FASEB J. Thermo Fisher Scientific
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by CONNER, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by WESSEL, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by CONNER, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by WESSEL, G. M.
(The FASEB Journal. 2000;14:1559-1566.)
© 2000 FASEB

A rab3 homolog in sea urchin functions in cell division

SEAN D. CONNER and GARY M. WESSEL1

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA

1Correspondence: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, 69 Brown St., Providence, RI 02912, USA. E-mail: rhet{at}brown.edu


   ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
Rabs are monomeric GTP binding proteins belonging to the ras superfamily that function throughout the secretory pathway. Members of the rab3 family function in the final steps of the secretory pathway, vesicle fusion with the plasma membrane. In contrast to mammalian systems with several rab3 isoforms (rab3A-D), a single family member homologue of rab3 is present in the rapidly dividing cleavage stage sea urchin embryo that localizes to numerous vesicles enriched at the cell cortex. We hypothesized that whereas the contents of these rab3-positive vesicles may contribute to the embryonic extracellular matrix, the membrane and its constituent proteins may be important for other aspects of cell division. We tested the function of rab3 in cell division by the microinjection of either antibodies or competing effector domain peptides to interfere with its function. We found that perturbing rab3 function results in cessation of cell division, whereas cells injected with either heat-inactivated antibodies or control scrambled peptides develop as normal. Moreover, neither endocytosis nor general membrane topology are affected by rab3 perturbation. Thus, we conclude that rab3-associated vesicles and/or their contents are critical for cell division.—Conner, S. D., Wessel, G. M. A rab3 homolog in sea urchin functions in cell division.


Key Words: GTP binding protein • vesicle dynamics • membrane fusion • cytokinesis


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
THE MULTISTEP NATURE of cell division requires that the cell tightly coordinate a complex array of membrane fusion and fragmentation events. In addition to increasing membrane surface area during cell division (1) , eukaryotic cells, consisting of a variety of membrane-bound organelles, must partition each organelle type into daughter cells for viability. In particular, the nuclear envelope breaks down shortly after chromosome condensation during mitosis and, like the membranes of the Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), are thought to fragment into small vesicles (2 , 3) . Once these organelle membranes have been partitioned between daughter cells, the nuclear envelope, ER, and Golgi must be reconstituted through a series of homotypic membrane fusion events to recreate functional organelles. What regulates the membrane fusion events required for cell division?

Recently we provided evidence that sea urchin syntaxin (t-SNARE) is essential for cell division progression, presumably by regulating the fusion of cortical vesicles seen in early blastomeres (4) . This result is consistent with observations that syntaxin family members are required for cell division in Arabidopsis (5) and for cellularization in Drosophila (6) . However, observations that recombinant v- and t-SNARE proteins reconstituted into separate lipid bilayer vesicles spontaneously assemble into SNARE complexes and fuse (7) suggest that these integral membrane proteins function as the core machinery driving membrane fusion. Whereas SNAREs appear to provide the motive force required for membrane fusion and possibly membrane fusion specificity, these proteins are unlikely to regulate the timing of the fusion event. The timing of vesicle fusion may instead be regulated by proteins sensitive to calcium fluxes (e.g., synaptotagmin or rabphilin) and/or by rabs, small GTP binding proteins of the ras superfamily. Rab proteins have been implicated in regulating membrane fusion events in almost every step of the secretory pathway (8) . They act as molecular switches, cycling between active and inactive GDP-bound states and are targeted to, and appear to function in, specific membrane compartments. For example, rab1 and rab2 family members appear to function in vesicle traffic from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus (9) ; rab6 has been found to localize to intra-Golgi membranes (10) and rab5 appears to control early endosome fusions in vitro (11) , whereas rab3 family members have been shown essential for the final steps of regulated exocytosis (12 , 13) . The precise function of rabs is ambiguous; they are modeled to control either vesicle docking by controlling SNARE complex formation (14) , modulating SNARE complex stability (15) , or controlling the timing of the fusion event (16) .

We previously reported that the sea urchin rab3 homologue associates with cortical granules in the unfertilized egg (17) and functions in their exocytosis at a step after vesicle docking using rab3 effector domain peptide microinjections (18) . Here we found rab3 on vesicles enriched at the cortex of dividing cells and thus hypothesized that rab3 could be functioning to regulate membrane fusion events necessary for cell division. To test this hypothesis, we injected affinity-purified antibodies to the rab3 effector domain and effector domain peptides to either inactivate or compete for rab3 function. We found that microinjection of either reagent has inhibitory effects specifically on cell division, whereas heat-inactivated antibodies or scrambled control effector domain peptides have no effect. These data suggest that rab3 might function to regulate membrane fusion events that are required for cell division.


   MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
Animals and reagents
Adult Lytechinus variegatus were obtained from Scott Services (Miami, Fla.). Gametes were obtained as described (19) . Effector domain peptides were custom synthesized by W. M. Keck Foundation Biotechnology Resource Center (New Haven, Conn.) and Quality Controlled Biochemicals (Hopkinton, Mass.): VSTVGISFKVKTVFRQ; the scrambled effector domain, VFVSVTKQVSGRFTIK (Keck Foundation, New Haven, Conn.); and hypervariable domain, CDKMSETIDTDQTLRPSTT (Quality Controlled Biochemicals), all resuspended in deionized water at 4.95 mM.

Injections
Eggs and/or embryos were placed in a Kiehart chamber (20) in artificial sea water (ASW; ref 19 ) and injected with deionized water or peptides resuspended in water at the various concentrations indicated or affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies against rab3 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). An oil droplet of dimethylpolysiloxane (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) was coinjected into cells as a marker. Injection volumes never exceeded 5% of the cell volume.

Antibody generation and purification for immunolocalization in vivo
Antibody generation and purification were performed as described previously (18) . To generate antibodies to the effector region of rab3, a partial rab3 protein was engineered using the nucleotide sequence representing amino acids 1–153 [DNKW... QLGL] of the rab3 cDNA clone (17) ligated into a pGEX-3C vector for fusion with glutathione S-transferase (GST) and transformed into BL21(DE3) cells for overexpression with 0.1 mM IPTG induction as described below. The resultant overexpressed protein was isolated from cell lysates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Protein was then electroeluted and dialyzed extensively against deionized water and lyophilized. The rab3 fusion protein immunogen was resuspended in Freund’s adjuvant, which was injected subcutaneously into New Zealand White rabbits every 3 wk for 3 months. One week after the last boost, plasma was collected from the central ear artery (21) . Resultant immunoreactivity to GST showed no detectable cross-reactivity in eggs or zygotes when used in immunoblot or immunolocalization assays.

To affinity purify antibodies, protein A-purified rab3 effector domain sera, isolated as described (21) and previously conjugated to the Cy3 fluorochrome using the Fluorolink CyDye labeling kit (Amersham Life Science, Arlington Heights, Ill.), was incubated with nitrocellulose blotted with affinity-purified rab3-GST fusion protein (see below), the exact same protein used for antibody generation, in PBS for 30 min. The blots were then washed with PBS and the Cy3-labeled antibodies were eluted from the nitrocellulose with 100 mM glycine (pH 2.5), dialyzed extensively against PBS, and concentrated to 2 mg/ml using Ultrafree-4 centrifugal filters with a 10 kDa cutoff (Millipore, Bedford, Mass.). Affinity-purified antibodies labeled with Cy3 were tested by immunolocalization in thick sections of eggs (see below) and shown to react specifically with rab3 sequences (rab3 expressed protein and effector peptides but not scrambled peptides or nonrelevant proteins).

Rab3-GST fusion protein was isolated as follows. Rab3-GST fusion protein-expressing BL21(DE3) cells were induced at 23°C with 0.1 mM IPTG for 3 h. Cells were then pelleted by centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 10 min, resuspended in PBS (137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 8.1 mM Na2HPO4, 1.5 mM KH2PO4), lysed with high pressure using a French press, and solubilized with 1% Triton X-100 for 30 min. Cellular debris was then pelleted at 10,000 g at 4°C for 20 min. The resulting supernatant was passed over a glutathione-agarose column (Sigma); the column was washed with 10 column volumes of PBS. Rab3-GST fusion protein was specifically eluted with PBS containing 10 mM reduced glutathione (Sigma) and the purity of column elutant rab3-GST protein was verified by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analysis using either rab3 effector domain or anti-GST (Sigma) antibodies. Affinity-purified rab3-GST protein was blotted to nitrocellulose in PBS and blocked with preimmune sera for 10 min. The blot was then washed with PBS and used for antibody isolation.

Immunolocalization assays in situ
Immunofluorescence localization was performed in whole mounts and on embryo sections that were fixed and processed as described previously (22) . The polyclonal antibodies against the rab3 carboxyl-terminal hypervariable domain (17) were diluted 1:50 (~20 µg/ml) and the polyclonal antibodies against the rab3 effector domain were diluted 1:200 (~5 µg/ml). The secondary antibodies, Cy3-conjugated affinity-purified goat anti-rabbit IgG (Kirkegaard & Perry Labs, Gaithersburg, Md.), were diluted 1:20–100 (~1–5 µg/ml). Signals were recorded by epifluorescence with a Zeiss Axioplan or by confocal microscopy with a Zeiss LSM 410.

Brefeldin A treatment
Eggs were fertilized with sperm in ASW and after 10 min were transferred to ASW containing brefeldin A (Calbiochem, La Jolla, Calif.) at the indicated concentrations (stock solution was 4 mg/ml in methanol) or ASW containing identical concentrations of methanol as that of the brefeldin A-treated embryos as a control. Methanol in the ASW of the experimental and control samples was given 30 min at room temperature to evaporate before embryo transfer.

