Mutant Tropomyosin Research Articles

N-acetylcysteine reverses diastolic dysfunction and hypertrophy in familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

S-glutathionylation of cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) induces Ca(2+) sensitization and a slowing of cross-bridge kinetics as a result of increased oxidative signaling. Although there is evidence for a role of oxidative stress in disorders associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), this mechanism is not well understood. We investigated whether oxidative myofilament modifications may be in part responsible for diastolic dysfunction in HCM. We administered N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for 30 days to 1-mo-old wild-type mice and to transgenic mice expressing a mutant tropomyosin (Tm-E180G) and nontransgenic littermates. Tm-E180G hearts demonstrate a phenotype similar to human HCM. After NAC administration, the morphology and diastolic function of Tm-E180G mice was not significantly different from controls, indicating that NAC had reversed baseline diastolic dysfunction and hypertrophy in our model. NAC administration also increased sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase protein expression, reduced extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 phosphorylation, and normalized phosphorylation of phospholamban, as assessed by Western blot. Detergent-extracted fiber bundles from NAC-administered Tm-E180G mice showed nearly nontransgenic (NTG) myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity. Additionally, we found that NAC increased tension cost and rate of cross-bridge reattachment. Tm-E180G myofilaments were found to have a significant increase in S-glutathionylation of cMyBP-C, which was returned to NTG levels upon NAC administration. Taken together, our results indicate that oxidative myofilament modifications are an important mediator in diastolic function, and by relieving this modification we were able to reverse established diastolic dysfunction and hypertrophy in HCM.

Abstract 62: Cardiac Troponin T Isoform Switching in Early Childhood Tropomyosin-linked Dilated Cardiomyopathy

An oft-noted component of sarcomeric DCM is the observation that patients within families carrying the same primary mutation exhibit significant phenotypic variability. This lack of a distinct link between genotype and phenotype has complicated clinical management. In a recent study of two unrelated multigenerational families with the tropomyosin (Tm) mutation Asp230Asn (D230N), a striking “bimodal” distribution of severity was observed. In these families, many children (<1 year) with the mutation presented with a severe form of DCM that led to sudden, often fatal CHF while adults developed a mild to moderate DCM in mid-life. Of note, children who survived the initial presentation often recovered significant systolic function into young adulthood. A potential hypothesis to explain this improvement despite the continued presence of the mutant Tm, is that the phenotype is modified by other thin filament isoforms. Thus we propose that the age-dependent remodeling seen in children with D230N Tm is a result of temporal isoform switches involving a closely linked Tm binding partner cardiac Troponin T (cTnT). Our initial biophysical studies (Regulated-IVM) revealed a decreased Ca2+ sensitivity in filaments containing D230N Tm that is more severe in the presence of fetal TnT (cTnT1), suggesting a modulatory role for cTnT1. Cardiac performance, assessed via 2D echo, in our novel D230N Tm x cTnT1 double transgenic (DTg) mouse model found a significantly reduced % FS for DTg (17%) mice as compared to D230N Tm (21%) littermates. This reduction in %FS was seen at 4 months but not 2 suggesting a progressive cardiomyopathy. Current efforts aim to model the early phase of this “bimodal” phenotype and assess the potential for disease reversibility using a cardiac specific inducible cTnT1 transgenic mouse model. Furthermore, we propose that modulation by cTnT1 could represent a more general mechanism for the progressive remodeling seen in human heart failure. Preliminary in vitro studies with human tissue found that RNA levels of cTnT1 are significantly higher in failing hearts as compared to non-failing. Thus these data suggest an isoform dependent mechanism for the “bimodal” phenotype in patients carrying D230N Tm that could translate to other sarcomeric cardiomyopathies.

Biochemical characterization of the roles of glycines 24 and 27 and threonine 179 in tropomyosin from the fast skeletal trunk muscle of the atlantic salmon.

