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J V Small

Publications and source records attributed to J V Small.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Structural and biochemical analysis of skinned smooth muscle preparations.

This paper describes a biochemical and immunocytochemical analysis of smooth muscle strips that were chemically skinned and subjected to contraction and relaxation cycles according to procedures commonly employed in current skinned smooth muscle work. The fate of four major proteins, myosin, filamin, caldesmon and actin, was followed with respect to the proportionate loss of these proteins to the bathing medium as well as to their structural redistribution within the cells in the muscle strips. Large losses (of the order of 50%) of both myosin and filamin occurred at the skinning step, using either Triton X-100 or Saponin as the detergent; losses of actin were up to 30% with Triton X-100 and around 15% with Saponin. Losses of caldesmon were difficult to assess due to the rapid degradation of this protein in the bathing medium. Subsequent cycles of contraction and relaxation resulted in accumulated loss, notably of myosin and filamin, so that after the third contraction as little as 20% and 40% respectively of the original complement of these proteins remained in the muscle strips. These changes in protein composition were accompanied by a drastic redistribution of the proteins in the muscle cells. Most marked were the changes seen with myosin, significant amounts of this protein being already found in the connective tissue space after the first relaxation. These findings point to the need for a careful reappraisal of the conditions currently used in skinned smooth muscle research.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Caldesmon is an elongated, flexible molecule localized in the actomyosin domains of smooth muscle.

A rapid purification procedure has been developed for the isolation of caldesmon from hog stomach smooth muscle utilizing a KI extract of washed myofibrils as source material. On SDS-PAGE this mammalian caldesmon showed a closely-spaced doublet around 155 kd. By low-angle rotary shadowing caldesmon was shown to be an elongated, highly flexible molecule which tends to form end-to-end dimers that are structurally very similar to filamin. When added to F-actin solutions caldesmon increased the high-shear viscosity considerably, but by an extent that depended on sample preparation. The effect was shown to be due to caldesmon and not to a trace contaminant by its full reversibility after addition of a monospecific caldesmon antibody. Recent investigations have shown that in smooth muscle two structurally distinct domains can be distinguished: an actomyosin domain and an actin-intermediate filament domain. Immunocytochemistry of ultrathin sections of smooth muscle at the light and electron microscope level revealed that caldesmon is present in the actomyosin domain. Caldesmon is thus a potential regulator of the actomyosin system in smooth muscle.

Actins↗
PubMed1986

Localization of filamin in smooth muscle.

The distribution of contractile and cytoskeletal proteins in smooth muscle has been mapped by immunocytochemical methods, with special reference to the localization of the actin-binding protein, filamin. Immunolabeling of ultrathin sections of polyvinylalcohol-embedded smooth muscle distinguished two domains in the smooth muscle cell: (a) actomyosin domains, made up of continuous longitudinal arrays of actin and myosin filaments, and (b) longitudinal, fibrillar, intermediate filament domains, free of myosin but containing actin and alpha-actinin-rich dense bodies. Filamin was found to be localized specifically in the latter intermediate filament-actin domains, but was excluded from the core of the dense bodies. Filamin was also localized close to the cell border at the inner surface of the plasmalemma-associated plaques. In isolated cells the surface filamin label showed a rib-like distribution similar to that displayed by vinculin. It is speculated that the two domains distinguished in these studies may reflect the existence of two functionally distinct systems: an actomyosin system required for contraction and an intermediate filament-actin system, with associated gelation proteins, that is responsible, at least in part, for the slow relaxation and tone peculiar to smooth muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Cryoultramicrotomy and immunocytochemistry in the analysis of muscle fine structure.

Cryoultramicrotomy, which avoids the use of harsh fixation procedures, deleterious dehydration and plastic embedding can be combined with immunocytochemistry to determine the ultrastructural localization of cellular proteins. Our attempts to use the cryosectioning technique in combination with immunolabelling to bridge the gap between light and electron microscopic analysis of muscle morphology have enabled us to obtain new information on fibre typing at the ultrastructural level. Furthermore, we have obtained a marked improvement in the resolution of myofibrillar structures by using semithin cryosections for fluorescence microscopy. Data are also presented on correlated light and electron microscope immunocytochemistry of myocardial intermediate filaments confirming the presence of longitudinally oriented intermediate filaments of desmin in the region of the intercalated discs of mammalian cardiac myocytes, whereas elsewhere in the myocyte the bulk of intermediate filaments of desmin is concentrated in the intermyofibrillar space at the level of the Z disc.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Geometry of actin-membrane attachments in the smooth muscle cell: the localisations of vinculin and alpha-actinin.

