Nedjma B. Zitouni

Myosin, Transgelin, and Myosin Light Chain Kinase: Expression and Function in Asthma

RATIONALE Airway smooth muscle (SM) of patients with asthma exhibits a greater velocity of shortening (Vmax) than that of normal subjects, and this is thought to contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness. A greater Vmax can result from increased myosin activation. This has been reported in sensitized human airway SM and in models of asthma. A faster Vmax can also result from the expression of specific contractile proteins that promote faster cross-bridge cycling. This possibility has never been addressed in asthma. OBJECTIVES We tested the hypothesis that the expression of genes coding for SM contractile proteins is altered in asthmatic airways and contributes to their increased Vmax. METHODS We quantified the expression of several genes that code for SM contractile proteins in mild allergic asthmatic and control human airway endobronchial biopsies. The function of these contractile proteins was tested using the in vitro motility assay. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We observed an increased expression of the fast myosin heavy chain isoform, transgelin, and myosin light chain kinase in patients with asthma. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated the expression of these genes at the protein level. To address the functional significance of this overexpression, we purified tracheal myosin from the hyperresponsive Fisher rats, which also overexpress the fast myosin heavy chain isoform as compared with the normoresponsive Lewis rats, and found a faster rate of actin filament propulsion. Conversely, transgelin did not alter the rate of actin filament propulsion. CONCLUSIONS Selective overexpression of airway smooth muscle genes in asthmatic airways leads to increased Vmax, thus contributing to the airway hyperresponsiveness observed in asthma.

Affinity for MgADP and force of unbinding from actin of myosin purified from tonic and phasic smooth muscle

Smooth muscle is unique in its ability to maintain force at low MgATP consumption. This property, called the latch state, is more prominent in tonic than phasic smooth muscle. Studies performed at the muscle strip level have suggested that myosin from tonic muscle has a greater affinity for MgADP and therefore remains attached to actin longer than myosin from phasic muscle, allowing for cross-bridge dephosphorylation and latch-bridge formation. An alternative hypothesis is that after dephosphorylation, myosin reattaches to actin and maintains force. We investigated these fundamental properties of smooth muscle at the molecular level. We used an in vitro motility assay to measure actin filament velocity (nu(max)) when propelled by myosin purified from phasic or tonic muscle at increasing [MgADP]. Myosin was 25% thiophosphorylated and 75% unphosphorylated to approximate in vivo conditions. The slope of nu(max) versus [MgADP] was significantly greater for tonic (-0.51+/-0.04) than phasic muscle myosin (-0.15+/-0.04), demonstrating the greater MgADP affinity of myosin from tonic muscle. We then used a laser trap assay to measure the unbinding force from actin of populations of unphosphorylated tonic and phasic muscle myosin. Both myosin types attached to actin, and their unbinding force (0.092+/-0.022 pN for phasic muscle and 0.084+/-0.017 pN for tonic muscle) was not statistically different. We conclude that the greater affinity for MgADP of tonic muscle myosin and the reattachment of dephosphorylated myosin to actin may both contribute to the latch state.

Unphosphorylated calponin enhances the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin.

BACKGROUND Smooth muscle has the distinctive ability to maintain force for long periods of time and at low energy costs. While it is generally agreed that this property, called the latch-state, is due to the dephosphorylation of myosin while attached to actin, dephosphorylated-detached myosin can also attach to actin and may contribute to force maintenance. Thus, we investigated the role of calponin in regulating and enhancing the binding force of unphosphorylated tonic muscle myosin to actin. METHODS To measure the effect of calponin on the binding of unphosphorylated myosin to actin, we used the laser trap assay to quantify the average force of unbinding (Funb) in the absence and presence of calponin or phosphorylated calponin. RESULTS Funb from F-actin alone (0.12±0.01pN; mean±SE) was significantly increased in the presence of calponin (0.20±0.02pN). This enhancement was lost when calponin was phosphorylated (0.12±0.01pN). To further verify that this enhancement of Funb was due to the cross-linking of actin to myosin by calponin, we repeated the measurements at high ionic strength. Indeed, the Funb obtained at a [KCl] of 25mM (0.21±0.02pN; mean±SE) was significantly decreased at a [KCl] of 150mM, (0.13±0.01pN). CONCLUSIONS This study provides direct molecular level-evidence that calponin enhances the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin by cross-linking them and that this is reversed upon calponin phosphorylation. Thus, calponin might play an important role in the latch-state. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE This study suggests a new mechanism that likely contributes to the latch-state, a fundamental and important property of smooth muscle that remains unresolved.

