Unconventional myosins are actin-based motors with a growing number of attributed functions. Interestingly, it has been proposed that integrins are transported by unidentified myosins to facilitate cellular remodelling. Here we present an interaction between the unconventional myosin-X (Myo10) FERM (band 4.1/ezrin/radixin/moesin) domain and an NPXY motif within beta-integrin cytoplasmic domains. Importantly, knock-down of Myo10 by short interfering RNA impaired integrin function in cell adhesion, whereas overexpression of Myo10 stimulated the formation and elongation of filopodia in an integrin-dependent manner and relocalized integrins together with Myo10 to the tips of filopodia. This integrin relocalization and filopodia elongation did not occur with Myo10 mutants deficient in integrin binding or with a beta(1)-integrin point mutant deficient in Myo10 binding. Taken together, these results indicate that Myo10-mediated relocalization of integrins might serve to form adhesive structures and thereby promote filopodial extension.

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Currently available human tumour cell line panels consist of a small number of lines in each lineage that generally fail to retain the phenotype of the original patient tumour. Here we develop a cell culture medium that enables us to routinely establish cell lines from diverse subtypes of human ovarian cancers with >95% efficiency. Importantly, the 25 new ovarian tumour cell lines described here retain the genomic landscape, histopathology and molecular features of the original tumours. Furthermore, the molecular profile and drug response of these cell lines correlate with distinct groups of primary tumours with different outcomes. Thus, tumour cell lines derived using this methodology represent a significantly improved platform to study human tumour pathophysiology and response to therapy.

Axo-glial junctions (AGJs) play a critical role in the organization and maintenance of molecular domains in myelinated axons. Neurexin IV͞Caspr1͞paranodin (NCP1) is an important player in the formation of AGJs because it recruits a paranodal complex implicated in the tethering of glial proteins to the axonal membrane and cytoskeleton. Mice deficient in either the axonal protein NCP1 or the glial ceramide galactosyltransferase (CGT) display disruptions in AGJs and severe ataxia. In this article, we correlate these two phenotypes and show that both NCP1 and CGT mutants develop large swellings accompanied by cytoskeletal disorganization and degeneration in the axons of cerebellar Purkinje neurons. We also show that ␣II spectrin is part of the paranodal complex and that, although not properly targeted, this complex is still formed in CGT mutants. Together, these findings establish a physiologically relevant link between AGJs and axonal cytoskeleton and raise the possibility that some neurodegenerative disorders arise from disruption of the AGJs.myelin ͉ paranodes ͉ cerebellum ͉ ataxia T he anatomical organization of myelinated fibers into distinct domains is the basis for the saltatory mode of action potential propagation. In the axons, these molecular domains (internode, juxtaparanode, paranode, and node of Ranvier) form as a result of specific polarization driven by signaling between the myelinating glial cells and neurons that has yet to be fully understood. In the paranodal region, closely apposed axon-glial membranes form specialized cell junctions, which resemble the ladder-like invertebrate septate junctions, and are referred to as paranodal septate junctions or paranodal axo-glial junctions (AGJs) (1-4).Three major proteins have been shown to localize to the paranodal AGJs: NCP1 (also known as Caspr1 or paranodin) and contactin (CNTN) on the axonal side and neurofascin (NF155), the 155-kDa isoform on the glial side (5-9). Although NF155 is the only known glial protein at the paranodal membrane, a number of nonparanodal glial proteins are required for proper formation, maintenance, and distribution of AGJs, as in the case of ceramide galactosyltransferase (CGT), proteolipid protein, myelin-basic protein, myelin-associated glycoprotein, 2Ј,3Ј-cyclic nucleotide 3Ј-phosphodiesterase, and the transcription factor Nkx6-2 (10-17).Genetic ablation of NCP1 and CNTN in mice results in the loss of AGJs and a failure to segregate Na ϩ and K ϩ channels at the nodes and juxtaparanodes, respectively (5, 6). Similar phenotypes were observed at the paranodes in CGT mutants (18,19). CGT encodes an enzyme that is needed for the biosynthesis of two important myelin lipids, galactocerebroside and sulfatide (10,(18)(19)(20)(21). Using subcellular fractionation of NF155 in detergents, Rasband and coworkers (22) proposed a model in which myelin lipids assemble in stable lipid rafts to stabilize the clustering of NF155 at the glial side of AGJs. This model is consistent with the phenotype of CGT mutants in which defective biosynthes...

In most cell types, distinct forms of intercellular junctions have been visualized at the ultrastructural level. Among these, the septate junctions are thought to seal the neighboring cells and thus to function as the paracellular barriers. The most extensively studied form of septate junctions, referred to as the pleated septate junctions, is ultrastructurally distinct with an electron-dense ladder-like arrangement of transverse septa present in invertebrates as well as vertebrates. In invertebrates, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, septate junctions are present in all ectodermally derived epithelia, imaginal discs, and the nervous system. In vertebrates, septate junctions are present in the myelinated nerves at the paranodal interface between the myelin loops and the axonal membrane. In this review, we present an evolutionary perspective of septate junctions, especially their initial identification across phyla, and discuss many common features of their morphology, molecular organization, and functional similarities in invertebrates and vertebrates.

Summary Although many proteins, receptors, and viruses are transported rearward along filopodia by retrograde actin flow[1-3], it is less clear how molecules move forward in filopodia. Myosin-X (Myo10) is an actin-based motor hypothesized to use its motor activity to move forward along actin filaments to the tips of filopodia[4]. Here we use a sensitive total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy system to directly visualize the movements of GFP-Myo10. This reveals a novel form of motility at or near the single-molecule level in living cells wherein extremely faint particles of Myo10 move in a rapid and directed fashion towards the filopodial tip. These fast forward movements occur at ∼600 nm/s over distances of up to ∼10 μm and require Myo10 motor activity and actin filaments. As expected for imaging at the single-molecule level, the faint particles of GFP-Myo10 are diffraction-limited, have an intensity range similar to single GFP molecules, and exhibit stepwise bleaching. Faint particles of GFP-Myo5a can also move towards the filopodial tip, but at a slower characteristic velocity of ∼250 nm/s. Similar movements were not detected with GFP-Myo1a, indicating that not all myosins are capable of intrafilopodial motility. These data indicate the existence of a novel system of long-range transport based on the rapid movement of myosin molecules along filopodial actin filaments.

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Hair cells tightly control the dimensions of their stereocilia, which are actin-rich protrusions with graded heights that mediate mechanotransduction in the inner ear. Two members of the myosin-III family, MYO3A and MYO3B, are thought to regulate stereocilia length by transporting cargos that control actin polymerization at stereocilia tips. We show that eliminating espin-1 (ESPN-1), an isoform of ESPN and a myosin-III cargo, dramatically alters the slope of the stereocilia staircase in a subset of hair cells. Furthermore, we show that espin-like (ESPNL), primarily present in developing stereocilia, is also a myosin-III cargo and is essential for normal hearing. ESPN-1 and ESPNL each bind MYO3A and MYO3B, but differentially influence how the two motors function. Consequently, functional properties of different motor-cargo combinations differentially affect molecular transport and the length of actin protrusions. This mechanism is used by hair cells to establish the required range of stereocilia lengths within a single cell.