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Elizabeth J. Luna

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Supervillin Slows Cell Spreading By Facilitating Myosin Ii Activation At The Cell Periphery, Norio Takizawa, Reiko Ikebe, Mitsuo Ikebe, Elizabeth J. Luna Jan 2010

Supervillin Slows Cell Spreading By Facilitating Myosin Ii Activation At The Cell Periphery, Norio Takizawa, Reiko Ikebe, Mitsuo Ikebe, Elizabeth J. Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

During cell migration, myosin II modulates adhesion, cell protrusion and actin organization at the leading edge. We show that an F-actin- and membrane-associated scaffolding protein, called supervillin (SV, p205), binds directly to the subfragment 2 domains of nonmuscle myosin IIA and myosin IIB and to the N-terminus of the long form of myosin light chain kinase (L-MLCK). SV inhibits cell spreading via an MLCK- and myosin II-dependent mechanism. Overexpression of SV reduces the rate of cell spreading, and RNAi-mediated knockdown of endogenous SV increases it. Endogenous and EGFP-tagged SV colocalize with, and enhance the formation of, cortical bundles of F-actin …


Supervillin Reorganizes The Actin Cytoskeleton And Increases Invadopodial Efficiency, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Tara C. Smith, Zhiyou Fang, Norio Takizawa, Elizabeth J. Luna Jan 2010

Supervillin Reorganizes The Actin Cytoskeleton And Increases Invadopodial Efficiency, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Tara C. Smith, Zhiyou Fang, Norio Takizawa, Elizabeth J. Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

Tumor cells use actin-rich protrusions called invadopodia to degrade extracellular matrix (ECM) and invade tissues; related structures, termed podosomes, are sites of dynamic ECM interaction. We show here that supervillin (SV), a peripheral membrane protein that binds F-actin and myosin II, reorganizes the actin cytoskeleton and potentiates invadopodial function. Overexpressed SV induces redistribution of lamellipodial cortactin and lamellipodin/RAPH1/PREL1 away from the cell periphery to internal sites and concomitantly increases the numbers of F-actin punctae. Most punctae are highly dynamic and colocalize with the podosome/invadopodial proteins, cortactin, Tks5, and cdc42. Cortactin binds SV sequences in vitro and contributes to the formation …


Mutant Rac1b Expression In Dictyostelium: Effects On Morphology, Growth, Endocytosis, Development, And The Actin Cytoskeleton, S. Palmieri, Thomas Nebl, Robert Pope, D. Seastone, E. Lee, E. Hinchcliffe, Greenfield Sluder, D. Knecht, J. Cardelli, Elizabeth Luna Mar 2008

Mutant Rac1b Expression In Dictyostelium: Effects On Morphology, Growth, Endocytosis, Development, And The Actin Cytoskeleton, S. Palmieri, Thomas Nebl, Robert Pope, D. Seastone, E. Lee, E. Hinchcliffe, Greenfield Sluder, D. Knecht, J. Cardelli, Elizabeth Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

Rac1 is a small G-protein in the Ras superfamily that has been implicated in the control of cell growth, adhesion, and the actin-based cytoskeleton. To investigate the role of Rac1 during motile processes, we have established Dictyostelium cell lines that conditionally overexpress epitope-tagged Dictyostelium discoideum wild-type Rac1B (DdRac1B) or a mutant DdRac1B protein. Expression of endogenous levels of myc- or GFP-tagged wild-type DdRac1B had minimal effect on cellular morphologies and behaviors. By contrast, expression of a constitutively active mutant (G12-->V or Q61-->L) or a dominant negative mutant (T17-->N) generated amoebae with characteristic cellular defects. The morphological appearance …


Identification By Peptide Analysis Of The Spectrin-Binding Protein In Human Erythrocytes, Elizabeth Luna, G. Kidd, D. Branton Mar 2008

Identification By Peptide Analysis Of The Spectrin-Binding Protein In Human Erythrocytes, Elizabeth Luna, G. Kidd, D. Branton

Elizabeth J. Luna

One-dimensional and two-dimensional peptide-mapping techniques are used to identify the protein which gives rise to the 72,000 dalton alpha-chymotryptic fragment previously shown to be the membrane attachment site for spectrin. Peptide maps of the 72,000 dalton fragment are very different from maps of Bands 1, 2, 2.9, 3, 3.1, 4.1, and 4.2 and very similar to maps of the apparently closely homologous polypeptides, Bands 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.6. Limited proteolysis of erythrocyte membranes is shown to generate Band 3', another polypeptide which has been associated with spectrin-binding activity. Peptide maps of Band 3' are very similar to maps of …


