Biology subjects

Tyska, M. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Tyska, M. J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Actin dynamics drive microvillar motility and clustering during brush border assembly

During differentiation, transporting epithelial cells generate large arrays of microvilli known as a brush borders to enhance functional capacity. To develop our understanding of brush border formation, we used live cell imaging to visualize apical surface remodeling during early stages of this process. Strikingly, we found that individual microvilli exhibit persistent active motility, translocating across the cell surface at ~0.2 m/min. Perturbation studies with inhibitors and photokinetic experiments revealed that microvillar motility is driven by actin assembly at the barbed-ends of core bundles, which in turn is linked to robust treadmilling of these structures. Because the apical surface of differentiating epithelial cells is crowded with nascent microvilli, persistent motility promotes collisions between protrusions and ultimately leads to their clustering and consolidation into higher order arrays. Thus, microvillar motility represents a previously unrecognized driving force for apical surface remodeling and maturation during epithelial differentiation.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Muscle specific stress fibers give rise to sarcomeres and are mechanistically distinct from stress fibers in non-muscle cells

The sarcomere is the basic contractile unit within cardiomyocytes driving heart muscle contraction. We sought to test the mechanisms regulating thin (i.e., actin) and thick (i.e., myosin) filament assembly during sarcomere formation. Thus, we developed an assay using human cardiomyocytes to test de novo sarcomere assembly. Using this assay, we report a population of muscle-specific stress fibers are essential sarcomere precursors. We show sarcomeric actin filaments arise directly from these muscle stress fibers. This process requires formin-mediated but not Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization and nonmuscle myosin IIB but not non-muscle myosin IIA. Furthermore, we show a short species of {beta} cardiac myosin II filaments grows to form ~1.5 long filaments that then \"stitch\" together to form the stack of filaments at the core of the sarcomere (i.e., A-band). Interestingly, these are different from mechanisms that have previously been reported during stress fiber assembly in non-muscle cells. Thus, we provide a new model of cardiac sarcomere assembly based on distinct mechanisms of stress fiber regulation between non-muscle and muscle cells.

cell biology↗