Membrane topology and endocytosis
DiOC6 (3) (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.) was resuspended in methanol at 1 mg/ml, then transferred to Hollywood safflower oil (Big Daddy Wesley’s, Beaufort, N.C.) by mixing 500 µl of the methanol/DiOC6 (3) solution with the 500 µl safflower oil. DiOC6 (3) resuspended in safflower oil was then used for microinjection into cells for membrane labeling. The volume of oil containing DiOC6 (3) did not exceed 5% of the cell volume. FM1–43 (Molecular Probes) was resuspended in methanol at 1 mg/ml, then diluted in ASW to give a working concentration of 1 µM. To evaluate endocytosis, experimentally manipulated embryos were transferred to the FM1–43 in ASW and visualized after a 15–45 min incubation at room temperature using confocal microscopy with a Zeiss LSM 410.

Endocytosis quantitation
To quantitate FM1–43 endocytosis, 5–10 confocal sections of each embryo were observed with the Zeiss LSM 410 laser scanning microscope and analyzed using Adobe PhotoShop (Adobe Systems Inc., Mountain View, Calif.). For each confocal section, the average FM1–43 brightness and area of each cell were determined by using the histogram function. Vesicles were counted in each section, and this number was then divided by the average brightness and area to obtain a standardized value. Standardized values from 5–10 confocal sections were averaged to obtain the FM1–43 endocytosis value for each cell.


   RESULTS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
Rab associates with vesicles enriched at the cortex of the dividing embryo
Rab3 is found in the unfertilized sea urchin egg in association with cortical granule membranes and appears to function in the exocytosis of cortical granules, secretory vesicles whose contents give rise to the fertilization envelope (18) . Rab3 homologs are modeled to function in the final steps of the secretory pathway; since a single rab3 homologue has been identified in the sea urchin that is present throughout embryogenesis (S. D. Conner and G. M. Wessel, unpublished results), we asked where rab3 localizes in vivo in the developing embryo. Microinjection of fluorochrome-labeled, Fab fragment antibodies (~200 nM) raised against the effector domain reveals rab3 immunolabeling concentrated on vesicles that are enriched at the cortex of one- and two-cell embryos (Fig. 1B, E ). The injection of increased levels of labeled antibody (~900 nM) also show a reticular pattern (Fig. 1G , brightfield; H, immunolocalization) whereas injection of nonrelevant fluorochrome-tagged antibodies at the same concentration show no detectable localization within the cell (data not shown). It is possible that rab3 effector domain antibodies could be binding to other rab family members in the egg. Thus, we performed immunolocalizations in fixed cells with antibodies against a region distinct between rab family members, the hypervariable domain, and found that labeling patterns are consistent with those observed in vivo (Fig. 1I , the middle embryo has not divided whereas the other two have completed cell division). Since we saw consistent labeling patterns between antibodies raised against two different regions of rab3 and found no cross-reactivity with antibodies against mammalian rab3 (a highly conserved family member) by either immunoblot or immunolocalization (data not shown), we conclude that the rab3 labeling patterns observed using the effector domain antibodies are specific for rab3. The reticular pattern may reflect rab3 vesicle origins, whereas the distinct vesicles at the cortex may be involved in transport of cell surface or extracellular proteins. Do rab3-positive vesicles play a role in cell division?



View larger version (129K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 1. In vivo immunolabeling with the injection of affinity-purified, fluorochrome-labeled pAbs (~200 nM, marked by an oil droplet) indicates that rab3 associates with vesicles enriched at the cortex of the fertilized egg (A, brightfield; B, immunofluorescence; and C for greater magnification of boxed region in panel B) and in the same embryo in the process of cell division (D, brightfield; E, immunofluorescence; and F for greater magnification of boxed region in panel E). Rab3 is also found in a reticular pattern in vivo when increased levels of antibody (~900 nM) are injected (G, brightfield; H, immunofluorescence). Immunolocalization patterns of rab3 in fixed sections of early embryos (I, arrowheads indicate reticular pattern; the middle embryo is in the process of cell division whereas the two flanking embryos have completed cytokinesis) reveal an identical pattern to that found in vivo; however, increased rab3 labeling at the cortex is observed, suggesting that the rab3 epitope cycles between an exposed and masked state in vivo. Effector domain spanning pAbs were used in panels A–H, whereas hypervariable domain pAbs were used in panel I (both antibodies give identical immunolocalization patterns in fixed embryos). Images visualized using confocal microscopy. Bar, 60 µm (A, B, D, E, I) and 20 µm (C, F–H).