Antibodies to vinculin, a component of actin-membrane attachment sites, revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy a parallel co-axial array of continuous rib-like bands on the surface of isolated vertebrate smooth muscle cells. Images of extended and shortened cells showed that these ribs remain co-axially organised on contraction. Reference to earlier studies and labelling of thin sections indicates that the ribs correspond in position to the adhesion plaques previously described in electron microscope studies. Alpha-actinin showed a punctate distribution consistent with its presence in the cytoplasmic dense bodies, but did not show a constant association with the vinculin-containing ribs. It is suggested that alpha-actinin is an intracellular actin linker and not membrane associated, as earlier supposed, and that vinculin is, as deduced by others, a mediator of actin membrane attachment. The apparent co-association of these two proteins, noted previously, is concluded to arise from the inevitable geometrical apposition of peripheral and pre-terminal parts of the contractile machinery with the cell membrane.

Actinin↗
PubMed1984

Conformational stability of the myosin rod.

Chymotryptic cleavage patterns of myosin rods from pig stomach, chicken gizzard, and rabbit skeletal muscle indicate that short (approximately 45 nm) heavy meromyosin subfragment 2 (SF2) is a consistent product of all three rods, whereas long (approximately 60 nm) SF2 is derived only from skeletal muscle myosin. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to follow the thermally induced melting transition of the rods and certain of their subfragments. In 0.12 M KCl, sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.2-7.6, the light meromyosin (LMM) and SF2 domains of each rod had essentially identical conformational stabilities. Temperature midpoints for the melting transitions were 54-56 degrees C for the two smooth muscle myosin rods and 50-53 degrees C for the skeletal muscle myosin rod. In 0.6 M K Cl buffer, melting transitions for the smooth muscle myosin rods were essentially unchanged, but skeletal muscle myosin rods showed multiphase melting, with major transitions at 43 degrees C and 52 degrees C. The first of these was tentatively attributed to LMM, and the second to SF2. In 0.12 M K Cl buffer, the LMM transition was stabilised so that it superimposed on that of SF2. No melting was observed in any of the rods at physiological temperature. These results indicate that, excluding a possible but only narrow hinge region, the entire myosin rod has essentially uniform conformational stability at physiological pH and ionic strength, and thus that the contractile and elastic properties of the cross-bridge exist in the heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 (SF1) domains of the molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A Ca2+-dependent actin modulator from vertebrate smooth muscle.

A protein of Mr approximately 85 000 has been isolated and purified from pig stomach smooth muscle that modulates the polymer state of actin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. When added either to performed F-actin filaments or to G-actin, prior to polymerisation, the modulator induces the formation of shorter filaments. The average filament length in the presence of the modulator is directly dependent on its molar ratio to actin indicating a stoichiometric rather than a catalytic type of interaction. When mixed with G-actin the modulator forms a stable complex with two actin monomers; this complex is presumed to act as a potent nucleus for actin polymerisation. The dynamics of the interaction with F-actin suggests a direct severing of actin filaments by the modulator via a binding to intrafilamentous actins.

Actins↗
PubMed1984

Intermediate filaments in monkey kidney TC7 cells: focal centers and interrelationship with other cytoskeletal systems.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of intermediate-sized filament-enriched cytoskeletons of epithelial monkey kidney TC7 cells has shown that they are composed of at least two keratins (isoelectric focusing 36, Mr = 48,500; IEF 46, Mr = 43,500; HeLa protein catalogue number) and vimentin. Indirect immunofluorescence as well as immunoelectron microscopy using antibodies directed against specific polypeptides sometimes revealed a discontinuous staining of keratin-containing filaments. Indirect immunofluorescence analysis of cells stained with keratin or vimentin antibodies also revealed a bright perinuclear staining in 58% of the cells in interphase. Of particular interest were focal centers from which filaments radiated. Double-label immunofluorescence using tubulin and keratin antibodies showed that these centers codistributed with focal arrays of microtubules (most likely centrosomes) in interphase cells but were not colocalized with centrioles in mitosis or, in many cases, with the microtubule organizing centers seen after release from nocodazole treatment. Treatment of TC7 cells with demecolcine (10 micrograms/ml, 20 hr) resulted in a drastic rearrangement of the keratin and vimentin filaments. Likewise, treatment with cytochalasin B (10 micrograms/ml, 1 hr) produced a star-like arrangement of the keratin and vimentin filaments and, in most cases, these codistributed with patches of actin. The results provide evidence for the interaction of intermediate filaments (keratins and vimentin) with both microtubules and microfilaments.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Ultrastructural localization of alpha-actinin and filamin in cultured cells with the immunogold staining (IGS) method.

