Long-haul transport along microtubules is crucial for neuronal polarity, and transport defects cause neurodegeneration. Tau protein stabilizes microtubule tracks, but in Alzheimer's disease it ...aggregates and becomes missorted into the somatodendritic compartment. Tau can inhibit axonal transport by obstructing motors on microtubules, yet tau itself can still move into axons. We therefore investigated tau movement by live-cell fluorescence microscopy, FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching), and FSM (fluorescence speckle microscopy). Tau is highly dynamic, with diffusion coefficients of approximately 3 microm2/s and microtubule dwell times of approximately 4 s. This facilitates the entry of tau into axons over distances of millimeters and periods of days. For longer distances and times, two mechanisms of tau transport are observed. At low near-physiological levels, tau is cotransported with microtubule fragments from cell bodies into axons, moving at instantaneous velocities approximately 1 microm/s. At high concentrations, tau forms local accumulations moving bidirectionally at approximately 0.3 microm/s. These clusters first appear at distal endings of axons and may indicate an early stage of neurite degeneration.
The advent of fluorescent proteins as vital dyes had a major impact in many research fields. Different green fluorescent protein (GFP) variants were established in prokaryotic and eukaryotic ...organisms within the past 10 years, and other fluorescent proteins were discovered and applied. We expressed the Discosoma red fluorescent protein, DsRed (T4), the improved monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP1) and the blue fluorescent protein (BFP) in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Whereas DsRed requires tetramer formation for fluorescence, mRFP1 functions as monomer. We used sGFP, DsRed (T4), mRFP1 and BFP for nuclear and/or mitochondrial labelling. To facilitate gene tagging, we established a number of cloning vectors for the efficient, simultaneous fusion of any protein with mRFP1, BFP and sGFP or the haemagglutinin epitope, 3xHA. A PCR-amplified gene of interest can be inserted into the expression vectors without cloning but using homologous recombination in vitro (GATEWAY). The vectors contain the argB gene as a selection marker for A. nidulans and the inducible alcA promoter for control of expression. The system allows labelling of a protein with several tags in one recombination reaction. Both the nutritional marker gene and the promoter are frequently used in other fungi, suggesting that this set of expression vectors will be very useful tools for gene analysis on a genome-wide scale.
In filamentous fungi, hyphal extension depends on the continuous delivery of vesicles to the growing tip. Here, we describe the identification of two cell end marker proteins, TeaA and TeaR, in ...Aspergillus nidulans, corresponding to Tea1 and Mod5 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Deletion of teaA or teaR caused zig-zag-growing and meandering hyphae, respectively. The Kelch-repeat protein TeaA, the putatively prenylated TeaR protein, and the formin SepA were highly concentrated in the Spitzenkörper, a vesicle transit station at the tip, and localized along the tip membrane. TeaA localization at tips depended on microtubules, and TeaA was required for microtuble convergence in the hyphal apex. The CENP-E family kinesin KipA was necessary for proper localization of TeaA and TeaR, but not for their transportation. TeaA and TeaR localization were interdependent. TeaA interacted in vivo with TeaR, and TeaA colocalized with SepA. Sterol-rich membrane domains localized at the tip in teaA and teaR mutants like in wild type, and filipin treatment caused mislocalization of both proteins. This suggests that sterol-rich membrane domains determine cell end factor destinations and thereby polarized growth.
Polarized growth in filamentous fungi requires the integrity of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. We found that growing MTs in Aspergillus nidulans merge at the center of fast growing tips and ...discovered that a kinesin motor protein, KipA, related to Tea2p of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, is required for this process. In a DeltakipA strain, MT plus ends reach the tip but show continuous lateral movement. Hyphae lose directionality and grow in curves, apparently due to mislocalization of the vesicle supply center (Spitzenkörper) in the apex. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-KipA accumulates at MT plus ends, whereas a KipA rigor mutant protein, GFP-KipA(G223E), coated MTs evenly. These findings suggest that KipA requires its intrinsic motor activity to reach the MT plus end. Using KipA as an MT plus-end marker, we found bidirectional organization of MTs and determined the locations of microtubule organizing centers at nuclei, in the cytoplasm, and at septa.
Polarized growth in filamentous fungi requires the integrity of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. We found that growing MTs in
Aspergillus nidulans
merge at the center of fast growing tips and ...discovered that a kinesin motor protein, KipA, related to Tea2p of
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
, is required for this process. In a Δ
kipA
strain, MT plus ends reach the tip but show continuous lateral movement. Hyphae lose directionality and grow in curves, apparently due to mislocalization of the vesicle supply center (Spitzenkörper) in the apex. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-KipA accumulates at MT plus ends, whereas a KipA rigor mutant protein, GFP-KipA
G223E
, coated MTs evenly. These findings suggest that KipA requires its intrinsic motor activity to reach the MT plus end. Using KipA as an MT plus-end marker, we found bidirectional organization of MTs and determined the locations of microtubule organizing centers at nuclei, in the cytoplasm, and at septa.
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