title: A direct interaction between IP(3) receptors and myosin II regulates IP(3) signaling in C. elegans.
abstract: Molecular and physiological studies of cells implicate interactions between the cytoskeleton and the intracellular calcium signalling machinery as an important mechanism for the regulation of calcium signalling. However, little is known about the functions of such mechanisms in animals. A key component of the calcium signalling network is the intracellular release of calcium in response to the production of the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)), mediated by the IP(3) receptor (IP(3)R). We show that C. elegans IP(3)Rs, encoded by the gene itr-1, interact directly with myosin II. The interactions between two myosin proteins, UNC-54 and MYO-1, and ITR-1 were identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen and subsequently confirmed in vivo and in vitro. We defined the interaction sites on both the IP(3)R and MYO-1. To test the effect of disrupting the interaction in vivo we overexpressed interacting fragments of both proteins in C. elegans. This decreased the animal's ability to upregulate pharyngeal pumping in response to food. This is a known IP(3)-mediated process [15]. Other IP(3)-mediated processes, e.g., defecation, were unaffected. Thus it appears that interactions between IP(3)Rs and myosin are required for maintaining the specificity of IP(3) signalling in C. elegans and probably more generally.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
authors.forename: Denise S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Sung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.forename: Katherine C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lockwood
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Baylis
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D053496:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D024462:Myosin Type II / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D053496:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D024462:Myosin Type II