Monospecific antibodies to chicken gizzard actin, alpha-actinin, and filamin have been used to localize these proteins at the ultrastructural level: secondary cultures of 14-d-old chicken embryo lung epithelial cells and chicken heart fibroblasts were briefly lysed with either a 0.5% Triton X-100/0.25% glutaraldehyde mixture, or 0.1% Triton X-100, fixed with 0.5% glutaraldehyde, and further permeabilized with 0.5% Triton X-100, to allow penetration of the gold-conjugated antibodies. After immunogold staining (De Mey, J., M. Moeremans, G. Geuens, R. Nuydens, and M. De Brabander, 1981, Cell Biol. Int. Rep. 5:889-899), the cells were postfixed in glutaraldehyde-tannic acid and further processed for embedding and thin sectioning. This approach enabled us to document the distribution of alpha-actinin and filamin either on the delicate cortical networks of the cell periphery or in the densely bundled stress fibers and polygonal nets. By using antiactin immunogold staining as a control, we were able to demonstrate the applicability of the method to the microfilament system: the label was distributed homogeneously over all areas containing recognizable microfilaments, except within very thick stress fibers, where the marker did not penetrate completely. Although alpha-actinin specific staining was homogeneously localized along loosely-organized microfilaments, it was concentrated in the dense bodies of stress fibers. The antifilamin-specific staining showed a typically spotty or patchy pattern associated with the fine cortical networks and stress fibers. This pattern occurred along all actin filaments, including the dense bodies also marked by anti-alpha-actinin antibodies. The results confirm and extend the data from light microscopic investigations and provide more information on the structural basis of the microfilament system.

Actinin↗
PubMed1983

Actin-independent association of vinculin with the cytoplasmic aspect of the plasma membrane in cell-contact areas.

We investigated the mode of association of vinculin with areas of contact between the termini of microfilament bundles and the cell membrane in sites of focal contact with the substrate by selective removal of actin from these areas. Opened-up substrate-attached membranes of chick fibroblasts as well as detergent-permeabilized cells were treated with fragmin from Physarum in the presence of Ca+2. This treatment removed actin filaments from the cytoplasmic faces of the membranes, along with several actin-associated proteins (alpha-actinin, tropomyosin, myosin, and filamin). Vinculin distribution was not affected by treatment. Moreover, rhodamine- or fluorescein-conjugated vinculin, when added to these preparations, became specifically associated with the focal contacts regardless of whether the latter were pretreated with fragmin or not. We conclude that the association of vinculin with focal contacts is largely actin-independent. We discuss the implications of these findings in the molecular mechanisms of microfilament membrane association in areas of cell contact.

Actins↗
PubMed1982

Properties of tropomyosin from the dual-regulated obliquely striated body wall muscle of the earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.).

The obliquely striated body wall muscle of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. possesses a dual actin-linked and myosin-linked regulatory system. Tropomyosin from this muscle has now been purified and its functional properties compared to tropomyosin from vertebrate skeletal muscle. Earthworm tropomyosin has a molecular weight of about 70 000 and is composed of two polypeptide chains of molecular weight of 34 000 and 37 000. Structural and functional similarities to skeletal muscle tropomyosin were demonstrated with respect to the formation and periodicity of paracrystals and nets and the potentiation of skeletal muscle acto-SF1 ATPase activity at low ATP concentration. Likewise, earthworm tropomyosin inhibited skeletal muscle acto-HMM ATPase activity at normal ATP concentrations but to a much greater extent than skeletal muscle tropomyosin; this inhibition was removed by skeletal muscle troponin, in the presence of Ca2+. In a system containing earthworm myosin and skeletal muscle actin, earthworm tropomyosin had no detectable influence on the actin-activated ATPase activity. It is concluded that earthworm tropomyosin plays an active role in the actin-linked troponin-dependent regulatory system and has no measurable effect on the regulation via myosin.

Actins↗
PubMed1982

Putative association of mitochondria with a subpopulation of intermediate-sized filaments in cultured human skin fibroblasts.

Cultured cell Triton cytoskeletons enriched in intermediate filaments by extraction in high and low salt show, in addition to known intermediate-filament proteins and actin, a few other tenaciously bound polypeptides. An antibody raised against one of these polypeptides (IEF 24) is shown to react specifically with mitochondria of different cell types. With methanol-acetone fixation, required for the antibody reaction, the characteristically long mitochondria of human skin fibroblasts fragment into strings of beads, as identified by antibody staining in the light microscope and whole-mount electron microscopy. From the colinear organization of these beads, their codistribution with the intermediate-filament network and their retention in salt-extracted cytoskeletons, it is suggested that a subpopulation of the intermediate filaments can serve as an anchorage site for mitochondria.

