Polymeric F-actin

ADP-ribosylation of actin depends on the native structure of the protein substrate. In the presence of EDTA, which chelates and removes the actin-bound magnesium ion, resulting in denaturation of actin, ADP-ribosylation is completely blocked (Just ef al., 1990). C. botulinum C2 toxin or C. perfringens iota toxin ADP-ribosylate monomeric G-actin, but not polymerized F-actin (Aktories et al., 1986b Schering et al., 1988). This is due to the fact that the acceptor amino acid arginine-177, which is located in domain III of actin, is at or near... 

Actin is less soluble than myosin. It occurs in two forms. Globular G-actin has a molecular weight of 70,000 (as the monomer) or 140,000 (as the dimer). The addition of salts converts it to the polymeric F-actin, a fibrillar protein that has a high molecular weight and sediments quickly in the ultracentrifi e. In solution, actin and myosin combine easily to give actomyosin. Under certain conditions, one can isolate native actomyosin from muscle. 

Figure 14.13 Stmcture of G-actin. Two a/P-domains, (red and green) bind an ATP molecuie between them. Tbis ATP is hydrolyzed when the actin monomer polymerizes to F-actin.

The cy tochalasins A, B, C, D, E, and H are found in various species of mould. Mainly cytochalasin B and D are used as experimental tools. Cytochalasin D is 10 times more potent, acting at concentrations between 2 and 35 nM in cell-free systems. Cy tochalasins bind to the barbed end of F-actin and block the addition as well as dissociation of G-actin at that end. At micromolar concentrations, cytochalasin D can bind to G-actin and actin dimers and thus block additional polymerization. When applied to cultured cells, micromolar concentrations of cytochalasins remove stress fibres and other F-actin structures. 

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. 

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. 

The above observations are inconsistent with a simple two-state polymerization model within which only two species, ATP-G-actin and ADP-F-actin, coexist in solution. 

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. 

Because ATP hydrolysis on F-actin takes place with a delay following the incorporation of ATP-subunits, and because in the transient F-ATP state filaments are more stable than in the final F-ADP state, polymerization under conditions of sonication can be complete, within a time short enough for practically all subunits of the filaments to be F-ATP. At a later stage, as Pj is liberated, the F-ADP filament becomes less stable and loses ADP-subunits steadily. The G-ADP-actin liberated in solution is not immediately converted into easily polymerizable G-ATP-actin, because nucleotide exchange on G-actin is relatively slow, and is not able to polymerize by itself unless a high concentration (the critical concentration of ADP-actin) is reached. Therefore, G-ADP-actin accumulates in solution. A steady-state concentration of G-ADP-actin is established when the rate of depolymerization of ADP-actin (k [F]) is equal to the sum of the rates of disappearance of G-ADP-actin via nucleotide exchange and association to filament ends. [G-ADP]ss in this scheme is described by the following equation (Pantaloni et al., 1984) ... 

The myosin head has long been shown to induce, even in low ionic strength buffers, polymerization of G-actin into decorated F-actin-S i filaments that exhibit the classical arrowhead structure (Miller et al., 1988 and older references therein). However, to date, the molecular mechanism of this polymerization process remains unknown. 

Fievez, S. Carlier, M.-F. (1993). Conformational changes in subdomain-2 of G-actin upon polymerization into F-actin and upon binding myosin subfragment-1. FEES Lett. 316, 186-190. 

Monomeric G-actin (43 kDa G, globular) makes up 25% of muscle protein by weight. At physiologic ionic strength and in the presence of Mg, G-actin polymerizes noncovalently to form an insoluble double helical filament called F-actin (Figure 49-3). The F-actin fiber is 6-7 nm thick and has a pitch or repeating structure every 35.5 nm. 

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... 

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