In this study, experiments were carried out in the conventional and saturation-transfer electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) time domains to explore the effect of mDia1-FH2 formin fragments on the dynamic and conformational properties of actin filaments. Conventional EPR measurements showed that addition of formin to actin filaments produced local conformational changes in the vicinity of Cys-374 by increasing the flexibility of the protein matrix in the environment of the label. The results indicated that it was the binding of formin to the barbed end that resulted in these conformational changes. The conventional EPR results obtained with actin labeled on the Lys-61 site showed that the binding of formins could only slightly affect the structure of the subdomain 2 of actin, reflecting the heterogeneity of the formin-induced conformational changes. Saturation transfer EPR measurements revealed that the binding of formins decreased the torsional flexibility of the actin filaments in the microsecond time range. We concluded that changes in the local and the global conformational fluctuations of the actin filaments are associated with the binding of formins to actin. The results on the two EPR time domains showed that the effects of formins on the substantially different types of motions were uncoupled.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2008.11.058 | DOI Listing |
J Nanobiotechnology
January 2025
School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China.
Biochips are widely applied to manipulate the geometrical morphology of stem cells in recent years. Patterned antenna-like pseudopodia are also probed to explore the influence of pseudopodia formation on gene delivery and expression on biochips. However, how the antenna-like pseudopodia affect gene transfection is unsettled and the underlying trafficking mechanism of exogenous genes in engineered single cells is not announced.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDev Biol
January 2025
Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India; Mehta Family Center for Engineering in Medicine (MFCEM), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, Uttar Pradesh, India. Electronic address:
Telencephalic hemisphere formation is a complex and precisely timed process, which begins in the chick forebrain with an invagination in the middle of the roof plate. However, the factor(s) that determine the position/site of invagination in the roof plate remain to be elucidated. In this study, we have demonstrated that as development proceeds, a region of lower thickness appears in the middle of the roof plate, which marks the position where the invagination begins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Physiol
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
In plants, cytoskeletal proteins assemble into dynamic polymers that play numerous roles in diverse fundamental cellular processes, including endocytosis, vesicle trafficking, and the spatial distribution of organelles and protein complexes. Plant elicitor peptides (Peps) are damage/danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that are perceived by the receptor-like kinases PEP RECEPTOR 1 (PEPR1) and PEPR2 to enhance innate immunity and inhibit root growth in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). To date, however, there is little evidence that the actin cytoskeleton of the host cell participates in DAMP-induced innate immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai)
January 2025
Annexins are a family of multifunctional calcium-dependent and phospholipid-binding proteins that are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. They have a highly conserved evolutionary history that dates back to single-celled protists. Plant annexins, as soluble proteins, can flexibly bind to endomembranes and plasma membranes, exhibiting unique calcium-dependent and calcium-independent characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Exp Med Biol
January 2025
Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre (Edinburgh), Institute of Genetics & Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
E-cadherin is a transmembrane protein and central component of adherens junctions (AJs). The extracellular domain of E-cadherin forms homotypic interactions with E-cadherin on adjacent cells, facilitating the formation of cell-cell adhesions, known as AJs, between neighbouring cells. The intracellular domain of E-cadherin interacts with α-, β- and p120-catenins, linking the AJs to the actin cytoskeleton.
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