A novel widely expressed type of myosin (fifth unconventional myosin from rat: myr 5) from rat tissues, defining a ninth class of myosins, was identified. The predicted amino acid sequence of myr 5 exhibits several features not found previously in myosins. The myosin head domain contains a unique N‐terminal extension and an insertion of 120 amino acids at a postulated myosin‐actin contact site. Nevertheless, myr 5 is able to bind actin filaments in an ATP‐regulated manner. The head domain is followed by four putative light chain binding sites. The tail domain of myr 5 contains a region which coordinates two atoms of zinc followed by a region that stimulates GTP hydrolysis of members of the ras‐related rho subfamily of small G‐proteins. Myr 5 therefore provides the first direct link between rho GTPases which have been implicated in the regulation of actin organization and the actin cytoskeleton. It is also the first unconventional myosin for which a tail binding partner(s), namely members of the rho family, has been identified.
myr 5 is an unconventional myosin (class IX) from rat that contains a Rho-family GTPase-activating protein (GAP) domain. Herein we addressed the specificity of the myr 5 GAP activity, the molecular mechanism by which GAPs activate GTP hydrolysis, the consequences of myr 5 overexpression in living cells, and its subcellular localization. The myr 5 GAP activity exhibits a high specificity for Rho. To achieve similar rates of GTPase activation for RhoA, Cdc42Hs, and Rac1, a 100-fold or 1000-fold higher concentration of recombinant myr 5 GAP domain was needed for Cdc42Hs or Rac1, respectively, as compared with RhoA. Cell lysates from Sf9 insect cells infected with recombinant baculovirus encoding myr 5 exhibited increased GAP activity for RhoA but not for Cdc42Hs or Rac1. Analysis of Rho-family GAP domain sequences for conserved arginine residues that might contribute to accelerate GTP hydrolysis revealed a single conserved arginine residue. Mutation of the corresponding arginine residue in the myr 5 GAP domain to a methionine (M1695) virtually abolished Rho-GAP activity. Expression of myr 5 in Sf9 insect cells induced the formation of numerous long thin processes containing occasional varicosities. Such morphological changes were dependent on the myr 5 Rho-GAP activity, because they were induced by expressing the myr 5 tail or just the myr 5 Rho-GAP domain but not by expressing the myr 5 myosin domain. Expression of myr 5 in mammalian normal rat kidney (NRK) or HtTA-1 HeLa cells induced a loss of actin stress fibers and focal contacts with concomitant morphological changes and rounding up of the cells. Similar morphological changes were observed in HtTA-1 HeLa cells expressing just the myr 5 Rho-GAP domain but not in cells expressing myr 5 M1695. These morphological changes induced by myr 5 were inhibited by coexpression of RhoV14, which is defective in GTP hydrolysis, but not by RhoI117. myr 5 was localized in dynamic regions of the cell periphery, in the perinuclear region in the Golgi area, along stress fibers, and in the cytosol. These results demonstrate that myr 5 has in vitro and in vivo Rho-GAP activity. No evidence for a Rho effector function of the myr 5 myosin domain was obtained.
We have isolated cDNAs encoding a second member of the dilute (myosin-V) unconventional myosin family in vertebrates, myr 6 (Myosin from rat 6). Expression of myr 6 transcripts in the brain is much more limited than is the expression of dilute, with highest levels observed in choroid plexus and components of the limbic system. We have mapped the myr 6 locus to mouse chromosome 18 using an interspecific backcross. The 3' portion of the myr 6 cDNA sequence from rat is nearly identical to that of a previously published putative glutamic acid decarboxylase from mouse
Abstract. In an effort to determine diversity and function of mammalian myosin I molecules, we report here the cloning and characterization of myr 3 (third unconventional myosin from rat), a novel mammalian myosin I from rat tissues that is related to myosin I molecules from protozoa. Like the protozoan myosin I molecules, myr 3 consists of a myosin head dOmain, a single light chain binding motif, and a tail region that includes a COOH-terminal SH3 domain. However, myr 3 lacks the regulatory phosphorylation site present in the head domain of protozoan myosin I molecules. Evidence was obtained that the COOH terminus of the tail domain is involved in regulating F-actin binding activity of the NH2-terminal head domain.The light chain of myr 3 was identified as the Ca 2+-binding protein calmodulin. Northern blot and immunoblot analyses revealed that myr 3 is expressed in many tissues and cell lines. Immunofluorescence studies with anti-myr 3 antibodies in NRK cells demonstrated that myr 3 is localized in the cytoplasm and in elongated structures at regions of cell-cell contact. These elongated structures contained F-actin and o~-actinin but were devoid of vinculin. Incubation of NRK cells with Con A stimulated the formation of myr 3-containing structures along cell-cell contacts. These results suggest for myr 3 a function mediated by cell-cell contact.
Myr 1 is a widely distributed mammalian myosin I molecule related to brush border myosin 1. A second widely distributed myosin I molecule similar to myr 1 and brush border myosin I, called myr 2, has now been identified. Specific antibodies and expression of epitope-tagged molecules were used to determine the subcellular localization of myr 1 and myr 2 in NRK cells. Myr 1 was detected at the plasma membrane and was particularly enriched in cell protrusions like lamellipodia, membrane ruffles and filopodia. In dividing cells myr 1 localized to the cleavage furrow. Myr 2 was localized in a discrete punctate pattern in resting cells and in cells undergoing cytokinesis. In subcellular fractionation experiments myr 1 and myr 2 were both partly soluble and partly associated with smooth membranes of medium density. The tail domains of myosin I molecules have been proposed to interact with a receptor and thereby determine the subcellular localization. To test this hypothesis we expressed the tail domains of myr 1 and myr 2 that lack the F-actin-binding myosin head domain in NRK cells. These tail domains also partly copurified with smooth membranes of medium density and immunolocalized similar to the respective endogenous myosin I; however, they exhibited a lower affinity for membranes and an increased diffuse cytosolic localization. These results suggest that the tail domains of myr 1 and myr 2 are sufficient for subcellular targeting but that their head domains also contribute significantly to maintaining a proper subcellular localization.
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