Publications

• SelR reverses Mical-mediated oxidation of actin to regulate F-actin dynamics.

  Hung R.J., Spaeth C.S., Yesilyurt H.G., Terman J.R.

  Actin's polymerization properties are markedly altered by oxidation of its conserved Met 44 residue. Mediating this effect is a specific oxidation-reduction (redox) enzyme, Mical, that works with Semaphorin repulsive guidance cues and selectively oxidizes Met 44. We now find that this actin-regula ... >> More

  Actin's polymerization properties are markedly altered by oxidation of its conserved Met 44 residue. Mediating this effect is a specific oxidation-reduction (redox) enzyme, Mical, that works with Semaphorin repulsive guidance cues and selectively oxidizes Met 44. We now find that this actin-regulatory process is reversible. Employing a genetic approach, we identified a specific methionine sulfoxide reductase (MsrB) enzyme SelR that opposes Mical redox activity and Semaphorin-Plexin repulsion to direct multiple actin-dependent cellular behaviours in vivo. SelR specifically catalyses the reduction of the R isomer of methionine sulfoxide (methionine-R-sulfoxide) to methionine, and we found that SelR directly reduced Mical-oxidized actin, restoring its normal polymerization properties. These results indicate that Mical oxidizes actin stereospecifically to generate actin Met-44-R-sulfoxide (actin(Met(R)O-44)), and also implicate the interconversion of specific Met/Met(R)O residues as a precise means to modulate protein function. Our results therefore uncover a specific reversible redox actin regulatory system that controls cell and developmental biology. << Less

  Nat. Cell Biol. 15:1445-1454(2013) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 2 other entries.

• Mical links semaphorins to F-actin disassembly.

  Hung R.J., Yazdani U., Yoon J., Wu H., Yang T., Gupta N., Huang Z., van Berkel W.J., Terman J.R.

  How instructive cues present on the cell surface have their precise effects on the actin cytoskeleton is poorly understood. Semaphorins are one of the largest families of these instructive cues and are widely studied for their effects on cell movement, navigation, angiogenesis, immunology and canc ... >> More

  How instructive cues present on the cell surface have their precise effects on the actin cytoskeleton is poorly understood. Semaphorins are one of the largest families of these instructive cues and are widely studied for their effects on cell movement, navigation, angiogenesis, immunology and cancer. Semaphorins/collapsins were characterized in part on the basis of their ability to drastically alter actin cytoskeletal dynamics in neuronal processes, but despite considerable progress in the identification of semaphorin receptors and their signalling pathways, the molecules linking them to the precise control of cytoskeletal elements remain unknown. Recently, highly unusual proteins of the Mical family of enzymes have been found to associate with the cytoplasmic portion of plexins, which are large cell-surface semaphorin receptors, and to mediate axon guidance, synaptogenesis, dendritic pruning and other cell morphological changes. Mical enzymes perform reduction-oxidation (redox) enzymatic reactions and also contain domains found in proteins that regulate cell morphology. However, nothing is known of the role of Mical or its redox activity in mediating morphological changes. Here we report that Mical directly links semaphorins and their plexin receptors to the precise control of actin filament (F-actin) dynamics. We found that Mical is both necessary and sufficient for semaphorin-plexin-mediated F-actin reorganization in vivo. Likewise, we purified Mical protein and found that it directly binds F-actin and disassembles both individual and bundled actin filaments. We also found that Mical utilizes its redox activity to alter F-actin dynamics in vivo and in vitro, indicating a previously unknown role for specific redox signalling events in actin cytoskeletal regulation. Mical therefore is a novel F-actin-disassembly factor that provides a molecular conduit through which actin reorganization-a hallmark of cell morphological changes including axon navigation-can be precisely achieved spatiotemporally in response to semaphorins. << Less

  Nature 463:823-827(2010) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 2 other entries.

• Direct redox regulation of F-actin assembly and disassembly by Mical.

  Hung R.J., Pak C.W., Terman J.R.

  Different types of cell behavior, including growth, motility, and navigation, require actin proteins to assemble into filaments. Here, we describe a biochemical process that was able to disassemble actin filaments and limit their reassembly. Actin was a specific substrate of the multidomain oxidat ... >> More

  Different types of cell behavior, including growth, motility, and navigation, require actin proteins to assemble into filaments. Here, we describe a biochemical process that was able to disassemble actin filaments and limit their reassembly. Actin was a specific substrate of the multidomain oxidation-reduction enzyme, Mical, a poorly understood actin disassembly factor that directly responds to Semaphorin/Plexin extracellular repulsive cues. Actin filament subunits were directly modified by Mical on their conserved pointed-end, which is critical for filament assembly. Mical posttranslationally oxidized the methionine 44 residue within the D-loop of actin, simultaneously severing filaments and decreasing polymerization. This mechanism underlying actin cytoskeletal collapse may have broad physiological and pathological ramifications. << Less

  Science 334:1710-1713(2011) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 3 other entries.