Hanna Fabczak

PHOTOSENSORY TRANSDUCTION IN CILIATES. I. AN ANALYSIS OF LIGHT-INDUCED ELECTRICAL AND MOTILE RESPONSES IN Stentor coeruleus

Abstract— Light‐induced membrane potantial changes and motile responses have been studied in Stentor cells with intracellular microelectrodes and video microscopy, respectively. Intracellulae microelectrode showed that step‐up increase in light induced an electrical membrane response which consisted of an initial membrane depolarization (photoreceptor potential) followed by an action potential and maintaining phase of depolarization (afterdepolarization). The amplitude of the receptor potetial is dependent on the intensity of light stimulus and the action potetials appears with a lag period (latency) after the onset of light stimuklus. The extent of the membrane established between the latency for te action poitential and the onset of ciliary reversal (stop responses). A time correlation was also observed between the duration of the membrane afterdepolarization and the duration of backward swimming. the action spectrum for the photoreceptor potential amplitude of Stentor resembled the action spectra for the latency of ciliary reversal and the photoresponsiveness, iondicating that the photomovement response and membrane potential changes are coupled through the same photosensor system. A hypothesis on the photosensory transduction chain in Stentor is discussed according to ehich the photoreceptors and the ciliary apparatus is mediated by the membrane potential canges.

The CSC proteins FAP61 and FAP251 build the basal substructures of radial spoke 3 in cilia

Motile cilia have nine doublet microtubules, with hundreds of associated proteins that repeat in modules. Each module contains three radial spokes, which differ in their architecture, protein composition, and function. The conserved proteins FAP61 and FAP251 are crucial for the assembly and stable docking of RS3 and cilia motility.

Light Induces lnositol Trisphosphate Elevation in Blepharisma japonicum

Abstract— Photoinduced formation of inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (Ins[1,4,5]P3) was examined using a specific radioimmu‐noassay to investigate the molecular mechanisms of light signal transduction mediating photophobic responses in the ciliate Blepharisma japonicum. Application of light stimuli of moderate intensity to dark‐adapted cells induced a rapid and significant increase in the basal level of Ins (1,4,5)P3, with a peak at about 20 s. Thereafter, the level of Ins (1,4,5)P3 declined to the resting value within the subsequent 100 s. Light stimuli of higher intensity raised the cell Ins (1,4,5)P3 content to still higher levels within about 20 s, but the decaying time course was considerably prolonged. In ciliates incubated under dark conditions with agents interfering with the inositol signalling pathway, like neomycin and Li+ the basal levels of Ins (1,4,5)P3 were lower than in control cells. A photoinduced rise of Ins (1,4,5)P3, content in ciliates treated with neomycin or Li+ was significantly inhibited in a dose‐dependent manner. Depolarizing ionic stimuli in dark‐adapted ciliates induced no significant alterations of the resting Ins (1,4,5)P3 level, indicating a lack of a contribution of this kind of stimulation to the inositol turnover. These studies are the first in vivo demonstration of a possible role for inositol trisphosphate as a second messenger in the light signal transduction process in the ciliate B. japonicum.

Photosensory transduction in ciliates. Role of intracellular pH and comparison between Stentor coeruleus and Blepharisma japonicum.

To test the hypothesis that light signal transduction in the unicellular ciliates Stentor coeruleus and Blepharisma japonicum involves a change in intracellular pH as an initial signal following photoexcitation, we studied the dependence of the photophobic responses of the cells to changes in extracellular pH and to reagents that specifically affect intracellular pH. The extracellular pH can modify not only the intracellular pH, but can even reverse the sign of the pH gradient across the cell membrane. Thus, as predicted by the hypothesis, low extracellular pH reversibly inhibited the photophobic response of the ciliates. The intracellular pH-modulating reagents tested included ammonium chloride, a membrane-permeable weak acid that lowers the intracellular pH, and the protonophores carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenyl-hydrazone (CCCP) and carbonylcyanide p-(trifluoromethoxy)-phenyl-hydrazone (FCCP), which collapse the pH gradient across the cell membrane. The low pH and protonophore treatments caused a gradual inhibition of the photophobic responses in both ciliates. The observed reduction of the responsiveness of the cells to visible light can be attributed to the alteration of the intracellular pH, which is suggested to play a specific role in the photosensory transduction in both Stentor coeruleus and Blepharisma japonicum.

Calcyclin binding protein and Siah-1 interacting protein in Alzheimer's disease pathology: neuronal localization and possible function.

