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Published 10 December 2001. doi:10.1083/jcb.200108026
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2001/12/1043 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 155, Number 6, December 10, 2001 1043-1054

Article

 Thin filaments elongate from their pointed ends during myofibril assembly in Drosophila indirect flight muscle

Michelle Mardahl-Dumesnil and Velia M. Fowler

Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037

Address correspondence to Velia M. Fowler, Dept. of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd., MB-24, La Jolla, CA 92037. Tel.: (858) 784-8277. Fax: (858) 784-8753. E-mail: velia{at}scripps.edu

Tropomodulin (Tmod) is an actin pointed-end capping protein that regulates actin dynamics at thin filament pointed ends in striated muscle. Although pointed-end capping by Tmod controls thin filament lengths in assembled myofibrils, its role in length specification during de novo myofibril assembly is not established. We used the Drosophila Tmod homologue, sanpodo (spdo), to investigate Tmod's function during muscle development in the indirect flight muscle. SPDO was associated with the pointed ends of elongating thin filaments throughout myofibril assembly. Transient overexpression of SPDO during myofibril assembly irreversibly arrested elongation of preexisting thin filaments. However, the lengths of thin filaments assembled after SPDO levels had declined were normal. Flies with a preponderance of abnormally short thin filaments were unable to fly. We conclude that: (a) thin filaments elongate from their pointed ends during myofibril assembly; (b) pointed ends are dynamically capped at endogenous levels of SPDO so as to allow elongation; (c) a transient increase in SPDO levels during myofibril assembly converts SPDO from a dynamic to a permanent cap; and (d) developmental regulation of pointed-end capping during myofibril assembly is crucial for specification of final thin filament lengths, myofibril structure, and muscle function.

Key Words: actin-capping protein; thin filaments; myofibril; sanpodo; tropomodulin


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