Interphase microtubules are organized into a radial array with centrosome in the center. This organization is a subject of cellular regulation that can be driven by protein phosphorylation. Only few protein kinases that regulate microtubule array in interphase cells have been described. Ste20-like protein kinase LOSK (SLK) was identified as a microtubule and centrosome-associated protein. In this study we have shown that the inhibition of LOSK activity by dominant-negative mutant K63R-⌬T or by LOSK depletion with RNAi leads to unfocused microtubule arrangement. Microtubule disorganization is prominent in Vero, CV-1, and CHO-K1 cells but less distinct in HeLa cells. The effect is a result neither of microtubule stabilization nor of centrosome disruption. In cells with suppressed LOSK activity centrosomes are unable to anchor or to cap microtubules, though they keep nucleating microtubules. These centrosomes are depleted of dynactin. Vero cells overexpressing K63R-⌬T have normal dynactin "comets" at microtubule ends and unaltered morphology of Golgi complex but are unable to polarize it at the wound edge. We conclude that protein kinase LOSK is required for radial microtubule organization and for the proper localization of Golgi complex in various cell types. INTRODUCTIONThe radial array of microtubules is typical for many mammalian cells. It organizes bidirectional organelle transport in the cytoplasm in the endocytotic and exocytotic direction. It is also required for the regulation of interaction of microtubule plus ends with cell periphery. Both functions are important for cell polarization, movement, and signal transduction (Hyman and Karsenti, 1996;Dujardin et al., 2003;Morrison, 2007). The degree of radiality of microtubules varies in different types of cells. For instance, in fish melanophores the system of microtubules is perfectly radial (Schliwa et al., 1978), whereas in myotubes it is unclear (Tassin et al., 1985;Musa et al., 2003). Moreover, among fibroblast-like cultured mammalian cells some (green monkey kidney Vero or Chinese hamster ovary CHO-K1) possess a distinct radial microtubule array (Bre et al., 1987), whereas others (human cervical carcinoma HeLa or mouse fibroblasts NIH 3T3) have rather chaotic microtubule arrangements (Bulinski and Borisy, 1980). Regardless of the tissue origin of cells, microtubules become more radial when cultured cells are sparse and less radial in confluent cultures. It seems that the status of microtubule organization is regulated by signal transduction pathways and depends on cell differentiation.The focused microtubule arrays can also be formed in acentrosomal cell fragments as a result of interactions between microtubules and membrane vesicles, covered with motor proteins (Rodionov and Borisy, 1997;Malikov et al., 2005). In acentrosomal fragments of fish melanocytes microtubules are chaotic when pigment granules are dispersed. After the addition of adrenaline or other activation of melanosome aggregation microtubules assemble in a radial array. Thus, in this case...

Dynactin is a multiprotein complex that enhances dynein activity. The largest dynactin subunit, p150Glued, interacts with microtubules through its N-terminal region that contains a globular cytoskeleton-associated protein (CAP)-Gly domain and basic microtubule-binding domain of unknown structure. The p150Glued gene has a complicated intron-exon structure, and many splice isoforms of p150Glued protein have been predicted. Here we describe novel natural 150 kDa isoforms: the p150Glued-1A isoform, whose basic domain is composed of 41 amino acids, and p150Glued-1B with a basic domain of 21 aa because of the lack of exons 5-7 in the corresponding messenger RNA (mRNA). According to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot data, p150Glued-1A is expressed in nerve tissues, in cultured cells and in embryonic tissues, while 1B is expressed ubiquitously. Overexpression of GFP-p150Glued-1A and -1B fusion proteins and immunostaining of cultured cells with 1A-specific antibodies show that the p150Glued-1A isoform is distributed along microtubules, whereas 1B is associated with microtubule plus-ends. The higher affinity of the p150Glued-1A isoform for microtubules is confirmed by a co-pelleting assay. In fibroblast-like cells, the interaction of p150Glued-1A with microtubules is less dependent on EB1/EB3 and CLIP170 proteins, compared with p150Glued-1B. In polarized cells, p150Glued-1A decorates microtubules that face the leading edge of the cell. The pattern of p150Glued-1A and p150Glued-1B interaction with microtubules and their tissue-specific expression patterns suggest that these isoforms might be involved in cell differentiation and proliferation.

The protein kinase SLK (LOSK) phosphorylates the 1A isoform of the p150Glued subunit of dynactin and targets it to the centrosome, where it maintains microtubule radial organization. In addition, dynactin phosphorylation is involved in Golgi reorientation in polarized cells.