Partial loss of actin nucleator Actin Related Protein 2/3 activity triggers blebbing in primary T lymphocytes (original) (raw)

Polymerization force-regulated actin filament-Arp2/3 complex interaction dominates self-adaptive cell migrations

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2023

Cells migrate by adapting their leading-edge behaviours to heterogeneous extracellular microenvironments (ECMs) during cancer invasions and immune responses. Yet it remains poorly understood how such complicated dynamic behaviours emerge from millisecond-scale assembling activities of protein molecules, which are hard to probe experimentally. To address this gap, we established a spatiotemporal "resistance-adaptive propulsion" theory based on the protein interactions between Arp2/3 complexes and polymerizing actin filaments, and a multiscale dynamic modelling system spanning from molecular proteins to the cell. Combining spatiotemporal simulations with experiments, we quantitatively find that cells can accurately self-adapt propulsive forces to overcome heterogeneous ECMs via a resistance-triggered positive feedback mechanism, dominated by polymerization-induced actin filament bending and the bending-regulated actin-Arp2/3 binding. However, for high resistance regions, resistance triggered a negative feedback, hindering branched filament assembly, which adapts cellular morphologies to circumnavigate the obstacles. Strikingly, the synergy of the two opposite feedbacks not only empowers cells with both powerful and flexible migratory capabilities to deal with complex ECMs, but also endows cells to use their intracellular proteins efficiently. In addition, we identify that the nature of cell migration velocity depending on ECM history stems from the inherent temporal hysteresis of cytoskeleton remodelling. We also quantitatively show that directional cell migration is dictated by the competition between the local stiffness of ECMs and the local polymerizing rate of actin network caused by chemotactic cues. Our results reveal that it is the polymerization force-regulated actin filament-Arp2/3 complex binding interaction that dominates self-adaptive cell migrations in complex ECMs, and we provide a predictive theory and a spatiotemporal multiscale modelling system at the protein level. .

cAMP bursts control T cell directionality by actin cytoskeleton remodeling

2020

T lymphocyte migration is an essential step to mounting an efficient immune response. The rapid and random motility of these cells which favors their sentinel role is conditioned by chemokines as well as by the physical environment. Morphological changes, underlaid by dynamic actin cytoskeleton remodeling, are observed throughout migration but especially when the cell modifies its trajectory. Using dynamic cell imaging, we investigated the signaling pathways involved in T cell directionality control. We monitored cAMP variation concomitantly with actin distribution upon T lymphocyte migration and highlighted the fact that spontaneous bursts in cAMP starting from the leading edge, are sufficient to promote stable actin redistribution triggering trajectory modification.

Diversified actin protrusions promote environmental exploration but are dispensable for locomotion of leukocytes

Nature cell biology, 2016

Most migrating cells extrude their front by the force of actin polymerization. Polymerization requires an initial nucleation step, which is mediated by factors establishing either parallel filaments in the case of filopodia or branched filaments that form the branched lamellipodial network. Branches are considered essential for regular cell motility and are initiated by the Arp2/3 complex, which in turn is activated by nucleation-promoting factors of the WASP and WAVE families. Here we employed rapid amoeboid crawling leukocytes and found that deletion of the WAVE complex eliminated actin branching and thus lamellipodia formation. The cells were left with parallel filaments at the leading edge, which translated, depending on the differentiation status of the cell, into a unipolar pointed cell shape or cells with multiple filopodia. Remarkably, unipolar cells migrated with increased speed and enormous directional persistence, while they were unable to turn towards chemotactic gradien...

Actin dynamics in cell migration

Essays In Biochemistry

Cell migration is an essential process, both in unicellular organisms such as amoeba and as individual or collective motility in highly developed multicellular organisms like mammals. It is controlled by a variety of activities combining protrusive and contractile forces, normally generated by actin filaments. Here, we summarize actin filament assembly and turnover processes, and how respective biochemical activities translate into different protrusion types engaged in migration. These actin-based plasma membrane protrusions include actin-related protein 2/3 complex-dependent structures such as lamellipodia and membrane ruffles, filopodia as well as plasma membrane blebs. We also address observed antagonisms between these protrusion types, and propose a model – also inspired by previous literature – in which a complex balance between specific Rho GTPase signaling pathways dictates the protrusion mechanism employed by cells. Furthermore, we revisit published work regarding the fascin...

