CryoET reveals actin filaments within platelet microtubules
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Crosstalk between the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons is important for many cellular processes. Recent studies have shown that microtubules and F-actin can assemble to form a composite structure where F-actin occupies the microtubule lumen. Whether these cytoskeletal hybrids exist in physiological settings and how they are formed is unclear. Here, we show that the short-crossover Class I actin filament previously identified inside microtubules in human HAP1 cells is cofilin-bound F-actin. Lumenal F-actin can be reconstituted in vitro, but cofilin is not essential. Moreover, actin filaments with both cofilin-bound and canonical morphologies reside within human platelet microtubules under physiological conditions. We propose that stress placed upon the microtubule network during motor-driven microtubule looping and sliding may facilitate the incorporation of actin into microtubules.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Cell Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,790
Funders: Wellcome Trust, Francis Crick Institute, UK Research and Innovation, British Heart Foundation, Research Councils UK, National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Awards: G1102132721, Expanding the capabilities and use of the South West Regional Facility for High-Resolution Electron Cryo-microscopy, Biogenesis and bioengineering of human platelets, BlueCryo Image Processing Computing Cluster, G339059223, Bristol 4th intake 2020 – 4-year PhD Studentship (4th) Scheme: Ms Megan Allen; Ms Amy Harris; Ms Molly Jackson; Ms Helena Urguijo; Ms Androulla Christodoulou, G3773310071, Structure and function of filamentous actin in the cardiac thin filament and in activating platelets, and its role in cardiac disease, Bioengineering platelets for cardiac repair, G5254450967, Mechanism and design of a pH sensor at the organelle-cytoskeleton interface, University of Bristol - Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology, South West Regional Facility for High-Resolution Electron Cryo-Microscopy, Bristol 3rd intake 2019 – 4-year PhD Studentship (4th) Scheme: Mr Stanley Buffouge; Ms Katrine Hegeland; Ms Ffion Jones; Mr Jordan Vautrinot, High resolution structural studies of cardiac thin filaments; heart disease at the molecular level, PROTACs as a novel Approach to target Protein Tyrosine Kinases for degradation in human Platelets, Molecular mechanisms underlying the essential role for platelet Ral GTPases in venous thrombosis
OpenAlex ID: W4400689616