Movement is a fundamental property of living matter. Specialized molecules with mechano-chemical properties are responsible for cellular motility and its macroscopic manifestations, such as muscle contraction. The myosins make up a large family of molecular motors that feature a conserved, mechano-chemical domain, capable of transforming the chemical energy of adenosine triphosphate hydrolysis into the generation of force and movement along filamentous actin tracks. Although first characterized as the molecular power generator of muscle contraction, myosins are now known to be ubiquitous in virtually all mammalian cell types as well as widely distributed among eukaryotic organisms, in both plants and animals. They have multifunctional roles in many cellular processes, ranging from cytokinesis and pseudopodia extension to pigment granule transport and cytoplasmic streaming. Over the past 20 years, researchers have identified over 200 myosin genes, making up more than 37 structural classes, depending on the phylogenetic and molecular criteria applied. Myosin classes are generally referred to by Roman numerals (e.g., myosin V or myosin XVI) within what is now called the myosin superfamily of molecular motors.

In previous works, we identified a RNA-binding protein in presynaptic terminal of squid neurons, which is likely involved in local mRNA processing. Evidences indicate this strongly basic protein, called p65, is an SDS-stable dimer protein composed of ~ 37 kDa hnRNPA/B-like subunits. The function of p65 in presynaptic regions is not well understood. In this work, we showed p65 and its subunit p37 are concentrated in RNA-enriched regions in synaptosomes. We performed in vitro binding studies with a recombinant protein and showed its propensity to selectively bind actin mRNA at the squid presynaptic terminal. Biochemical analysis using lysed synaptosomes suggested RNA integrity may affect p65 and p37 functions. Mass spectrometry analysis of oligo(dT) pull down indicated squid hnRNPA1, hnRNPA1-like 2, hnRNPA3 and ELAV-like proteins as candidates to interact with p65 and p37 forming a ribonucleoprotein complex, suggesting a role of squid hnRNPA/B-like proteins in site-specific RNA processing.

Eukaryotic mRNA precursors are co-transcriptionally assembled into ribonucleoprotein complexes. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) complexes are involved in mRNA translocation, stability, subcellular localization and regulation of mRNA translation. About 20 major classes of hnRNPs have been identified in mammals. In a previous work, we characterized a novel, strongly-basic, RNA-binding protein (p65) in presynaptic terminals of squid neurons presenting homology with human hnRNPA/B type proteins, likely involved in local mRNA processing. We have identified and sequenced two hnRNPA/B-like proteins associated with tissue purified squid p65: Protein 1 (36.3 kDa, IP 7.1) and Protein 2 (37.6 kDa, IP 8.9). In the present work we generated an in silico, tridimensional, structural model of squid hnRNPA/B-like Protein 2, which showed highly conserved secondary and tertiary structure of RNA recognition motifs with human hnRNPA1 protein, as well as illustrated the potential for squid Protein 2 stable homodimerization. This was supported by biophysical measurements of bacterially expressed, recombinant protein. In addition, we induced expression of squid hnRNPA/B-like Protein 2 in human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and observed an exclusively nuclear localization, which depended on an intact C-terminal amino acid sequence and which relocated to cytoplasm particles containing PABP when the cells were challenged with sorbitol, suggesting an involvement with stress granule function.

Myosin Va (MyoVa) is an actin-based molecular motor abundantly found at the centrosome. However, the role of MyoVa at this organelle has been elusive due to the lack of evidence on interacting partners or functional data. Herein, we combined yeast two-hybrid screen, biochemical studies and cellular assays to demonstrate that MyoVa interacts with RPGRIP1L, a cilia-centrosomal protein that controls ciliary signaling and positioning. MyoVa binds to the C2 domains of RPGRIP1L via residues located near or in the Rab11a-binding site, a conserved site in the globular tail domain (GTD) from class V myosins. According to proximity ligation assays, MyoVa and RPGRIP1L can interact near the cilium base in ciliated RPE cells. Furthermore, we showed that RPE cells expressing dominant-negative constructs of MyoVa are mostly unciliated, providing the first experimental evidence about a possible link between this molecular motor and cilia-related processes.

