Article
- The EMBO Journal (2005) 24, 3781 - 3792
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600842
Published online: 20 October 2005
Subject Category:
Microtubule-dependent transport and organization of sarcomeric myosin during skeletal muscle differentiation
Véronique Pizon1, Fabien Gerbal2, Carmen Cifuentes Diaz3 and Eric Karsenti4
- Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France
- Université Paris 6, Laboratoire de Biorhéologie et d'Hydrodynamique Physico-Chimique, Université Paris 7, Paris, France
- INSERM, U536 and U706, Institut du Fer à Moulin, Paris, France
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Cell Biology Division, Heidelberg, Germany
Correspondence to:
Eric Karsenti, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Cell Biology & Biophysics Programme, Cell Biology Division, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 6221 387324; Fax: +49 6221 387512; E-mail: karsenti@embl-heidelberg.de
Received 16 March 2005; Accepted 19 September 2005
Abstract
It has been proposed that microtubules (MTs) participate in skeletal muscle cell differentiation. However, it is still unclear how this happens. To examine whether MTs could participate directly in the organization of thick and thin filaments into sarcomeres, we observed the concomitant reorganization and dynamics of MTs with the behavior of sarcomeric actin and myosin by time-lapse confocal microscopy. Using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-EB1 protein to label MT plus ends, we determined that MTs become organized into antiparallel arrays along fusing myotubes. Their dynamics and orientation was found to be different across the thickness of the myotubes. We observed fast movements of Dsred-myosin along GFP-MTs. Comparison of GFP-EB1 and Dsred-myosin dynamics revealed that myosin moved toward MT plus ends. Immuno-electron microscopy experiments confirmed that myosin was actually associated with MTs in myotubes. Finally, we confirmed that MTs were required for the stabilization of myosin-containing elements prior to incorporation into mature sarcomeres. Collectively, our results strongly suggest that MTs become organized into a scaffold that provides directional cues for the positioning and organization of myosin filaments during sarcomere formation.
Keywords:
- microtubules,
- muscle differentiation,
- sarcomeric myosin,
- transport
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated
REVIEWS
MicroRNAs: key players in the immune system, differentiation, tumorigenesis and cell death
Oncogene Review
The initial steps of myofibril assembly: integrins pave the way
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology Perspective (01 Apr 2009)
NEWS AND VIEWS
Nature News and Views (10 May 1974)
Cell biology: Membrane skeleton of skeletal muscle
Nature News and Views (11 Aug 1983)
RESEARCH
The ubiquitin-selective chaperone CDC-48/p97 links myosin assembly to human myopathy
Nature Cell Biology Article (01 Apr 2007)