Rab3 antibodies block cell division
To test the function of rab3 in cell division, we used a microinjection approach using rab3 affinity-purified monovalent Fab antibody fragments against the rab3 effector domain. This domain was selected because rab function is thought to be mediated through this domain by interaction with other proteins, possibly rabphilin (23) or Mss4 (24) . We found that injection of ~500 nM rab3 antibody Fab fragments into a single cell of a two-cell embryo blocks cell division (Fig. 2D , E , F ; progression of an embryo is shown in each row). Whereas cells sometimes progress through another round of cell division after antibody injection before being inhibited, once inhibition occurs both cytokinesis and karyokinesis are halted (Fig. 2F ). Injection of ~700 nM heat inactivated affinity-purified Fab fragments, however, has no effect on cell division (Fig. 2G , H , I ), nor are any effects observed when single blastomeres are injected with nonrelevant Fab fragment antibodies (anti-rabbit IgG molecules at 580 nM, Fig. 2A , B , C ). These observations suggest that it is the specific inactivation of rab3 that results in a cessation of cell division and not the injection or protein mass.



View larger version (128K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 2. rab3 antibodies inhibit cell division. Cell division is unaffected in blastomeres injected with nonrelevant Fab fragment antibodies at 580 nM (A–C, marked by an oil droplet). However, cell division is inhibited when a single blastomere is injected with 500 nM Fab fragment antibodies against rab3 (D–F), whereas cells injected with up to 700 nM heat-inactivated rab3 antibodies divide as normal (G–I). Bar, 50 µm

Rab3 effector peptides inhibit cytokinesis in a concentration dependent manner
As an alternative approach to test rab3 function, rab3 effector domain peptides made to compete for rab3 function were used to test the role of rab3 during cell division. In other systems, the effector domain directly interacts with a downstream protein, rabphilin-3A (23) , and has been successfully used to block rab3 function in cortical granule exocytosis in the sea urchin egg (18) , although the identity of the sea urchin rab3 effector proteins is currently unknown. After the first cell division, we injected a single cell of the two-cell stage embryo with 19 µM effector peptide and found that 36% of embryos showed significant delays in cell division (Table 1 ). However, these embryos recover and develop normally to the larval stage (Fig. 3F ). Note that if a cell is injected with peptide at the beginning of cytokinesis, the actin contractile ring continues to contract; however, cytokinesis is aborted until the next round of division (Fig. 3G , H , I ). When exposed to 48 µM effector peptide (one-fifth the concentration required to block vesicle fusion in the sea urchin egg; ref 18 ), embryos begin to show greater delays in cell division (Fig. 3J , K , L ) with greater frequency (70%, Table 1 ). When cells are injected with 136 µM peptide, 67% of the embryos stop dividing. In some of these cases karyokinesis is completed, resulting in a cell with two nuclei (Fig. 3O , arrowheads mark nuclei); however, additional rounds of karyokinesis are not observed. Peptide concentrations found to inhibit cell division here are less than those previously reported to block the exocytosis of cortical granules in the egg at fertilization (218 µM; ref 18 ) and similar to that used to perturb rab function in mast cells (125 µM; ref 25 ). To eliminate the possibility of artifacts due to peptide preparation, effector domain peptides from two independent sources (see Materials and Methods) were tested and both gave similar results. The numbers in Table 1 represent the cumulative totals from the use of both synthesized peptides. Injection of rab3 effector peptides at 136 µM whose sequence has been scrambled has no effect on cell division or development (Fig. 3A , B , C ), arguing that neither the injection, the peptide mass, nor the peptide charge affects the ability of the embryo to undergo cell division.


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Table 1.



View larger version (118K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 3. Rab3 effector peptides inhibit cytokinesis. Blastomeres injected with a scrambled effector peptide (A) divide normally (B) and develop into plutei (C). 19 µM rab3 effector peptide-injected blastomeres (D) show delays in cell division (E); however, embryos recover and develop into early plutei (F). Cells injected with 19 µM effector peptide at the beginning of cell division (G) appear to undergo cytokinesis (H), but division is not completed (I). Increased delays in cytokinesis occur in single blastomeres injected with 48 µM effector peptide (J–L). At concentrations of 48 µM effector peptide and greater, embryos fail to develop into normal plutei. 136 µM effector peptide completely blocks cytokinesis (M–R); however, karyokinesis is not inhibited, as seen by distinct nuclei (E and O, arrowheads). Bar, 50 µm

Does effector peptide injection disrupt the distribution or number of rab3-positive vesicles? Currently we are unable to follow single rab3-positive vesicles or visualize these vesicles independent of rab3. But when we examined immunolocalization patterns of rab3-positive vesicles in effector peptide-injected cells and uninjected controls, we found significant variability. Some effector peptide-injected cells possess a greater number of rab3-positive vesicles than controls whereas others have fewer (data not shown). We do not know whether this reflects a slightly different stage in the cell cycle, variability in cell size vs. vesicle number, or rab3 accessibility. Moreover, interpretation of these results is especially difficult since it is unclear whether these rab3-positive vesicles are a homogeneous population or whether rab3 associates with a variety of vesicle types of which only a subset are essential for cell division. Thus, it will be important to identify vesicle content proteins so as to distinguish between these possibilities and better define the role of rab3 vesicles in cell division.

