scholarly journals Actin-dependent Lamellipodia Formation and Microtubule-dependent Tail Retraction Control-directed Cell Migration

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2999-3012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Ballestrem ◽  
Bernhard Wehrle-Haller ◽  
Boris Hinz ◽  
Beat A. Imhof

Migrating cells are polarized with a protrusive lamella at the cell front followed by the main cell body and a retractable tail at the rear of the cell. The lamella terminates in ruffling lamellipodia that face the direction of migration. Although the role of actin in the formation of lamellipodia is well established, it remains unclear to what degree microtubules contribute to this process. Herein, we have studied the contribution of microtubules to cell motility by time-lapse video microscopy on green flourescence protein-actin- and tubulin-green fluorescence protein–transfected melanoma cells. Treatment of cells with either the microtubule-disrupting agent nocodazole or with the stabilizing agent taxol showed decreased ruffling and lamellipodium formation. However, this was not due to an intrinsic inability to form ruffles and lamellipodia because both were restored by stimulation of cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in a Rac-dependent manner, and by stem cell factor in melanoblasts expressing the receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit. Although ruffling and lamellipodia were formed without microtubules, the microtubular network was needed for advancement of the cell body and the subsequent retraction of the tail. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the formation of lamellipodia can occur via actin polymerization independently of microtubules, but that microtubules are required for cell migration, tail retraction, and modulation of cell adhesion.

2009 ◽  
Vol 187 (7) ◽  
pp. 1101-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Francavilla ◽  
Paola Cattaneo ◽  
Vladimir Berezin ◽  
Elisabeth Bock ◽  
Diletta Ami ◽  
...  

Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) associates with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor-1 (FGFR1). However, the biological significance of this interaction remains largely elusive. In this study, we show that NCAM induces a specific, FGFR1-mediated cellular response that is remarkably different from that elicited by FGF-2. In contrast to FGF-induced degradation of endocytic FGFR1, NCAM promotes the stabilization of the receptor, which is recycled to the cell surface in a Rab11- and Src-dependent manner. In turn, FGFR1 recycling is required for NCAM-induced sustained activation of various effectors. Furthermore, NCAM, but not FGF-2, promotes cell migration, and this response depends on FGFR1 recycling and sustained Src activation. Our results implicate NCAM as a nonconventional ligand for FGFR1 that exerts a peculiar control on the intracellular trafficking of the receptor, resulting in a specific cellular response. Besides introducing a further level of complexity in the regulation of FGFR1 function, our findings highlight the link of FGFR recycling with sustained signaling and cell migration and the critical role of these events in dictating the cellular response evoked by receptor activation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (22) ◽  
pp. 4706-4719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxin A. Yu ◽  
Nicholas O. Deakin ◽  
Christopher E. Turner

Directed cell migration requires the coordination of growth factor and cell adhesion signaling and is of fundamental importance during embryonic development, wound repair, and pathological conditions such as tumor metastasis. Herein, we demonstrate that the ArfGAP, paxillin-kinase-linker (PKL/GIT2), is tyrosine phosphorylated in response to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) stimulation, in an adhesion dependent manner and is necessary for directed cell migration. Using a combination of pharmacological inhibitors, knockout cells and kinase mutants, FAK, and Src family kinases were shown to mediate PDGF-dependent PKL tyrosine phosphorylation. In fibroblasts, expression of a PKL mutant lacking the principal tyrosine phosphorylation sites resulted in loss of wound-induced cell polarization as well as directional migration. PKL phosphorylation was necessary for PDGF-stimulated PKL binding to the focal adhesion protein paxillin and expression of paxillin or PKL mutants defective in their respective binding motifs recapitulated the polarization defects. RNA interference or expression of phosphorylation mutants of PKL resulted in disregulation of PDGF-stimulated Rac1 and PAK activities, reduction of Cdc42 and Erk signaling, as well as mislocalization of βPIX. Together these studies position PKL as an integral component of growth factor and cell adhesion cross-talk signaling, controlling the development of front–rear cell polarity and directional cell migration.


Development ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
H. Y. Kubota ◽  
A. J. Durston

The migration of inner marginal cells was studied in the Ambystoma gastrula, using scanning electron micrography and time-lapse cinemicrography. Scanning electron micrographs of gastrulae which were fixed while intact revealed that the migrating cells have flattened lamellipodia at their anterior end and a rounded cell body, which can sometimes be seen to be attached to a neighbouring cell by a slender posterior process. Films of opened gastrulae showed actively moving cells, with the same features described above. Details of their movements are reported and discussed in relation to the mechanism of gastrulation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 869-876
Author(s):  
Bendix R. Slegtenhorst ◽  
Oscar R. Fajardo Ramirez ◽  
Yuzhi Zhang ◽  
Zahra Dhanerawala ◽  
Stefan G. Tullius ◽  
...  

