title: Effects of thymosin beta 4 and thymosin beta 10 on actin structures in living cells.
abstract: The beta-thymosins are a family of small proteins originally isolated from the thymus. Recently, two of the major mammalian isoforms, thymosin beta 4 (T beta 4) and thymosin beta 10 (T beta 10), are identified as significant actin monomer sequestering proteins which may be involved in regulating actin filament assembly. To study the cellular function of beta-thymosins, we have used isoform-specific antibodies to determine their concentration and intracellular distribution, and examined the effects of inducing overexpression of T beta 4 and T beta 10 on actin filament structures. Immunofluorescence labeling of peritoneal macrophages showed that both beta-thymosins are uniformly distributed within the cytoplasm. cDNA-mediated overexpression of beta-thymosins in CV1 fibroblasts induced extensive loss of phalloidin-stained actin stress fibers. Stress fibers in the cell center were more susceptible than those at the periphery. There was a decrease in the number of focal adhesions, as evidenced by a decrease in discrete vinculin staining and an increase in diffuse vinculin fluorescence. The majority of the transfected cells had normal shape in spite of extensive loss of actin filaments. Occasionally, cells overexpressing beta-thymosin were observed to divide. In these cells, beta-thymosin was excluded from the midbody which contains an actin filament-rich contractile ring. Our results indicate that T beta 4 and T beta 10 are functionally very similar and both are effective regulators of a large subset of actin filaments in living cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235.
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morrison-Bogorad
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects*; D000199:Actins / Q000187:drug effects*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology; D013947:Thymosin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014162:Transfection; D016596:Vinculin / Q000032:analysis; D000099201:Thymosin beta(4)
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D013947:Thymosin; D016596:Vinculin; D000099201:Thymosin beta(4); C039302:thymosin beta(10)