Principles of self-organization and load adaptation by the actin cytoskeleton during clathrin-mediated endocytosis (original) (raw)

Branched actin networks are organized for asymmetric force production during clathrin-mediated endocytosis in mammalian cells

Nature Communications

Actin assembly facilitates vesicle formation in several trafficking pathways, including clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME). Interestingly, actin does not assemble at all CME sites in mammalian cells. How actin networks are organized with respect to mammalian CME sites and how assembly forces are harnessed, are not fully understood. Here, branched actin network geometry at CME sites was analyzed using three different advanced imaging approaches. When endocytic dynamics of unperturbed CME sites are compared, sites with actin assembly show a distinct signature, a delay between completion of coat expansion and vesicle scission, indicating that actin assembly occurs preferentially at stalled CME sites. In addition, N-WASP and the Arp2/3 complex are recruited to one side of CME sites, where they are positioned to stimulate asymmetric actin assembly and force production. We propose that actin assembles preferentially at stalled CME sites where it pulls vesicles into the cell asymmetricall...

Adaptive actin organization counteracts elevated membrane tension to ensure robust endocytosis

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) remains robust despite variations in plasma membrane tension. Actin assembly-mediated force generation becomes essential for CME under high membrane tension, but the underlying mechanisms are not understood. We investigated actin network ultrastructure at each stage of CME by super-resolution imaging. Actin and N-WASP spatial organization indicate that polymerization initiates at the base of clathrin-coated pits and that the actin network then grows away from the plasma membrane. Actin network organization is not tightly coupled to endocytic clathrin coat growth and deformation. Membrane tension-dependent changes in actin organization explain this uncoupling. Under elevated membrane tension, CME dynamics slow down and the actin network grows higher, resulting in greater coverage of the clathrin coat. This adaptive mechanism is especially crucial during the initial membrane curvature-generating stages of CME. Our findings reveal that adaptive force...

A Modular Design for the Clathrin- and Actin-Mediated Endocytosis Machinery

Cell, 2005

Endocytosis depends on an extensive network of interacting proteins that execute a series of distinct subprocesses. Previously, we used live-cell imaging of six budding-yeast proteins to define a pathway for association of receptors, adaptors, and actin during endocytic internalization. Here, we analyzed the effects of 61 deletion mutants on the dynamics of this pathway, revealing functions for 15 proteins, and we analyzed the dynamics of 8 of these proteins. Our studies provide evidence for four protein modules that cooperate to drive coat formation, membrane invagination, actin-meshwork assembly, and vesicle scission during clathrin/actin-mediated endocytosis. We found that clathrin facilitates the initiation of endocytic-site assembly but is not needed for membrane invagination or vesicle formation. Finally, we present evidence that the actin-meshwork assembly that drives membrane invagination is nucleated proximally to the plasma membrane, opposite to the orientation observed for previously studied actin-assembly-driven motility processes.

Spatial and Temporal Coordination of Force-generating Actin-based Modules Drives Membrane Remodeling In Vivo

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 2023

Membrane remodeling drives a broad spectrum of cellular functions, and it is regulated through mechanical forces exerted on the membrane by cytoplasmic complexes. Here, we investigate how actin filaments dynamically tune their structure to control the active transfer of membranes between cellular compartments with distinct compositions and biophysical properties. Using intravital subcellular microscopy in live rodents we show that: a lattice composed of linear filaments stabilizes the granule membrane after fusion with the plasma membrane; and a network of branched filaments linked to the membranes by Ezrin, a regulator of membrane tension, initiates and drives to completion the integration

Membrane Tension Inhibits Deformation by Coat Proteins in Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis

Biophysical Journal, 2016

In clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME), clathrin and various adaptor proteins coat a patch of the plasma membrane, which is reshaped to form a budded vesicle. Experimental studies have demonstrated that elevated membrane tension can inhibit bud formation by a clathrin coat. In this study, we investigate the impact of membrane tension on the mechanics of membrane budding by simulating clathrin coats that either grow in area or progressively induce greater curvature. At low membrane tension, progressively increasing the area of a curvature-generating coat causes the membrane to smoothly evolve from a flat to budded morphology, whereas the membrane remains essentially flat at high membrane tensions. Interestingly, at physiologically relevant, intermediate membrane tensions, the shape evolution of the membrane undergoes a snapthrough instability in which increasing coat area causes the membrane to "snap" from an open, U-shaped bud to a closed, Ω-shaped bud. This instability is accompanied by a large energy barrier, which could cause a developing endocytic pit to stall if the binding energy of additional coat is insufficient to overcome this barrier. Similar results were found for a coat of constant area in which the spontaneous curvature progressively increases. Additionally, a pulling force on the bud, simulating a force from actin polymerization, is sufficient to drive a transition from an open to closed bud, overcoming the energy barrier opposing this transition.

