Initiation of actin polymerization in cells requires nucleation factors. Here we describe an actinbinding protein, leiomodin, which acted as a strong filament nucleator in muscle cells. Leiomodin shared two actin-binding sites with the filament pointed-end capping protein tropomodulin; a flexible N-terminal region and a leucine-rich repeat domain. Leiomodin also contained a C-terminal extension of 150 residues. The smallest fragment with strong nucleation activity included the leucine-rich repeat and C-terminal extension. The N-terminal region enhanced the nucleation activity 3-fold and recruited tropomyosin, which weakly stimulated nucleation and mediated localization of leiomodin to the middle of muscle sarcomeres. Knocking down leiomodin severely compromised sarcomere assembly in cultured muscle cells, suggesting a role for leiomodin in the nucleation of tropomyosindecorated filaments in muscles.Actin binding proteins suppress the spontaneous nucleation of actin monomers into filaments, so cells use nucleation factors to initiate actin polymerization. In non-muscle cells, the bestcharacterized filament nucleators are Arp2/3 complex and formins (1). Less is known about the initiation of actin filaments in striated and smooth muscle cells, where specialized proteins may be used to assemble and remodel the tropomyosin-decorated filaments.We identified leiomodin (Lmod) as a potential filament nucleator in muscle cells because sequence analysis suggested that it contained at least three actin-binding sites and could possibly recruit three actin monomers to form a polymerization nucleus. Thus, the first ~340 residues of Lmod are ~40% identical to tropomodulin (Tmod) ( fig. S1), a protein that caps actin filament pointed ends (2,3). The N-terminal portion of Tmod is unstructured, except for three helical segments involved in binding tropomyosin (residues 24-35 and 126-135) and actin (residues 65-75) (4). This region of Tmod, caps the pointed end of actin filaments in a tropomyosin-dependent manner (5). Tmod has a second, tropomyosin-independent, actinbinding and capping site within the C-terminal region (residues 160-359) (5), consisting almost †To whom correspondence should be addressed. droberto@mail.med.upenn.edu. 5 Present address: Elan Pharmaceuticals,

SignificanceMore than 80% of human proteins are N-terminal (Nt)–acetylated during translation. In contrast, actin, the most abundant protein in the cytoplasm of animal cells, is Nt-acetylated posttranslationally and following a unique multistep mechanism that has remained poorly characterized. Here, we describe the discovery of actin’s N-terminal acetyltransferase (NAT), NAA80. We further demonstrate that actin Nt-acetylation plays essential roles in filament assembly, cytoskeleton organization, and cell motility, resulting in a net increase in the ratio of monomeric to filamentous actin and fewer lamellipodia and filopodia. These effects converge to reduce cell hypermotility. This work establishes the role of Nt-acetylation for the most abundant cytoskeletal protein in animals and reveals a NAT acting posttranslationally and on a single dedicated substrate.

Cytoplasmic dynein is the major minus-end-directed microtubule-based motor in cells. Dynein processivity and cargo selectivity depend on cargo-specific effectors that, while generally unrelated, share the ability to interact with dynein and dynactin to form processive dynein–dynactin-effector complexes. How this is achieved is poorly understood. Here, we identify a conserved region of the dynein Light Intermediate Chain 1 (LIC1) that mediates interactions with unrelated dynein–dynactin effectors. Quantitative binding studies map these interactions to a conserved helix within LIC1 and to N-terminal fragments of Hook1, Hook3, BICD2, and Spindly. A structure of the LIC1 helix bound to the N-terminal Hook domain reveals a conformational change that creates a hydrophobic cleft for binding of the LIC1 helix. The LIC1 helix competitively inhibits processive dynein–dynactin-effector motility in vitro, whereas structure-inspired mutations in this helix impair lysosomal positioning in cells. The results reveal a conserved mechanism of effector interaction with dynein–dynactin necessary for processive motility.

