Myosin Va is associated with discrete vesicle populations in a number of cell types, but little is known of the function of myosin Vb. Yeast two-hybrid screening of a rabbit parietal cell cDNA library with dominant active Rab11a (Rab11aS20V) identified myosin Vb as an interacting protein for Rab11a, a marker for plasma membrane recycling systems. The isolated clone, corresponding to the carboxyl terminal 60 kDa of the myosin Vb tail, interacted with all members of the Rab11 family (Rab11a, Rab11b, and Rab25). GFP-myosin Vb and endogenous myosin Vb immunoreactivity codistributed with Rab11a in HeLa and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. As with Rab11a in MDCK cells, the myosin Vb immunoreactivity was dispersed with nocodazole treatment and relocated to the apical corners of cells with taxol treatment. A green fluorescent protein (GFP)-myosin Vb tail chimera overexpressed in HeLa cells retarded transferrin recycling and caused accumulation of transferrin and the transferrin receptor in pericentrosomal vesicles. Expression of the myosin Vb tail chimera in polarized MDCK cells stably expressing the polymeric IgA receptor caused accumulation of basolaterally endocytosed polymeric IgA and the polymeric IgA receptor in the pericentrosomal region. The myosin Vb tail had no effects on transferrin trafficking in polarized MDCK cells. The GFP-myosin Va tail did not colocalize with Rab11a and had no effects on recycling system vesicle distribution in either HeLa or MDCK cells. The results indicate myosin Vb is associated with the plasma membrane recycling system in nonpolarized cells and the apical recycling system in polarized cells. The dominant negative effects of the myosin Vb tail chimera indicate that this unconventional myosin is required for transit out of plasma membrane recycling systems.

The IQ motif is widely distributed in both myosins and non-myosins and is quite common in the database that includes more than 900 Pfam entries. An examination of IQ motif-containing proteins that are known to bind calmodulin (CaM) indicates a wide diversity of biological functions that parallel the Ca 2+ -dependent targets. These proteins include a variety of neuronal growth proteins, myosins, voltage-operated channels, phosphatases, Ras exchange proteins, sperm surface proteins, a Ras Gap-like protein, spindle-associated proteins and several proteins in plants. The IQ motif occurs in some proteins with Ca 2+ -dependent CaM interaction where it may promote Ca 2+ -independent retention of CaM. The action of the IQ motif may result in complex signaling as observed for myosins and the L-type Ca 2+ channels and is highly localized as required for sites of neuronal polarized growth and plasticity, fertilization, mitosis and cytoskeletal organization. The IQ motif associated with the unconventional myosins also promotes Ca 2+ regulation of the vectorial movement of cellular constituents to these sites. Additional regulatory roles for this versatile motif seem likely. ß

Synapsin I is a neuron-specific phosphoprotein localized to the cytoplasmic surface of synaptic vesicles. This phosphoprotein is a major substrate for cyclic AMP-dependent and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases. Its state of phosphorylation can be altered both in vivo and in vitro by a variety of physiological and pharmacological manipulations known to affect synaptic function. Recent direct evidence suggests that it may be involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter release from the nerve terminal. In the nerve terminal, synaptic vesicles are embedded in a cytoskeletal network, consisting in part of actin. We report here the ability of the dephospho-form of synapsin I to bundle F-actin. This bundling activity is reduced when synapsin I is phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase and virtually abolished when it is phosphorylated by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II or by both kinases. These results, demonstrating an interaction of synapsin I with actin in vitro, support the possibility that synapsin I is involved in clustering of synaptic vesicles at the presynaptic terminal and that the phosphorylation of synapsin I may be involved in regulating the translocation of synaptic vesicles to their sites of release.

