Mts1 Regulates the Assembly of Nonmuscle Myosin-IIA

Zhong Hua Li, Anna Spektor, Olga Varlamova, Anne R. Bresnick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

108 Scopus citations

Abstract

The formation of myosin-II filaments is fundamental to contractile and motile processes in nonmuscle cells, and elucidating the mechanisms controlling filament assembly is essential for understanding how myosin-II rapidly responds to changing conditions within the cell. Several proteins including KRP and a novel 38 kDa protein (1, 2) have been shown to modulate filament assembly through the stabilization of myosin-II assemblies. In contrast, we demonstrate that mtsl, a member of the Ca2+-regulated S100 family of proteins, may regulate the monomeric, unassembled state in an isoform-specific manner. Biochemical analyses demonstrate that mts1 has a 9-fold higher affinity for myosin-IIA filaments than for myosin-IIB filaments. At stoichiometric levels, mtsl inhibits the assembly of myosin-IIA monomers into filaments and promotes the disassembly of myosin-IIA filaments into monomers; however, mts1 has little effect on the assembly properties of myosin-IIB. Using a solution based-assay, we have demonstrated that mtsl binds to residues 1909-1924 of the myosin-IIA heavy chain, which is near the C-terminal tip of the α-helical coiled-coil. The observation that mtsl binds a linear sequence of ∼16 amino acids is consistent with other S100 family members, which bind linear sequences of 13-22 residues in their protein targets. In addition, mtsl increases the critical monomer concentration for myosin-IIA filament assembly by approximately 11-fold. Kinetic assembly assays indicate that the elongation rate and the extent of polymerization depend on the initial myosin-IIA concentration; however, mts1 had only a small affect on the half-time for assembly and predominately affected the extent of myosin IIA polymerization. Altogether, these observations are consistent with mtsl regulating myosin IIA assembly by monomer sequestration and suggest that mtsl regulates cell shape and motility through the modulation of myosin-IIA function.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)14258-14266
Number of pages9
JournalBiochemistry
Volume42
Issue number48
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 9 2003

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry

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