Phosphorylation Of Myosin II Regulatory Light Chain Research Articles

Transgene integration into the human AAVS1 locus enhances myosin II-dependent contractile force by reducing expression of myosin binding subunit 85

The adeno-associated virus site 1 (AAVS1) locus in the human genome is a strong candidate for gene therapy by insertion of an exogenous gene into the locus. The AAVS1 locus includes the coding region for myosin binding subunit 85 (MBS85). Although the function of MBS85 is not well understood, myosin II-dependent contractile force may be affected by altered expression of MBS85. The effect of altered expression of MBS85 on cellular contractile force should be examined prior to the application of gene therapy. In this study, we show that transgene integration into AAVS1 and consequent reduction of MBS85 expression changes myosin II-dependent cellular contractile force. We established a human fibroblast cell line with exogenous DNA knocked-in to AAVS1 (KI cells) using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system. Western blotting analysis showed that KI cells had significantly reduced MBS85 expression. KI cells also showed greater cellular contractile force than control cells. The increased contractile force was associated with phosphorylation of the myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC). Transfection of KI cells with an MBS85 expression plasmid restored cellular contractile force and phosphorylation of MRLC to the levels in control cells. These data suggest that transgene integration into the human AAVS1 locus induces an increase in cellular contractile force and thus should be considered as a gene therapy to effect changes in cellular contractile force.

Enhancement of myosin II/actin turnover at the contractile ring induces slower furrowing in dividing HeLa cells

Myosin II ATPase activity is enhanced by the phosphorylation of MRLC (myosin II regulatory light chain) in non-muscle cells. It is well known that pMRLC (phosphorylated MRLC) co-localizes with F-actin (filamentous actin) in the CR (contractile ring) of dividing cells. Recently, we reported that HeLa cells expressing non-phosphorylatable MRLC show a delay in the speed of furrow ingression, suggesting that pMRLC plays an important role in the control of furrow ingression. However, it is still unclear how pMRLC regulates myosin II and F-actin at the CR to control furrow ingression during cytokinesis. In the present study, to clarify the roles of pMRLC, we measured the turnover of myosin II and actin at the CR in dividing HeLa cells expressing fluorescent-tagged MRLCs and actin by FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching). A myosin II inhibitor, blebbistatin, caused an enhancement of the turnover of MRLC and actin at the CR, which induced a delay in furrow ingression. Furthermore, only non-phosphorylatable MRLC and a Rho-kinase inhibitor, Y-27632, accelerated the turnover of MRLC and actin at the CR. Interestingly, the effect of Y-27632 was cancelled in the cell expressing phosphomimic MRLCs. Taken together, these results reveal that pMRLC reduces the turnover of myosin II and also actin at the CR. In conclusion, we show that the enhancement of myosin II and actin turnover at the CR induced slower furrowing in dividing HeLa cells.

Myosin II activity is not essential for recruitment of myosin II to the furrow in dividing HeLa cells

To elucidate whether phosphorylation of myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC) is essential for myosin II recruitment to the furrow during cytokinesis, HeLa cells transfected with three types of GFP-tagged recombinant MRLCs, wild-type MRLC, non-phosphorylated form of MRLC, and phosphorylated form of MRLC, were examined. Living cell-imaging showed that both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated form of MRLCs were recruited to the equator at the same time after anaphase onset, suggesting that phosphorylation of MRLC is not responsible for recruitment of myosin II to the equator. Moreover, the treatment with an inhibitor of myosin II activity, blebbistatin, induced no effect on recruitment of those three recombinant MRLCs. During cytokinesis, phosphorylated but not non-phosphorylated form of MRLC was retained in the equator. These results suggest that phosphorylation of MRLC is essential for retainment of myosin II in the furrow but not for initial recruitment of myosin II to the furrow in dividing HeLa cells.

Rac-induced increase of phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain in HeLa cells.

The pathways by which activation of the small GTP-binding protein Rac causes cytoskeletal changes are not fully understood but are likely to involve both assembly of new actin filaments and reorganization of actin filaments driven by the actin-dependent ATPase activity of myosin II. Here we show that expression of active RacQ61 in growing HeLa cells, in addition to inducing ruffling, substantially enhances the level of phosphorylation of serine-19 of the myosin II regulatory light chain (MLC), which would increase actomyosin II ATPase and motor activities. Phosphorylated myosin was localized to RacQ61-induced ruffles and stress fibers. RacQ61-induced phosphorylation of MLC was reduced by a maximum of about 38% by an inhibitor (Tat-PAK) of p21-activated kinase (PAK), about 35% by an inhibitor (Y-27632) of Rho kinase, 51% by Tat-PAK plus Y-27632, and 10% by an inhibitor (ML7) of myosin light chain kinase. Staurosporine, a non-specific inhibitor of serine/threonine kinases, reduced RacQ61-induced phosphorylation of MLC by about 58%, at the maximum concentration that did not kill cells. Since Rac activates PAK and PAK can phosphorylate MLC, these data strongly suggest that PAK is responsible for a significant fraction of RacQ61-induced MLC phosphorylation. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that active Rac causes phosphorylation of MLC in cells, thus implicating activation of the ATPase activity of actomyosin II as one of the ways by which Rac may induce cytoskeletal changes.

