Cloning of Chlamydomonas p60 katanin and localization to the site of outer doublet severing during deflagellation.

Katanin, a heterodimeric microtubule-severing protein that localizes to sites of microtubule organization, can mediate in vitro the ATP-dependent disassembly of both taxol-stabilized microtubules and axonemal doublet microtubules. In the unicellular biflagellate alga Chlamydomonas, katanin has been implicated in deflagellation, a highly specific process that involves a Ca(2+)-signal transduction pathway starting at the plasma membrane and culminating in the severing of axonemal outer doublet microtubules and excision of both flagella from the cell body. Previously, we showed that the microtubule severing activity of deflagellation and katanin's 60 kD catalytic subunit (termed p60) purified with the flagellar basal body complex (FBBC). Additional evidence supporting the involvement of katanin in deflagellation came from the observation that an antibody against human p60 katanin significantly inhibited FBBC-associated microtubule-severing activity. Here we report the cloning of p60 katanin from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Immunogold electron microscopy places Chlamydomonas p60 at several locations within the basal body apparatus and associated structures. Importantly, we find a dense accumulation of colloidal gold labeling the distal end of the flagellar transition zone, the site of outer doublet severing during deflagellation. These results suggest that, in addition to a potential involvement in the deflagellation pathway, katanin-mediated microtubule-severing may be associated with multiple processes in Chlamydomonas.

Microtubule severing.

The regulation of microtubule stability by severing of the polymer along its length is a newly appreciated and potentially important mechanism for controlling microtubule function. Microtubule severing occurs in living cells, but direct observation of this event is infrequent. The paucity of direct observations leave open to question the significance of regulated microtubule severing in the control of microtubule organization. Nevertheless, several lines of evidence suggest that microtubule severing is an important cellular activity. First, the ATP-dependent microtubule-severing activity of katanin is well documented. Katanin is found in most cell types and is enriched at MTOCs. Although it is possible that katanin does not sever microtubules in vivo, this seems unlikely. Second, a physiological event, deflagellation, has been shown to depend on microtubule severing. The deflagellation system of Chlamydomonas has provided a genetic approach to the problem of microtubule severing. The FA genes are essential for the regulated severing of axonemal microtubules during deflagellation, but whether these genes define new severing proteins or whether they are important for katanin activity remains to be determined. Microtubule severing is a relatively new area of investigation and there are still many more questions than answers. It is anticipated that the recent cloning of katanin and the introduction of a genetic model system will soon lead to significant breakthroughs in this problem.

A role for katanin-mediated axonemal severing during Chlamydomonas deflagellation.

Deflagellation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and other flagellated and ciliated cells, is a highly specific process that involves signal-induced severing of the outer doublet microtubules at a precise site in the transition region between the axoneme and basal body. Although the machinery of deflagellation is activated by Ca2+, the mechanism of microtubule severing is unknown. Severing of singlet microtubules has been observed in vitro to be catalyzed by katanin, a heterodimeric adenosine triphosphatase that can remove tubulin subunits from the walls of stable microtubules. We found that purified katanin induced an ATP-dependent severing of the Chlamydomonas axoneme. Using Western blot analysis and indirect immunofluorescence, we demonstrate that Chlamydomonas expresses a protein that is recognized by an anti-human katanin antibody and that this protein is localized, at least in part, to the basal body complex. Using an in vitro severing assay, we show that the protein(s) responsible for Ca2+-activated outer doublet severing purify with the flagellar-basal body complex. Furthermore, deflagellation of purified flagellar-basal body complexes is significantly blocked by the anti-katanin antibody. Taken together, these data suggest that a katanin-like mechanism may mediate the severing of the outer doublet microtubules during Chlamydomonas deflagellation.

Tim23, a protein import component of the mitochondrial inner membrane, is required for normal activity of the multiple conductance channel, MCC.

We previously showed that the conductance of a mitochondrial inner membrane channel, called MCC, was specifically blocked by peptides corresponding to mitochondrial import signals. To determine if MCC plays a role in protein import, we examined the relationship between MCC and Tim23p, a component of the protein import complex of the mitochondrial inner membrane. We find that antibodies against Tim23p, previously shown to inhibit mitochondrial protein import, inhibit MCC activity. We also find that MCC activity is altered in mitochondria isolated from yeast carrying the tim23-1 mutation. In contrast to wild-type MCC, we find that the conductance of MCC from the tim23-1 mutant is not significantly blocked by mitochondrial presequence peptides. Tim23 antibodies and the tim23-1 mutation do not, however, alter the activity of PSC, a presequence-peptide sensitive channel in the mitochondrial outer membrane. Our results show that Tim23p is required for normal MCC activity and raise the possibility that precursors are translocated across the inner membrane through the pore of MCC.

Perspectives on the mitochondrial multiple conductance channel.

A multiple conductance channel (MCC) with a peak conductance of over 1 nS is recorded from mitoplasts (mitochondria with the inner membrane exposed) using patch-clamp techniques. MCC shares many general characteristics with other intracellular megachannels, many of which are weakly selective, voltage-dependent, and calcium sensitive. A role in protein import is suggested by the transient blockade of MCC by peptides responsible for targeting mitochondrial precursor proteins. MCC is compared with the peptide-sensitive channel of the outer membrane because of similarities in targeting peptide blockade. The pharmacology and regulation of MCC by physiological effectors are reviewed and compared with the properties of the pore hypothesized to be responsible for the mitochondrial inner membrane permeability transition.

Activity of the mitochondrial multiple conductance channel is independent of the adenine nucleotide translocator.

The functional relationship between the adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT) and the mitochondrial multiple conductance channel (MCC) was investigated using patch-clamp techniques. MCC activity with the same conductance, ion selectivity, voltage dependence, and peptide sensitivity could be reconstituted from inner membrane fractions derived from mitochondria of ANT-deficient and wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, the MCC activity of mouse kidney mitoplasts was unaffected by carboxyatractyloside, a known inhibitor of ANT and inducer of a permeability transition. These results suggest that MCC activity is independent of ANT.

Targeting peptides transiently block a mitochondrial channel.

The effects of synthetic targeting peptides on the activity of the multiple conductance channel (MCC) of mouse and yeast mitochondria were investigated using patch-clamp techniques. Amino-terminal targeting peptides of two inner membrane proteins reversibly decreased the open probability and mean open time of MCC. One of these targeting peptides had no effect on two other voltage-dependent mitochondrial channels. Furthermore, the effects induced by the two targeting peptides on MCC were not elicited by two peptides of an outer membrane protein. The specific interactions of targeting peptides with MCC suggest that this channel may be involved in protein import across the inner mitochondrial membrane.

Multiple conductance channel activity of wild-type and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC)-less yeast mitochondria.

Yeast mitoplasts (mitochondria with the outer membrane stripped away) exhibit multiple conductance channel activity (MCC) in patch-clamp experiments that is very similar to the activity previously described in mammalian mitoplasts. The possible involvement of the voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) of the outer membrane in MCC activity was explored by comparing the channel activity in wild-type yeast mitoplasts with that of a VDAC-deletion mutant. The channel activity recorded from the mutant is essentially the same as that of the wild-type in the voltage range of -40 to 30 mV. These observations indicate that VDAC is not required for MCC activity. Interestingly, the channel activity of the VDAC-less yeast mitoplasts exhibits altered gating properties at transmembrane potentials above and below this range. We conclude that the deletion of VDAC somehow results in a modification of MCC's voltage dependence. In fact, the voltage profile recorded from the VDAC-less mutant resembles that of VDAC.