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K Burridge

Publications and source records attributed to K Burridge.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Colocalization of calcium-dependent protease II and one of its substrates at sites of cell adhesion.

Adhesion plaques, specialized regions of the plasma membrane where a cell contacts its substratum, are dynamic structures. However, little is known about how the protein-protein interactions that occur at adhesion plaques are controlled. One mechanism by which a cell might modulate its associations with the substratum is by selective, regulated proteolysis of an adhesion plaque component. Here we show that the catalytic subunit of the calcium-dependent protease type II (CDP-II) is localized in adhesion plaques of several cell types (BS-C-1, EBTr, and MDBK). We have compared the susceptibility of the adhesion plaque constituents vinculin, talin, and alpha-actinin to calcium-dependent proteolysis in vitro and have found talin to be the preferred substrate for CDP-II. The colocalization of a calcium-requiring proteolytic enzyme and talin in adhesion plaques raises the possibility that calcium-dependent proteolytic activity provides a mechanism for regulating some aspect of adhesion plaque physiology and function via cleavage of talin.

Actinin↗

Properties of talin from chicken gizzard smooth muscle.

This paper describes the structural and biochemical characterization of talin, a protein localized to various cellular sites where bundles of actin filaments attach to the plasma membrane. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the protein has a molecular mass of 225,000 +/- 5,000 daltons. Hydrodynamic measurements at protein concentrations less than 0.72 mg/ml indicate a monomeric protein with a native molecular mass of 213,000 +/- 15,000 daltons. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments indicate self-association at protein concentrations of 0.72 mg/ml and higher. The data suggest that this self-association is a simple monomer:dimer equilibrium over the range of concentrations observed. At low protein concentrations where talin is a monomer, the Stokes radius and sedimentation coefficient vary with ionic strength. Under low ionic strength conditions (5-20 mM NaCl), talin has a Stokes radius of 6.5 nm and a sedimentation value of 9.4, suggesting an asymmetric globular molecule; whereas under high ionic strength conditions (200 mM NaCl), the Stokes radius increases to 7.7 nm and the sedimentation coefficient decreases to 8.8, suggesting a more elongated protein. This conformation change is confirmed by electron microscopy which reveals a more globular protein at low ionic strength which unfolds to become an elongated flexible molecule as the ionic strength is increased to physiological and higher levels. The amino acid composition of talin indicates a low level of aromatic residues, consistent with its relatively low extinction coefficient, talin has an isoelectric point between pH 6.7 and 6.8 based on isoelectric focusing. The detailed purification of talin is described.

Amino Acids↗

The 180-kD component of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM is involved in cell-cell contacts and cytoskeleton-membrane interactions.

N-CAM180, the molecular form of the three neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM) with the largest cytoplasmic domain, is accumulated at sites of cell-cell contact (cell bodies, neurites, growth cones) in cultures of neuroblastoma and cerebellum. At these sites the cytoskeleton-membrane linker protein brain spectrin and actin are also accumulated. Brain spectrin copurifies with N-CAM180 by immunoaffinity chromatography and binds specifically to N-CAM180 but not to N-CAM140 or N-CAM120 in a solid-phase binding test. These observations indicate an association of N-CAM180 with the cytoskeleton in vivo. This association may underlie the reduced lateral mobility of N-CAM180 in the surface membrane compared to N-CAM140 (Pollerberg et al. 1986). Together with the fact that N-CAM180 is only expressed after termination of neuron migration in vivo (Persohn and Schachner, unpublished) these results suggest a role for N-CAM180 in stabilization of cell contacts.

Animals↗

Adhesion plaques: sites of transmembrane interaction between the extracellular matrix and the actin cytoskeleton.