Peripheral Airway Smooth Muscle, but Not the Trachealis, Is Hypercontractile in an Equine Model of Asthma

Heaves is a naturally occurring equine disease that shares many similarities with human asthma, including reversible antigen-induced bronchoconstriction, airway inflammation, and remodeling. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the trachealis muscle is mechanically representative of the peripheral airway smooth muscle (ASM) in an equine model of asthma. Tracheal and peripheral ASM of heaves-affected horses under exacerbation, or under clinical remission of the disease, and control horses were dissected and freed of epithelium to measure unloaded shortening velocity (Vmax), stress (force/cross-sectional area), methacholine effective concentration at which 50% of the maximum response is obtained, and stiffness. Myofibrillar Mg(2+)-ATPase activity, actomyosin in vitro motility, and contractile protein expression were also measured. Horses with heaves had significantly greater Vmax and Mg(2+)-ATPase activity in peripheral airway but not in tracheal smooth muscle. In addition, a significant correlation was found between Vmax and the time elapsed since the end of the corticosteroid treatment for the peripheral airways in horses with heaves. Maximal stress and stiffness were greater in the peripheral airways of the horses under remission compared with controls and the horses under exacerbation, potentially due to remodeling. Actomyosin in vitro motility was not different between controls and horses with heaves. These data demonstrate that peripheral ASM is mechanically and biochemically altered in heaves, whereas the trachealis behaves as in control horses. It is therefore conceivable that the trachealis muscle may not be representative of the peripheral ASM in human asthma either, but this will require further investigation.

Molecular, cellular, and muscle strip mechanics of the mdx mouse diaphragm.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a lethal disorder caused by defects in the dystrophin gene, which leads to respiratory or cardiac muscle failure. Lack of dystrophin predisposes the muscle cell sarcolemmal membrane to mechanical damage. However, the role of myosin in this muscle weakness has been poorly addressed. In the current study, in addition to measuring the velocity of actin filament propulsion (υmax) of mdx myosin molecules purified from 3- and 12-mo-old control (C57Bl/10) and mdx (C57Bl/10mdx) mouse diaphragms, we also measured myosin force production. Furthermore, we measured cellular and muscle strip force production at three mo of age. Stress (force/cross-sectional area) was smaller for mdx than control at the muscle strip level but was not different at the single fiber level. υmax of mdx myosin was not different from control at either 3 or 12 mo nor was their relative myosin force. The type I and IIb myosin heavy chain composition was not different between control and mdx diaphragms at 3 or 12 mo. These results suggest that the myosin function, as well as the single fiber mechanics, do not underlie the weakness of the mdx diaphragm. This weakness was only observed at the level of the intact muscle bundle and could not be narrowed down to a specific mechanical impairment of its individual fibers or myosin molecules.

The role of caldesmon and its phosphorylation by ERK on the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin.

BACKGROUND Studies conducted at the whole muscle level have shown that smooth muscle can maintain tension with low Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) consumption. Whereas it is generally accepted that this property (latch-state) is a consequence of the dephosphorylation of myosin during its attachment to actin, free dephosphorylated myosin can also bind to actin and contribute to force maintenance. We investigated the role of caldesmon (CaD) in regulating the binding force of unphosphorylated tonic smooth muscle myosin to actin. METHODS To measure the effect of CaD on the binding of unphosphorylated myosin to actin (in the presence of ATP), we used a single beam laser trap assay to quantify the average unbinding force (Funb) in the absence or presence of caldesmon, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-phosphorylated CaD, or CaD plus tropomyosin. RESULTS Funb from unregulated actin (0.10±0.01pN) was significantly increased in the presence of CaD (0.17±0.02pN), tropomyosin (0.17±0.02pN) or both regulatory proteins (0.18±0.02pN). ERK phosphorylation of CaD significantly reduced the Funb (0.06±0.01pN). Inspection of the traces of the Funb as a function of time suggests that ERK phosphorylation of CaD decreases the binding force of myosin to actin or accelerates its detachment. CONCLUSIONS CaD enhances the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin potentially contributing to the latch-state. ERK phosphorylation of CaD decreases this binding force to very low levels. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE This study suggests a mechanism that likely contributes to the latch-state and that explains the muscle relaxation from the latch-state.