Rab3 immunolocalizations, both in vivo and in fixed sections, indicate a reticular pattern in addition to vesicles at the cell cortex. Thus, we hypothesized that cessation in cell division that results from rab3 effector peptide and/or antibody injections might result from a general paralysis of the secretory pathway. However, embryos are unaffected in the first few cell divisions when they are treated with brefeldin A (Fig. 4 ; 4 ), a compound that specifically disrupts the secretory pathway by preventing anterograde vesicle transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus while leaving the retrograde pathway unaffected (26) . Newly fertilized eggs divide as normal when treated with 10 µM brefeldin A (Fig. 4A, B ), a concentration known to disassemble the Golgi. No effects on cell division are observed even at concentrations of 100 µM brefeldin A (data not shown), 10-fold greater than that required to block the secretion of the hatching enzyme (Fig. 4C ). During embryogenesis, sea urchins are surrounded by the fertilization envelope until the blastula stage, when the embryo secretes the hatching enzyme that digests the fertilization envelope and releases the ciliated embryo (27) ). These results strongly argue that antibody- and/or effector peptide-induced cell division blocks are not the result of inhibiting the general secretory pathway. Instead, we conclude that the cell division defects we observed derive from effects on the post-Golgi, rab3-positive vesicles that are enriched at the cell cortex.



View larger version (89K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 4. Paralysis of the secretory pathway does not inhibit the first few cell divisions of the sea urchin embryo. Newly fertilized eggs, incubated in ASW containing 10 µM brefeldin A, divide as normal for the first two cell divisions (A, B) as compared to untreated embryos (D, E). The efficacy of 10 µM brefeldin A in blocking the secretory pathway is evidenced by the fact that early blastula stage embryos fail to secrete the hatching enzyme and digest the fertilization envelope (C, fe) whereas untreated embryos hatch as normal (F). Bar, 60 µm

Since rab3 associates with endocytic vesicles after fertilization (18) , we suspected that the effector peptide might be blocking the endocytic pathway and indirectly inhibit cells from dividing. To test this hypothesis, we asked whether effector peptide-injected cells were still capable of endocytosing a membrane-impermeant lipophilic dye (FM1–43) that fluoresces when associated with membranes previously shown useful in studying endocytosis in the sea urchin embryo (28) . Single cells of a two-cell embryo were injected with 136 µM effector peptide and allowed to develop for ~1 h (Fig. 5A ). Injected embryos were then transferred to artificial sea water containing FM1–43 to assay for endocytosis. We found that peptide-injected cells accumulate endocytic vesicles in their cytoplasm to levels comparable to uninjected cells (Fig. 5B, C ). This indicates that the endocytic pathway is active in injected blastomeres despite a cessation of cell division.



View larger version (81K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 5. The endocytic pathway is unaffected by rab3 effector peptides. Single cells of two-cell stage embryos were inhibited in cell division by the injection of 136 µM rab3 effector peptides (A). Embryos were then exposed to FM1–43, a membrane-impermeant dye that enters the cell through the endocytic pathway and fluoresces when associated with lipids. After ~20 min exposure, FM1–43 is found in both uninjected and effector peptide-injected cells associated with vesicles throughout the cytoplasm (B; higher magnification in panel C), indicating a functional endocytic pathway. Quantitation of endocytic vesicles in both effector peptide and uninjected cells of 5–10 confocal sections of three different embryos reveals no significant difference in endocytic ability (error bars indicated standard deviation). Images were visualized by indirect fluorescence using confocal microscopy with a Zeiss LSM 410. Injected cells were marked by the coinjection of an oil droplet. Bar, 50 µm (A, B) and 25 µM (C).

In an embryo dividing every 45 min-1 h, we suspected that if rab3 functions in general vesicle fusion events, peptide injections, which compete for rab3 function, could lead to major changes in membrane topology of the cell and hence secondarily block the ability of a cell to divide. To test this possibility, we used the lipophilic dye, DiOC6 (3) , which labels any contacting membrane (29) . Fertilized eggs were injected with DiOC6 (3) and allowed to develop as normal. Then a single cell of a two-cell embryo was injected with 136 µM effector peptide, the highest concentration used in this study, to ask if changes in gross membrane morphology or distribution could be observed. Although effector peptide-injected cells are inhibited in their cell division, we found no detectable difference in membrane labeling patterns as compared to uninjected cells (Fig. 6D , E , F ). These observations suggest that rab3 effector peptide injections do not cause global membrane trafficking problems, inhibit general metabolic processes, or detectably alter membrane distribution or topology by preventing or causing spurious membrane fusion events. Instead, we believe that rab3-positive vesicles are not only important in the cargo they may carry for exocytosis in this or other cell types, but also for the regulation of membrane dynamics critical for cell division.



