Saini Anupreet, Kreizman Shir, Towsif Ekram, Martinez-Lopez Jonathan, Zielonka Iska Maimon, Nitzan Anat, Rudnik Lee, Shekhar Shashank, Zaidel-Bar Ronen
Gray School of Medical Sciences, Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University.
Departments of Physics, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Emory University.
bioRxiv. 2025 Jun 18:2025.06.17.660173. doi: 10.1101/2025.06.17.660173.
The actin cytoskeleton is dynamically remodelled by conserved regulators to control cellular and tissue mechanics. While the functions of these proteins are well studied, how they drive tissue-specific contractility remains unclear. Twinfilin, an actin uncapper and depolymerase, has not previously been linked to tissue contractility. Here, we show that the sole twinfilin ortholog in , TWF-2, regulates actomyosin contractility in the spermatheca. TWF-2 localizes to the spermathecal cortex via interactions with α-spectrin (SPC-1) and β-spectrin (UNC-70). , TWF-2 promotes barbed-end depolymerization and rapidly removes CAP-1 from actin filaments. , embryonic lethality caused by CAP-1 depletion is partially rescued by simultaneous loss of TWF-2. Similarly, loss of the contractility regulator SPV-1 leads to elevated F-actin and phosphorylated myosin, causing hypercontractility. Notably, removing TWF-2 suppresses this hypercontractility by reducing F-actin levels- without affecting myosin or its phosphorylation-highlighting a specific role in F-actin regulation. Together, these findings show that TWF-2 modulates actin dynamics in a tissue-specific manner. This work provides the first evidence that twinfilin regulates contractility, and reveals how its interactions with capping protein and spectrins help maintain balanced actomyosin levels in the spermatheca.
肌动蛋白细胞骨架由保守的调节因子动态重塑,以控制细胞和组织力学。虽然这些蛋白质的功能已得到充分研究,但它们如何驱动组织特异性收缩性仍不清楚。双肌动蛋白丝蛋白(Twinfilin)是一种肌动蛋白开盖蛋白和解聚酶,此前尚未与组织收缩性联系起来。在这里,我们表明秀丽隐杆线虫中唯一的双肌动蛋白丝蛋白直系同源物TWF-2,调节受精囊中的肌动球蛋白收缩性。TWF-2通过与α-血影蛋白(SPC-1)和β-血影蛋白(UNC-70)相互作用定位于受精囊皮层。此外,TWF-2促进肌动蛋白丝的带刺端解聚,并迅速从肌动蛋白丝上去除CAP-1。此外,CAP-1缺失导致的胚胎致死性可通过同时缺失TWF-2得到部分挽救。同样,收缩性调节因子SPV-1的缺失会导致F-肌动蛋白和磷酸化肌球蛋白水平升高,从而引起过度收缩。值得注意的是,去除TWF-2可通过降低F-肌动蛋白水平来抑制这种过度收缩——而不影响肌球蛋白或其磷酸化——突出了其在F-肌动蛋白调节中的特定作用。总之,这些发现表明TWF-2以组织特异性方式调节肌动蛋白动力学。这项工作提供了首个证据,证明双肌动蛋白丝蛋白调节收缩性,并揭示了其与封端蛋白和血影蛋白的相互作用如何有助于维持受精囊中肌动球蛋白水平的平衡。