Swiprosin-1 is a novel actin bundling protein that regulates cell spreading and migration

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 15;8(8):e71626. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071626. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Protein functions are often revealed by their localization to specialized cellular sites. Recent reports demonstrated that swiprosin-1 is found together with actin and actin-binding proteins in the cytoskeleton fraction of human mast cells and NK-like cells. However, direct evidence of whether swiprosin-1 regulates actin dynamics is currently lacking. We found that swiprosin-1 localizes to microvilli-like membrane protrusions and lamellipodia and exhibits actin-binding activity. Overexpression of swiprosin-1 enhanced lamellipodia formation and cell spreading. In contrast, swiprosin-1 knockdown showed reduced cell spreading and migration. Swiprosin-1 induced actin bundling in the presence of Ca(2+), and deletion of the EF-hand motifs partially reduced bundling activity. Swiprosin-1 dimerized in the presence of Ca(2+) via its coiled-coil domain, and a lysine (Lys)-rich region in the coiled-coil domain was essential for regulation of actin bundling. Consistent with these observations, mutations of the EF-hand motifs and coiled-coil region significantly reduced cell spreading and lamellipodia formation. We provide new evidence of how swiprosin-1 influences cytoskeleton reorganization and cell spreading.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actin Cytoskeleton / metabolism
  • Actins / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins / chemistry
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Movement*
  • EF Hand Motifs
  • Humans
  • Lysine / metabolism
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Multimerization
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Pseudopodia / metabolism
  • Sequence Deletion

Substances

  • Actins
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins
  • EFHD2 protein, human
  • Lysine
  • Calcium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Cell Dynamics Research Center (2012–0000766), Bio & Medical Technology Development Program (2011–0030157), and Basic Research Program (2012R1A2A1A03002115) through a National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST). Image acquisition was performed using the imaging facility of the BioImaging Research Center at GIST. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.