Myosin 1E localizes to actin polymerization sites in lamellipodia, affecting actin dynamics and adhesion formation

Because the actin network in active lamellipodia is continuously assembling at the edge, moving inward and disassembling, there is a question as to how actin-binding proteins and other components are transported to the leading edge and how nascent adhesions are stabilized. Active transport could play a significant role in these functions but the components involved are unknown. We show here that Myosin 1E (a long tailed Myosin 1 isoform) rapidly moves to the tips of active lamellipodia and to actin-rich early adhesions, unlike Myosin 1G, 1B or 1C (short tailed isoforms). Myosin 1E co-localizes with CARMIL, FHOD1, Arp3 and β3-integrin in those early adhesions. But these structures precede stable paxillin-rich adhesions. Myosin 1E movement depends upon actin-binding domains and the presence of an SH3 oligomerization domain. Overexpression of a Myosin 1E deletion mutant without the extreme C-terminal interacting (SH3) domain (Myosin 1EΔSH3) increases edge fluctuations and decreases stable adhesion lifetimes. In contrast, overexpression of Myosin 1E full tail domain (TH1+TH2+TH3/SH3) decreases edge fluctuation. In Myosin 1E knockdown cells, and more prominently in cells treated with Myosin 1 inhibitor, cell-matrix adhesions are also short-lived and fail to mature. We suggest that, by moving to actin polymerization sites and early adhesion sites in active lamellipodia, Myosin 1E might play important roles in transporting not only important polymerizing proteins but also proteins involved in adhesion stabilization.link_to_OA_fulltex

Different modes of state transitions determine pattern in the Phosphatidylinositide-Actin system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In a motile polarized cell the actin system is differentiated to allow protrusion at the front and retraction at the tail. This differentiation is linked to the phosphoinositide pattern in the plasma membrane. In the highly motile <it>Dictyostelium </it>cells studied here, the front is dominated by PI3-kinases producing PI(3,4,5)tris-phosphate (PIP3), the tail by the PI3-phosphatase PTEN that hydrolyses PIP3 to PI(4,5)bis-phosphate. To study de-novo cell polarization, we first depolymerized actin and subsequently recorded the spontaneous reorganization of actin patterns in relation to PTEN.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In a transient stage of recovery from depolymerization, symmetric actin patterns alternate periodically with asymmetric ones. The switches to asymmetry coincide with the unilateral membrane-binding of PTEN. The modes of state transitions in the actin and PTEN systems differ. Transitions in the actin system propagate as waves that are initiated at single sites by the amplification of spontaneous fluctuations. In PTEN-null cells, these waves still propagate with normal speed but loose their regular periodicity. Membrane-binding of PTEN is induced at the border of a coherent PTEN-rich area in the form of expanding and regressing gradients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The state transitions in actin organization and the reversible transition from cytoplasmic to membrane-bound PTEN are synchronized but their patterns differ. The transitions in actin organization are independent of PTEN, but when PTEN is present, they are coupled to periodic changes in the membrane-binding of this PIP3-degrading phosphatase. The PTEN oscillations are related to motility patterns of chemotaxing cells.</p

An Excitable Cortex and Memory Model Successfully Predicts New Pseudopod Dynamics

Motile eukaryotic cells migrate with directional persistence by alternating left and right turns, even in the absence of external cues. For example, Dictyostelium discoideum cells crawl by extending distinct pseudopods in an alternating right-left pattern. The mechanisms underlying this zig-zag behavior, however, remain unknown. Here we propose a new Excitable Cortex and Memory (EC&M) model for understanding the alternating, zig-zag extension of pseudopods. Incorporating elements of previous models, we consider the cell cortex as an excitable system and include global inhibition of new pseudopods while a pseudopod is active. With the novel hypothesis that pseudopod activity makes the local cortex temporarily more excitable – thus creating a memory of previous pseudopod locations – the model reproduces experimentally observed zig-zag behavior. Furthermore, the EC&M model makes four new predictions concerning pseudopod dynamics. To test these predictions we develop an algorithm that detects pseudopods via hierarchical clustering of individual membrane extensions. Data from cell-tracking experiments agrees with all four predictions of the model, revealing that pseudopod placement is a non-Markovian process affected by the dynamics of previous pseudopods. The model is also compatible with known limits of chemotactic sensitivity. In addition to providing a predictive approach to studying eukaryotic cell motion, the EC&M model provides a general framework for future models, and suggests directions for new research regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying directional persistence

Lateral membrane waves constitute a universal dynamic pattern of motile cells.

We have monitored active movements of the cell circumference on specifically coated substrates for a variety of cells including mouse embryonic fibroblasts and T cells, as well as wing disk cells from fruit flies. Despite having different functions and being from multiple phyla, these cell types share a common spatiotemporal pattern in their normal membrane velocity; we show that protrusion and retraction events are organized in lateral waves along the cell membrane. These wave patterns indicate both spatial and temporal long-range periodic correlations of the actomyosin gel