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Structural basis of the filamin A actin-binding domain interaction with F-actin

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 25, pages 918–927 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Actin-cross-linking proteins assemble actin filaments into higher-order structures essential for orchestrating cell shape, adhesion, and motility. Missense mutations in the tandem calponin homology domains of their actin-binding domains (ABDs) underlie numerous genetic diseases, but a molecular understanding of these pathologies is hampered by the lack of high-resolution structures of any actin-cross-linking protein bound to F-actin. Here, taking advantage of a high-affinity, disease-associated mutant of the human filamin A (FLNa) ABD, we combine cryo-electron microscopy and functional studies to reveal at near-atomic resolution how the first calponin homology domain (CH1) and residues immediately N-terminal to it engage actin. We further show that reorientation of CH2 relative to CH1 is required to avoid clashes with actin and to expose F-actin-binding residues on CH1. Our data explain localization of disease-associated loss-of-function mutations to FLNaCH1 and gain-of-function mutations to the regulatory FLNaCH2. Sequence conservation argues that this provides a general model for ABD–F-actin binding.

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Fig. 1: Cryo-EM map and model of FLNaABD-E254K bound to F-actin.
Fig. 2: ABS-N contributes to F-actin binding.
Fig. 3: ABS2 and ABS2’ facilitate major binding interactions with F-actin.
Fig. 4: Opening of the ABD is required to avoid steric clashes and facilitate actin binding.
Fig. 5: ABD opening is mediated by an inter-CH domain latch.
Fig. 6: FLNaCH1 domain mutations confer a loss of function to F-actin binding.

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Data availability

Cryo-EM reconstructions were deposited in the Electron Microscopy Data Bank with the following accession numbers: F20-F-actin-FLNaABD, EMD-7833; F20-F-actin-FLNaABD-Q170P, EMD-7832; F20-F-actin-FLNaABD-E254K, EMD-8918; Krios-F-actin-FLNaABD-E254K, EMD-7831. The corresponding FLNaABD-E254K filament model was deposited in the PDB with accession number 6D8C. Source data for F-actin-targeting analyses (Figs. 2c,d,g,h, 3b,c,e,f, 4d,e, 5c,d, and 6a,b) and co-sedimentation assays (Figs. 5g and 6d) are available with the paper online. Other data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Z. Razinia for generating numerous FLNa constructs, S. Wu for expertise in using the Krios microscope, J. Lees for advice on model refinement, and M. Lemmon for helpful comments in preparing the manuscript. We also thank the Yale Center for Research Computing for guidance and use of the Farnam Cluster, as well as the staff at the YMS Center for Molecular Imaging for the use of the EM Core Facility. This work was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01-GM068600 (D.A.C.), R01-NS093704 (D.A.C.), R37-GM057247 (C.V.S.), R01-GM110530 (C.V.S.), T32-GM007324, T32-GM008283) and an award from American Heart Association (15PRE25700119 (D.V.I.)).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: D. V. Iwamoto, A. Huehn.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Daniel V. Iwamoto, Bertrand Simon, Clotilde Huet-Calderwood, Massimiliano Baldassarre & David A. Calderwood

  2. Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Andrew Huehn & Charles V. Sindelar

  3. Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

    Massimiliano Baldassarre

  4. Department of Cell Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    David A. Calderwood

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Contributions

D.V.I., M.B., and D.A.C. conceived the project. D.V.I., B.S., C.H.C., and M.B. designed constructs and collected and interpreted biochemical and cellular data. A.H. and D.V.I. prepared cryo-EM samples and collected cryo-EM data. A.H. and C.V.S. performed cryo-EM analysis and model refinement. D.V.I., A.H., C.V.S., and D.A.C. wrote the manuscript with contributions from all other authors.

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Correspondence to Charles V. Sindelar or David A. Calderwood.

