Brain Myosin V Is a Synaptic Vesicle-associated Motor Protein: Evidence for a Ca ²⁺-dependent Interaction with the Synaptobrevin–Synaptophysin Complex

Abstract

Brain myosin V is a member of a widely distributed class of unconventional myosins that may be of central importance to organelle trafficking in all eukaryotic cells. Molecular constituents that target this molecular motor to organelles have not been previously identified. Using a combination of immunopurification, extraction, cross-linking, and coprecipitation assays, we demonstrate that the tail domain of brain myosin V forms a stable complex with the synaptic vesicle membrane proteins, synaptobrevin II and synaptophysin. While myosin V was principally bound to synaptic vesicles during rest, this putative transport complex was promptly disassembled upon the depolarization-induced entry of Ca ²⁺ into intact nerve endings. Coimmunoprecipitation assays further indicate that Ca ²⁺ disrupts the in vitro binding of synaptobrevin II to synaptophysin in the presence but not in the absence of Mg ²⁺. We conclude that hydrophilic forces reversibly couple the myosin V tail to a biochemically defined class of organelles in brain nerve terminals.