Cholinergic Stimulation of Lacrimal Acinar Cells Promotes Redistribution of Membrane-associated Kinesin and the Secretory Protein, β-hexosaminidase, and Increases Kinesin Motor Activity

The role of the microtubule-based motor, kinesin, in membrane trafficking has been investigated in resting and stimulated acinar cells from rabbit lacrimal gland, a cholinergically controlled secretory tissue. Microtubule-dependent motors from extracts of control and carbachol-treated acini were isolated by microtubule-affinity purification and their activity was determined using a video-enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy assay for microtubule gliding. The observation that carbachol treatment resulted in a 2.2-fold stimulation of the frequency of GTP-dependent microtubule gliding in fractions isolated by microtubule-affinity purification and GTP release suggested that kinesin was a target of carbachol-induced stimulation. Resolution of membranes from resting cells by fractionation on a sorbitol density gradient followed by partitioning analysis in a dextran-polyethyleneglycol two-phase system revealed that membrane-associated kinesin codistributed with Golgi-derived membranes, a post-Golgi secretory compartment designated Hex1, membranes from a trans Golgi network-like compartment, endoplasmic reticulum and a group of putative lysosomal membranes containing cathepsin B. Comparable fractionation of carbachol-treated acini showed that stimulation caused redistributions of membrane-associated kinesin, the secretory enzyme β-hexosaminidase, and galactosyltransferase that appeared to reflect both a reorganization within the Golgi complex and a return of material to the Golgi complex from the secretory pathway. Our findings that carbachol promotes activation of lacrimal acinar kinesin as well as major shifts in kinesin-membrane association within the secretory pathway suggests that kinesin plays a major role in secretory vesicle assembly, apical secretion, and/or secretory vesicle membrane recycling in the lacrimal gland.