In many eukaryotes, coordination of chromosome segregation with cell cleavage relies on the patterned interaction of specific microtubules with actin filaments through dedicated microtubule plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs). However, how these +TIPs are spatially controlled is unclear. The yeast +TIP Kar9 drives one of the spindle aster microtubules along actin cables to align the mitotic spindle with the axis of cell division. Here, we report the crystal structure of Kar9's folded domain, revealing spectrin repeats reminiscent of the +TIPs MACF/ACF7/Shot and PRC1/Ase1. Point mutations abrogating spectrin-repeat-mediated dimerization of Kar9 reduced and randomized Kar9 distribution to microtubule tips, and impaired spindle positioning. Six Cdk1 sites surround the Kar9 dimerization interface. Their phosphomimetic substitution inhibited Kar9 dimerization, displaced Kar9 from microtubules, and affected its interaction with the myosin motor Myo2. Our results provide molecular-level understanding on how diverse cell types may regulate and pattern microtubule-actin interactions to orchestrate their divisions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2021.06.012 | DOI Listing |
J Biol Phys
January 2025
Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100190, China.
Conventional kinesin protein is a prototypical biological molecular motor that can step processively on microtubules towards the plus end by hydrolyzing ATP molecules, performing the biological function of intracellular transports. An important characteristic of the kinesin is the load dependence of its velocity, which is usually measured by using the single molecule optical trapping method with a large-sized bead attached to the motor stalk. Puzzlingly, even for the same kinesin, some experiments showed that the velocity is nearly independent of the forward load whereas others showed that the velocity decreases evidently with the increase in the magnitude of the forward load.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Struct Mol Biol
January 2025
Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Cilia are motile or sensory organelles present on many eukaryotic cells. Their formation and function rely on axonemal microtubules, which exhibit very slow dynamics, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unexplored. Here we reconstituted in vitro the individual and collective activities of the ciliary tip module proteins CEP104, CSPP1, TOGARAM1, ARMC9 and CCDC66, which interact with each other and with microtubules and, when mutated in humans, cause ciliopathies such as Joubert syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cell Biol
March 2025
Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Centrioles are microtubule-based organelles required for the formation of centrosomes and cilia. Centriolar microtubules, unlike their cytosolic counterparts, are stable and grow very slowly, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we reconstituted in vitro the interplay between the proteins that cap distal centriole ends and control their elongation: CP110, CEP97, and CPAP/SAS-4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cell Dev Biol
January 2025
Molecular Genetics and Functional Genomics, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Protocadherin 19 (PCDH19) is an adhesion molecule involved in cell-cell interaction whose mutations cause a drug-resistant form of epilepsy, named PCDH19-Clustering Epilepsy (PCDH19-CE, MIM 300088). The mechanism by which altered PCDH19 function drive pathogenesis is not yet fully understood. Our previous work showed that PCDH19 dysfunction is associated with altered orientation of the mitotic spindle and accelerated neurogenesis, suggesting a contribution of altered cytoskeleton organization in PCDH19-CE pathogenesis in the control of cell division and differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Transl Med
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Background: Numerous pathogenic variants causing human oocyte maturation arrest have been reported on the primate-specific TUBB8 gene. The main etiology is the dramatic reduction of tubulin α/β dimer, but still large numbers of variants remain unexplained.
Methods: Using microinjection mRNA and genome engineering to reintroduce the conserved pathogenic missense variants into oocytes or in generating TUBB8 variant knock-in mouse models, we investigated that the human deleterious variants alter microtubule nucleation and spindle assembly during meiosis.
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