The presence of mRNAs in synaptic terminals and their regulated translation are important factors in neuronal communication and plasticity. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) complexes are involved in the translocation, stability, and subcellular localization of mRNA and the regulation of its translation. Defects in these processes and mutations in components of the hnRNP complexes have been related to the formation of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite much data on mRNA localization and evidence for protein synthesis, as well as the presence of translation machinery, in axons and presynaptic terminals, the identity of RNA-binding proteins involved in RNA transport and function in presynaptic regions is lacking. We previously characterized a strongly basic RNA-binding protein (p65), member of the hnRNPA/B subfamily, in squid presynaptic terminals. Intriguingly, in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), p65 migrated as a 65-kDa protein, whereas members of the hnRNPA/B family typically have molecular masses ranging from 35 to 42 kDa. In this report we present further biochemical and molecular characterization that shows endogenous p65 to be an SDS-stable dimer composed of similar to 37-kDa hnRNPA/B-like subunits. We cloned and expressed a recombinant protein corresponding to squid hnRNPA/B-like protein and showed its propensity to aggregate and form SDS-stable dimers in vitro. Our data suggest that this unique hnRNPA/B-like protein colocalizes with synaptic vesicle protein 2 and RNA-binding protein ELAV and thus may serve as a link between local mRNA processing and presynaptic function and regulation. (C) 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background: MyoVs are molecular motors widely distributed in eukaryotic cells responsible for membrane trafficking and intracellular transport. Results: The cargo-binding domain from human MyoV paralogs was structurally and biophysically characterized. Conclusion: We identified singular structural changes and molecular events conferring functional differentiation and modulating cargo binding. Significance: This work provides structural insights into cargo recognition and regulatory mechanisms in MyoVs.Myosin V (MyoV) motors have been implicated in the intracellular transport of diverse cargoes including vesicles, organelles, RNA-protein complexes, and regulatory proteins. Here, we have solved the cargo-binding domain (CBD) structures of the three human MyoV paralogs (Va, Vb, and Vc), revealing subtle structural changes that drive functional differentiation and a novel redox mechanism controlling the CBD dimerization process, which is unique for the MyoVc subclass. Moreover, the cargo- and motor-binding sites were structurally assigned, indicating the conservation of residues involved in the recognition of adaptors for peroxisome transport and providing high resolution insights into motor domain inhibition by CBD. These results contribute to understanding the structural requirements for cargo transport, autoinhibition, and regulatory mechanisms in myosin V motors.

Myosin Va functions as a processive, actin-based motor molecule highly enriched in the nervous system, which transports and/or tethers organelles, vesicles, and mRNA and protein translation machinery. Mutation of myosin Va leads to Griscelli disease that is associated with severe neurological deficits and a short life span. Despite playing a critical role in development, the expression of myosin Va in the central nervous system throughout the human life span has not been reported. To address this issue, the cerebellar expression of myosin Va from newborns to elderly humans was studied by immunohistochemistry using an affinity-purified anti-myosin Va antibody. Myosin Va was expressed at all ages from the 10th postnatal day to the 98th year of life, in molecular, Purkinje and granular cerebellar layers. Cerebellar myosin Va expression did not differ essentially in localization or intensity from childhood to old age, except during the postnatal developmental period. Structures resembling granules and climbing fibers in Purkinje cells were deeply stained. In dentate neurons, long processes were deeply stained by anti-myosin Va, as were punctate nuclear structures. During the first postnatal year, myosin Va was differentially expressed in the external granular layer (EGL). In the EGL, proliferating prospective granule cells were not stained by anti-myosin Va antibody. In contrast, premigratory granule cells in the EGL stained moderately. Granule cells exhibiting a migratory profile in the molecular layer were also moderately stained. In conclusion, neuronal myosin Va is developmentally regulated, and appears to be required for cerebellar function from early postnatal life to senescence.