In this paper we review what is known about the organization of adhesion plaques, the regions where cells in culture adhere most tightly to the underlying substratum. These specialized areas of the plasma membrane serve as attachment sites for stress fibres. A major objective has been to determine how microfilament bundles are anchored at such regions. In their morphology and composition adhesion plaques resemble the adhesions fibroblasts make to the extracellular matrix. Some extracellular matrix components have been identified on the outside face of adhesion plaques. Within the plasma membrane of adhesion plaques, extracellular matrix receptors, such as the fibronectin receptor (integrin), have been identified. This transmembrane glycoprotein complex has been shown to bind the cytoplasmic protein talin, which, in turn, associates with vinculin. These proteins establish a transmembrane chain of attachment between the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton, although how the actin filaments interact with these components remains to be determined. Besides having a structural function, adhesion plaques may also be regions where regulatory signals are transmitted across the membrane. Consistent with this idea has been the finding that various tyrosine kinases and a calcium-dependent protease are concentrated at the cytoplasmic aspect of adhesion plaques. Furthermore, several adhesion plaque proteins become phosphorylated during cell transformation by Rous sarcoma virus. In future work it will be important to determine how such modifications affect the interactions of these proteins and the stability of adhesion plaques.

Actins↗

Purification of a 190 kDa protein from smooth muscle: relationship to talin.

Several studies of vinculin-binding proteins have described a 190 kDa protein in chicken gizzard smooth muscle which binds radioiodinated vinculin. We have purified and studied the 190 kDa protein from chicken gizzard smooth muscle. By indirect immunofluorescence, an antiserum raised against the 190 kDa protein stains adhesion plaques (focal contacts), ruffling membranes, and fibrillar streaks on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of fibroblasts. Both the binding to vinculin and the location of the protein in fibroblasts are properties shared with talin, a 215 kDa protein in smooth muscle and fibroblasts. Because antisera against talin and the 190 kDa cross-react the relationship of these two proteins has been investigated further. Upon prolonged storage at 4 degrees C, purified talin degrades into a 190 kDa fragment. A 190 kDa fragment is also generated from talin by the Staphylococcus aureus V-8 proteinase and by trypsin. Comparison of partial peptide maps of talin and the 190 kDa protein reveal that the proteins are very similar and when the 190 kDa fragment of talin is compared with the purified 190 kDa protein by partial proteolytic digestion no differences are found in the pattern of peptides generated. In addition, the amount of 190 kDa protein detected in muscle tissues excised from chick embryos can be drastically reduced if proteinase inhibitors are added to the tissue homogenates. We conclude that the purified 190 kDa dalton protein is a proteolytic fragment of talin. Although markedly reduced by proteinase inhibitors, detection of the 190 kDa protein is not completely abolished, suggesting that some talin may already be cleaved within living cells.

Animals↗

Demonstration of a relationship between talin and P235, a major substrate of the calcium-dependent protease in platelets.

Talin is a 225,000-Dalton protein we have purified from smooth muscle. In chick embryo fibroblasts talin is found in adhesion plaques (focal contacts), areas where the cell is closely apposed to the substratum. In comparison with other cytoskeletal proteins, we found talin to be unusually susceptible to proteolysis and have identified a 190,000-Dalton proteolytic fragment of talin in the immunoblots of many tissues. These observations raised the possibility that the cleavage of talin to this fragment has physiological relevance. One system that we have investigated in which significant proteolysis occurs is platelets. During platelet activation several high-molecular-weight proteins are cleaved to lower-molecular-weight forms. Here we demonstrate that talin is closely related to one of these platelet high-molecular-weight proteins, P235. The purification of talin is comparable to that developed for P235, and the two proteins have similar biophysical properties. In addition, antibodies raised against chicken gizzard talin recognize P235 in purified form as well as in crude platelet extracts. The platelet protein also resembles smooth-muscle talin in its susceptibility to endogenous proteolysis: P235 is rapidly cleaved to a 190-200 kD polypeptide by a calcium-activated protease found in platelet extracts. Moreover, partial proteolysis of P235 and talin with chymotrypsin, elastase, or trypsin also generates remarkably similar one-dimensional peptide maps. Because of their similar biophysical properties, immunological crossreactivity, and similar one-dimensional partial peptide maps, we conclude that P235 is the platelet form of talin.

Animals↗

Talin is a post-synaptic component of the rat neuromuscular junction.