Atlantic salmon fast skeletal muscle is composed of an α-type tropomyosin that shares 20 substitutions with a mammalian homologue. Prominent isomorphisms considered to be potentially destabilizing include threonine 179 (core, Ala in rabbit) and a unique pair of glycines, residues 24 and 27. Bacterially expressed mutant tropomyosins were isolated without exposure to elevated temperature or organic solvent. The Thr179Ala mutant is more resistant to heat-induced denaturation (Tm > 40 °C) than the nonmutant control (Tm = 37 °C) as monitored by far-UV circular dichroism [0.1 M salt and 1 mM DTT (pH 7)]. Changing one glycine to alanine has no detectable effect on the Tm versus the control value. An increase of 1 °C is observed for the double mutant (Gly27Ala/Gly24Ala). The preferred site of chymotryptic cleavage of recombinant salmon tropomyosin is between Leu 11 and Lys 12. The rate of the subsequent cleavage at Leu 169, the preferred site in rabbit tropomyosin, is reduced via replacement of Thr 179 with Ala. Thin filaments reconstituted with this mutant display greater Ca(II) induction of the myosin steady-state MgATPase versus control. Glycine-induced local instability is demonstrated by Escherichia coli outer membrane protease T (Omp-T) cleavage between Lys 6 and Lys 7. The control is more susceptible to proteolysis at this site than the mutants, which are distinct from each other: control > Gly27Ala > Gly24Ala > double mutant (most resistant to Omp-T). Similarly, the double mutant is comparatively more resistant to cleavage at Leu 11. By inference, the mid- and amino-terminal sections of salmon tropomyosin are intrinsically less stable than those in mammals, suggesting greater flexibility. Neighboring glycines make up a new destabilization motif in tropomyosin.

Mechanistic Heterogeneity in Contractile Properties of α-Tropomyosin (TPM1) Mutants Associated with Inherited Cardiomyopathies

The most frequent known causes of primary cardiomyopathies are mutations in the genes encoding sarcomeric proteins. Among those are 30 single-residue mutations in TPM1, the gene encoding α-tropomyosin. We examined seven mutant tropomyosins, E62Q, D84N, I172T, L185R, S215L, D230N, and M281T, that were chosen based on their clinical severity and locations along the molecule. The goal of our study was to determine how the biochemical characteristics of each of these mutant proteins are altered, which in turn could provide a structural rationale for treatment of the cardiomyopathies they produce. Measurements of Ca(2+) sensitivity of human β-cardiac myosin ATPase activity are consistent with the hypothesis that hypertrophic cardiomyopathies are hypersensitive to Ca(2+) activation, and dilated cardiomyopathies are hyposensitive. We also report correlations between ATPase activity at maximum Ca(2+) concentrations and conformational changes in TnC measured using a fluorescent probe, which provide evidence that different substitutions perturb the structure of the regulatory complex in different ways. Moreover, we observed changes in protein stability and protein-protein interactions in these mutants. Our results suggest multiple mechanistic pathways to hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies. Finally, we examined a computationally designed mutant, E181K, that is hypersensitive, confirming predictions derived from in silico structural analysis.

Impaired tropomyosin–troponin interactions reduce activation of the actin thin filament

Tropomyosin and troponin are bound to the actin filament to control the contraction of striated muscle in the Ca-dependent manner. The interactions between both regulatory proteins important for the regulation process are not fully understood. To gain more insight into the mechanisms of the thin filament regulation by skeletal α-tropomyosin and troponin, we analyzed effects of seven myopathy-related substitutions: Leu99Met, Ala155Thr, Arg167Gly, Arg167Cys, Arg167His, Lys168Glu, and Arg244Gly. All substitutions reduced Ca-dependent activation of the actomyosin ATPase. The effects of mutations in Arg167 and Lys168 were the most severe. The amino acid substitutions did not significantly affect troponin binding to the whole filament, but reduced 1.2–2.8 fold the affinity of troponin to tropomyosin alone. The excimer fluorescence of N-(1-pyrene)iodoacetamide, a probe attached to the central Cys190, demonstrated that substitutions located near the troponin core domain-binding region strongly affected conformational changes accompanying the tropomyosin–troponin interactions. The thermal stability of all tropomyosin mutants was lower than the stability of the wild type tropomyosin, with TM reduced by 5.3–8.5°C. Together the analyses demonstrated that the myopathy-causing mutations affected tropomyosin structure and led to changes in interactions between tropomyosin and troponin, which impaired the transition of the thin filament from the inactive off to the active on state.