The vascular endothelium plays a critical role in the health and disease of the cardiovascular system. Importantly, biomechanical stimuli generated by blood flow and sensed by the endothelium constitute important local inputs that are translated into transcriptional programs and functional endothelial phenotypes. Pulsatile, laminar flow, characteristic of regions in the vasculature that are resistant to atherosclerosis, evokes an atheroprotective endothelial phenotype. This atheroprotective phenotype is integrated by the transcription factor Kruppel-like factor-2 (KLF2), and therefore the expression of KLF2 can be used as a proxy for endothelial atheroprotection. Here, we report the generation and characterization of a cellular KLF2 reporter system, based on green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression driven by the human KLF2 promoter. This reporter is induced selectively by an atheroprotective shear stress waveform in human endothelial cells, is regulated by endogenous signaling events, and is activated by the pharmacological inducer of KLF2, simvastatin, in a dose-dependent manner. This reporter system can now be used to probe KLF2 signaling and for the discovery of a novel chemical-biological space capable of acting as the “pharmacomimetics of atheroprotective flow” on the vascular endothelium.


1985 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1487-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Katow ◽  
M Hayashi

We studied the effect of fibronectin (FN) on the behavior of primary mesenchyme cells isolated from sea urchin mesenchyme blastulae in vitro using a time-lapse technique. The migration of isolated primary mesenchyme cells reconstituted in seawater and horse serum is dependent on the presence or absence of exogenous FN in the culture media. The cells in FN, 4 and 40 micrograms/ml, show a high percentage of migration and migrate long distances, whereas a higher concentration of FN at 400 micrograms/ml tends to inhibit migration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (13) ◽  
pp. 1768-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Valdivia ◽  
Silvia M. Goicoechea ◽  
Sahezeel Awadia ◽  
Ashtyn Zinn ◽  
Rafael Garcia-Mata

Circular dorsal ruffles (CDRs) are actin-rich structures that form on the dorsal surface of many mammalian cells in response to growth factor stimulation. CDRs represent a unique type of structure that forms transiently and only once upon stimulation. The formation of CDRs involves a drastic rearrangement of the cytoskeleton, which is regulated by the Rho family of GTPases. So far, only Rac1 has been consistently associated with CDR formation, whereas the role of other GTPases in this process is either lacking or inconclusive. Here we show that RhoG and its exchange factor, Trio, play a role in the regulation of CDR dynamics, particularly by modulating their size. RhoG is activated by Trio downstream of PDGF in a PI3K- and Src-dependent manner. Silencing RhoG expression decreases the number of cells that form CDRs, as well as the area of the CDRs. The regulation of CDR area by RhoG is independent of Rac1 function. In addition, our results show the RhoG plays a role in the cellular functions associated with CDR formation, including macropinocytosis, receptor internalization, and cell migration. Taken together, our results reveal a novel role for RhoG in the regulation of CDRs and the cellular processes associated with their formation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 3180-3191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate M. Cooper ◽  
David A. Bennin ◽  
Anna Huttenlocher

Pombe Cdc15 homology (PCH) family members have emerged as important regulators of membrane–cytoskeletal interactions. Here we show that PSTPIP1, a PCH family member expressed in hematopoietic cells, regulates the motility of neutrophil-like cells and is a novel component of the leukocyte uropod where it colocalizes with other uropod components, such as type I PIPKIγ. Furthermore, we show that PSTPIP1 association with the regulator of endocytosis, dynamin 2, and PSTPIP1 expression impairs transferrin uptake and endocytosis. We also show that PSTPIP1 localizes at the rear of neutrophils with a subpopulation of F-actin that is specifically detected by the binding of an F-actin probe that detects a more stable population of actin. Finally, we show that actin polymerization, but not the microtubule network, is necessary for the polarized distribution of PSTPIP1 toward the rear of the cell. Together, our findings demonstrate that PSTPIP1 is a novel component of the leukocyte uropod that regulates endocytosis and cell migration.


