Roles of an unconventional protein kinase and myosin II in amoeba osmotic shock responses.
The contractile vacuole (CV) is a dynamic organelle that enables Dictyostelium amoeba and other protist to maintain osmotic homeostasis by expelling excess water. In the present study, we have uncovered a mechanism that coordinates the mechanics of the CV with myosin II, regulated by VwkA, an unconventional protein kinase that is conserved in an array of protozoa. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-VwkA fusion proteins localize persistently to the CV during both filling and expulsion phases of water. In vwkA null cells, the established CV marker dajumin still localizes to the CV, but these structures are large, spherical and severely impaired for discharge. Furthermore, myosin II cortical localization and assembly are abnormal in vwkA null cells. Parallel analysis of wild-type cells treated with myosin II inhibitors or of myosin II null cells also results in enlarged CVs with impaired dynamics. We suggest that the myosin II cortical cytoskeleton, regulated by VwkA, serves a critical conserved role in the periodic contractions of the CV, as part of the osmotic protective mechanism of protozoa.
Department of Cell Biology, The Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Venkaiah
V
Betapudi
Thomas T
TT
Egelhoff
D000656:Amoeba / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D024462:Myosin Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D024462:Myosin Type II