Published online
doi:10.1083/jcb.200706196
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 179, No. 1, 117-128
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© Quinlan et al.
Regulatory interactions between two actin nucleators, Spire and Cappuccino
Margot E. Quinlan2,
Susanne Hilgert1,
Anaid Bedrossian1,
R. Dyche Mullins2, and
Eugen Kerkhoff1
1 Bayerisches Genomforschungsnetzwerk (BayGene), Institut für funktionelle Genomik, Universität Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
2 Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94107
Correspondence to Dyche Mullins: Dyche{at}mullinslab.ucsf.edu; or Eugen Kerkhoff: Eugen.Kerkhoff{at}klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Spire and Cappuccino are actin nucleation factors that are required to establish the polarity of Drosophila melanogaster oocytes. Their mutant phenotypes are nearly identical, and the proteins interact biochemically. We find that the interaction between Spire and Cappuccino family proteins is conserved across metazoan phyla and is mediated by binding of the formin homology 2 (FH2) domain from Cappuccino (or its mammalian homologue formin-2) to the kinase noncatalytic C-lobe domain (KIND) from Spire. In vitro, the KIND domain is a monomeric folded domain. Two KIND monomers bind each FH2 dimer with nanomolar affinity and strongly inhibit actin nucleation by the FH2 domain. In contrast, formation of the Spire–Cappuccino complex enhances actin nucleation by Spire. In Drosophila oocytes, Spire localizes to the cortex early in oogenesis and disappears around stage 10b, coincident with the onset of cytoplasmic streaming.
Abbreviations used in this paper: DAD, Diaphanous autoinhibitory domain; DID, Diaphanous inhibitory domain; FH, formin homology; Fmn2, formin-2; KIND, kinase noncatalytic C-lobe domain; mRFP, monomeric RFP; TCEP, Tris(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine.

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