Serine 61 Phosphorylation Rescues Cardiomyopathic Effects of Tropomyosin Mutation

Point mutations found on myofibrillar proteins have been shown to affect muscle contractility and lead to cardiomyopathies and skeletal muscle disease syndromes of varying severity. Over 30 mutations localize to residues on the actin-tropomyosin interface and modify the actin-tropomyosin energy landscape, influence tropomyosin positioning on actin, and perturb allosteric cooperativity between actin, tropomyosin, troponin and myosin. Here, energy landscape computation, in combination with known actin-tropomyosin sequence and structural information was used prospectively to identify potential effects of post-translational modifications generated to rescue regulatory imbalances. For instance, our interaction energy calculations show that HCM-associated E62Q tropomyosin mutation weakens residue-residue specific actin-tropomyosin binding. We then predicted that phosphorylation of neighboring S61 would rescue the deficit, which was corroborated by further energy landscape determination. To validate these in silico results experimentally, the sliding velocity of tropomyosin-troponin decorated thin filaments was measured as a function of added calcium for thin filaments containing the E62Q, phosphomimetic S61D and E62Q-S61D mutant tropomyosins. In vitro motility assays showed actin associated with E62Q mutant tropomyosin requires lower Ca2+ to fully activate troponin-tropomyosin regulated mutant filaments when compared to activation of wild-type filaments (as expected from earlier reports based on acto-S1 ATPase work). In contrast, the double mutant E62Q-S61D restores Ca2+-sensitivity toward normal while slightly reducing sliding velocity. Thus, the shift in Ca2+-sensitivity by E62Q and subsequent reversal by S61D parallel the blocked-state phosphorylation-dependent stabilization of actin-tropomyosin noted by our landscape measurements. Likewise, a decrease in Ca2+-sensitivity produced by the single mutant S61D alone likely resulted from blocked site stabilization. Hence, shifts observed in pCa50 for the mutant tropomyosins could be accurately predicted by in silico calculation of energy landscapes. Further, in silico predictions were used to guide the design of post-translational modifications to rescue regulatory imbalances.

Energy Landscapes Reveal the Myopathic Effects of Tropomyosin Mutations

Energy Landscapes Reveal the Myopathic Effects of Tropomyosin Mutations

Mutations in Tropomyosin 4 Cause Macrothrombocytopenia in Mice and Humans

A genome-wide scan in nearly 70,000 individuals showed that the common SNP rs8109288 in the first intron of the human TPM4 gene exerts an effect on the volume and count of platelets (Gieger et al. Nature 2011). We isolated a mouse line with an ENU-induced missense mutation in Tpm4. Mice carrying this mutation exhibited dose-dependent macrothrombocytopenia, while other blood cell counts were normal. Bone marrow transplant experiments demonstrated that the phenotype is intrinsic to hematopoietic cells. Notably, Tpm4 insufficiency did not affect the life span or in vitro function of mutant platelets, and there was no evidence of an increased propensity to bleeding. Megakaryocyte numbers in the bone marrow were increased, although maturation as measured by ploidy appeared normal. Mutant megakaryocytes displayed altered morphology indicating fragmentation, and markedly decreased proplatelet formation in vitro.Based on Gieger et al., we examined the functional requirement for TPM4 in human megakaryocytes. We found that the localisation of TPM4 in proplatelet-forming megakaryocytes was extremely similar to the localisation in their mouse counterparts, suggesting an identical role. Furthermore, knock down of TPM4by shRNA in human megakaryocytes did not affect maturation as measured by CD41 and CD42 expression, but significantly reduced the number of proplatelet-forming cells. The occasional megakaryocyte that did form proplatelets did not exhibit the typical “beads-on-a-string” phenotype. Typically, one large bulb at the end of a protrusion or a string with no clearly distinguishable beads was observed.We therefore performed a look-up in the BRIDGE consortium database, which enrolled 542 cases with inherited bleeding and platelet disorders of unknown aetiology in the NIHR BioResource for exome sequencing. Calling of variants revealed single nucleotide variants with consequences in TPM4which were absent from ~30,000 control haplotypes, in three BRIDGE cases. Two cases with a stop codon at residue 105 and R91H variant presented with macrothrombocytopenia and mild bleeding symptoms with platelet counts of 103 and 128 x10e9/L and volumes of 15.10 and 14.00 fl, respectively. The remaining case with variant D20N (not conserved, genomic evolutionary rate profiling score of 2.68 compared to 4.62 for the other variants) had a count in the normal range (232 x10e9/L) and a reduced platelet volume of 7.20 fl.Together, these results provide compelling evidence that Tropomyosin 4 is a crucial regulator of platelet production in mice and humans, being specifically required for the terminal stages of platelet formation. Our studies demonstrate that the common intronic variant exerts a subtle effect, whilst two extremely rare variants have a more robust effect on platelet formation leading to counts and volumes at the tails of the population distribution. The lack of concordance between mice and humans with regard to bleeding may be explained by strong modifiers at loci other than TPM4. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Structural and protein interaction effects of hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathic mutations in alpha-tropomyosin.

The potential alterations to structure and associations with thin filament proteins caused by the dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) associated tropomyosin (Tm) mutants E40K and E54K, and the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) associated Tm mutants E62Q and L185R, were investigated. In order to ascertain what the cause of the known functional effects may be, structural and protein-protein interaction studies were conducted utilizing actomyosin ATPase activity measurements and spectroscopy. In actomyosin ATPase measurements, both HCM mutants and the DCM mutant E54K caused increases in Ca2+-induced maximal ATPase activities, while E40K caused a decrease. Investigation of Tm's ability to inhibit actomyosin ATPase in the absence of troponin showed that HCM-associated mutant Tms did not inhibit as well as wildtype, whereas the DCM associated mutant E40K inhibited better. E54K did not inhibit the actomyosin ATPase activity at any concentration of Tm tested. Thermal denaturation studies by circular dichroism and molecular modeling of the mutations in Tm showed that in general, the DCM mutants caused localized destabilization of the Tm dimers, while the HCM mutants resulted in increased stability. These findings demonstrate that the structural alterations in Tm observed here may affect the regulatory function of Tm on actin, thereby directly altering the ATPase rates of myosin.

Energy landscapes reveal the myopathic effects of tropomyosin mutations

Striated muscle contraction is regulated by an interaction network connecting the effects of troponin, Ca2+, and myosin-heads to the azimuthal positioning of tropomyosin along thin filaments. Many missense mutations, located at the actin–tropomyosin interface, however, reset the regulatory switching mechanism either by weakening or strengthening residue-specific interactions, leading to hyper- or hypo-contractile pathologies. Here, we compute energy landscapes for the actin–tropomyosin interface and quantify contributions of single amino acid residues to actin–tropomyosin binding. The method is a useful tool to assess effects of actin and tropomyosin mutations, potentially relating initial stages of myopathy to alterations in thin filament stability and regulation. Landscapes for mutant filaments linked to hyper-contractility provide a simple picture that describes a decrease in actin–tropomyosin interaction energy. Destabilizing the blocked (relaxed)-state parallels previously noted enhanced Ca2+-sensitivity conferred by these mutants. Energy landscapes also identify post-translational modifications that can rescue regulatory imbalances. For example, cardiomyopathy-associated E62Q tropomyosin mutation weakens actin–tropomyosin interaction, but phosphorylation of neighboring S61 rescues the binding-deficit, results confirmed experimentally by in vitro motility assays. Unlike results on hyper-contractility-related mutants, landscapes for tropomyosin mutants tied to hypo-contractility do not present a straightforward picture. These mutations may affect other components of the regulatory network, e.g., troponin–tropomyosin signaling.

Nebulin interactions with actin and tropomyosin are altered by disease-causing mutations.

