Gradients in the concentration and assembly of myosin II in living fibroblasts during locomotion and fiber transport.

Assembly and motor activity of myosin II affect shape, contractility, and locomotion of nonmuscle cells. We used fluorescent analogues and imaging techniques to elucidate the state of assembly and three-dimensional distribution of myosin II in living Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. An analogue of myosin II that was covalently cross-linked in the 10S conformation and unable to assemble served as an indicator of the cytoplasmic volume accessible to 10S myosin II. Ratio-imaging of an analogue that can undergo 10S-->6S conversion versus the volume indicator revealed localized concentration of assembly-competent myosin II. In stationary serum-deprived cells and in cells locomoting at the edge of a wound, it was most concentrated in the peripheral cytoplasm, where fibers containing myosin II assemble, and least concentrated in the perinuclear cytoplasm, where they disassemble. Furthermore, fluorescence photobleaching recovery showed myosin II to be less mobile in the periphery than in perinuclear cytoplasm. These results indicate a gradient in the assembly of myosin II. Three-dimensional microscopy of living cells revealed that fibers containing myosin II were localized in the cortical cytoplasm, whereas myosin II was diffusely distributed in the deeper cytoplasm, suggesting that myosin II is assembled preferentially near the cell surface. Localized protein phosphorylation may play a role, because a kinase inhibitor, staurosporine, abolished the gradient of myosin II assembly.