Myosin Va is an actin-based, processive molecular motor protein highly enriched in the nervous tissue of vertebrates. It has been associated with processes of cellular motility, which include organelle transport and neurite outgrowth. The in vivo expression of myosin Va protein in the developing nervous system of mammals has not yet been reported. We describe here the immunolocalization of myosin Va in the developing rat hippocampus. Coronal sections of the embryonic and postnatal rat hippocampus were probed with an affinity-purified, polyclonal anti-myosin Va antibody. Myosin Va was localized in the cytoplasm of granule cells in the dentate gyrus and of pyramidal cells in Ammon's horn formation. Myosin Va expression changed during development, being higher in differentiating rather than already differentiated granule and pyramidal cells. Some of these cells presented a typical migratory profile, while others resembled neurons that were in the process of differentiation. Myosin Va was also transiently expressed in fibers present in the fimbria. Myosin Va was not detected in germinative matrices of the hippocampus proper or of the dentate gyrus. In conclusion, myosin Va expression in both granule and pyramidal cells showed both position and time dependency during hippocampal development, indicating that this motor protein is under developmental regulation.

Chlorhexidine (CHX), widely used as antiseptic and therapeutic agent in medicine and dentistry, has a toxic effect both in vivo and in vitro. The intrinsic mechanism underlying CHX-induced cytotoxicity in eukaryotic cells is, however, still unknown. A recent study from our laboratory has suggested that CHX may induce death in cultured L929 fibroblasts via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This hypothesis was further tested by means of light and electron microscopy, quantification of apoptosis and necrosis by flow cytometry, fluorescence visualization of the cytoskeleton and endoplasmic reticulum, and evaluation of the expression of 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein 78 (Grp78), a marker of activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in cultured L929 fibroblasts. Our finding showing increased Grp 78 expression in CHX-treated cells and the results of flow cytometry, cytoskeleton and endoplasmic reticulum fluorescence visualization, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy allowed us to suggest that CHX elicits accumulation of proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum, which causes ER overload, resulting in ER stress and cell death either by necrosis or apoptosis. It must be pointed out, however, that this does not necessarily mean that ER stress is the only way that CHX kills L929 fibroblasts, but rather that ER stress is an important target or indicator of cell death induced by this drug.

A polyclonal antibody (C4), raised against the head domain of chicken myosin Va, reacted strongly towards a 65 kDa polypeptide (p65) on Western blots of extracts from squid optic lobes but did not recognize the heavy chain of squid myosin V. This peptide was not recognized by other myosin Va antibodies, nor by an antibody specific for squid myosin V. In an attempt to identify it, p65 was purified from optic lobes of Loligo plei by cationic exchange and reverse phase chromatography. Several peptide sequences were obtained by mass spectroscopy from p65 cut from sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gels. BLAST analysis and partial matching with expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a Loligo pealei data bank indicated that p65 contains consensus signatures for the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A/B family of RNA-binding proteins. Centrifugation of post mitochondrial extracts from optic lobes on sucrose gradients after treatment with RNase gave biochemical evidence that p65 associates with cytoplasmic RNP complexes in an RNA-dependent manner. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence studies using the C4 antibody showed partial co-labeling with an antibody against squid synaptotagmin in bands within the outer plexiform layer of the optic lobes and at the presynaptic zone of the stellate ganglion. Also, punctate labeling by the C4 antibody was observed within isolated optic lobe synaptosomes. The data indicate that p65 is a novel RNA-binding protein located to the presynaptic terminal within squid neurons and may have a role in synaptic localization of RNA and its translation or processing.

Myosin-Va is a Ca2+/calmodulin-regulated unconventional myosin involved in the transport of vesicles, membranous organelles, and macromolecular complexes composed of proteins and mRNA. The cellular localization of myosin-Va has been described in great detail in several vertebrate cell types, including neurons, melanocytes, lymphocytes, auditory tissues, and a number of cultured cells. Here, we provide an immunohistochemical view of the tissue distribution of myosin-Va in the major endocrine organs. Myosin-Va is highly expressed in the pineal and pituitary glands and in specific cell populations of other endocrine glands, especially the parafollicular cells of the thyroid, the principal cells of the parathyroid, the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas, the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla, and a subpopulation of interstitial testicular cells. Weak to moderate staining has been detected in steroidogenic cells of the adrenal cortex, ovary, and Leydig cells. Myosin-Va has also been localized to non-endocrine cells, such as the germ cells of the seminiferous epithelium and maturing oocytes and in the intercalated ducts of the exocrine pancreas. These data provide the first systematic description of myosin-Va localization in the major endocrine organs of rat.