Talin is a protein, recently discovered in chicken gizzard, which occurs at sites of actin-plasma membrane interaction in several cell types. Vinculin also occurs at many of these sites, possibly in association with talin. In this study, three antisera against talin were used to probe the neuromuscular junction of rat skeletal muscle, which is also a site of vinculin accumulation. By immunofluorescence, all three sera stained the junction strongly in frozen sections of rat diaphragm. The extrajunctional periphery was lightly and irregularly stained in some muscle cells; others seemed not to be stained outside the junction. Staining remained at junctions and increased in extrajunctional regions of muscle denervated 6 weeks before sacrifice. The staining in all cases was abolished by competition with purified talin. One serum tested by immunoblotting recognized one protein at Mr 215 000 (identical with the value for chicken gizzard talin) and traces of a second at Mr 190 000 (corresponding to a known proteolytic fragment of talin). We conclude that rat muscle talin is similar in its general protein structure to chicken gizzard talin, and is a post-synaptic component of the neuromuscular junction.

Animals↗

Talin at myotendinous junctions.

Junctions formed by skeletal muscles where they adhere to tendons, called myotendinous junctions, are sites of tight adhesion and where forces generated by the cell are placed on the substratum. In this regard, myotendinous junctions and focal contacts of fibroblasts in vitro are analogues. Talin is a protein located at focal contacts that may be involved in force transmission from actin filaments to the plasma membrane. This study investigates whether talin is also found at myotendinous junctions. Protein separations on SDS polyacrylamide gels and immunolabeling procedures show that talin is present in skeletal muscle. Immunofluorescence microscopy using anti-talin indicates that talin is found concentrated at myotendinous junctions and in lesser amounts in periodic bands over nonjunctional regions. Electron microscopic immunolabeling shows talin is a component of the digitlike processes of muscle cells that extend into tendons at myotendinous junctions. These findings indicate that there may be similarities in the molecular composition of focal contacts and myotendinous junctions in addition to functional analogies.

Animals↗

A potential role for spectrin during neurulation.

An actin-myosin complex located in apical regions of the neurectoderm has been postulated to play a role in neurulation. Numerous studies have documented the presence of microfilaments in this area and confirmed their composition as actin. By necessity, if such a contractile system is to exert a force, these filaments must be anchored in some way to the cell membrane. In this study, the presence of the actin-binding protein, spectrin (fodrin), is demonstrated in the neurectoderm of neurulating mouse embryos using antispectrin antibodies and indirect immunofluorescent techniques. The patterns of spectrin localization correlate with the previously reported regions of increased numbers of microfilaments and also with the morphology of the neural folds. Thus, during the initial stages of cranial fold elevation, a process reportedly dependent on increased glycosaminoglycan synthesis, little spectrin is present in the neuroepithelial cells. Later as the folds begin to converge toward the midline, deposition of the protein, as demonstrated by the intensity of fluorescence, is increased in the apices of these cells, and is most prominent in regions of greatest bending in the neural folds. Caudal neural fold regions show a similar pattern of staining. Thus, the hypothesis that a cytoskeletal system assists in neurulation is supported by these results, which for the first time demonstrate the presence of a putative actin-membrane attachment protein in a morphogenetically active system.

Animals↗

Molecular shape and self-association of vinculin and metavinculin.

Vinculin, a 130,000-dalton protein localized to adhesion plaques, and metavinculin, a 150,-000 dalton protein closely related to vinculin, have been studied using rotary shadowing and electron microscopy. Both proteins have globular head regions attached to rod-shaped tail domains. Vinculin and metavinculin also both form complexes consisting of four to six individual molecules. These multimers are formed by head-to-head as well as tail-to-tail interactions. Talin, another protein which has been localized to adhesion plaques and binds to both vinculin and metavinculin, has also been investigated using shadowing techniques. Talin is an elongated, flexible molecule in high ionic strength buffers, as shown here by rotary shadowing and negative stain electron microscopy.

Animals↗

Immunocytochemical localization of contractile and contraction associated proteins in the spiral ligament of the cochlea.

