Bryan Demosthene, Pavlo Kravchuk, Connor L. Harmon, Abdulrazak Kalae, Ellen H. Kang
Actin filament assembly and mechanics are crucial for maintenance of cell structure, motility, and division. Actin filament assembly occurs in a crowded intracellular environment consisting of various types of molecules, including small organic molecules known as osmolytes. Ample evidence highlights the protective functions of osmolytes such as trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO), including their effects on protein stability and their ability to counteract cellular osmotic stress. Yet, how TMAO affects individual actin filament assembly dynamics and mechanics is not well understood. We hypothesize that, owing to its protective nature, TMAO will enhance filament dynamics and stiffen actin filaments due to increased stability. In this study, we investigate osmolyte‐dependent actin filament assembly and bending mechanics by measuring filament elongation rates, steady‐state filament lengths, and bending persistence lengths in the presence of TMAO using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and pyrene assays. Our results demonstrate that TMAO increases filament elongation rates as well as steady‐state average filament lengths, and enhances filament bending stiffness. Together, these results will help us understand how small organic osmolytes modulate cytoskeletal protein assembly and mechanics in living cells.
{"title":"Small organic osmolytes accelerate actin filament assembly and stiffen filaments","authors":"Bryan Demosthene, Pavlo Kravchuk, Connor L. Harmon, Abdulrazak Kalae, Ellen H. Kang","doi":"10.1002/cm.21927","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.21927","url":null,"abstract":"Actin filament assembly and mechanics are crucial for maintenance of cell structure, motility, and division. Actin filament assembly occurs in a crowded intracellular environment consisting of various types of molecules, including small organic molecules known as osmolytes. Ample evidence highlights the protective functions of osmolytes such as trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO), including their effects on protein stability and their ability to counteract cellular osmotic stress. Yet, how TMAO affects individual actin filament assembly dynamics and mechanics is not well understood. We hypothesize that, owing to its protective nature, TMAO will enhance filament dynamics and stiffen actin filaments due to increased stability. In this study, we investigate osmolyte‐dependent actin filament assembly and bending mechanics by measuring filament elongation rates, steady‐state filament lengths, and bending persistence lengths in the presence of TMAO using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and pyrene assays. Our results demonstrate that TMAO increases filament elongation rates as well as steady‐state average filament lengths, and enhances filament bending stiffness. Together, these results will help us understand how small organic osmolytes modulate cytoskeletal protein assembly and mechanics in living cells.","PeriodicalId":55186,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142267446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Author profile: Noëmi Eva Linda Zimmermann","authors":"Noëmi Eva Linda Zimmermann","doi":"10.1002/cm.21918","DOIUrl":"10.1002/cm.21918","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55186,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton","volume":"81 11","pages":"693-694"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142208325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introducing our Associate Editorial Board: An interview with Eva Karasmanis, University of San Diego, California, USA","authors":"Paul Trevorrow, Eva Karasmanis","doi":"10.1002/cm.21913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.21913","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55186,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton","volume":"252 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142208324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Author profile: Albin E. Berg","authors":"Albin E. Berg","doi":"10.1002/cm.21920","DOIUrl":"10.1002/cm.21920","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55186,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton","volume":"81 12","pages":"917-918"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142057481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：