C-Terminal Tail Polyglycylation and Polyglutamylation Alter Microtubule Mechanical Properties.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wall KP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7732814 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The kinesin-3 family member KIF1A plays a critical role in site-specific neuronal cargo delivery during axonal transport. KIF1A cargo is mislocalized in many neurodegenerative diseases, indicating that KIF1A's highly efficient, superprocessive motility along axonal microtubules needs to be tightly regulated. One potential regulatory mechanism may be through posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of axonal microtubules. These PTMs often occur on the C-terminal tails of the microtubule tracks, act as molecular "traffic signals" helping to direct kinesin motor cargo delivery, and include C-terminal tail polyglutamylation important for KIF1A cargo transport. KIF1A initially interacts with microtubule C-terminal tails through its K-loop, a positively charged surface loop of the KIF1A motor domain. However, the role of the K-loop in KIF1A motility and response to perturbations in C-terminal tail polyglutamylation is underexplored. Using single-molecule imaging, we present evidence that KIF1A pauses on different microtubule lattice structures, linking multiple processive segments together and contributing to KIF1A's characteristic superprocessive run length. Furthermore, modifications of the KIF1A K-loop or tubulin C-terminal tail polyglutamylation reduced KIF1A pausing and overall run length. These results suggest a new mechanism to regulate KIF1A motility via pauses mediated by K-loop/polyglutamylated C-terminal tail interactions, providing further insight into KIF1A's role in axonal transport.
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Project description:BackgroundUpon maturation in the bone marrow, polyploid megakaryocytes elongate very long and thin cytoplasmic branches called proplatelets. Proplatelets enter the sinusoids blood vessels in which platelets are ultimately released. Microtubule dynamics, bundling, sliding, and coiling, drive these dramatic morphological changes whose regulation remains poorly understood. Microtubule properties are defined by tubulin isotype composition and post-translational modification patterns. It remains unknown whether microtubule post-translational modifications occur in proplatelets and if so, whether they contribute to platelet formation.ResultsHere, we show that in proplatelets from mouse megakaryocytes, microtubules are both acetylated and polyglutamylated. To bypass the difficulties of working with differentiating megakaryocytes, we used a cell model that allowed us to test the functions of these modifications. First, we show that α2bβ3integrin signaling in D723H cells is sufficient to induce β1tubulin expression and recapitulate the specific microtubule behaviors observed during proplatelet elongation and platelet release. Using this model, we found that microtubule acetylation and polyglutamylation occur with different spatio-temporal patterns. We demonstrate that microtubule acetylation, polyglutamylation, and β1tubulin expression are mandatory for proplatelet-like elongation, swelling formation, and cytoplast severing. We discuss the functional importance of polyglutamylation of β1tubulin-containing microtubules for their efficient bundling and coiling during platelet formation.ConclusionsWe characterized and validated a powerful cell model to address microtubule behavior in mature megakaryocytes, which allowed us to demonstrate the functional importance of microtubule acetylation and polyglutamylation for platelet release. Furthermore, we bring evidence of a link between the expression of a specific tubulin isotype, the occurrence of microtubule post-translational modifications, and the acquisition of specific microtubule behaviors. Thus, our findings could widen the current view of the regulation of microtubule behavior in cells such as osteoclasts, spermatozoa, and neurons, which express distinct tubulin isotypes and display specific microtubule activities during differentiation.
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