Merlin Differs From Moesin In Binding To F-Actin And In Its Intra- And Intermolecular Interactions, L. Huang, E. Ichimaru, Kersi Pestonjamasp, X. Cui, H. Nakamura, G. Lo, F. Lin, Elizabeth Luna, H. Furthmayr Mar 2008

Merlin Differs From Moesin In Binding To F-Actin And In Its Intra- And Intermolecular Interactions, L. Huang, E. Ichimaru, Kersi Pestonjamasp, X. Cui, H. Nakamura, G. Lo, F. Lin, Elizabeth Luna, H. Furthmayr

Elizabeth J. Luna

The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor suppressor gene encodes merlin, a protein with homology to the cell membrane/F-actin linking proteins, moesin, ezrin and radixin. Unlike these closely related proteins, merlin lacks a C-terminal F-actin binding site detectable by actin blot overlays, and the GFP-tagged merlin C-terminal domain co-distributes with neither stress fibers nor cortical actin in NIH3T3 cells. Merlin also differs from the other three proteins in its inter- and intramolecular domain interactions, as shown by in vitro binding and yeast two-hybrid assays. As is true for ezrin, moesin and radixin, the N- and C-terminal domains of merlin type 1 …


Supervillin Modulation Of Focal Adhesions Involving Trip6/Zrp-1, Norio Takizawa, Tara C. Smith, Thomas Nebl, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Stephen J. Palmieri, Lawrence M. Lifshitz, Anka G. Ehrhardt, Laura M. Hoffman, Mary C. Beckerle, Elizabeth J. Luna Mar 2008

Supervillin Modulation Of Focal Adhesions Involving Trip6/Zrp-1, Norio Takizawa, Tara C. Smith, Thomas Nebl, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Stephen J. Palmieri, Lawrence M. Lifshitz, Anka G. Ehrhardt, Laura M. Hoffman, Mary C. Beckerle, Elizabeth J. Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

Cell-substrate contacts, called focal adhesions (FAs), are dynamic in rapidly moving cells. We show that supervillin (SV)--a peripheral membrane protein that binds myosin II and F-actin in such cells--negatively regulates stress fibers, FAs, and cell-substrate adhesion. The major FA regulatory sequence within SV (SV342-571) binds to the LIM domains of two proteins in the zyxin family, thyroid receptor-interacting protein 6 (TRIP6) and lipoma-preferred partner (LPP), but not to zyxin itself. SV and TRIP6 colocalize within large FAs, where TRIP6 may help recruit SV. RNAi-mediated decreases in either protein increase cell adhesion to fibronectin. TRIP6 partially rescues SV effects on stress …


Archvillin, A Muscle-Specific Isoform Of Supervillin, Is An Early Expressed Component Of The Costameric Membrane Skeleton, Sang W. Oh, Robert K. Pope, Kelly P. Smith, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Thomas Nebl, Jeanne B. Lawrence, Elizabeth J. Luna Mar 2008

Archvillin, A Muscle-Specific Isoform Of Supervillin, Is An Early Expressed Component Of The Costameric Membrane Skeleton, Sang W. Oh, Robert K. Pope, Kelly P. Smith, Jessica Lynn Crowley, Thomas Nebl, Jeanne B. Lawrence, Elizabeth J. Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

The membrane skeleton protein supervillin binds tightly to both F-actin and membranes and can potentiate androgen receptor activity in non-muscle cells. We report that muscle, which constitutes the principal tissue source for supervillin sequences, contains a approximately 250 kDa isoform of supervillin that localizes within nuclei and with dystrophin at costameres, regions of F-actin membrane attachment in skeletal muscle. The gene encoding this protein, 'archvillin' (Latin, archi; Greek, archos; 'principal' or 'chief'), contains an evolutionarily conserved, muscle-specific 5' leader sequence. Archvillin cDNAs also contain four exons that encode approximately 47 kDa of additional muscle-specific protein sequence in the form of …


Membrane Cytoskeleton: Pip(2) Pulls The Strings, Thomas Nebl, Sang Oh, Elizabeth Luna Mar 2008

Membrane Cytoskeleton: Pip(2) Pulls The Strings, Thomas Nebl, Sang Oh, Elizabeth Luna

Elizabeth J. Luna

A recent application of optical tweezers has shown that plasma membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) levels control adhesion of the membrane bilayer to the underlying cytoskeleton, by regulated direct binding of PIP(2) to cytoskeletal proteins and/or indirect effects on cytoskeleton structure.