• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2007

X-ray diffraction studies have been made to investigate the effects of binding of ADP, ADP+Vi, ADP+AIF4, $ADP+BeF_3$ on the structure of glycerinated rabbit skeletal muscle in the rigor state. Although these phosphate analogs are known to bind actively cycling myosin heads, it is not clear whether they can bind to the attached heads in the rigor muscle. We have found that these analogs can bind to the myosin heads attached to actin filaments in the rigor state. The present results indicate that (1) bound myosin heads altered their conformation in the proximal end toward the plane perpendicular to the fiber axis when MgADP bound to them, and (2) myosin heads were dissociated substantially (up to 50%) from actin filaments but still remained in the vicinity of actin filaments when MgADP and metallofluorides (AIF4 and BeF3) or vanadate bound to them. We detected new conformations of myosin heads attached to actin filaments when they had MgADP or ADP.Pi analogs. We report here these findings on the effects of MgADP and MgADP+phosphate analogs to the rigor crossbridges.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.427-431
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• 1998

In the previous report (Choi et al., 1997), the angiogenin binding peptides identified from a phage-peptide library were analyzed by using the fusion proteins composed of the Escherichia coli maltose binding protein and its corresponding peptides. However, it was difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of the fusion proteins required for further analysis because of the low expression level. We now report a high level expression of the fusion protein and analysis of its anti-angiogenin activity. The use of strong T7 promoter and removal of signal sequence allowed about a 20-fold increase in the expression efficiency of the fusion protein. We were able to obtain about 10 mg of purified fusion protein from one liter of culture. The purified fusion protein showed angiogenin-specific affinity and inhibited the binding of biotinylated actin to human angiogenin at $IC_{50}$ of 0.6 mM. Its anti-angiogenin activity was also revealed by the chorioallantoic membrane assay.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.141-146
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• 2004

SPIN90 was identified to farm molecular complex with $\betaPIX$, WASP and Nck. This complex shows that SPIN90 interacts with Nck in a manner dependent upon cell adhesion to extracellular matrix, but $SPIN90{\cdot}{\beta}PIX{\cdot}WASP$ complex was stable even in suspended cells. This suggests that SPIN90 serves as an adaptor molecule to recruit other proteins to Nck at focal adhesions. SPIN90 was phosphorylated by ERK1, which was, itself, activated by cell adhesion and platelet-derived growth factor. Such phosphorylation of SPIN90 likely promotes the interaction of the $SPIN90{\cdot}{\beta}PIX{\cdot}WASP$ complex and Nck. It thus appears that the interaction of the $SPIN90{\cdot}{\beta}PIX{\cdot}WASP$ complex with Nck is crucial for stable cell adhesion and can be dynamically modulated by SPIN90 phosphorylation that is dependent on cell adhesion and ERX activation. SPIN90 directly binds syndapin I, syndapin isoform II-1 and II-s via its PRD region in vitro, in vivo and also associates with endocytosis core components such as clathrin and dynamin. In neuron and fibroblast, SPIN90 colocalizes with syndapins as puntate form, consistent with a role for SPIN90 in clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway. Overexpression of SPIN90 N-term inhibits receptor-mediated endocytosis. Interestingly, SPIN90 PRD, binding interface of syndapin, significantly blocks internalization of transferrin, demonstrating SPIN90 involvement in endocytosis in vivo by interacting syndapin. Depletion of endogenous SPIN90 by introducing $\alpha-SPIN90$ also blocks receptor-mediated endocytosis. Actin polymerization could generate farce facilitating the pinch-out event in endocytosis, detach newly formed endocytic vesicle from the plasma membrane or push out them via the cytosol on actin tails. Here we found that SPIN90 localizes to high actin turn over cortical area, actin-membrane interface and membrane ruffle in PDGF treated cells. Overexpression of SPIN90 has an effect on cortical actin rearrangement as filopodia induction and it is mediated by the Arp2/3 complex at cell periphery. Consistent with a role in actin organization, CFP-SPIN90 present in actin comet tail generated by PIP5 $kinase\gamma$ overexpression. Therefore this study suggests that SPIN90 is functional linker between endocytosis and actin cytoskeleton.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.234-243
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• 2013

