Molecular dissection of ALS-linked TDP-43 - involvement of the Gly-rich domain in interaction with G-quadruplex mRNA.

TDP-43 is the major pathogenic protein of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Previously, we identified that TDP-43 interacts with G-quadruplex (G4)-containing RNA and is involved in their long-distance transport in neurons. For the molecular dissection of the TDP-43 and G4-RNA interaction, we analyzed it here in vitro and in cultured cells using a set of 10 mutant TDP-43 proteins from familial and sporadic ALS patients as well as using the TDP-43 C-terminal Gly-rich domain alone. Our results altogether indicate the involvement of the Gly-rich region of TDP-43 in the initial recognition and binding of G4-RNA, which then induces tight binding of TDP-43 with target RNAs, supposedly in conjunction with its RNA recognition motifs.

Small stepping motion of processive dynein revealed by load-free high-speed single-particle tracking.

Cytoplasmic dynein is a dimeric motor protein which processively moves along microtubule. Its motor domain (head) hydrolyzes ATP and induces conformational changes of linker, stalk, and microtubule binding domain (MTBD) to trigger stepping motion. Here we applied scattering imaging of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) to visualize load-free stepping motion of processive dynein. We observed artificially-dimerized chimeric dynein, which has the head, linker, and stalk from Dictyostelium discoideum cytoplasmic dynein and the MTBD from human axonemal dynein, whose structure has been well-studied by cryo-electron microscopy. One head of a dimer was labeled with 30 nm AuNP, and stepping motions were observed with 100 µs time resolution and sub-nanometer localization precision at physiologically-relevant 1 mM ATP. We found 8 nm forward and backward steps and 5 nm side steps, consistent with on- and off-axes pitches of binding cleft between αß-tubulin dimers on the microtubule. Probability of the forward step was 1.8 times higher than that of the backward step, and similar to those of the side steps. One-head bound states were not clearly observed, and the steps were limited by a single rate constant. Our results indicate dynein mainly moves with biased small stepping motion in which only backward steps are slightly suppressed.

The 2.8 Å crystal structure of the dynein motor domain.

Dyneins are microtubule-based AAA(+) motor complexes that power ciliary beating, cell division, cell migration and intracellular transport. Here we report the most complete structure obtained so far, to our knowledge, of the 380-kDa motor domain of Dictyostelium discoideum cytoplasmic dynein at 2.8 Å resolution; the data are reliable enough to discuss the structure and mechanism at the level of individual amino acid residues. Features that can be clearly visualized at this resolution include the coordination of ADP in each of four distinct nucleotide-binding sites in the ring-shaped AAA(+) ATPase unit, a newly identified interaction interface between the ring and mechanical linker, and junctional structures between the ring and microtubule-binding stalk, all of which should be critical for the mechanism of dynein motility. We also identify a long-range allosteric communication pathway between the primary ATPase and the microtubule-binding sites. Our work provides a framework for understanding the mechanism of dynein-based motility.

Chemo-mechanical coupling in F(1)-ATPase revealed by catalytic site occupancy during catalysis.

F(1)-ATPase is a rotary molecular motor in which the central gamma subunit rotates inside a cylinder made of alpha(3)beta(3) subunits. To clarify how ATP hydrolysis in three catalytic sites cooperate to drive rotation, we measured the site occupancy, the number of catalytic sites occupied by a nucleotide, while assessing the hydrolysis activity under identical conditions. The results show hitherto unsettled timings of ADP and phosphate releases: starting with ATP binding to a catalytic site at an ATP-waiting gamma angle defined as 0 degrees , phosphate is released at approximately 200 degrees , and ADP is released during quick rotation between 240 degrees and 320 degrees that is initiated by binding of a third ATP. The site occupancy remains two except for a brief moment after the ATP binding, but the third vacant site can bind a medium nucleotide weakly.

Temperature dependence of the rotation and hydrolysis activities of F1-ATPase.

F(1)-ATPase, a water-soluble portion of the enzyme ATP synthase, is a rotary molecular motor driven by ATP hydrolysis. To learn how the kinetics of rotation are regulated, we have investigated the rotational characteristics of a thermophilic F(1)-ATPase over the temperature range 4-50 degrees C by attaching a polystyrene bead (or bead duplex) to the rotor subunit and observing its rotation under a microscope. The apparent rate of ATP binding estimated at low ATP concentrations increased from 1.2 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) at 4 degrees C to 4.3 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1) at 40 degrees C, whereas the torque estimated at 2 mM ATP remained around 40 pN.nm over 4-50 degrees C. The rotation was stepwise at 4 degrees C, even at the saturating ATP concentration of 2 mM, indicating the presence of a hitherto unresolved rate-limiting reaction that occurs at ATP-waiting angles. We also measured the ATP hydrolysis activity in bulk solution at 4-65 degrees C. F(1)-ATPase tends to be inactivated by binding ADP tightly. Both the inactivation and reactivation rates were found to rise sharply with temperature, and above 30 degrees C, equilibrium between the active and inactive forms was reached within 2 s, the majority being inactive. Rapid inactivation at high temperatures is consistent with the physiological role of this enzyme, ATP synthesis, in the thermophile.

One rotary mechanism for F1-ATPase over ATP concentrations from millimolar down to nanomolar.

F(1)-ATPase is a rotary molecular motor in which the central gamma-subunit rotates inside a cylinder made of alpha(3)beta(3)-subunits. The rotation is driven by ATP hydrolysis in three catalytic sites on the beta-subunits. How many of the three catalytic sites are filled with a nucleotide during the course of rotation is an important yet unsettled question. Here we inquire whether F(1) rotates at extremely low ATP concentrations where the site occupancy is expected to be low. We observed under an optical microscope rotation of individual F(1) molecules that carried a bead duplex on the gamma-subunit. Time-averaged rotation rate was proportional to the ATP concentration down to 200 pM, giving an apparent rate constant for ATP binding of 2 x 10(7) M(-1)s(-1). A similar rate constant characterized bulk ATP hydrolysis in solution, which obeyed a simple Michaelis-Menten scheme between 6 mM and 60 nM ATP. F(1) produced the same torque of approximately 40 pN.nm at 2 mM, 60 nM, and 2 nM ATP. These results point to one rotary mechanism governing the entire range of nanomolar to millimolar ATP, although a switchover between two mechanisms cannot be dismissed. Below 1 nM ATP, we observed less regular rotations, indicative of the appearance of another reaction scheme.