Cytoplasmic dynein drives the majority of minus end-directed vesicular and organelle motility in the cell. However, it remains unclear how dynein is spatially and temporally regulated given the variety of cargo that must be properly localized to maintain cellular function. Recent work has suggested that adaptor proteins provide a mechanism for cargo-specific regulation of motors. Of particular interest, studies in fungal systems have implicated Hook proteins in the regulation of microtubule motors. Here we investigate the role of mammalian Hook proteins, Hook1 and Hook3, as potential motor adaptors. We used optogenetic approaches to specifically recruit Hook proteins to organelles and observed rapid transport of peroxisomes to the perinuclear region of the cell. This rapid and efficient translocation of peroxisomes to microtubule minus ends indicates that mammalian Hook proteins activate dynein rather than kinesin motors. Biochemical studies indicate that Hook proteins interact with both dynein and dynactin, stabilizing the formation of a supramolecular complex. Complex formation requires the N-terminal domain of Hook proteins, which resembles the calponin-homology domain of end-binding (EB) proteins but cannot bind directly to microtubules. Single-molecule motility assays using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy indicate that both Hook1 and Hook3 effectively activate cytoplasmic dynein, inducing longer run lengths and higher velocities than the previously characterized dynein activator bicaudal D2 (BICD2). Together, these results suggest that dynein adaptors can differentially regulate dynein to allow for organellespecific tuning of the motor for precise intracellular trafficking.Microtubules provide a polarized highway to facilitate the transport of organelles and vesicles throughout the cell. The minus ends of microtubules are usually nucleated near the cell center, with the plus ends oriented outward, toward the cell periphery. This polarity ensures that microtubule motors drive motility in a specific direction; kinesin motors generally drive plus end motility, whereas minus end traffic is primarily driven by cytoplasmic dynein. Regulation of these opposing motors is vital for cell survival, particularly in specialized cells like neurons that require efficient transport over long distances (1). However, it remains unclear how microtubule motors are spatially and temporally regulated to control the intracellular trafficking of specific cargo. As a single major form of cytoplasmic dynein drives the transport of a wide array of cargos, including endosomes, RNA granules, and mitochondria (2-4), it is likely that the transport properties of dynein are modulated by the binding of cargo-specific adaptor molecules.

Actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex nucleates branched actin networks that drive cell motility. It consists of seven proteins, including two actin-related subunits (Arp2 and Arp3). Two nucleation-promoting factors (NPFs) bind Arp2/3 complex during activation, but the order, specific interactions, and contribution of each NPF to activation are unresolved. Here, we report the cryo–electron microscopy structure of recombinantly expressed human Arp2/3 complex with two WASP family NPFs bound and address the mechanism of activation. A cross-linking assay that captures the transition of the Arps into the activated filament-like conformation shows that actin binding to NPFs favors this transition. Actin-NPF binding to Arp2 precedes binding to Arp3 and is sufficient to promote the filament-like conformation but not activation. Structure-guided mutagenesis of the NPF-binding sites reveals their distinct roles in activation and shows that, contrary to budding yeast Arp2/3 complex, NPF-mediated delivery of actin at the barbed end of both Arps is required for activation of human Arp2/3 complex.

How proteins sharing a common fold have evolved different functions is a fundamental question in biology. Tropomodulins (Tmods) are prototypical actin filament pointed-end-capping proteins, whereas their homologs, Leiomodins (Lmods), are powerful filament nucleators. We show that Tmods and Lmods do not compete biochemically, and display similar but distinct localization in sarcomeres. Changes along the polypeptide chains of Tmods and Lmods exquisitely adapt their functions for capping vs. nucleation. Tmods have alternating tropomyosin (TM)- and actin-binding sites (TMBS1, ABS1, TMBS2, ABS2). Lmods additionally contain a C-terminal extension featuring an actin-binding WH2 domain. Unexpectedly, the different activities of Tmods and Lmods do not arise from the Lmod-specific extension. Instead, nucleation by Lmods depends on two major adaptations – the loss of pointed-end-capping elements present in Tmods and the specialization of the highly conserved ABS2 for recruitment of two or more actin subunits. The WH2 domain plays only an auxiliary role in nucleation.

New monomers, 5‘-O-DMT-deoxyribonucleoside 3‘-O-(2-thio-“spiro”-4,4-pentamethylene-1,3,2-oxathiaphospholane)s, were prepared and used for the stereocontrolled synthesis of PS−Oligos via the oxathiaphospholane approach. These monomers and their 2-oxo analogues were used for the synthesis of “chimeric” constructs (PS/PO−Oligos) possessing phosphate and P-stereodefined phosphorothioate internucleotide linkages. The yield of a single coupling step is approximately 92−95%, and resulting oligomers are free of nucleobase- and sugar-phosphorothioate backbone modifications. Thermal dissociation studies showed that for heteroduplexes formed by [R P]-, [S P]-, or [mix]-PS/PO-T10 with dA12, dA30, or poly(dA), for each template, the melting temperatures, as well as free Gibbs' energies of dissociation process, are virtually equal. Stereochemical evidence derived from crystallographic analysis of one of the oxathiaphospholane monomers strongly supports the participation of pentacoordinate intermediates in the mechanism of the oxathiaphospholane ring-opening condensation.

Previous structures of Arp2/3 complex, determined in the absence of a nucleation-promoting factor and actin, reveal its inactive conformation. The study of the activated structure has been hampered by uncontrollable polymerization. We have engineered a stable activated complex consisting of Arp2/3 complex, the WCA activator region of N-WASP, and one actin monomer, and studied its structure in solution by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The scattering data support a model in which the first actin subunit binds at the barbed end of Arp2, and disqualify an alternative model that places the first actin subunit at the barbed end of Arp3. This location of the first actin and bound W motif constrains the binding site of the C motif to subunits Arp2 and ARPC1, from where the A motif can reach subunits Arp3 and ARPC3. The results support a model of activation that is consistent with most of the biochemical observations.