The calcyclin binding protein and Siah-1 interacting protein (CacyBP/SIP) protein was shown to play a role in the organization of microtubules. In this work we have examined the neuronal distribution and possible function of CacyBP/SIP in cytoskeletal pathophysiology. We have used brain tissue from Alzheimers disease (AD) patients and from transgenic mice modeling 2 different pathologies characteristic for AD: amyloid and tau. In the brain from AD patients, CacyBP/SIP was found to be almost exclusively present in neuronal somata, and in control patients it was seen in the somata and neuronal processes. In mice doubly transgenic for amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1 there was no difference in CacyBP/SIP neuronal localization in comparison with the nontransgenic animals. By contrast in tau transgenic mice, localization of CacyBP/SIP was similar to that observed for AD patients. To find the relation between CacyBP/SIP and tau we examined dephosphorylation of tau by CacyBP/SIP. We found that indeed it exhibited phosphatase activity toward tau. Altogether, our results suggest that CacyBP/SIP might play a role in AD pathology.

Contribution of phosphoinositide-dependent signalling to photomotility of Blepharisma ciliate.

The effect of experimental procedures designed to modify an intracellular phosphoinositide signalling pathway, which may be instrumental in the photophobic response of the protozoan ciliate Blepharisma japonicum, has been investigated. To assess this issue, the latency time of the photophobic response and the cell photoresponsiveness have been assayed employing newly developed computerized videorecording and standard macro-photographic methods. Cell incubation with neomycin, heparin and Li+, drugs known to greatly impede phosphoinositide turnover, causes evident dose-dependent changes in cell photomotile behaviour. The strongest effect on photoresponses is exerted by neomycin, a potent inhibitor of polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis. The presence of micromolar concentrations of neomycin in the cell medium causes both prolongation of response latency and decrease of cell photoresponsiveness. Neomycin at higher concentrations (> 10 microM) abolishes the cell response to light at the highest applied intensity. A slightly lower inhibition of cell responsiveness to light stimulation and prolongation of response latency are observed in cells incubated in the presence of heparin, an inositol trisphosphate receptor antagonist. Lithium ions, widely known to deplete the intracellular phosphoinositide pathway intermediate, inositol trisphosphate, added to the cell medium at millimolar level, also cause a slowly developing inhibitory effect on cell photoresponses. Mastoparan, a specific G-protein activator, efficiently mimics the effect of light stimulation. In dark-adapted ciliates, it elicits ciliary reversal with the response latency typical for ciliary reversal during the photophobic response. Sustained treatment of Blepharisma cells with mastoparan also suppresses the photoresponsiveness, as in the case of cell adaptation to light during prolonged illumination. The mastoparan-induced responses can be eliminated by pretreatment of the cells with neomycin. Moreover, using antibodies raised against bovine transducin, a cross-reacting protein with an apparent molecular mass of about 55 kDa in the Blepharisma cortex fraction is detected on immunoblots. The obtained results indirectly suggest that the changes in internal inositol trisphosphate level, possibly elicited by G-protein-coupled phospholipase C, might play a role in the photophobic response of Blepharisma. However, further experiments are necessary to clarify the possible coupling between the G-protein and the putative phospholipase C.

Calcyclin Binding Protein/Siah-1 Interacting Protein Is a Hsp90 Binding Chaperone.

The Hsp90 chaperone activity is tightly regulated by interaction with many co-chaperones. Since CacyBP/SIP shares some sequence homology with a known Hsp90 co-chaperone, Sgt1, in this work we performed a set of experiments in order to verify whether CacyBP/SIP can interact with Hsp90. By applying the immunoprecipitation assay we have found that CacyBP/SIP binds to Hsp90 and that the middle (M) domain of Hsp90 is responsible for this binding. Furthermore, the proximity ligation assay (PLA) performed on HEp-2 cells has shown that the CacyBP/SIP-Hsp90 complexes are mainly localized in the cytoplasm of these cells. Using purified proteins and applying an ELISA we have shown that Hsp90 interacts directly with CacyBP/SIP and that the latter protein does not compete with Sgt1 for the binding to Hsp90. Moreover, inhibitors of Hsp90 do not perturb CacyBP/SIP-Hsp90 binding. Luciferase renaturation assay and citrate synthase aggregation assay with the use of recombinant proteins have revealed that CacyBP/SIP exhibits chaperone properties. Also, CacyBP/SIP-3xFLAG expression in HEp-2 cells results in the appearance of more basic Hsp90 forms in 2D electrophoresis, which may indicate that CacyBP/SIP dephosphorylates Hsp90. Altogether, the obtained results suggest that CacyBP/SIP is involved in regulation of the Hsp90 chaperone machinery.