The actin cytoskeleton in normal and pathological cell motility

The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, 2004

Cell motility is crucial for tissue formation and for development of organisms. Later on cell migration remains essential throughout the lifetime of the organism for wound healing and immune responses. The actin cytoskeleton is the cellular engine that drives cell motility downstream of a complex signal transduction cascade. The basic molecular machinery underlying the assembly and disassembly of actin filaments consists of a variety of actin binding proteins that regulate the dynamic behavior of the cytoskeleton in response to different signals. The multitude of proteins and regulatory mechanisms partaking in this system makes it vulnerable to mutations and alterations in expression levels that ultimately may cause diseases. The most familiar one is cancer that in later stages is characterized by active aberrant cell migration. Indeed tumor invasion and metastasis are increasingly being associated with deregulation of the actin system.

Actin Dynamics, Architecture, and Mechanics in Cell Motility

Physiological Reviews, 2014

Tight coupling between biochemical and mechanical properties of the actin cytoskeleton drives a large range of cellular processes including polarity establishment, morphogenesis, and motility. This is possible because actin filaments are semi-flexible polymers that, in conjunction with the molecular motor myosin, can act as biological active springs or "dashpots" (in laymen's terms, shock absorbers or fluidizers) able to exert or resist against force in a cellular environment. To modulate their mechanical properties, actin filaments can organize into a variety of architectures generating a diversity of cellular organizations including branched or crosslinked networks in the lamellipodium, parallel bundles in filopodia, and antiparallel structures in contractile fibers. In this review we describe the feedback loop between biochemical and mechanical properties of actin organization at the molecular level in vitro, then we integrate this knowledge into our current understanding of cellular actin organization and its physiological roles.

Regulation of directional cell migration by membrane-induced actin bundling

Journal of Cell Science, 2013

During embryonic development and in metastatic cancers, cells detach from the epithelium and migrate with persistent directionality. Directional cell migration is also crucial for the regeneration and maintenance of the epithelium and an impaired ability of epithelial cells for directional migration are linked to chronic inflammatory diseases. Despite its significance, the mechanisms controlling epithelial cell migration remain poorly understood. Villin is an epithelial cell specific actin modifying protein that regulates epithelial cell plasticity and motility. In motile cells villin is associated with the highly branched as well as the unbranched actin filaments of lamellipodia and filopodia, respectively. In this study we demonstrate for the first time that villin regulates directionally persistent epithelial cell migration. Functional characterization of wild-type and mutant villin proteins reveals that villin's ability to self-associate and bundle actin as well as its direc...

1 Regulation of directional cell migration by membrane-induced actin bundling

2016

During embryonic development and in metastatic cancers, cells detach from the epithelium and migrate with persistent directionality. Directional cell migration is also crucial for the regeneration and maintenance of the epithelium and an impaired ability of epithelial cells for directional migration are linked to chronic inflammatory diseases. Despite its significance, the mechanisms controlling epithelial cell migration remain poorly understood. Villin is an epithelial cell specific actin modifying protein that regulates epithelial cell plasticity and motility. In motile cells villin is associated with the highly branched as well as the unbranched actin filaments of lamellipodia and filopodia, respectively. In this study we demonstrate for the first time that villin regulates directionally persistent epithelial cell migration. Functional characterization of wild-type and mutant villin proteins reveals that villin’s ability to self-associate and bundle actin as well as its direct in...

Cytoskeletal actin dynamics shape a ramifying actin network underpinning immunological synapse formation

Science advances, 2017

T cell activation and especially trafficking of T cell receptor microclusters during immunological synapse formation are widely thought to rely on cytoskeletal remodeling. However, important details on the involvement of actin in the latter transport processes are missing. Using a suite of advanced optical microscopes to analyze resting and activated T cells, we show that, following contact formation with activating surfaces, these cells sequentially rearrange their cortical actin across the entire cell, creating a previously unreported ramifying actin network above the immunological synapse. This network shows all the characteristics of an inward-growing transportation network and its dynamics correlating with T cell receptor rearrangements. This actin reorganization is accompanied by an increase in the nanoscale actin meshwork size and the dynamic adjustment of the turnover times and filament lengths of two differently sized filamentous actin populations, wherein formin-mediated l...