Directional motility is a fundamental function of immune cells, which are recruited to sites of pathogen invasion or tissue damage by chemoattractant signals. To move, cells need to generate lamellipodial membrane protrusions at the front and retract the trailing end. These elementary events are initiated by Rho-family GTPases, which cycle between active GTP-bound and inactive GDP-bound states. How the activity of these “molecular switches” is spatially coordinated is only beginning to be understood. Here, we show that myosin IXb (Myo9b), a Rho GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) expressed in immune cells, is essential for coordinating the activity of Rho. We generated Myo9b-deficient mice and show that Myo9b −/− macrophages have strikingly defective spreading and polarization. Furthermore, Myo9b −/− macrophages fail to generate lamellipodia in response to a chemoattractant, and migration in a chemotactic gradient is severely impaired. Inhibition of Rho rescues the Myo9b −/− phenotype, but impairs tail retraction. We also found that Myo9b is important in vivo. Chemoattractant-induced monocyte recruitment to the peritoneal cavity is substantially reduced in Myo9b −/− mice. Thus, we identify the “motorized Rho inhibitor” Myo9b as a key molecular component required for spatially coordinated cell shape changes and motility.

Abstract. Synapsin I is a major neuron-specific phosphoprotein that is specifically localized to the cytoplasmic surface of small synaptic vesicles. In the present study, the binding of synapsin I to small synaptic vesicles was characterized in detail. The binding of synapsin I was preserved when synaptic vesicles were solubilized and reconstituted in phosphatidylcholine. After separation of the protein and lipid components of synaptic vesicles under nondenaturing conditions, synapsin I bound to both components. The use of hydrophobic labeling procedures allowed the assessment of interactions between phospholipids and synapsin I in intact synaptic vesicles. Hydrophobic photolabeling followed by cysteine-specific cleavage of synapsin I demonstrated that the head domain of synapsin I penetrates into the hydrophobic core of the bilayer. The purified NH2-terminal fragment, derived from the head domain by cysteine-specific cleavage, bound to synaptic vesicles with high affinity confirming the results obtained from hydrophobic photolabeling. Synapsin I binding to synaptic vesicles could be inhibited by the entire molecule or by the combined presence of the NH2-terminal and tail fragments, but not by an excess of either NH2-terminal or tail fragment alone. The purified tail fragment bound with relatively high affinity to synaptic vesicles, though it did not significantly interact with phospholipids. Binding of the tail fragment was competed by holosynapsin I; was greatly decreased by phosphorylation; and was abolished by high ionic strength conditions or protease treatment of synaptic vesicles. The data suggest the existence of two sites of interaction between synapsin I and small synaptic vesicles: binding of the head domain to vesicle phospholipids and of the tail domain to a protein component of the vesicle membrane. The latter interaction is apparently responsible for the salt and phosphorylation dependency of synapsin I binding to small synaptic vesicles.S YNAPSIN I is a neuron-specific synaptic vesicle-associated phosphoprotein (11,13,20,32,35). It has a collagenase-insensitive head domain containing a serine residue that can be phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase or calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I (site 1) and an elongated collagenase-sensitive tail domain with two serine residues that can be phosphorylated by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (sites 2 and 3) (10,19,31,39). The association of synapsin I with highly purified brain small synaptic vesicles has recently been partially characterized (34). Purified dephosphorylated synapsin I bound to synapsin I-depleted synaptic vesicles with high affinity (K, = 10 nM at 40 mM NaC1) and saturability (Bin,, = 800 fmol/#g protein). Increasing the ionic strength of the medium, or phosphorylating the tail domain, decreased the affinity of this binding without altering the B ... amount of synapsin I rebound at saturation, representing ~6 % of the total synaptic vesicle protein, was similar to the amount found in native synaptic vesic...

