Propulsion of organelles isolated from Acanthamoeba along actin filaments by myosin-I

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells are dependent on their ability to translocate membraneous elements about the cytoplasm. In many cells long translocations of organelles are associated with microtubules^1–3. In other cases, such as the rapid cytoplasmic streaming in some algae, organelles appear to be propelled along actin filaments⁴. It has been assumed, but not proven, that myosin produces these movements. We have tested vesicles from another eukaryotic cell for their ability to move on the exposed actin bundles of Nitella⁵ as an indiction that actin-based organelle movements may be a general property of cells. We found that organelles from Acanthamoeba castellanii can move along Nitella actin filaments. Here, we report two different experiments indicating that the single-headed non-polymerizable myosin isozyme myosin-I (ref. 6) is responsible for this organelle motility. First, monoclonal antibodies to myosin-I inhibit movement, but antibodies that inhibit double-headed myosin-II do not. Second, ∼20% of the myosin-I in homogenates co-migrates with motile vesicles during Percoll density-gradient ultracentrifugation. This is the first indication of a role for myosin-I within the cell and supports the suggestion of Albanesi et al.⁷ that myosin-I moves vesicles in this way.