N-terminal kinase-like (NTKL) protein was initially identified as a protein binding to protein kinase B (PKB, also known as Akt). Though NTKL-BP1 (NTKL-binding protein 1) has been identified as an NTKL binding protein, its functions related to binding have not yet been elucidated. Here, a new alternative spliced variant of NTKL and its association with integrin ${\beta}1$ is described, in addition to the kinase activity of NTKL and its substrate candidates. Although the phosphorylation of the candidates must be further confirmed using other experimental methods, the observation that NTKL can phosphorylate ROCK1, DYRK3, and MST1 indicates that NTKL may act as a signaling protein to regulate actin assembly, cell migration, cell growth, and to facilitate differentiation and development in an integrin-associated manner.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.123-126
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• 2004

The actin-binding protein profilin cDNA was firstly isolated from the lepidopteran insect, silkworm Bombyx mori. The B. mori profilin cDNA contains an open reading frame of 378 bp encoding 126 amino acid residues and possesses three cysteine residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the B. mori profilin cDNA showed 80% identity to Apis mellifera profilin and 72% to Drosophila melanogaster profilin. Northern blot analysis showed that B. mori profilin is highly expressed in epidermis and less strongly in silk gland. In addition, Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of B. mori profilin transcripts in all tissues examined, suggesting that B. mori profilin gene is expressed in most, if not all, body tissues.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.356-361
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• 2018

Actin-binding LIM protein 1 (ABLIM1), a member of the LIM-domain protein family, mediates interactions between actin filaments and cytoplasmic targets. However, the role of ABLIM1 in osteoclast and bone metabolism has not been reported. In the present study, we investigated the role of ABLIM1 in the receptor activator of $NF-{\kappa}B$ ligand (RANKL)-mediated osteoclastogenesis. ABLIM1 expression was induced by RANKL treatment and knockdown of ABLIM1 by retrovirus infection containing Ablim1-specific short hairpin RNA (shAblim1) decreased mature osteoclast formation and bone resorption activity in a RANKL-dose dependent manner. Coincident with the downregulated expression of osteoclast differentiation marker genes, the expression levels of c-Fos and the nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), critical transcription factors of osteoclastogenesis, were also decreased in shAblim1-infected osteoclasts during RANKL-mediated osteoclast differentiation. In addition, the motility of preosteoclast was reduced by ABLIM1 knockdown via modulation of the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/Rac1 signaling pathway, suggesting another regulatory mechanism of ABLIM1 in osteoclast formation. These data demonstrated that ABLIM1 is a positive regulator of RANKL-mediated osteoclast formation via the modulation of the differentiation and PI3K/Akt/Rac1-dependent motility.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2004

It is widely accepted that smooth muscle contraction is triggered by intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) released from intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ stores such as sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and from the extracellular space, The increased $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ can phosphorylate the 20-kDa myosin light chain ($MLC_{20}$) by activating MLC kinase (MLCK), and this initiates smooth muscle contraction. In addition to the $[Ca^{2+}]_i$-MLCK-tension pathway, a number of intracellular signal molecules, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), protein kinase C (PKC), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and Rho-associated coiled coil-forming protein kinase (ROCK), play important roles in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. However, the mechanisms regulating contraction of caldesmon (CaD), actin-binding protein, are not entirely elucidated in the presence of $Ca^{2+}$. It is known that CaD tightly interacts with actin and inhibits actomyosin ATPase activity. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the roles of $Ca^{2+}$-dependent CaD in smooth muscle contraction. Endothelin-1 (ET-1), G-protein coupled receptor agonist and vasoconstrictor, increased both vascular smooth contraction and phosphorylation of CaD in the presence of $Ca^{2+}$. These results suggest that ET-1 induces contraction and phosphorylation of CaD in rat aortic smooth muscle, which may he mediated by the increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.293-298
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• 2024