Most of the extracellular fibers of the spiral ligament are associated with a distinct band of 'anchoring' cells which occur at the boundary between the spiral ligament and the otic capsule. These cells are characterized by parallel arrays of intracellular filaments which, along with the extracellular fibers, insert into electron dense, conical adhesion plaques. The intracellular filaments show a close morphological resemblance to the 'stress fibers' of cultured fibroblasts (Henson et al., 1984). In the present study we have demonstrated by immunofluorescence techniques that the anchoring cells, unlike adjacent cells of the spiral ligament, contain a complement of proteins that is typically associated with stress fibers and with contractile systems. In addition to actin, the cells contain myosin, tropomyosin, alpha-actinin and talin. These results lend further support to the hypothesis that the anchoring cells have the capacity to create and/or maintain tension on the spiral ligament-basilar membrane complex and to influence the mechanical properties of the basilar membrane.

Actinin↗

Immunoprecipitation of nonerythrocyte spectrin within live cells following microinjection of specific antibodies: relation to cytoskeletal structures.

The intracellular precipitation of nonerythrocyte spectrin has been achieved by the microinjection into cells of either a monoclonal antibody (IgM) directed against the alpha chain of nonerythrocyte spectrin or an affinity-purified polyclonal antibody raised against bovine brain spectrin (fodrin). This antibody-induced precipitation of spectrin was observed in fibroblastic and epithelial cell types, including embryonic bovine tracheal fibroblasts, a bovine kidney epithelial cell line (MDBK), Hela cells, gerbil fibroma cells, and fibroblast lines of human and mouse origins. The precipitation of the spectrin was specific and two proteins with a similar distribution to the nonerythrocyte spectrin were not induced to co-precipitate in the spectrin aggregates. Comparing the two types of antibody microinjected, the affinity-purified polyclonal antibody resulted in more compact aggregates of spectrin and these were frequently aligned with microfilament bundles. The rate at which the spectrin aggregates were cleared into presumptive lysosomes varied with different cell types: in some such as the bovine kidney epithelial cells, this appeared complete within 3 h after microinjection, whereas in some of the fibroblasts the spectrin aggregates were prominent in the cytoplasm at 24 and even 48 h after microinjection. Microfilament bundles appeared unaffected by the aggregation of spectrin. We conclude that the integrity of the actin microfilament bundles does not require nonerythrocyte spectrin and that most probably these structures are linked at their termini to the membrane through proteins other than nonerythrocyte spectrin. No effect of the intracellular spectrin precipitation was observed on cell shape, or on the distribution of coated vesicles or microtubules. The aggregation of the nonerythrocyte spectrin, however, did affect the distribution of the vimentin type of intermediate filaments in most of the cell types studied. These filaments became more distorted and condensed, but generally did not collapse around the nucleus as occurs following microtubule disruption induced by colchicine treatment. The clumped intermediate filaments were frequently seen to coincide with regions of aggregated spectrin. This aggregation of intermediate filaments was not induced by microinjection of irrelevant antibodies, nor was it induced by the monoclonal antibody against spectrin in cells with which it did not cross-react.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Actin-membrane interaction in fibroblasts: what proteins are involved in this association?

In this review we discuss some of the proteins for which a role in linking actin to the fibroblast plasma membrane has been suggested. We focus on the family of proteins related to erythrocyte spectrin, proteins that have generally been viewed as having an organization and a function in actin-membrane attachment similar to those of erythrocyte spectrin. Experiments in which we precipitated the nonerythrocyte spectrin within living fibroblasts have led us to question this supposed similarity of organization and function of the nonerythrocyte and erythrocyte spectrins. Intracellular precipitation of fibroblast spectrin does not affect the integrity of the major actin-containing structures, the stress fiber microfilament bundles. Unexpectedly, however, we found that the precipitation of spectrin results in a condensation and altered distribution of the vimentin class of intermediate filaments in most cells examined. Although fibroblast spectrin may have a role in the attachment of some of the cortical, submembranous actin, it is surprising how little the intracellular immunoprecipitation of the spectrin affects the cells. Several proteins have been found concentrated at the ends of stress fibers, where the actin filaments terminate at focal contacts. Two of these proteins, alpha-actinin and fimbrin, have properties that suggest that they are not involved in the attachment of the ends of the bundles to the membrane but are more probably involved in the organization and cross-linking of the filaments within the bundles. On the other hand, vinculin and talin are two proteins that interact with each other and may form part of a chain of attachments between the ends of the microfilament bundles and the focal contact membrane. Their role in this attachment, however, has not been established and further work is needed to examine their interaction with actin and to identify any other components with which they may interact, particularly in the plasma membrane.