Abstract. Synapsin I, a major neuron-specific phosphoprotein, is localized on the cytoplasmic surface of small synaptic vesicles to which it binds with high affinity. It contains a collagenase-resistant head domain and a collagenase-sensitive elongated tail domain. In the present study, the interaction between synapsin I and phospholipid vesicles has been characterized, and the protein domains involved in these interactions have been identified. When lipid vesicles were prepared from cholesterol and phospholipids using a lipid composition similar to that found in native synaptic vesicle membranes (40% phosphatidylcholine, 32% phosphatidylethanolamine, 12% phosphatidylserine, 5% phosphatidylinositol, 10% cholesterol, wt/wt), synapsin I bound with a dissociation constant of 14 nM and a maximal binding capacity of about 160 fmol of synapsin I/#g of phospholipid. Increasing the ionic strength decreased the affinity without greatly affecting the maximal amount of synapsin I bound. When vesicles containing cholesterol and either phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine were tested, no significant binding was detected under any conditions examined. On the other hand, phosphatidylcholine vesicles containing either phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol strongly interacted with synapsin I. The amount of synapsin I maximally bound was directly proportional to the percentage of acidic phospholipids present in the lipid bilayer, whereas the Kj value was not affected by varying the phospholipid composition. A study of synapsin I fragments obtained by cysteine-specific cleavage showed that the collagenase-resistant head domain actively bound to phospholipid vesicles; in contrast, the collagenasesensitive tail domain, though strongly basic, did not significantly interact. Photolabeling of synapsin I was performed with the phosphatidylcholine analogue l-palmitoyl-2- [11-[4-[3-(trifluoromethyl)] undecanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; this compound generates a highly reactive carbene that selectively interacts with membrane-embedded domains of membrane proteins. Synapsin I was significantly labeled upon photolysis when incubated with lipid vesicles containing acidic phospholipids and trace amounts of the photoactivatable phospholipid. Proteolytic cleavage of photolabeled synapsin I localized the label to the head domain of the molecule. The results suggest that synapsin I, which has an amphiphilic character and local regions of positive charge, interacts withartificial membranes containing acidic phospholipids, and this surface interaction, presumably of electrostatic nature, is followed by a penetration of the head domain into the hydrophobic core of the membrane. p ROTEIN phosphorylation represents a process of paramount importance in the nervous system and is involved in signal transduction and information processing (45). Synapsin I, a collective name for two closely related peptides (Ia and Ib) with apparent molecular weights of 86,000 and 80,000 on SDS-PAGE, is a major neuronspecific phospho...

The overexpression of neuropeptide receptors observed in many cancers provides an attractive target for tumor imaging and therapy. Bombesin is a peptide exhibiting a high affinity for the gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) receptor, which is overexpressed by a variety of tumors such as breast or prostate cancer. In the present study, we have evaluated if the bombesin analogue [N(alpha)-histidinyl acetate]bombesin(7-14), radiolabeled with the novel [99mTc(OH(2))(3)(CO)(3)]+, has the potential to be used as a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical. Receptor saturation studies, carried out on the GRP receptor-expressing PC-3 human prostate cancer cell line, revealed for [99mTc(CO)(3)-N(alpha)-histidinyl acetate]bombesin(7-14) K(d) values in the subnanomolar range. Competitive binding assays, using the cold rhenium(I)-labeled analogue as a surrogate for the 99mTc-conjugate, also showed high affinity binding. Incubation of the radioconjugate with PC-3 cells resulted in a rapid temperature- and time-dependent specific internalization. At 37 degrees C more than 70% was internalized within the first 15 min and remained constant up to 2 h. Despite the weak proteolytic stability of [99mTc(CO)(3)-N(alpha)-histidinyl acetate]bombesin(7-14) in vitro, biodistribution studies, performed in PC-3 tumor-bearing mice, showed low uptake in the tumor (0.89 +/- 0.27% ID/g 30 min pi) but high uptake into the pancreas (7.11 +/- 3.93% ID/g 30 min pi), a GRP receptor-positive organ. Blockade experiment (coinjection of 300 microg bombesin/mouse with the radioligand) showed specificity of the uptake. Despite the low tumor uptake, tumor-to-blood ratios of 2.0 and 2.7 and tumor-to-muscle ratios of 8.9 and 8.0 were obtained at 30 min and 1.5 h postinjection, respectively. The promising results merit the future in vivo investigation of 99mTc/188Re-tricarbonyl-labeled bombesin analogues.

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.