Microtubule acetylation has been shown to regulate actin filament dynamics by modulating signaling pathways that control actin organization, although the precise mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we found that the downregulation of microtubule acetylation via the disruption ATAT1 (which encodes α-tubulin N-acetyltransferase 1) inhibited the expression of RhoA, a small GTPase involved in regulating the organization of actin filaments and the formation of stress fibers. Analysis of RHOA promoter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that C/EBPβ is a major regulator of RHOA expression. Interestingly, the majority of C/EBPβ in ATAT1 knockout (KO) cells was found in the nucleus as a 27-kDa fragment (referred to as C/EBPβ^p27) lacking the N-terminus of C/EBPβ. Overexpression of a gene encoding a C/EBPβ^p27-mimicking protein via an N-terminal deletion in C/EBPβ led to competitive binding with wild-type C/EBPβ at the C/EBPβ binding site in the RHOA promoter, resulting in a significant decrease of RHOA expression. We also found that cathepsin L (CTSL), which is overexpressed in ATAT1 KO cells, is responsible for C/EBPβ^p27 formation in the nucleus. Treatment with a CTSL inhibitor led to the restoration of RHOA expression by downregulation of C/EBPβ^p27 and the invasive ability of ATAT1 KO MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that the downregulation of microtubule acetylation associated with ATAT1 deficiency suppresses RHOA expression by forming C/EBPβ^p27 in the nucleus through CTSL. We propose that CTSL and C/EBPβ^p27 may represent a novel therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7221-7227
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• 2013

Background: Fascin, an actin-bundling protein forming actin bundles including filopodia and stress fibers, is overexpressed in multiple human epithelial cancers including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Previously we conducted a microarray experiment to analyze fascin knockdown by RNAi in ESCC. Method: In this study, the differentially expressed genes from mRNA expression profilomg of fascin knockdown were analyzed by multiple bioinformatics methods for a comprehensive understanding of the role of fascin. Results: Gene Ontology enrichment found terms associated with cytoskeleton organization, including cell adhesion, actin filament binding and actin cytoskeleton, which might be related to fascin function. Except GO categories, the differentially expressed genes were annotated by 45 functional categories from the Functional Annotation Chart of DAVID. Subpathway analysis showed thirty-nine pathways were disturbed by the differentially expressed genes, providing more detailed information than traditional pathway enrichment analysis. Two subpathways derivated from regulation of the actin cytoskeleton were shown. Promoter analysis results indicated distinguishing sequence patterns and transcription factors in response to the co-expression of downregulated or upregulated differentially expressed genes. MNB1A, c-ETS, GATA2 and Prrx2 potentially regulate the transcription of the downregulated gene set, while Arnt-Ahr, ZNF42, Ubx and TCF11-MafG might co-regulate the upregulated genes. Conclusions: This multiple bioinformatic analysis helps provide a comprehensive understanding of the roles of fascin after its knockdown in ESCC.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2012

We characterized the cytoskeletal beta-actin (${\beta}$-ACT) gene (actb) and its 5'-upstream regulatory region in the Javanese ricefish Oryzias javanicus. The gene and protein structures were deduced from amino acid sequences of the actb gene and conserved in the teleost lineage. The O. javanicus actb gene has common transcription factor binding motifs in its regulatory region found in teleostean orthologues. Following quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, actb gene transcripts were detected in all tissues examined; however, the basal expression levels were different. During early development, O. javanicus actb mRNA levels showed a gradual increase and peaked between late somitogenesis and the heartbeat stage. Microinjection of O. javanicus embryos with the actb gene promoter-driven red fluorescent protein (RFP) gene reporter vector showed a ubiquitous distribution of RFP signals, although most exhibited a mosaic pattern of transgene expression. A small number of microinjected embryos displayed a wide distribution of RFP signals over their entire body, which resembled the expression pattern of endogenous actb. Data from this study provide a basis to develop a transgenic system with ubiquitous expression of foreign genes in O. javanicus.