Nuclear actin and nuclear myosins have been implicated in the regulation of gene expression in vertebrate cells. Myosin V is a class of actin-based motor proteins involved in cytoplasmic vesicle transport and anchorage, spindle-pole alignment and mRNA translocation. In this study, myosin-Va, phosphorylated on a conserved serine in the tail domain (phospho-ser(1650) MVa), was localized to subnuclear compartments. A monoclonal antibody, 9E6, raised against a peptide corresponding to phosphoserine(1650) and flanking regions of the murine myosin Va sequence, was immunoreactive to myosin Va heavy chain in cellular and nuclear extracts of HeLa cells, PC12 cells and B16-F10 melanocytes. Immunofluorescence microscopy with this antibody revealed discrete irregular spots within the nucleoplasm that colocalized with SC35, a splicing factor that earmarks nuclear speckles. Phospho-ser(1650) MVa was not detected in other nuclear compartments, such as condensed chromatin, Cajal bodies, gems and perinucleolar caps. Although nucleoli also were not labeled by 9E6 under normal conditions, inhibition of transcription in HeLa cells by actinomycin D caused the redistribution of phospho-ser(1650) MVa to nucleoli, as well as separating a fraction of phospho-ser(1650) MVa from SC35 into near-neighboring particles. These observations indicate a novel role for myosin Va in nuclear compartmentalization and offer a new lead towards the understanding of actomyosin-based gene regulation.

The preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) gene is aberrantly expressed in chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (CLD). We produced and characterized an anti-PRAME monoclonal antibody (MoAb), which was then applied in a quantitative flow cytometric (QFC) method to evaluate PRAME expression in leukemic cells from the peripheral blood (PB) of 47 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and seven with mantle cell lymphoma as well as in the PB mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and B lymphocytes from 15 healthy subjects. Approximately 90% of CLD, but none of the normal samples, presented more than 20% of PRAME+ lymphocytes. Moreover, the intensity of PRAME expression was significantly higher in CLD cells compared to normal B lymphocytes and PBMCs. By immunofluorescence microscopy and by permeabilized flow cytometry we demonstrated that PRAME is a membrane antigen and a cytoplasmic protein aberrantly expressed in malignant CLD. Our results suggest that the analysis of PRAME protein may contribute for the distinction between normal and leukemic cells in CLD, and that PRAME may be a potential target for therapy.

Cross-linking of CD44 in vitro promotes chemokinesis and actin-based dendrite formation in T and B cells. However, the mechanisms by which the adhesion molecule CD44 induces cytoskeleton activation in lymphocytes are still poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated whether myosin isoforms are involved in CD44-dependent dendrite formation in activated B cells. Pharmacological inhibition of myosin with 2,3-butanedione monoxime strongly affected spreading and dendrite formation, suggesting that these cellular motors may participate in these phenomena. Furthermore, immunofluorescence analysis showed differences in subcellular localization of class I and class II myosin during B cell spreading. In response to CD44 cross-linking, myosin-1c was polarized to lamellipodia, where F-actin was high. In contrast, the distribution of cytosplasmic nonmuscle class II myosin was not altered. Expressions of myosin-1c and II were also demonstrated in B cells by Western blot. Although the inhibition of PLCγ, PI3K and MEK-1 activation affected the spreading and dendrite formation in activated B cells, only PLCγ and MEK-1 inhibition correlated with absence of myosin-1c polarization. Additionally, myosin-1c polarization was observed upon cross-linking of other surface molecules, suggesting a common mechanism for B cell spreading. This work shows that class I and class II myosin are expressed in B cells, are differentially distributed, and may participate in the morphological changes of these cells.

This report fulfills the contract obligations based on the Statement of Work (SOW) for the project as contracted with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery (NPTH) Year-2002 annual report combines information from two contracts with a combined value of $3,036,014. Bonneville Power Administration identifies them as follows; (1) Part I--Operations and Maintenance--Project No. 1983-350-00, Contract No. 4504, and $2,682,635 which includes--Equipment costs of $1,807,105. (2) Part II--Planning and Design--Project No. 1983-35-04, Contract No. 4035, $352,379 for Clearwater Coho Restoration Master Plan development Based on NPPC authorization for construction and operation of NPTH, the annual contracts were negotiated for the amounts shown above under (1) and (2). Construction contracts were handled by BPA until all facilities are completed and accepted.