Cytoplasmic Domain of MscS Interacts with Cell Division Protein FtsZ: A Possible Non-Channel Function of the Mechanosensitive Channel in Escherichia Coli.

Bacterial mechano-sensitive (MS) channels reside in the inner membrane and are considered to act as emergency valves whose role is to lower cell turgor when bacteria enter hypo-osmotic environments. However, there is emerging evidence that members of the Mechano-sensitive channel Small (MscS) family play additional roles in bacterial and plant cell physiology. MscS has a large cytoplasmic C-terminal region that changes its shape upon activation and inactivation of the channel. Our pull-down and co-sedimentation assays show that this domain interacts with FtsZ, a bacterial tubulin-like protein. We identify point mutations in the MscS C-terminal domain that reduce binding to FtsZ and show that bacteria expressing these mutants are compromised in growth on sublethal concentrations of β-lactam antibiotics. Our results suggest that interaction between MscS and FtsZ could occur upon inactivation and/or opening of the channel and could be important for the bacterial cell response against sustained stress upon stationary phase and in the presence of β-lactam antibiotics.

Identification of Possible Phosducins in the Ciliate Blepharisma japonicum

Examination of ciliate Blepharisma japonicum whole cell lysates with an antibody against phosphoserine and in vivo labeling of cells with radioactive phosphate revealed that the photophobic response in the ciliate is accompanied by a rapid dephosphorylation of a 28 kDa protein and an enhanced phosphorylation of a 46 kDa protein. Analysis with antibodies raised against rat phosducin or human phosducin-like proteins, identified one major protein of a molecular weight of 28 kDa, and two protein bands of 40 kDa and 93 kDa. While the identified ciliate phosducin is phosphorylated in a light-dependent manner, both phosducin-like proteins exhibit no detectable dependence of phosphorylation upon illumination. An immunoprecipitation assay also showed that the ciliate phosducin is indeed phosphorylated on a serine residue and exists in a phosphorylated form in darkness and that its dephosphorylation occurs in light. Immunocytochemical experiments showed that protozoan phosducin and phosducin-like proteins are localized almost uniformly within the cytoplasm of cells adapted to darkness. Cell exposure to light caused a pronounced displacement of the cell phosducin to the vicinity of the plasma membrane; however, no translocation of phosducin-like proteins was observed upon cell illumination. The obtained results are the first demonstration of the presence and morphological localization of a possible phosducin and phosducin-like proteins in ciliate protists. Phosducin and phosducin-like proteins were found to bind and sequester the betagamma-subunits of G-proteins with implications for regulation of G-protein-mediated signaling pathways in various eukaryotic cells. The findings presented in this study suggest that the identified phosphoproteins in photosensitive Blepharisma japonicum may also participate in the regulation of the efficiency of sensory transduction, resulting in the motile photophobic response in this cell.

PHLP2 is essential and plays a role in ciliogenesis and microtubule assembly in Tetrahymena thermophila

Recent studies have implicated the phosducin‐like protein‐2 (PHLP2) in regulation of CCT, a chaperonin whose activity is essential for folding of tubulin and actin. However, the exact molecular function of PHLP2 is unclear. Here we investigate the significance of PHLP2 in a ciliated unicellular model, Tetrahymena thermophila, by deleting its single homolog, Phlp2p. Cells lacking Phlp2p became larger and died within 96 h. Overexpressed Phlp2p‐HA localized to cilia, basal bodies, and cytosol without an obvious change in the phenotype. Despite similar localization, overexpressed GFP‐Phlp2p caused a dominant‐negative effect. Cells overproducing GFP‐Phlp2p had decreased rates of proliferation, motility and phagocytosis, as compared to wild type cells or cells overproducing a non‐tagged Phlp2p. Growing GFP‐Phlp2p‐overexpressing cells had fewer cilia and, when deciliated, failed to regenerate cilia, indicating defects in cilia assembly. Paclitaxel‐treated GFP‐Phlp2p cells failed to elongate cilia, indicating a change in the microtubules dynamics. The pattern of ciliary and cytosolic tubulin isoforms on 2D gels differed between wild type and GFP‐Phlp2p‐overexpressing cells. Thus, in Tetrahymena, PhLP2 is essential and under specific experimental conditions its activity affects tubulin and microtubule‐dependent functions including cilia assembly. J. Cell. Physiol. 228: 2175–2189, 2013.