View larger version (100K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 6. Rab3 effector peptide-injected cell phenotypes are not the result of gross membrane topological alterations. The membrane marker DiOC6 (3) was injected into fertilized eggs to reveal membrane topology and allowed to develop. A single cell of the resulting two-cell stage embryo was then injected with 136 µM rab3 effector peptides to block cell division (A–C). Effector peptide-injected cells show no significant difference in membrane topology as compared to uninjected cells of the same embryo during cell division (D–F). The large oil droplet (arrow) marks the DiOC6 (3) injection; the oil droplet with the arrowhead marks the effector peptide-injected cell. Bar, 50 µm


   DISCUSSION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
How does rab3 function in cell division? Rabs are modeled to function by regulating SNARE complex formation and/or stability (8) , and here we found that disruption of rab3 with antibodies or competition for its function with effector peptides blocks cell division. Recent observations suggest that syntaxin family members are required for cytokinesis in Arabidopsis (5) and cellularization in Drosophila at the syncytial blastoderm stage (6) . Moreover, we recently found rab3 colocalization with syntaxin on vesicles enriched at the cortex of dividing cells and that syntaxin inactivation either with Botulinum C1 or affinity-purified antibodies against syntaxin also block cell division (4) . It is possible that by disrupting rab3 function, SNARE complex formation and/or stability is inhibited, thus blocking membrane fusion events in the same manner as blocking syntaxin function. This is consistent with the demonstration that Ypt1p, a yeast rab, transiently interacts with a t-SNARE to displace a negative regulator, Sly1p, allowing the subsequent formation of the SNARE complex (30) . These results, in addition to those presented here, suggest that SNARE and rab3 protein family members play a role in mediating membrane dynamics important for cell division.

Rab3 family members function in the final steps of the secretory pathway (13) ; in the sea urchin egg, the single rab3 homologue associates with and appears to function in the exocytosis of specialized secretory vesicles, cortical granules whose contents give rise to the fertilization envelope at fertilization (18) . However, rab3 is also present throughout the development of the sea urchin embryo, and here we show that it associates with vesicles enriched at the cortex of dividing cells. Although rabs are generally ubiquitous in their expression in mammalian cells, they are usually found only within discrete and limited secretory compartments. Yet a rab6 family member associates with the entire Golgi stack in liver cells (31) and in post-Golgi vesicles in retinal cells (32) and Torpedo marmorata electrocytes (10) . This distribution pattern has led investigators to speculate that rab6 may function in several steps of the secretory pathway (33) . Similarly, sea urchin rab3 could also be functioning in various steps of the secretory pathway, and by disrupting membrane flow through the various secretory compartments, cell division is halted. We do not favor this idea, however, since treatment of cleavage stage embryos with brefeldin A, a drug that blocks the secretory pathway by preventing anterograde vesicular membrane flow from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, has no effect on the ability of the embryo to undergo the first few cell divisions (4) .

Instead, rab3 may regulate the fusion of maternally derived, post-Golgi cortical vesicles with the plasma membrane, and these vesicles may possess proteins that are essential for cell division. What do these vesicles contain and why are they important? Even though no vesicle contents have yet been identified, we speculate that they may contain proteins that need to be specifically targeted within the cell to activate cell division machinery. It is possible that the aggregation of actin into a contractile ring or the localization of motor proteins requires targeting factors provided by these vesicles. Also, since cells must increase their membrane surface area roughly 25% for cell division (1) , a simple explanation could be that vesicles enriched with rab3 are important for contributing essential membrane surface area.

Alternatively, rab3 could control homotypic membrane fusion events like those required for the reconstitution of the Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, or nuclear envelope after their breakdown during the cell cycle. This latter idea agrees with recent data that have implicated a rab GTPase in regulating homotypic fusion of mammalian ER membranes in vitro (34) . Balch and colleagues (34) found that microsome membrane fusion was specifically inhibited by treatment with a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor, a protein that extracts GDP-bound rabs from membranes. Thus, it is possible that the observed block in cell division results from the cell stalling at a cell cycle checkpoint that monitors the status of intracellular membranes, ensuring that the cell does not progress through the cell cycle before proper organelle reconstitution.

What are the rab3 effectors in this rapidly dividing sea urchin embryo? Several proteins have been found in other cell types to directly interact with rabs in their GTP-bound state and could potentially stabilize active rabs: 1) rabphilin, a protein containing a conserved protein kinase C calcium binding motif (35) , 2) the cytosolic protein, rabaptin-5, found essential for early endosome membrane trafficking (36) , and 3) RIM, a zinc finger protein, thought to regulate synaptic vesicle fusion in a rab3-dependent fashion (37) . In addition, Mss4, a putative guanine nucleotide exchange factor, stimulates GDP release from and the association of GTP with various rab family members (24 , 38) , thereby cycling the protein from an inactive to active form. Most recently, a molecular motor, rabkinesin-6, has been identified that specifically interacts with a GTP-bound rab6 family member (39) , suggesting that rabs may use a microtubule-based cytoskeleton to direct vesicle traffic. It is possible that by perturbing rab3 interaction with one of these proteins and/or close family member homologs by antibody or effector peptide injection, rab3 could be locked in an (in)active state or misdirect vesicles and lead to membrane fusion abnormalities and cessation of the cell division.