Amnion↗
PubMed1981

Effect of muscle and non-muscle tropomyosins in reconstituted skeletal muscle actomyosin.

Smooth and non-muscle tropomyosins were found to produce a 2-3-fold Ca-insensitive stimulation of the ATPase activity of reconstituted skeletal muscles actomyosin at normal MgATP concentrations and physiological ratios of myosin to actin. Under the same conditions skeletal muscles tropomyosin had no effect. Similar effects of these three tropomyosins were observed for the low myosin/F-actin ratios necessary for kinetic measurements. Since it could be established that this actomyosin system, with or without tropomyosin, obeyed Michaelian kinetics, the tropomyosin effects could be interpreted in terms of their influence on maximal turnover (V) or on the affinity of myosin for actin (Kapp). Accordingly, gizzard tropomyosin had practically no effect on the affinity and reduced only slightly the value of V, compared to pure actin. In contrast to gizzard tropomyosin, brain tropomyosin produced an approximately twofold increase in both Kapp and V; i.e. it increased the turnover rate but decreased the affinity. It is apparent from the data that brain tropomyosin acts as an uncompetitive activator with respect to pure actin, while having the same V as the actin plus gizzard tropomyosin complex. Further studies on these tropomyosins show that only skeletal and smooth muscle tropomyosin have similar functional properties with respect to troponin inhibition and the activation of the ATPase at low ATP concentrations. It is suggested that the noted increases in V by tropomyosin are caused by the acceleration of the dissociation of the myosin head from actin at the end point of the cross bridge movement.

Actomyosin↗
PubMed1981

Coexistence of three major isoactins in a single sarcoma 180 cell.

Actin is transformed sarcoma 180 cells is composed of the nonmuscle beta and gamma species and of a third, more acidic stable variant termed zeta. Two-dimensional peptide analysis shows that zeta is similar to beta actin, differing in the mobility of only one tryptic peptide. Several lines of evidence indicate that zeta is not a modified beta-actin species. This third actin species comprises 20% of the total labeled actin, has the same molecular weight as the beta and gamma actins and has a different mobility in isoelectric focusing gels from that of the known alpha actins from skeletal, cardiac and vascular smooth muscle. Like beta and gamma actin, zeta can be extracted with the actin depolymerizing factor from slime mold. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (isoelectric focusing) of the 35S-methionine-labeled polypeptides synthesized by a single sarcoma 180 cell showed that all three major actin species coexist within the same cell. This analysis also showed for the first time the coexistence and alpha and beta tubulin, vimentin, alpha actinin and three other polypeptides present in intermediate-filament-enriched cytoplast cytoskeletons (spots 12, 24 and 31). Determination of the ratio of gamma plus beta to zeta actin in different cytoskeletal preparations of intact and enucleated sarcoma 180 cells indicated that this actin species is not localized specifically to any of the major actin-containing structures preserved in the cytoskeletons.

Actinin↗
PubMed1981

Organization of actin in the leading edge of cultured cells: influence of osmium tetroxide and dehydration on the ultrastructure of actin meshworks.

The ordered structure of the leading edge (lamellipodium) of cultured fibroblasts is readily revealed in cells extracted briefly in Triton X-100-glutaraldehyde mixtures, fixed further in glutaraldehyde, and then negatively stained for electron microscopy. By this procedure, the leading edge regions show a highly organised, three-dimensional network of actin filaments together with variable numbers of radiating actin filament bundles or microspikes. The use of Phalloidin after glutaraldehyde fixation resulted in a marginal improvement in filament order. Processing of the cytoskeletons though the additional steps generally employed for conventional electron microscopy resulted in a marked deterioration or complete disruption of the order of the actin filament networks. In contrast, the actin filaments of the stress fiber bundles were essentially unaffected. Thus, postfixation in osmium tetroxide (1% for 7 min at room temperature) transformed the networks to a reticulum of kinked fibers, resembling those produced by the exposure of muscle F-actin to OsO4 in vitro (P. Maupin-Szamier and T. D. Pollard. 1978. J. Cell Biol. 77:837--852). While limited exposure to OsO4 (0.2+ for 20 min at 0 degrees C) obviated this destruction, dehydration in acetone or ethanol, with or without post-osmication, caused a further and unavoidable disordering and aggregation of the meshwork filaments. The meshwork regions of the leading edge then showed a striking resemblance to the networks hitherto described in critical point-dried preparations of cultured cells. I conclude that much of the "microtrabecular lattice" described by Wolosewick and Porter (1979. J. Cell Biol. 82:114--139) in the latter preparations constitutes actin meshworks and actin filament arrays, with their associated components, that have been distorted and aggregated by the preparative procedures employed.

Actins↗