BackgroundNemaline myopathy (NM) is a rare genetic muscle disorder, but one of the most common among the congenital myopathies. NM is caused by mutations in at least nine genes: Nebulin (NEB), α-actin (ACTA1), α-tropomyosin (TPM3), β-tropomyosin (TPM2), troponin T (TNNT1), cofilin-2 (CFL2), Kelch repeat and BTB (POZ) domain-containing 13 (KBTBD13), and Kelch-like family members 40 and 41 (KLHL40 and KLHL41). Nebulin is a giant (600 to 900 kDa) filamentous protein constituting part of the skeletal muscle thin filament. Around 90% of the primary structure of nebulin is composed of approximately 35-residue α-helical domains, which form super repeats that bind actin with high affinity. Each super repeat has been proposed to harbor one tropomyosin-binding site.MethodsWe produced four wild-type (WT) nebulin super repeats (S9, S14, S18, and S22), 283 to 347 amino acids long, and five corresponding repeats with a patient mutation included: three missense mutations (p.Glu2431Lys, p.Ser6366Ile, and p.Thr7382Pro) and two in-frame deletions (p.Arg2478_Asp2512del and p.Val3924_Asn3929del). We performed F-actin and tropomyosin-binding experiments for the nebulin super repeats, using co-sedimentation and GST (glutathione-S-transferase) pull-down assays. We also used the GST pull-down assay to test the affinity of WT nebulin super repeats for WT α- and β–tropomyosin, and for β-tropomyosin with six patient mutations: p.Lys7del, p.Glu41Lys, p.Lys49del, p.Glu117Lys, p.Glu139del and p.Gln147Pro.ResultsWT nebulin was shown to interact with actin and tropomyosin. Both the nebulin super repeats containing the p.Glu2431Lys mutation and nebulin super repeats lacking exon 55 (p.Arg2478_Asp2512del) showed weak affinity for F-actin compared with WT fragments. Super repeats containing the p.Ser6366Ile mutation showed strong affinity for actin. When tested for tropomyosin affinity, super repeats containing the p.Glu2431Lys mutation showed stronger binding than WT proteins to tropomyosin, and the super repeat containing the p.Thr7382Pro mutation showed weaker binding than WT proteins to tropomyosin. Super repeats containing the deletion p.Val3924_Asn3929del showed similar affinity for actin and tropomyosin as that seen with WT super repeats. Of the tropomyosin mutations, only p.Glu41Lys showed weaker affinity for nebulin (super repeat 18).ConclusionsWe demonstrate for the first time the existence of direct tropomyosin-nebulin interactions in vitro, and show that nebulin interactions with actin and tropomyosin are altered by disease-causing mutations in nebulin and tropomyosin.

Abstract 197: Determining the Potential Role of cTnT Isoform Switching In the Development of Early Childhood Tropomyosin-Linked DCM

An oft-noted component of sarcomeric HCM and DCM is the observation that patients within families, carrying the same primary mutation, often exhibit significant phenotypic variability. This lack of a distinct link between genotype and phenotype has greatly complicated clinical management. In a recent study of two large unrelated multigenerational families carrying the tropomyosin (Tm) mutation Asp230Asn (D230N), a striking “bimodal” distribution of severity was observed. In these families, many children (<1 year) with the mutation presented with a severe form of DCM that led to sudden, often fatal congestive heart failure, while adults developed a mild to moderate DCM in mid-life. Of note, children who survived the initial presentation often recovered significant systolic function in adolescence and young adulthood. Therefore, to better understand the mechanism of this “bimodal” phenotype, we began to investigate the potential modulating role of isoform switching by other sarcomeric components. We hypothesize that the age-dependent remodeling seen in children with D230N Tm is a result of temporal isoform switches involving a closely linked Tm binding partner cardiac Troponin T (cTnT). Initial biophysical studies (circular dichroism and regulated in vitro motility, R-IVM) show that while D230N does not alter Tm’s thermal stability it does have a profound impact on myofilament activation. Both maximal velocity of filament sliding and calcium sensitivity were decreased. Furthermore, an additive decrease was observed in these parameters for R-IVM solutions containing cTnT 1 (fetal)+D230N Tm filaments as compared to cTnT 3 (adult)+D230N. Preliminary in vivo studies utilizing our novel double transgenic Tm-D230N x cTnT 1 mice show profound changes in wall thickness and chamber dilation, as compared to age-matched non-transgenic mice and D230N Tm mice. Further studies aim to model the “bimodal” clinical phenotype seen in families with D230N Tm and assess the potential for disease reversibility using a cardiac specific inducible cTnT 1 transgenic mouse model. Our goal is to use a translational approach to better understand the mechanism by which primary mutations lead to distinct clinical phenotypes in order to improve clinical management.

Dcm Mutations in Tropomyosin Induce Loss of Thermal Stability When the Mutation is Present in a Single Chain of the Tm Dimer

Individuals carrying cardiomyopathy mutations normally have the mutation in one of the two genes and therefore both wt and mutant proteins will be present in the cell. In the case of dimeric protein then homo and heterodimers are likely to exist side by side. We have made α-tropomyosin (Tm) in which one or both chains of the dimer carry a single point mutation associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The mutations are E40K, E54K and D230N. Protein unfolding was monitored for a 7 μM solution of Tm (0.5 M KCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 1 mM DTT, 20 mM KPi buffer pH 7.0) using the CD signal at 222 nm with a constant heating rate of 1 °C min−1. The unfolding profile was fully reversible and repeated unfolding curves were superimposable. Each Tm unfolded in via 3 unfolding transitions; those for wt Tm occurred at 40, 47 & 53 °C. The presence of a mutation in a single chain caused a loss of thermal stability with significant unfolding at 37 °C. The least stable transition occurred with a mid-point at 3-5 degrees lower temperature for each of the three Tms carrying a single mutation. The other two transitions were similar to wt for all three constructs. When both chains carried the mutation, the all three transitions were similar to those of the wt Tm. Supported by the Wellcome Trust and a University of Kent Studentship.