Whereas rab and SNARE proteins have been clearly demonstrated to function in vesicular trafficking in a variety of systems (33 , 40) , we provide evidence here that rab3 is required for cell division. However, the next important question is, which membrane fusion events are important for cell division? Though membrane fusion events leading to the reformation of fragmented membrane-bound organelles is of obvious import, it is possible that key membrane fusion events are required that target membrane proteins or vesicle contents to cell locations that are spatially or temporally required for cell division.


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We acknowledge the Providence Institute for Molecular Oogenesis and the National Institutes of Health for supporting this work.

Received for publication September 2, 1999. Revision received November 5, 1999.
   REFERENCES
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 

  1. Rappaport, R. (1996) Cytokinesis in Animal Cells Cambridge University Press Cambridge, New York.
  2. Lucocq, J. M., Warren, G. (1987) Fragmentation and partitioning of the Golgi apparatus during mitosis in HeLa cells. EMBO J 6,3239-3246[Medline]
  3. Warren, G. (1989) Cell biology: mitosis and membranes. Nature (London) 342,857-858[Medline]
  4. Conner, S. D., Wessel, G. M. (1999) Syntaxin is required for cell division. Mol. Biol. Cell 10,2735-2743[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  5. Lauber, M. H., Waizenegger, I., Steinmann, T., Schwarz, H., Mayer, U., Hwang, I., Lukowitz, W., Jurgens, G. (1997) The Arabidopsis KNOLLE protein is a cytokinesis-specific syntaxin. J. Cell Biol. 139,1485-1493[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  6. Burgess, R. W., Deitcher, D. L., Schwarz, T. L. (1997) The synaptic protein syntaxin1 is required for cellularization of Drosophila embryos. J. Cell Biol. 138,861-875[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  7. Weber, T., Zemelman, B. V., McNew, J. A., Westermann, B., Gmachl, M., Parlati, F., Sollner, T. H., Rothman, J. E. (1998) SNAREpins: minimal machinery for membrane fusion. Cell 92,759-772[Medline]
  8. Schimmoller, F., Simon, I., Pfeffer, S. R. (1998) Rab GTPases, directors of vesicle docking. J. Biol. Chem. 273,22161-22164[Free Full Text]
  9. Tisdale, E. J., Bourne, J. R., Khosravi-Far, R., Der, C. J., Balch, W. E. (1992) GTP-binding mutants of rab1 and rab2 are potent inhibitors of vesicular transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex. J. Cell Biol. 119,749-761[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  10. Antony, C., Cibert, C., Geraud, G., Santa Maria, A., Maro, B., Mayau, V., Goud, B. (1992) The small GTP-binding protein rab6p is distributed from medial Golgi to the trans-Golgi network as determined by a confocal microscopic approach. J. Cell Sci. 103,785-796[Abstract]
  11. Gorvel, J. P., Chavrier, P., Zerial, M., Gruenberg, J. (1991) rab5 controls early endosome fusion in vitro. Cell 64,915-925[Medline]
  12. Bean, A. J., Scheller, R. H. (1997) Better late than never: a role for rabs late in exocytosis. Neuron 19,751-754[Medline]
  13. Lledo, P. M., Johannes, L., Vernier, P., Zorec, R., Darchen, F., Vincent, J. D., Henry, J. P., Mason, W. T. (1994) Rab3 proteins: key players in the control of exocytosis. Trends Neurosci 17,426-432[Medline]
  14. Sogaard, M., Tani, K., Ye, R. R., Geromanos, S., Tempst, P., Kirchhausen, T., Rothman, J. E., Sollner, T. (1994) A rab protein is required for the assembly of SNARE complexes in the docking of transport vesicles. Cell 78,937-948[Medline]
  15. Johannes, L., Doussau, F., Clabecq, A., Henry, J. P., Darchen, F., Poulain, B. (1996) Evidence for a functional link between Rab3 and the SNARE complex. J. Cell Sci. 109,2875-2884[Abstract]
  16. Rybin, V., Ullrich, O., Rubino, M., Alexandrov, K., Simon, I., Seabra, C., Goody, R., Zerial, M. (1996) GTPase activity of Rab5 acts as a timer for endocytic membrane fusion. Nature (London) 383,266-269[Medline]
  17. Conner, S., Leaf, D., Wessel, G. (1997) Members of the SNARE hypothesis are associated with cortical granule exocytosis in the sea urchin egg. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 48,106-118[Medline]
  18. Conner, S., Wessel, G. M. (1998) rab3 mediates cortical granule exocytosis in the sea urchin egg. Dev. Biol. 203,334-344[Medline]
  19. McClay, D. R. (1986) Embryo Dissociation, Cell Isolation, and Cell Reassociation 27 Academic Press San Diego.
