The Drosophila egg chamber provides a useful model for examining mechanisms by which cell fates are specified and maintained in the context of a complex tissue. The egg chamber is also an excellent model for understanding the mechanism by which cytoskeletal filaments are organized and the critical interplay between cytoskeletal organization, polarity establishment, and cell fate specification. Previous work has shown that Egalitarian (Egl) is required for specification and maintenance of oocyte fate. Mutants in egl either completely fail to specify an oocyte, or if specified, the oocyte eventually reverts back to nurse cell fate. Due to this very early role for Egl in egg chamber maturation, it is unclear whether later stages of egg chamber development also require Egl function. In this report, we have depleted Egl at specific stages of egg chamber development. We demonstrate that in early-stage egg chambers, Egl has an additional role in organization of oocyte microtubules. In the absence of Egl function, oocyte microtubules completely fail to reorganize. As such, the localization of microtubule motors and their cargo is disrupted. In addition, Egl also appears to function in regulating the translation of critical polarity determining messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Finally, we demonstrate that in midstage egg chambers, Egl does not appear to be required for microtubule organization, but rather for the correct spatial localization of oskar, bicoid, and gurken mRNAs.

While it is well known that CD4+ T cells and B cells collaborate for antibody production, our group previously reported that CD8+ T cells downregulate alloantibody responses following transplantation. However, the exact mechanism involved in CD8+ T cell-mediated downregulation of alloantibody remains unclear. We also reported that alloantibody production is enhanced when either perforin or FasL is deficient in transplant recipients. Here, we report that CD8+ T cell-deficient transplant recipient mice (high alloantibody producers) exhibit an increased number of primed B cells compared to wild-type transplant recipients. Furthermore, CD8+ T cells require FasL, perforin, and allospecificity to downregulate posttransplant alloantibody production. In vivo CD8-mediated clearance of alloprimed B cells was also FasL- and perforin-dependent. In vitro data demonstrated that recipient CD8+ T cells directly induce apoptosis of alloprimed IgG1+ B cells in co-culture in an allospecific and MHC class I-dependent fashion. Altogether these data are consistent with the interpretation that CD8+ T cells downregulate posttransplant alloantibody production by FasL- and perforin-dependent direct elimination of alloprimed IgG1+ B cells.

In order for eukaryotic cells to function properly, they must establish polarity. The Drosophila oocyte uses mRNA localization to establish polarity and hence provides a genetically tractable model in which to study this process. The spatial restriction of oskar mRNA and its subsequent protein product is necessary for embryonic patterning. The localization of oskar mRNA requires microtubules and microtubule-based motor proteins. Null mutants in Kinesin heavy chain (Khc), the motor subunit of the plus end-directed Kinesin-1, result in oskar mRNA delocalization. Although the majority of oskar particles are non-motile in khc nulls, a small fraction of particles display active motility. Thus, a motor other than Kinesin-1 could conceivably also participate in oskar mRNA localization. Here we show that Dynein heavy chain (Dhc), the motor subunit of the minus end-directed Dynein complex, extensively co-localizes with Khc and oskar mRNA. In addition, immunoprecipitation of the Dynein complex specifically co-precipitated oskar mRNA and Khc. Lastly, germline-specific depletion of Dhc resulted in oskar mRNA and Khc delocalization. Our results therefore suggest that efficient posterior localization of oskar mRNA requires the concerted activities of both Dynein and Kinesin-1.

SummaryHow the opposing activity of kinesin and dynein motors generates polarized distribution of organelles inside cells is poorly understood and hotly debated [1, 2]. Possible explanations include stochastic mechanical competition [3, 4], coordinated regulation by motor-associated proteins [5, 6, 7], mechanical activation of motors [8], and lipid-induced organization [9]. Here, we address this question by using phagocytosed latex beads to generate early phagosomes (EPs) that move bidirectionally along microtubules (MTs) in an in vitro assay [9]. Dynein/kinesin activity on individual EPs is recorded as real-time force generation of the motors against an optical trap. Activity of one class of motors frequently coincides with, or is rapidly followed by opposite motors. This leads to frequent and rapid reversals of EPs in the trap. Remarkably, the choice between dynein and kinesin can be explained by the tossing of a coin. Opposing motors therefore appear to function stochastically and independently of each other, as also confirmed by observing no effect on kinesin function when dynein is inhibited on the EPs. A simple binomial probability calculation based on the geometry of EP-microtubule contact explains the observed activity of dynein and kinesin on phagosomes. This understanding of intracellular transport in terms of a hypothetical coin, if it holds true for other cargoes, provides a conceptual framework to explain the polarized localization of organelles inside cells.

Dynactin is a multi-subunit complex that functions as a regulator of the Dynein motor. A central component of this complex is Dynamitin/p50 (Dmn). Dmn is required for endosome motility in mammalian cell lines. However, the extent to which Dmn participates in the sorting of cargo via the endosomal system is unknown. In this study, we examined the endocytic role of Dmn using the Drosophila melanogaster oocyte as a model. Yolk proteins are internalized into the oocyte via clathrin-mediated endocytosis, trafficked through the endocytic pathway, and stored in condensed yolk granules. Oocytes that were depleted of Dmn contained fewer yolk granules than controls. In addition, these oocytes accumulated numerous endocytic intermediate structures. Particularly prominent were enlarged endosomes that were relatively devoid of Yolk proteins. Ultrastructural and genetic analyses indicate that the endocytic intermediates are produced downstream of Rab5. Similar phenotypes were observed upon depleting Dynein heavy chain (Dhc) or Lis1. Dhc is the motor subunit of the Dynein complex and Lis1 is a regulator of Dynein activity. We therefore propose that Dmn performs its function in endocytosis via the Dynein motor. Consistent with a role for Dynein in endocytosis, the motor colocalized with the endocytic machinery at the oocyte cortex in an endocytosis-dependent manner. Our results suggest a model whereby endocytic activity recruits Dynein to the oocyte cortex. The motor along with its regulators, Dynactin and Lis1, functions to ensure efficient endocytic uptake and maturation.KEYWORDS microtubule motors; endocytosis; cell polarity; kinesin; dynactin M ICROTUBULE motors such as cytoplasmic Dynein (hereafter referred to as Dynein) and proteins of the Kinesin superfamily play essential roles in cargo transport. Dynein is a minus-end motor and is responsible for the majority of minus-end transport within the cell (Kardon and Vale 2009). Mammalian genomes encode .40 different Kinesins, and most of these move cargo toward the plus-end of microtubules (Hirokawa et al. 2009). One type of cargo that is known to be transported by microtubule motors are vesicles of the endolysosomal system.Cargoes that enter the cell via endocytosis follow numerous sorting pathways that ultimately determine their fate. For example, nutrient receptors such as the Transferrin receptor, are recycled back to the plasma membrane (Mayor et al. 1993;Huotari and Helenius 2011). Growth factor receptors and signaling molecules are often targeted for degradation (Beguinot et al. 1984;Huotari and Helenius 2011). This is necessary to attenuate growth-promoting signals. Persistent and uncontrolled growth-promoting signals are associated with cancer (Normanno et al. 2006). Cargoes that are destined for degradation transit through vesicles that undergo maturation from early endosome to late endosome. Late endosomes eventually fuse with acidic, degradative organelles known as lysosomes. Endocytic maturation involves the progressive and ordered association of specifi...

Many cell types including developing oocytes, fibroblasts, epithelia and neurons use mRNA localization as a means to establish polarity. The Drosophila oocyte has served as a useful model in dissecting the mechanism of mRNA localization. The polarity of the oocyte is established by the specific localization of three critical mRNAs-oskar, bicoid and gurken. The localization of these mRNAs requires microtubule integrity, and the activity of microtubule motors. However, the precise organization of the oocyte microtubule cytoskeleton remains an open question. In order to examine the polarity of oocyte microtubules, we visualized the localization of canonical microtubule plus end binding proteins, EB1 and CLIP-190. Both proteins were enriched at the posterior of the oocyte, with additional foci detected within the oocyte cytoplasm and along the cortex. Surprisingly, however, we found that this asymmetric distribution of EB1 and CLIP-190 was not essential for oskar mRNA localization. However, Oskar protein was required for recruiting the plus end binding proteins to the oocyte posterior. Lastly, our results suggest that the enrichment of growing microtubules at the posterior pole functions to promote high levels of endocytosis in this region of the cell. Thus, multiple polarity-determining pathways are functionally linked in the Drosophila oocytes.

The dynein–dynactin nanomachine transports cargoes along microtubules in cells. Why dynactin interacts separately with the dynein motor and also with microtubules is hotly debated. Here we disrupted these interactions in a targeted manner on phagosomes extracted from cells, followed by optical trapping to interrogate native dynein–dynactin teams on single phagosomes. Perturbing the dynactin–dynein interaction reduced dynein’s on rate to microtubules. In contrast, perturbing the dynactin–microtubule interaction increased dynein’s off rate markedly when dynein was generating force against the optical trap. The dynactin–microtubule link is therefore required for persistence against load, a finding of importance because disease-relevant mutations in dynein–dynactin are known to interfere with “high-load” functions of dynein in cells. Our findings call attention to a less studied property of dynein–dynactin, namely, its detachment against load, in understanding dynein dysfunction.

We previously reported that posttransplant alloantibody production in CD8-deficient hosts is IL-4+CD4+ T cell-dependent and IgG1 isotype-dominant. The current studies investigated the hypothesis that IL-4-producing NKT cells contribute to maximal alloantibody production. To investigate this, alloantibody levels were examined in CD8-deficient wild-type, CD1d KO and Jα18 KO transplant recipients. We found that the magnitude of IgG1 alloantibody production was critically dependent on the presence of type I NKT cells, which are activated by day 1 posttransplant. Unexpectedly, type I NKT cell contribution to enhanced IgG1 alloantibody levels was IFN-γ-dependent and IL-4-independent. Cognate interactions between Type I NKT and B cells alone do not stimulate alloantibody production. Instead, NKT cells appear to enhance maturation of IL-4+CD4+ T cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report to substantiate a critical role for type I NKT cells in enhancing in vivo antibody production in response to endogenous antigenic stimuli.