1P139 心筋症特異的なトロポミオシン変異体による再構成フィラメントの光ピンセット及び熱パルスを用いたin vitro assay(10. 筋肉,ポスター,第52回日本生物物理学会年会(2014年度))

1P139 心筋症特異的なトロポミオシン変異体による再構成フィラメントの光ピンセット及び熱パルスを用いたin vitro assay(10. 筋肉,ポスター,第52回日本生物物理学会年会(2014年度))

Myosin Binding to Human Cardiac Thin Filaments Containing Tropomyosin Carrying DCM & HCM Mutations; Fitting of Complex Binding Transients

Myosin S1 binds to pyrene labelled thin filaments in a calcium dependent manner. When mixing an excess of S1 with thin filaments at low calcium the transient is complex in form and requires a complete model of the regulated binding to fit the data. Using the recently published Monte Carlo version of the Mckillop & Geeves model (REF) we have now fitted a complete set of calcium dependent myosin binding transients to thin filaments containing WT human tropomyosin with human cardiac troponin. In addition we have analysed the data for 5 tropomyosin mutations carrying HCM (E175N, & E180G) or DCM mutations (E54K , E40K and D230N) in one or both Tm chains of the dimer. All transients can be well described by the model and for each case the calcium dependent data can be described by a single set of parameters with a change only in the apparent value and calcium dependence of KB (the equilibrium constant between the blocked and closed states of the filament) small secondary effects may be present in value of KT ( equilibrium between closed and open states). For the HCM mutations the value of KB showed enhanced calcium sensitivity with little change in the value of KB at high and low calcium. In contrast, preliminary data for DCM mutations showed little change in the calcium dependence of KB, but larger changes in the low calcium value of KB. This could mean that the DCM mutations turn off the thin filament more effectively. All other constants remain unchanged within experimental error.Supported by the Welcome Trust, NIH R01 AR048776 and Serbian Ministry of Science grants III41007 and OI174028.

Decreasing Tropomyosin Phosphorylation Rescues Tropomyosin-induced Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Studies indicate that tropomyosin (Tm) phosphorylation status varies in different mouse models of cardiac disease. Investigation of basal and acute cardiac function utilizing a mouse model expressing an α-Tm protein that cannot be phosphorylated (S283A) shows a compensated hypertrophic phenotype with significant increases in SERCA2a expression and phosphorylation of phospholamban Ser-16 (Schulz, E. M., Correll, R. N., Sheikh, H. N., Lofrano-Alves, M. S., Engel, P. L., Newman, G., Schultz Jel, J., Molkentin, J. D., Wolska, B. M., Solaro, R. J., and Wieczorek, D. F. (2012) J. Biol. Chem. 287, 44478-44489). With these results, we hypothesized that decreasing α-Tm phosphorylation may be beneficial in the context of a chronic, intrinsic stressor. To test this hypothesis, we utilized the familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) α-Tm E180G model (Prabhakar, R., Boivin, G. P., Grupp, I. L., Hoit, B., Arteaga, G., Solaro, R. J., and Wieczorek, D. F. (2001) J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 33, 1815-1828). These FHC hearts are characterized by increased heart:body weight ratios, fibrosis, increased myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity, and contractile defects. The FHC mice die by 6-8 months of age. We generated mice expressing both the E180G and S283A mutations and found that the hypertrophic phenotype was rescued in the α-Tm E180G/S283A double mutant transgenic animals; these mice exhibited no signs of cardiac hypertrophy and displayed improved cardiac function. These double mutant transgenic hearts showed increased phosphorylation of phospholamban Ser-16 and Thr-17 compared with the α-Tm E180G mice. This is the first study to demonstrate that decreasing phosphorylation of tropomyosin can rescue a hypertrophic cardiomyopathic phenotype.

Nuclear tropomyosin and troponin in striated muscle: new roles in a new locale?