Phosphorylation of myosin II regulatory light chain is necessary for migration of HeLa cells but not for localization of myosin II at the leading edge.

To investigate the role of phosphorylated myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC) in living cell migration, these mutant MRLCs were engineered and introduced into HeLa cells. The mutant MRLCs include an unphosphorylatable form, in which both Thr-18 and Ser-19 were substituted with Ala (AA-MRLC), and pseudophosphorylated forms, in which Thr-18 and Ser-19 were replaced with Ala and Asp, respectively (AD-MRLC), and both Thr-18 and Ser-19 were replaced with Asp (DD-MRLC). Mutant MRLC-expressing cell monolayers were mechanically stimulated by scratching, and the cells were forced to migrate in a given direction. In this wound-healing assay, the AA-MRLC-expressing cells migrated much more slowly than the wild-type MRLC-expressing cells. In the case of DD-MRLC- and AD-MRLC-expressing cells, no significant differences compared with wild-type MRLC-expressing cells were observed in their migration speed. Indirect immunofluorescence staining showed that the accumulation of endogenous diphosphorylated MRLC at the leading edge was not observed in AA-MRLC-expressing cells, although AA-MRLC was incorporated into myosin heavy chain and localized at the leading edge. In conclusion, we propose that the phosphorylation of MRLC is required to generate the driving force in the migration of the cells but not necessary for localization of myosin II at the leading edge.

Spatial localization of mono-and diphosphorylated myosin II regulatory light chain at the leading edge of motile HeLa cells.

Nonmuscle myosin II activity is regulated by phosphorylation of the myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC) at Ser19 or at both Thr18 and Ser19, and the phosphorylation of MRLC promotes the contractility and stability of actomyosin. To analyze the states of MRLC phosphorylation at the leading edge in the motile HeLa cells, we have examined the subcellular distribution of monophosphorylated or diphosphorylated form of MRLC using a confocal microscope. The cross-sectional imaging revealed that monophosphorylated MRLC distributed throughout the cortical region and the leading edge, but its fluorescent signal was much stronger at the leading edge. This distribution pattern of monophosphorylated MRLC was almost identical to those of myosin II and F-actin. On the other hand, diphosphorylated MRLC is localized at the base of leading edge, spatially very close to the substrate, and colocalized with F-actin in part at the base of filopodia. Diphosphorylated MRLC was hardly detectable at the tip of filopodia and the cell cortical region, where monophosphorylated MRLC was clearly detected. These localization patterns suggest that myosin II is activated at the leading edge, especially at the base but not the tip of filopodia in motile cells. Next, we analyzed the cells expressing GFP-tagged recombinant MRLCs. Expression of GFP-tagged diphosphorylatable and monophosphorylatable MRLCs led to a significant increase in the filopodial number, compared with the cells expressing nonphosphorylatable MRLC. This result indicated that expression of phosphorylatable MRLC enhances the formation of filopodia at the wound edge.

Myosin II regulatory light chain as a novel substrate for AIM-1, an aurora/Ipl1p-related kinase from rat.

Previous studies demonstrated that the phosphorylated myosin II regulatory light chain (MRLC) is localized at the cleavage furrow of dividing cells, suggesting that phosphorylation of MRLC plays an important role in cytokinesis. However, it remains unclear which kinase(s) phosphorylate MRLC during cytokinesis. AIM-1, an Aurora/Ipl1p-related kinase from rat, is known as a serine/threonine kinase that is required for cytokinesis. Here we examined the possibility that AIM-1 is a candidate for a kinase that phosphorylates MRLC during cytokinesis. As a result, we showed that AIM-1 monophosphorylated MRLC at Ser19 using two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping analysis and several MRLC mutants. Furthermore, AIM-1 was colocalized with monophosphorylated MRLC at the cleavage furrow of dividing cells. We propose here that AIM-1 may participate in monophosphorylation of MRLC during cytokinesis.