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Supplementary Figure 1 FLNaABD–F-actin complexes.

a, High-frequency noise-substituted Fourier shell correlation calculations between independently refined half maps reveals the resolution of each map. The FSC curve between the final FLNaABD-E254K–F-actin map and refined model is shown in purple. b, A 10-Å-filtered cryo-EM density map of wild-type (WT) FLNaABD (left and middle) was rigid-body docked with crystal structures for actin (PDB 6C1D; different subunits in dark blue, cyan, and light blue) and FLNaCH1 (PDB 3HOP; green) (right). c, A 6.6-Å-filtered cryo-EM density map of the gain-of-function mutant FLNaABD-Q170P (left and middle) was docked with the refined actin and FLNaCH1 models (right) and colored as in b. d, A 7.4-Å-filtered cryo-EM density map of the gain-of-function mutant FLNaABD-E254K (left and middle) was docked with the refined actin and FLNaCH1 models (right) and colored as in b. Observed extra density for FLNaCH2 is shown in tan.

Supplementary Figure 2 ABS-N mutations inhibit FLNaABD–F-actin binding.

a, Micrographs of mouse NIH-3T3 fibroblasts transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± N-terminal truncation constructs after fixation, permeabilization, and staining with Alexa Fluor 568–phalloidin to visualize F-actin filaments. Cells were imaged in the green (left; GFP signal) and red (right; F-actin signal) channels. Scale bar, 20 µm. WT, wild type. b, Anti-GFP immunoblot on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± N-terminal truncations. Vinculin was used as a loading control. c, Micrographs of fibroblasts transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP constructs containing ABS-N mutations, prepared and imaged as in a. Scale bar, 20 µm. d, Anti-GFP immunoblot on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± ABS-N mutations. Vinculin was used as a loading control.

Supplementary Figure 3 Immunoblotting of ABS2ʹ and ABS2 mutant FLNaABDs.

a, Anti-GFP immunoblot on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± ABS2ʹ mutations. Vinculin was used as a loading control. WT, wild type. b, Anti-GFP immunoblot on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± ABS2 mutations. Vertical separations between panels indicate the exclusion of non-relevant lane samples from the same gel. Vinculin was used as a loading control.

Supplementary Figure 4 OPDSD-associated mutations increase FLNaABD binding to F-actin.

a, Micrographs of mouse NIH-3T3 fibroblasts transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± the Q170P or E254K mutation after fixation, permeabilization, and staining with Alexa Fluor 568–phalloidin to visualize actin filaments. Cells were imaged in the green (left; GFP signal) and red (right; F-actin signal) channels. Scale bar, 20 µm. WT, wild type. b, Top and bottom, anti-GFP immunoblots on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP, FLNaABD-GFP or isolated FLNaCH-GFP domains ± the Q170P or E254K mutation. Vinculin was used as a loading control. Vertical separations between panels indicate the exclusion of non-relevant lane samples from the same gel. c, Anti-GFP immunoblot on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP, FLNaABD-GFP or FLNaABD-W142A-GFP. Vinculin was used as a loading control. d, Table summarizing apparent dissociation constants (Kd, µM) and Bmax (molar ratio ABD:actin) from co-sedimentation assays with purified wild-type or mutant 6 × His-FLNaABD proteins, ± s.d.

Supplementary Figure 5 Immunoblotting and size-exclusion chromatography of FLNaABD with PVNH-associated mutations.

a, Top and bottom, anti-GFP immunoblots on lysates from NIH-3T3 cells transiently transfected with GFP or FLNaABD-GFP ± PVNH mutations. Vinculin was used as a loading control. WT, wild type. b, Analytical size-exclusion chromatography of purified bacterially expressed 6 × His-FLNaABD-WT, 6 × His-FLNaABD-A39G, or 6 × His-FLNaABD-A128V. Protein concentration was measured by UV absorbance at 280 nm (arbitrary units, mAU). c, Top, the FLNa residue A128 is located in helix F of the CH1 domain and does not contact actin, although its mutation to valine would likely perturb this short helix (see space-filling models, bottom) which contains important actin-binding residues (not shown) and results in a loss of actin binding. d, The FLNaCH1 residues E82 and S149 (mutated in PVNH) are situated far from F-actin-binding sites in the actin-bound cryo-EM structure.

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Uncropped Coomassie-stained SDS–PAGE gels from co-sedimentation assays

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Iwamoto, D.V., Huehn, A., Simon, B. et al. Structural basis of the filamin A actin-binding domain interaction with F-actin. Nat Struct Mol Biol 25, 918–927 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-018-0128-3

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