Physical Model for Self-Organization of Actin Cytoskeleton and Adhesion Complexes at the Cell Front

Biophysical Journal, 2012

Cell motion is driven by interplay between the actin cytoskeleton and the cell adhesions in the front part of the cell. The actin network segregates into lamellipodium and lamellum, whereas the adhesion complexes are characteristically distributed underneath the actin system. Here, we suggest a computational model for this characteristic organization of the actinadhesion system. The model is based on the ability of the adhesion complexes to sense mechanical forces, the stick-slip character of the interaction between the adhesions and the moving actin network, and a hypothetical propensity of the actin network to disintegrate upon sufficiently strong stretching stresses. We identify numerically three possible types of system organization, all observed in living cells: two states in which the actin network exhibits segregation into lamellipodium and lamellum, whereas the cell edge either remains stationary or moves, and a state where the actin network does not undergo segregation. The model recovers the asynchronous fluctuations and outward bulging of the cell edge, and the dependence of the edge protrusion velocity on the rate of the nascent adhesion generation, the membrane tension, and the substrate rigidity.

Design principles for robust vesiculation in clathrin-mediated endocytosis

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017

A critical step in cellular-trafficking pathways is the budding of membranes by protein coats, which recent experiments have demonstrated can be inhibited by elevated membrane tension. The robustness of processes like clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) across a diverse range of organisms and mechanical environments suggests that the protein machinery in this process has evolved to take advantage of some set of physical design principles to ensure robust vesiculation against opposing forces like membrane tension. Using a theoretical model for membrane mechanics and membrane protein interaction, we have systematically investigated the influence of membrane rigidity, curvature induced by the protein coat, area covered by the protein coat, membrane tension, and force from actin polymerization on bud formation. Under low tension, the membrane smoothly evolves from a flat to budded morphology as the coat area or spontaneous curvature increases, whereas the membrane remains essentially fl...

Flat clathrin lattices are dynamic actin-controlled hubs for clathrin-mediated endocytosis and signalling of specific receptors

Nature Communications

Clathrin lattices at the plasma membrane coat both invaginated and flat regions forming clathrin-coated pits and clathrin plaques, respectively. The function and regulation of clathrin-coated pits in endocytosis are well understood but clathrin plaques remain enigmatic nanodomains. Here we use super-resolution microscopy, molecular genetics and cell biology to show that clathrin plaques contain the machinery for clathrin-mediated endocytosis and cell adhesion, and associate with both clathrin-coated pits and filamentous actin. We also find that actin polymerization promoted by N-WASP through the Arp2/3 complex is crucial for the regulation of plaques but not pits. Clathrin plaques oppose cell migration and undergo actin-and N-WASP-dependent disassembly upon activation of LPA receptor 1, but not EGF receptor. Most importantly, plaque disassembly correlates with the endocytosis of LPA receptor 1 and down-modulation of AKT activity. Thus, clathrin plaques serve as dynamic actin-controlled hubs for clathrin-mediated endocytosis and signalling that exhibit receptor specificity.

Harnessing actin dynamics for clathrin-mediated endocytosis

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2006

Sheet-like plasma-membrane protrusions at the leading edge of motile cells that are formed by actin polymerization. www.nature.com/reviews/molcellbio Lamellipodia/filopodia Macropinocytosis Caveolae-mediated endocytosis Clathrin-mediated endocytosis Clathrin Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (actin patch) Nucleus Phagocytosis Actin cable Caveolin-1 Vesicle Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell Mammalian cell Actin Endosome Caveolae-mediated endocytosis A form of uptake at the plasma membrane that involves the protein caveolin. Cofilin A conserved actin-binding protein that is thought to be involved in actin-filament severing and disassembly.