Molecular Mechanical Differences between Isoforms of Contractile Actin in the Presence of Isoforms of Smooth Muscle Tropomyosin

The proteins involved in smooth muscles molecular contractile mechanism – the anti-parallel motion of actin and myosin filaments driven by myosin heads interacting with actin – are found as different isoforms. While their expression levels are altered in disease states, their relevance to the mechanical interaction of myosin with actin is not sufficiently understood. Here, we analyzed in vitro actin filament propulsion by smooth muscle myosin for -actin (A), -actin-tropomyosin- (A-Tm), -actin-tropomyosin- (A-Tm), -actin (A), -actin-tropomyosin- (A-Tm), and -actin-tropomoysin- (A-Tm). Actin sliding analysis with our specifically developed video analysis software followed by statistical assessment (Bootstrapped Principal Component Analysis) indicated that the in vitro motility of A, A, and A-Tm is not distinguishable. Compared to these three ‘baseline conditions’, statistically significant differences () were: A-Tm – actin sliding velocity increased 1.12-fold, A-Tm – motile fraction decreased to 0.96-fold, stop time elevated 1.6-fold, A-Tm – run time elevated 1.7-fold. We constructed a mathematical model, simulated actin sliding data, and adjusted the kinetic parameters so as to mimic the experimentally observed differences: A-Tm – myosin binding to actin, the main, and the secondary myosin power stroke are accelerated, A-Tm – mechanical coupling between myosins is stronger, A-Tm – the secondary power stroke is decelerated and mechanical coupling between myosins is weaker. In summary, our results explain the different regulatory effects that specific combinations of actin and smooth muscle tropomyosin have on smooth muscle actin-myosin interaction kinetics.

Forces measured with micro-fabricated cantilevers during actomyosin interactions produced by filaments containing different myosin isoforms and loop 1 structures.

BACKGROUND There is evidence that the actin-activated ATP kinetics and the mechanical work produced by muscle myosin molecules are regulated by two surface loops, located near the ATP binding pocket (loop 1), and in a region that interfaces with actin (loop 2). These loops regulate force and velocity of contraction, and have been investigated mostly in single molecules. There is a lack of information of the work produced by myosin molecules ordered in filaments and working cooperatively, which is the actual muscle environment. METHODS We use micro-fabricated cantilevers to measure forces produced by myosin filaments isolated from mollusk muscles, skeletal muscles, and smooth muscles containing variations in the structure of loop 1 (tonic and phasic myosins). We complemented the experiments with in-vitro assays to measure the velocity of actin motility. RESULTS Smooth muscle myosin filaments produced more force than skeletal and mollusk myosin filaments when normalized per filament overlap. Skeletal muscle myosin propelled actin filaments in a higher sliding velocity than smooth muscle myosin. The values for force and velocity were consistent with previous studies using myosin molecules, and suggest a close correlation with the myosin isoform and structure of surface loop 1. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE The technique using micro-fabricated cantilevers to measure force of filaments allows for the investigation of the relation between myosin structure and contractility, allowing experiments to be conducted with an array of different myosin isoforms. Using the technique we observed that the work produced by myosin molecules is regulated by amino-acid sequences aligned in specific loops.

The Role of Caldesmon and Its Phosphorylation by ERK on the Binding Force of Unphosphorylated Myosin to Actin

Smooth muscle has the unique property of maintaining tension with low ATP consumption. It is generally accepted that this property, called the latch-state, results from the dephosphorylation of myosin while attached to actin. However, detached dephosphorylated myosin can also bind to actin and contribute to force maintenance. We investigated the effect of caldesmon on the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin. We quantified the average unbinding force (Funb) in the absence or presence of caldesmon, ERK phosphorylated caldesmon, or caldesmon plus tropomyosin. Briefly, a microsphere captured in a single beam laser trap was attached to a fluorescently labeled actin filament that was then brought in contact with a pedestal coated with unphosphorylated myosin. The pedestal was then moved away from the trap at constant velocity. The actin/microsphere followed the pedestal until the force exerted by the trap on the microsphere exceeded the binding force of the unphosphorylated myosin to the actin. At this point, the microsphere sprang back into the trap center. Funb was calculated as the product of the trap stiffness and the maximal displacement of the microsphere from the trap center. Funb was normalized to the number of myosin molecules estimated per actin filament length. Funb from unregulated actin (0.09±0.01 pN) was significantly increased in the presence of caldesmon (0.17±0.02 pN), tropomyosin (0.17±0.02 pN) or both regulatory proteins (0.18±0.02 pN). Interestingly, ERK phosphorylation of caldesmon significantly reduced the Funb (0.06±0.01 pN). Thus, caldesmon enhances the binding force of unphosphorylated myosin to actin potentially contributing to the latch-state. Conversely, ERK phosphorylation of caldesmon decreases this binding force to very low levels, suggesting a mechanism for muscle relaxation from the latch-state.Supported by: NSERC, NIH-RO1HL103405