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ABSTRACT: The rate of lateral diffusion of proteins over micron-scale distances in the plasma membrane (PM) of mammalian cells is much slower than in artificial membranes [1, 2]. Different models have been advanced to account for this discrepancy. They invoke either effects on the apparent viscosity of cell membranes through, for example, protein crowding [3, 4], or a role for cortical factors such as actin or spectrin filaments [1]. Here, we use photobleaching to test specific predictions of these models [5]. Neither loss of detectable cortical actin nor knockdown of spectrin expression has any effect on diffusion. Disruption of the PM by formation of ventral membrane sheets or permeabilization induces aggregation of membrane proteins, with a concomitant increase in rates of diffusion for the nonaggregated fraction. In addition, procedures that directly increase or decrease the total protein content of the PM in live cells cause reciprocal changes in lateral diffusion rates. Our data imply that slow diffusion over micron-scale distances is an intrinsic property of the membrane itself and that the density of proteins within the membrane is a significant parameter in determining rates of lateral diffusion.
Current Biology 04/2007; 17(5):462-7. · 9.65 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Septin2 is a member of a highly conserved GTPase family found in fungi and animals. Septins have been implicated in a diversity of cellular processes including cytokinesis, formation of diffusion barriers and vesicle trafficking. Septin2 partially co-localises with actin bundles in mammalian interphase cells and Septin2-filamentmorphology depends upon an intact actin cytoskeleton. How this interaction is regulated is not known. Moreover, evidence that Septin2 is remodelled or redistributed in response to other changes in actin organisation is lacking.
Septin2 filaments are associated with actin fibres, but Septin2 is not associated with actin at the leading edge of moving cells or in ruffles where actin is highly dynamic. Rather, Septin2 is spatially segregated from these active areas and forms O- and C-shaped structures, similar to those previously observed after latrunculin treatment. FRAP experiments showed that all assemblies formed by Septin2 are highly dynamic with a constant exchange of Septin2 in and out of these structures, and that this property is independent of actin. A combination of RNAi experiments and expression of truncated forms of Septin2 showed that Septin2 plays a significant role in stabilising or maintaining actin bundles.
We show that Septin2 can form dynamic structures with differing morphologies in living cells, and that these morphologies are dependent on the functional state of the actin cytoskeleton. Our data provide a link between the different morphological states of Septin2 and functions of Septin2 in actin-dynamics, and are consistent with the model proposed by Kinoshita and colleagues, that Septin2 filaments play a role in stabilisation of actin stress fibres thus preventing actin turnover.
BMC Cell Biology 11/2004; 5(1):43. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Barriers to diffusion of proteins and lipids play an important role in generating functionally specialized regions of the plasma membrane. Such barriers have been reported at the base of axons, at the bud neck in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as at the tight junctions of epithelia. How diffusion barriers are formed and how they effect behavior of both inner and outer leaflets of the bilayer are not fully understood. Here, we provide evidence for a cortical barrier to diffusion within the cleavage furrow of mammalian cells. Photobleaching-based assays were used to measure diffusion of three membrane proteins with differing topologies and putative lipid raft association, as well as the lipid analog dialkylindocarbocyanine (DiI C18, ), across the cleavage furrow. There was a block in diffusion of proteins with a cytosolic domain, but not of proteins anchored in the outer leaflet of the PM or of DiI. Diffusion of lipid raft proteins in the inner and outer leaflets of the membrane was not directly coupled. The distribution of Septin proteins, as opposed to cortical actin, was consistent with a functional role in limiting diffusion.
Current Biology 07/2004; 14(11):1002-6. · 9.65 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Abstract
Background
Septin2 is a member of a highly conserved GTPase family found in fungi and animals. Septins have been implicated in a diversity of cellular processes including cytokinesis, formation of diffusion barriers and vesicle trafficking. Septin2 partially co-localises with actin bundles in mammalian interphase cells and Septin2-filamentmorphology depends upon an intact actin cytoskeleton. How this interaction is regulated is not known. Moreover, evidence that Septin2 is remodelled or redistributed in response to other changes in actin organisation is lacking.
Results
Septin2 filaments are associated with actin fibres, but Septin2 is not associated with actin at the leading edge of moving cells or in ruffles where actin is highly dynamic. Rather, Septin2 is spatially segregated from these active areas and forms O- and C-shaped structures, similar to those previously observed after latrunculin treatment. FRAP experiments showed that all assemblies formed by Septin2 are highly dynamic with a constant exchange of Septin2 in and out of these structures, and that this property is independent of actin. A combination of RNAi experiments and expression of truncated forms of Septin2 showed that Septin2 plays a significant role in stabilising or maintaining actin bundles.
Conclusion
We show that Septin2 can form dynamic structures with differing morphologies in living cells, and that these morphologies are dependent on the functional state of the actin cytoskeleton. Our data provide a link between the different morphological states of Septin2 and functions of Septin2 in actin-dynamics, and are consistent with the model proposed by Kinoshita and colleagues, that Septin2 filaments play a role in stabilisation of actin stress fibres thus preventing actin turnover.
BMC Cell Biology. 01/2004;