1997 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatyana M. Svitkina ◽  
Alexander B. Verkhovsky ◽  
Kyle M. McQuade ◽  
Gary G. Borisy

While the protrusive event of cell locomotion is thought to be driven by actin polymerization, the mechanism of forward translocation of the cell body is unclear. To elucidate the mechanism of cell body translocation, we analyzed the supramolecular organization of the actin–myosin II system and the dynamics of myosin II in fish epidermal keratocytes. In lamellipodia, long actin filaments formed dense networks with numerous free ends in a brushlike manner near the leading edge. Shorter actin filaments often formed T junctions with longer filaments in the brushlike area, suggesting that new filaments could be nucleated at sides of preexisting filaments or linked to them immediately after nucleation. The polarity of actin filaments was almost uniform, with barbed ends forward throughout most of the lamellipodia but mixed in arc-shaped filament bundles at the lamellipodial/cell body boundary. Myosin II formed discrete clusters of bipolar minifilaments in lamellipodia that increased in size and density towards the cell body boundary and colocalized with actin in boundary bundles. Time-lapse observation demonstrated that myosin clusters appeared in the lamellipodia and remained stationary with respect to the substratum in locomoting cells, but they exhibited retrograde flow in cells tethered in epithelioid colonies. Consequently, both in locomoting and stationary cells, myosin clusters approached the cell body boundary, where they became compressed and aligned, resulting in the formation of boundary bundles. In locomoting cells, the compression was associated with forward displacement of myosin features. These data are not consistent with either sarcomeric or polarized transport mechanisms of cell body translocation. We propose that the forward translocation of the cell body and retrograde flow in the lamellipodia are both driven by contraction of an actin–myosin network in the lamellipodial/cell body transition zone.


2003 ◽  
Vol 284 (4) ◽  
pp. F852-F862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Ashworth ◽  
Erica L. Southgate ◽  
Ruben M. Sandoval ◽  
Peter J. Meberg ◽  
James R. Bamburg ◽  
...  

Ischemic injury induces actin cytoskeleton disruption and aggregation, but mechanisms affecting these changes remain unclear. To determine the role of actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF)/ cofilin participation in ischemic-induced actin cytoskeletal breakdown, we utilized porcine kidney cultured cells, LLC-PKA4.8, and adenovirus containing wild-type (wt), constitutively active, and inactive Xenopus ADF/cofilin linked to green fluorescence protein [XAC(wt)-GFP] in an ATP depletion model. High adenoviral infectivity (70%) in LLC-PKA4.8 cells resulted in linearly increasing XAC(wt)-GFP and phosphorylated (p)XAC(wt)-GFP (inactive) expression. ATP depletion rapidly induced dephosphorylation, and, therefore, activation, of endogenous pcofilin as well as pXAC(wt)-GFP in conjunction with the formation of fluorescent XAC(wt)-GFP/actin aggregates and rods. No significant actin cytoskeletal alterations occurred with short-term ATP depletion of LLC-PKA4.8 cells expressing GFP or the constitutively inactive mutant XAC(S3E)-GFP, but cells expressing the constitutively active mutant demonstrated nearly instantaneous actin disruption with aggregate and rod formation. Confocal image three-dimensional volume reconstructions of normal and ATP-depleted LLC-PKA4.8 cells demonstrated that 25 min of ATP depletion induced a rapid increase in XAC(wt)-GFP apical and basal signal in addition to XAC-GFP/actin aggregate formation. These data demonstrate XAC(wt)-GFP participates in ischemia-induced actin cytoskeletal alterations and determines the rate and extent of these ATP depletion-induced cellular alterations.


PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. e1009856
Author(s):  
Amalia Riga ◽  
Janine Cravo ◽  
Ruben Schmidt ◽  
Helena R. Pires ◽  
Victoria G. Castiglioni ◽  
...  

The conserved adapter protein Scribble (Scrib) plays essential roles in a variety of cellular processes, including polarity establishment, proliferation, and directed cell migration. While the mechanisms through which Scrib promotes epithelial polarity are beginning to be unraveled, its roles in other cellular processes including cell migration remain enigmatic. In C. elegans, the Scrib ortholog LET-413 is essential for apical–basal polarization and junction formation in embryonic epithelia. However, whether LET-413 is required for postembryonic development or plays a role in migratory events is not known. Here, we use inducible protein degradation to investigate the functioning of LET-413 in larval epithelia. We find that LET-413 is essential in the epidermal epithelium for growth, viability, and junction maintenance. In addition, we identify a novel role for LET-413 in the polarized outgrowth of the epidermal seam cells. These stem cell-like epithelial cells extend anterior and posterior directed apical protrusions in each larval stage to reconnect to their neighbors. We show that the role of LET-413 in seam cell outgrowth is likely mediated largely by the junctional component DLG-1 discs large, which we demonstrate is also essential for directed outgrowth of the seam cells. Our data uncover multiple essential functions for LET-413 in larval development and show that the polarized outgrowth of the epithelial seam cells is controlled by LET-413 Scribble and DLG-1 Discs large.


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