin binds ATP very tightly with an association constant Ka of 1 O M in low ionic strength buffers in the presence of Ca ions. A polymerization cycle involves addition of the ATP-monomer to the polymer end, hydrolysis of ATP on the incorporated subunit, liberation of Pi in solution, and dissociation of the ADP-monomer. Exchange of ATP for bound ADP occurs on the monomer only, and precedes its involvement in another polymerization cycle. Therefore, monomer-polymer exchange reactions are linked to the expenditure of energy exactly one mol of ATP per mol of actin is incorporated into actin filaments. As a result, up to 40% of the ATP consumed in motile cells is used to maintain the dynamic state of actin. Thus, it is important to understand how the free energy of nucleotide hydrolysis is utilized in cytoskeleton assembly. 

Polymer growth J(c) showed nonlinear monomer concentration dependence in the presence of ATP (Carrier et al., 1984), while in the presence of ADP, the plot of J(c) versus monomer concentration for actin was a straight line, as expected for reversible polymerization. The data imply that newly incorporated subunits dissociate from the filament at a slower rate than internal ADP-subunits in other words, (a) the effect of nucleotide hydrolysis is to decrease the stability of the polymer by increasing k and (b) nucleotide hydrolysis is uncoupled from polymerization and occurs in a step that follows incorporation of a ATP-subunit in the polymer. Newly incorporated, slowly dissociating, terminal ATP-subunits form a stable cap at the ends of F-actin filaments. 

In reversible polymerization, the critical concentration is equal to the equilibrium dissociation constant for polymer formation. This parameter is therefore independent of the number of polymers in solution. Confirmation comes from smdying reversible polymerization of ADP-actin when sonic vibration is applied to a solution of F-ADP-actin filaments at equilibrium with G-ADP monomers, no change is observed in the proportion of G- and F-actin (Carlier et al., 1985). Therefore, the only effect of sonic vibration is to increase the number of filaments without affecting the rates of monomer association to and dissociation from filament ends. 

The situation is quite different when actin is polymerized under sonication in the presence of ATP. In this case, the polymerization curve cannot be described by equation (4). At a high actin concentration, overshoot polymerization kinetics are observed, with a maximum and subsequent decrease to a lower stable plateau (Carlier et al., 1985). The final amount of polymer is the same as that obtained when sonication is applied to F-actin that had polymerized spontaneously without sonication. Conversely, when sonication is stopped, repolymerization accompanies the spontaneous length redistribution to a population of less numerous, but longer filaments. 

Actin is a 42 kDa bent dumbbell-shaped globular monomer which is found in most eukaryotic cells. It is the primary protein of the thin (or actin) filaments. Also, by mass or molarity, actin is the largest constituent of the contractile apparatus, actually reaching millimolar concentrations. Actins from different sources seem to be more similar than myosins from the same sources. Actin binds ATP which is hydrolyzed to ADP, if the monomeric actin polymerizes. The backbone structure of the actin filament is a helix formed by two linear strands of polymerized actins like two strings of actin beads entwined. 

G-actin is present in most if not all cells of the body. With appropriate concentrations of magnesium and potassium chloride, it spontaneously polymerizes to form double helical F-actin filaments like those seen in muscle. There are at least two types of actin in nonmus-... 

Two of the cytoskeletal components, the actin filaments and the microtubules have been studied with molecular rotors. The main component of the actin filaments is the actin protein, a 44 kD molecule found in two forms within the cell the monomeric globulin form (G-actin) and the filament form (F-actin). Actin binds with ATP to form the microfilaments that are responsible for cell shape and motility. The rate of polymerization from the monomeric form plays a vital role in cell movement and signaling. Actin filaments form the cortical mesh that is the basis of the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton has an active relationship with the plasma membrane. Functional proteins found in both structures... 

Actin filaments are the thinnest of the cytoskeletal filaments, and therefore also called microfilaments. Polymerized actin monomers form long, thin fibers of about 8 nm in diameter. Along with the above-mentioned function of the cytoskeleton, actin interacts with myosin ( thick ) filaments in skeletal muscle fibers to provide the force of muscular contraction. Actin/Myosin interactions also help produce cytoplasmic streaming in most cells. 

Two examples where actin polymerization is observed in eukaryotes are in the bacterial pathogens Listeria monocytogenes and Shigella flexneri. The motion that the eukaryote pathogens exhibit is the actin based motility in the cytoplasm of their host. Actin polymerization is known to occur via an insertion polymerization mechanism. The movement is a result of site-directed tread-milling of the actin filaments. This type of movement is classified as a propulsive type motion. The driving force for actin pol)unerization as well as the next motor is the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP). ... 

The involvement of the actin cytoskeleton in liposome endocytosis is studied by using cytochalasins, latrunculin, or toxin C2 to polymerize actin filaments. For a review on actin assembly and endocytosis, see Ref. (135). 

Figure 2 The actin-ADP-ribosylating toxins, (a) Molecular mode of action. The actin-ADP-ribosylating toxins covalently transfer an ADP-ribose moiety from NAD+ onto Arg177 of G-actin in the cytosol of targeted cells. Mono-ADP-ribosylated G-actin acts as a capping protein and inhibits the assembly of nonmodified actin into filaments. Thus, actin polymerization is blocked at the fast-growing ends of actin filaments (plus or barbed ends) but not at the slow growing ends (minus or pointed ends). This effect ultimately increases the critical concentration necessary for actin polymerization and tends to depolymerize F-actin. Finally, all actin within an intoxicated cell becomes trapped as ADP-ribosylated G-actin.

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