To determine the specific contribution of cytoskeletal proteins to cellular viscoelasticity we performed rheological experiments with Dictyostelium discoideum wild-type cells (AX2) and mutant cells altered by homologous recombination to lack alpha-actinin (AHR), the ABP120 gelation factor (GHR), or both of these F-actin cross-linking proteins (AGHR). Oscillatory and steady flow measurements of Dictyostelium wild-type cells in a torsion pendulum showed that there is a large elastic component to the viscoelasticity of the cell pellet. Quantitative rheological measurements were performed with an electronic plate-and-cone rheometer, which allowed determination of G', the storage shear modulus, and G", the viscous loss modulus, as a function of time, frequency, and strain, respectively. Whole cell viscoelasticity depends strongly on all three parameters, and comparison of wild-type and mutant strains under identical conditions generally produced significant differences. Especially stress relaxation experiments consistently revealed a clear difference between cells that lacked alpha-actinin as compared with wild-type cells or transformants without ABP120 gelation factor, indicating that alpha-actinin plays an important role in cell elasticity. Direct observation of cells undergoing shear deformation was done by incorporating a small number of AX2 cells expressing the green fluorescent protein of Aequorea victoria and visualizing the strained cell pellet by fluorescence and phase contrast microscopy. These observations confirmed that the shear strain imposed by the rheometer does not injure the cells and that the viscoelastic response of the cell pellet is due to deformation of individual cells.
KEY WORDS: muscle fiber development, myosin and actin filament assembly, thick filament associated proteins, microfilament cross-linking, severing and capping pro teins, cytoskeleton 607 0066-4278/91/03 15-0607$02.00 Annu. Rev. Physiol. 1991.53:607-628. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by Northeastern University on 02/05/15. For personal use only. Quick links to online contentFurther ANNUAL REVIEWS Thus far, two types of actin-based motor proteins have been identified in D. discoideum: (a) conventional double-headed myosin, designated as myosin II, which forms filaments concentrated close to the membrane in the posterior part of the cells, and (b) short-tailed single-headed myosin I accumulated at the leading edge (23) (see review by T. Pollard in this volume). The heavy chains of myosin II are encoded by a single gene. Several genes encoding heavy chains of the myosin I type have been identified in D. discoideum. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 1991.53:607-628. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by Northeastern University on 02/05/15. For personal use only.
Cells of a Dictyostelium discoideum mutant deficient in binding a monoclonal antibody to alpha-actinin have previously been shown to grow and develop similarly to the wild type and to exert unimpaired chemotaxis as well as patching and capping of membrane proteins. Here we show that the normal 3.0 kb message for alpha-actinin is replaced in the mutant by two RNA species of approximately 3.1 and 2.8 kb. The 3.1 kb RNA was recognized by DNA fragments from all parts of the coding region, while the 2.8 kb RNA hybridized to all but a 3′-terminal fragment. Proteins synthesized in the mutant were analysed using four monoclonal antibodies that in the wild type specifically recognize the 95 × 10(3) Mr polypeptide of alpha-actinin. Cleavage mapping indicated that the binding sites of these antibodies are distributed over a region comprising more than half of the alpha-actinin polypeptide chain. In the mutant, three of the antibodies faintly labelled two polypeptides of 95 × 10(3) Mr and 88 × 10(3) Mr; the fourth antibody, which binds closest to one end of the polypeptide chain, faintly labelled the 95 × 10(3) Mr polypeptide only. The 88 × 10(3) Mr polypeptide most probably lacks the C-terminal portion of alpha-actinin. The binding of an antibody that recognized both polypeptides was quantified by a radio-immuno competition assay using wild-type alpha-actinin as a reference. In a mutant cell extract containing total soluble proteins the antibody binding activity was decreased to 1.1% when compared with wild-type extract. After their partial purification and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the mutant 95 × 10(3) Mr and 88 × 10(3) Mr polypeptides were barely detectable as Coomassie Blue-stained bands, indicating that in the mutant not only certain epitopes of alpha-actinin were altered but the entire molecule is almost completely lacking. When the fitness of mutant cells relative to wild type was determined during growth in nutrient medium, a slight disadvantage for the mutant was indicated, by finding selection coefficients between 0.03 and 0.05.
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