  20. Kiehart, D. P. (1982) Microinjection of echinoderm eggs: apparatus and procedures. Methods Cell Biol 25,13-31
  21. Harlow, E., Lane, D. (1988) Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y..
  22. Laidlaw, M., Wessel, G. M. (1994) Cortical granule biogenesis is active throughout oogenesis in sea urchins. Development 120,1325-1333[Abstract]
  23. Ostermeier, C., Brunger, A. T. (1999) Structural basis of Rab effector specificity: crystal structure of the small G protein Rab3A complexed with the effector domain of rabphilin-3A. Cell 96,363-374[Medline]
  24. Burton, J. L., Slepnev, V., De Camilli, P. V. (1997) An evolutionarily conserved domain in a subfamily of Rabs is crucial for the interaction with the guanyl nucleotide exchange factor Mss4. J. Biol. Chem. 272,3663-3668[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  25. Oberhauser, A. F., Monck, J. R., Balch, W. E., Fernandez, J. M. (1992) Exocytotic fusion is activated by Rab3a peptides. Nature (London) 360,270-273[Medline]
  26. Lippincott-Schwartz, J., Yuan, L. C., Bonifacino, J. S., Klausner, R. D. (1989) Rapid redistribution of Golgi proteins into the ER in cells treated with brefeldin A: evidence for membrane cycling from Golgi to ER. Cell 56,801-813[Medline]
  27. Lepage, T., Sardet, C., Gache, C. (1992) Spatial expression of the hatching enzyme gene in the sea urchin embryo. Dev. Biol. 150,23-32[Medline]
  28. Whalley, T., Terasaki, M., Cho, M. S., Vogel, S. S. (1995) Direct membrane retrieval into large vesicles after exocytosis in sea urchin eggs. J. Cell Biol. 131,1183-1192[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  29. Terasaki, M. (1998) Labeling of the endoplasmic reticulum with DiOC6(3). Celis, J. eds. Cell Biology: A Laboratory Handbook 2,501-506 Academic Press San Diego.
  30. Lupashin, V. V., Waters, M. G. (1997) t-SNARE activation through transient interaction with a rab-like guanosine triphosphatase. Science 276,1255-1258[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  31. Feldmann, G., Durand-Schneider, A. M., Goud, B. (1995) Behaviour of the small GTP-binding protein rab6 in the liver of normal rats and rats presenting an acute inflammatory reaction. Biol. Cell 83,121-125[Medline]
  32. Deretic, D. (1997) Rab proteins and post-Golgi trafficking of rhodopsin in photoreceptor cells. Electrophoresis 18,2537-2541[Medline]
  33. Martinez, O., Goud, B. (1998) Rab proteins. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1404,101-112[Medline]
  34. Turner, M. D., Plutner, H., Balch, W. E. (1997) A Rab GTPase is required for homotypic assembly of the endoplasmic reticulum. J. Biol. Chem. 272,13479-13483[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  35. Shirataki, H., Kaibuchi, K., Sakoda, T., Kishida, S., Yamaguchi, T., Wada, K., Miyazaki, M., Takai, Y. (1993) Rabphilin-3A, a putative target protein for smg p25A/rab3A p25 small GTP-binding protein related to synaptotagmin. Mol. Cell. Biol. 13,2061-2068[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  36. Stenmark, H., Vitale, G., Ullrich, O., Zerial, M. (1995) Rabaptin-5 is a direct effector of the small GTPase Rab5 in endocytic membrane fusion. Cell 83,423-432[Medline]
  37. Wang, Y., Okamoto, M., Schmitz, F., Hofmann, K., Sudhof, T. C. (1997) Rim is a putative Rab3 effector in regulating synaptic-vesicle fusion. Nature (London) 388,593-598[Medline]
  38. Burton, J. L., Burns, M. E., Gatti, E., Augustine, G. J., De Camilli, P. (1994) Specific interactions of Mss4 with members of the Rab GTPase subfamily. EMBO J 13,5547-5558[Medline]
  39. Echard, A., Jollivet, F., Martinez, O., Lacapere, J. J., Rousselet, A., Janoueix-Lerosey, I., Goud, B. (1998) Interaction of a Golgi-associated kinesin-like protein with Rab6. Science 279,580-585[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  40. Jahn, R., Hanson, P. I. (1998) Membrane fusion. SNAREs line up in new environment. Nature (London) 393,14-15[Medline]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
C. B. Shuster and D. R. Burgess
Targeted new membrane addition in the cleavage furrow is a late, separate event in cytokinesis
PNAS, March 19, 2002; 99(6): 3633 - 3638.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by CONNER, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by WESSEL, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by CONNER, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by WESSEL, G. M.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS