• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.155-164
• /
• 1995

The location of actin and myosin of the several stages of Cwptosporinium parvum was observed. The tissue antigen of C. pcruum was prepared through immunosuppression of IgG mice with Depomedrol . The thin sectioned specimens, which were incubated with the IgG fraction of the rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against chicken back muscle actin and bovine uterus myosin, were treated with 10 nm gold-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG, Electrodense particles were located mainly on the pellicles of all observed developmental stages of the parasites. The number of actin gold particles in the cytoplasm increased when the parasite was dividing actively as in case of meronts. Especially in macrogametocytes, a lot of actin and myosin particles were synthesized and storaged as amilopectin-like bodies. There were many actin gold particles along the microspikes of cytoplasmic membranes in various developmental stages. The actin and myosin observed in this study may play important roles to control the shape of the parasites and movement of cytoplasmic membranes as cvtoskeletal proteins.

• Journal of Advanced Information Technology and Convergence
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.103-113
• /
• 2019

Motivation: Polymerized actin-based cytoskeletal structures are crucial in shape, dynamics, and resilience of a cell. For example, dynamical actin-containing ruffles are located at leading edges of cells and have a significant impact on cell motility. Other filamentous actin (F-actin) bundles, called stress fibers, are essential in cell attachment and detachment. For this reason, their mechanistic understanding provides crucial information to solve practical problems related to cell interactions with materials in tissue engineering. Detecting and counting actin-based structures in a cellular ensemble is a fundamental first step. In this research, we suggest a new method to characterize F-actin wrapping fibers from confocal fluorescence image stacks. As fluorescently labeled F-actin often envelope the fibers, we first propose to segment these fibers by diminishing an energy based on maximum flow and minimum cut algorithm. The actual actin is detected through the use of bilateral filtering followed by a thresholding step. Later, concave actin bundles are detected through a graph-based procedure that actually determines if the considered actin filament is enclosing the fiber.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.17-22
• /
• 2005

In the previous studies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Abp140p (actin binding protein 140) fused to GFP has been only a protein that can label actin cables of yeast cells so far. However, the role of Abp140p in actin dynamics was remained elusive. In this study, the function of Abp140p was investigated with a deletion mutant and overexpression of GFP fused Abp140p. The deletion mutant was slightly more susceptible to Latrunculin-A (Lat-A), an actin-monomer sequestering agent, than wild type, although no significant deformation of actin structures was caused by ABP 140 deletion. Overexpression of Abp140p-GFP retarded cell growth, and produced thick and robust actin cables. Lat-A was not able to destabilize the thick actin cables, which suggests that actin dynamics was compromised in the cells with surplus of Abp140p. Therefore, Abp140p seems to stabilize actin cables together with other bundling proteins. Recently, actin cable dynamics of budding yeast was found to have a resemblance to that of filopodial tip of cultured mammalian cells. Retrograde movement of actin cables from buds to mother cells indicated local generation of the cable at bud sites. By using Abp140p-GFP, we traced the steps in the generation of a new actin cable after elimination of old cables by sodium azide. Before the appearance of a new actin cable, Abp140p-GFP concentrated in buds and disappeared, as mother cells became abundant in actin cables. Our observations provide a direct evidence of actin cable formation at buds of budding cells.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.42-48
• /
• 2001

The regulation of actin gene expression during the differentiation of Naegleria gruberi was examined. Actin mRNA concentration was maximal in amoebae and decreased rapidly after the initiation of differentiation. At 20 min after initiation, the concentration of actin mRNA decreased to 55% of the maximal value. The actin mRNA concentration decreased to the minimum at 80 min (15% of the maximum), and then began to increase slightly at the end of differentiation. This decrease of actin mRNA concentration was regulated by the repression of actin gene transcription based on nuclear run-on transcription experiments. The rates of transcription of actin gene in nuclei prepared at 40 and 80 min after the initiation of differentiation were 50 and 28% of that of nuclei prepared at the beginning of differentiation, respectively. The addition of cycloheximide at the initiation of differentiation inhibited both the rapid decrease in the concentration of actin mRNA and the repression of actin gene transcription. These results suggest that the rapid decrease in the concentration of actin mRNA during the differentiation of N. gruberi is accomplished by the repression of actin gene transcription and this transcriptional regulation requires continuous protein synthesis during the differentiation.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.49-56
• /
• 2005

The full sequence analysis of 16 different $\beta-actin$ genes isolated from a single Rivulus marmoratus was performed. The numbers of isolated $\beta-actin$ genes varied from 1764 to 1769. They showed different amino acid residues at the exon 1 region. We named this new gene R. marmoratus $\beta-actin$ 2 gene. Intraspecific variation of R. marmoratus $\beta-actin$ 2 gene was also examined. Major differences of 16 isolated $\beta-actin$ genes, compared to already reported R. marmoratus $\beta-actin$ gene (GenBank AF168615), were observed in both deduced amino acid sequences (1~2%) and intron 2 sequences (4~5%). In this paper, we confirmed the intraspecific variation of $\beta-actin$ gene in this species.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.8 no.6
• /
• pp.681-686
• /
• 1998

IASL(iodo acetamide) and MSL(maleimide) disordered the orderly helix arrangement of myosin in the rest state of spin level. Especially the effect of IASL was great. Equatorial reflection(10,11) change inferred that myosin head was moved to the vicinity of actin filament by spin level. The intensity change of 143 $\AA$ and 72 $\AA$ could offer infor-mation of the mass projection of population of myosin heads along the filament axis. The slope of intensity profile of the mass projection of 143 $\AA$ and reflection of IASL is appeared and that of MSL is appeared sharply. The dec-rease of 215 $\AA$ reflection intensity the periodical characteristic of 143 $\AA$ reflection by spin label. The raise of MSL actin reflection at 51 $\AA$ and 59 $\AA$ in the actin reflection change refers that the shifted myosin head binds a certain actin or changes an actin structure by spin label effect. Because iodo acetamide has a tendency to decease the actin reflection, actin dose not bind myosin head. From this result, we could conclude that LASL and MSL are spin labeled on SH of myosin head and disordered the helix arrangement of actin.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.648-655
• /
• 2015

Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorum A. DC.) is a perennial plant of mainly Campanulaceae family, which have been widely used as a food ingredient and herbal medicine in East Asia. Although demands on related products and yearly cultivation area for balloon flower are increasing, diverse fundamental technologies and molecular breeding studies are not very well supported in Platycodons. In this study, 30 random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers were test in an attempt to explore genetic diversities. In addition, sequences information of the actin gene, a well conserved gene encoding a globular protein that forms microfilaments, was retrieved and analyzed. Two actin homologs were recovered; 3.4 kb fragment is a Pg-actin and 1.4 kb fragment is a Pg-actin homolog with 28.6% similarity. We have confirmed that the Pg-actin gene is configured into 4 exons and 3 introns. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), G↔A, was detected on the intron 3, which served as a target for the CAPS marker development. The marker Pg-Actin-Int3 was applied to 32 balloon flower accessions. Balloon flower DNA sequence information generated in this study is expected to contribute to the analysis and molecular breeding and genetic diversity analysis of balloon flowers.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.48 no.7
• /
• pp.369-370
• /
• 2015

Actin dynamics is critical for the formation and sustainment of the immunological synapse (IS) during T cell interaction with antigen-presenting cells (APC). Thus, many actin regulating proteins are involved in spatial and temporal actin remodeling at the IS. However, little is known whether or how actin stabilizing protein controls IS and the consequent T cell functions. TAGLN2 − an actin-binding protein predominantly expressed in T cells − displays a novel function to stabilize cortical F-actin, thereby augmenting F-actin contents at the IS, and acquiring leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 activation following T cell activation. TAGLN2 also competes with cofilin to protect F-actin in vitro and in vivo. During cytotoxic T cell interaction with cancer cells, the expression level of TAGLN2 at the IS correlates with the T cell adhesion to target cancer cells and production of lytic granules such as granzyme B and perforin, thus expressing cytotoxic T cell function. These findings identify a novel function for TAGLN2 as an actin stabilizing protein that is essential for stable immunological synapse formation, thereby regulating T cell immunity. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(7): 369-370]

• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.83-91
• /
• 2009

The Korean doty barbel Hemibarbus mylodon (Cypriniformes; Cyprinidae) is a critically endangered freshwater fish species mainly because of its natural habitat degradation. Three full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) clones representing different muscle actin isoforms were isolated and characterized. The three muscle actin isoforms were 1,294-1,601 bp long with the identical open reading frames of 1,134 bp with the deduced amino acid residues of 377. They showed 83.9-87.2% identities in the coding nucleotide level and 96.8-98.1% identities in the amino acid level. Phylogenetic analysis with the coding nucleotide sequences revealed that three muscle actin isoforms of H. mylodon formed strongly supported monophyletic groups with one of cypriniform skeletal $\alpha$-actin (acta1), cypriniform aortic $\alpha$-actins (acta2), and uncharacterized Danio rerio muscle actin isoform/Salmo trutta slow muscle actin (a novel muscle actin type). Our phylogenetic tree further suggested that cypriniform acta2 only showed the orthologous relationship to tetrapod acta2. Other multiple actin isoforms from diverse teleostean taxa were however clustered to no tetrapod orthologs, i.e., acta1, cardiac $\alpha$-actins (aetc1), acta2, and enteric $\gamma$-actin (actg2). This result strongly suggested that teleostean muscle actins have experienced different and complicated evolutionary history in comparison to mammalian counterparts.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.353-358
• /
• 1996

Bovine angiogenin (bAng) is a potent blood vessel inducing protein purified from cow In ilk. fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to study the interaction of bAng with actin in 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, and 1 mM $CaCl_2$ at $25^{\circ}C$. Actin contains four tryptophans but bAng contains no tryptophans. A 50% decrease in intrinsic fluorescence accompanied formation of the bAng/actin complex. By contrast, the interaction of RNase A, a homologous protein to bAng, with actin results in about 10% quenching of the fluorescence. Fluorescence titration experiments were performed by adding increasing concentrations of bAng (0~1.0 ${\mu}M$) to a constant concentration of actin (0.1 ${\mu}M$), and the dissociation constant $K_d$ for the bAng/actin complex and the stoichiometry n were measured as $20{\pm}1$ nM and $1.0{\pm}0.1$ respectively. These results suggest that the interaction between bAng with actin is specific and that quenching of actin fluorescence has occurred in the bAng/actin complex. The bAng binding sites of actin are discussed in the results of this study, and we propose that Trp-80 in the small domain of bovine actin is responsible for the bAng/actin binding.