Actinin↗

Talin: a cytoskeletal component concentrated in adhesion plaques and other sites of actin-membrane interaction.

Talin is a recently identified cytoskeletal protein with a polypeptide molecular weight of 215,000 daltons. In cultured fibroblasts talin has been localized by immunofluorescence in adhesion plaques (focal contacts), in the ruffling membranes and leading lamellae of the cell periphery, and in fibrillar patterns that align with microfilament bundles and/or with cell surface fibronectin. These cellular locations suggest that the protein could function either in the attachment of microfilaments to the plasma membrane or in the organization of microfilaments close to membrane attachment sites. Cell transformation by viruses such as Rous sarcoma virus disrupts the normal organization of talin, and in most transformed cells talin appears distributed diffusely through the cytoplasm. In a few cells talin is detected in doughnut-shaped aggregates, as a ring surrounding a central core of actin. The significance of these structures is uncertain, but in some cells the individual structures will condense to form much larger aggregates with a striking appearance when viewed by immunofluorescence microscopy.

Actins↗

Binding of HeLa spectrin to a specific HeLa membrane fraction.

From 30-40 g of Hela-S3 cells grown in suspension, 0.25-0.50 mg of spectrin has been purified by conventional biochemical procedures starting from a low ionic strength extraction at alkaline pH of crude Hela membranes. Hela spectrin consists in its native form of a tetramer alpha 2 beta 2 of two high molecular weight polypeptides (240,000 and 230,000 daltons). Three different populations of Hela membranes depleted of both spectrin and actin have been prepared on discontinuous sucrose gradients. Surprisingly, spectrin will reassociate with only the heavier membrane fraction. This reassociation is specific for Hela spectrin, since three other purified Hela proteins as well as human erythrocyte spectrin do not reassociate under the same conditions. This binding is not due to the presence of traces of actin still present in the membrane fraction since two Hela actin-binding proteins (filamin I and II) do not show any significant binding to this fraction. The nature of the membrane-binding site for Hela spectrin is discussed.

Cell Membrane↗

Cytoskeletal proteins in cultured secretory cells from rat pituitary.

Cultured cells from female rat pituitaries were examined by immunofluorescence microscopy for the presence of pituitary hormones and for cytoskeletal proteins. The cells attach well to glass coverslips and, when well-dispersed initially, develop networks of branching processes. Their cytoplasm appears granular and shows granular fluorescence when the cells are permeabilized and treated with antisera to pituitary hormones. The cultures contain fibroblasts which are morphologically distinct and much larger than the secretory cells. Consequently, they provide an internal control for cytoskeletal proteins in nonsecretory cells. Fibroblasts have relatively prominent stress fibres. By contrast, the secretory cells have a diffuse cytoplasmic distribution of all cytoskeletal proteins investigated. One cell type, the gonadotrope, which secretes luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, was examined in particular detail.

Actinin↗

A new protein of adhesion plaques and ruffling membranes.

A protein with a molecular weight on SDS polyacrylamide gels of 215,000 (referred to here as 215K) was purified from chicken gizzard smooth muscle. Antibodies against this protein localized it in fibroblasts to adhesion plaques (focal contacts), to regions underlying cell surface fibronectin, and to ruffling membranes. In the first two distributions it was similar to vinculin in cellular location, and this was confirmed by double-label immunofluorescence microscopy, but the concentration of 215K in membrane ruffles distinguished it from vinculin. There was no cross-reaction of the antibody against 215K with vinculin, and immunoprecipitation and antibody staining of SDS gels of whole cells revealed a single cross-reactive component with a molecular weight of 215,000. Immunoprecipitation from cultures labeled with [32P]phosphate revealed 215K to be a phosphoprotein. Transformation of rat or chicken fibroblasts by Rous sarcoma virus resulted in a reorganization of 215K, in some cases into complex intracellular structures. The localization of 215K where microfilament bundles terminate as well as in close relation to cell surface fibronectin and in membrane ruffles suggests that the protein has some function in the organization of actin filaments at or close to regions of actin-membrane attachment.

Actins↗