Tropomyosin and troponin have well known Ca(2+)-regulatory functions in the striated muscle sarcomere. In this review, we summarize experimental evidence that tropomyosin and troponin are localized, with as yet unidentified functional roles, in the striated muscle cell nucleus. We also apply bioinformatics approaches that predict localization of some tropomyosin and troponin to the nucleus, and that SUMOylation could be a covalent modification that modulates their nuclear localization and function. Further, we provide examples of cardiomyopathy mutations that alter the predicted likelihood of nuclear localization and SUMOylation of tropomyosin. These observations suggest novel mechanisms by which cardiomyopathy mutations in tropomyosin and troponin might alter not only cardiac contractility but also nuclear function.

Skeletal muscle myopathy mutations at the actin tropomyosin interface that cause gain- or loss-of-function

It is well known that the regulation of muscle contraction relies on the ability of tropomyosin to switch between different positions on the actin filament, but it is still not well understood which amino acids are directly involved in the different states of the interaction. Recently the structure of the actin-tropomyosin interface has been determined both in the absence and presence of myosin heads. Interestingly, a number of mutations in tropomyosin that are associated with skeletal muscle myopathy are located within this interface. We first give an overview of the functional effect of mutations on amino acids that are involved in the contact with actin asp25, which represent a pattern repeated seven times along tropomyosin. It is explained how some of these amino acids (R167 and R244) which are thought to be involved in a salt bridge contact with actin in the closed state can produce a loss-of-function when mutated, while other positively charged tropomyosin amino acids positioned on the downstream side of the contact (K7, K49, R91, K168) can produce a gain-of-function when mutated. We then consider mutations of amino acids involved in another salt bridge contact between the two proteins in the closed state, actin K326N (which binds on five different points of tropomyosin) and tropomyosin ∆E139 and E181K, and we report how all of these mutations produce a gain-of-function. These observations can be important to validate the proposed structures and to understand more deeply how mutations affect the function of these proteins and to enable prediction of their outcomes.

Myofilament lattice structure in presence of a skeletal myopathy-related tropomyosin mutation

Human tropomyosin mutations deregulate skeletal muscle contraction at the cellular level. One key feature is the slowing of the kinetics of force development. The aim of the present study was to characterize the potential underlying molecular mechanisms by recording and analyzing the X-ray diffraction patterns of human membrane-permeabilized muscle cells expressing a particular β-tropomyosin mutation (E41K). During resting conditions, the d1,0 lattice spacing, Δ1,0 and I1,1 to I1,0 ratio were not different from control values. These results suggest that, in presence of the E41K β-tropomyosin mutation, the myofilament lattice geometry is well maintained and therefore may not have any detrimental influence on the contraction mechanisms and thus, on the rate of force generation.

A Periodic Pattern of Evolutionarily Conserved Basic and Acidic Residues Constitutes the Binding Interface of Actin-Tropomyosin

Actin filament cytoskeletal and muscle functions are regulated by actin binding proteins using a variety of mechanisms. A universal actin filament regulator is the protein tropomyosin, which binds end-to-end along the length of the filament. The actin-tropomyosin filament structure is unknown, but there are atomic models in different regulatory states based on electron microscopy reconstructions, computational modeling of actin-tropomyosin, and docking of atomic resolution structures of tropomyosin to actin filament models. Here, we have tested models of the actin-tropomyosin interface in the "closed state" where tropomyosin binds to actin in the absence of myosin or troponin. Using mutagenesis coupled with functional analyses, we determined residues of actin and tropomyosin required for complex formation. The sites of mutations in tropomyosin were based on an evolutionary analysis and revealed a pattern of basic and acidic residues in the first halves of the periodic repeats (periods) in tropomyosin. In periods P1, P4, and P6, basic residues are most important for actin affinity, in contrast to periods P2, P3, P5, and P7, where both basic and acidic residues or predominantly acidic residues contribute to actin affinity. Hydrophobic interactions were found to be relatively less important for actin binding. We mutated actin residues in subdomains 1 and 3 (Asp(25)-Glu(334)-Lys(326)-Lys(328)) that are poised to make electrostatic interactions with the residues in the repeating motif on tropomyosin in the models. Tropomyosin failed to bind mutant actin filaments. Our mutagenesis studies provide the first experimental support for the atomic models of the actin-tropomyosin interface.