logo
    The Membrane-Cytoskeletal Axis in Phagocytosing PMN-Leucocytes and Virally Transformed Fibroblasts
    0
    Citation
    21
    Reference
    10
    Related Paper
    The polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) or neutrophil is capable of persistent directional locomotion, a process known as chemotaxis. Actin filaments found in the neutrophil cortex are thought to be essential for pseudopod formation and subsequent cell locomotion. Other cytoskeletal elements such as microtubules and intermediate filaments have been observed in chemotaxing human neutrophils. The purpose of this work is to examine these cytoskeletal elements in neutrophils in a non-activated state by morphologic and biochemical means.
    Pseudopodia
    Citations (0)
    Neutrophil chemotaxis is a critical component in innate immunity. Recently, using a small-molecule functional screening, we identified NADPHoxidase- dependent Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) as key regulators of neutrophil chemotactic migration. Neutrophils depleted of ROS form more frequent multiple pseudopodia and lost their directionality as they migrate up a chemoattractant concentration gradient. Here, we further studied the role of ROS in neutrophil chemotaxis and found that multiple pseudopodia formation induced by NADPH inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI) was more prominent in relatively shallow chemoattractant gradient. It was reported that, in shallow chemoattractant gradients, new pseudopods are usually generated when existing ones bifurcate. Directional sensing is mediated by maintaining the most accurate existing pseudopod, and destroying pseudopods facing the wrong direction by actin depolymerization. We propose that NADPH-mediated ROS production may be critical for disruption of misoriented pseudopods in chemotaxing neutrophils. Thus, inhibition of ROS production will lead to formation of multiple pseudopodia.
    Pseudopodia
    Citations (44)
    Chemotaxis is cell movement in the direction of a chemical and is composed of two component: movement and directionality. The directionality of eukaryotic chemotaxis is probably derived from orientation: the detection of the spacial gradient of chemoattractant over the cell length. Chemotaxis was investigated in eukaryotic Dictyostelium discoideum cells that were permeabilized by high-voltage discharges. These permeable cells respond chemotactically to extracellular cAMP. However, locomotion is impaired if the Ca2+ concentration is clamped at submicromolar concentrations; interestingly, these non-motile cells still form pseudopodia and elongate in the direction of the cAMP gradient. These results imply that locomotion and orientation during Dictyostelium chemotaxis are independently regulated.
    Pseudopodia
    Directionality
    Mycetozoa
    Citations (41)
    Chemotaxis is one of the most fascinating processes in cell biology. Shallow gradients of chemoattractant direct the movement of cells, and an intricate network of signalling pathways somehow instructs the movement apparatus to induce pseudopods in the direction of these gradients. Exciting new experiments have approached chemotaxis from the perspective of the extending pseudopod. These recent studies have revealed that, in the absence of external cues, cells use endogenous signals for the highly ordered extension of pseudopods, which appear mainly as alternating right and left splits. In addition, chemoattractants activate other signalling molecules that induce a positional bias of this basal system, such that the extending pseudopods are oriented towards the gradient. In this Commentary, I review the findings of these recent experiments, which together provide a new view of cell movement and chemotaxis.
    Pseudopodia
    Citations (56)
    Analysis of the motile behavior of a strain of Dictyostelium lacking a myosin I, myoA, revealed that this mutant strain formed pseudopods and turned twice as frequently as wild type cells [Titus et al., 1993: Mol. Biol. Cell 4:233-246]. The basis for this aberrant behavior has been explored using three-dimensional reconstructions of translocating cells. Wild type cells form approximately 40% of pseudopods on the substratum and 60% off the substratum. The majority of pseudopods formed on the substratum initiate sharp turns while the majority of pseudopods formed off the substratum are retracted. Although myoA- cells form pseudopods at roughly twice the frequency of wild type cells, the increase in frequency is specific for only those pseudopods formed on the substratum. This increase is the basis for the aberrant increase in turning in myoA- cells. The selective increase in the frequency of pseudopods formed on the substratum correlates with a number of additional abnormalities in myoA- pseuodpod formation. First, myoA- cells can simultaneously extend more than one pseudopod, whereas wild type cells extend only one pseudopod at a time. Second, although wild type and myoA- pseudopods achieve the same final volumes, myoA pseudopods grow at half the rate of wild type pseudopods and, therefore, take longer to achieve final volume. Third, while a wild type pseudopod grows in a continuous fashion, a myoA- pseudopod grows in a discontinuous fashion. Together, these results demonstrate that myoA plays a fundamental role in controlling the frequency of only those pseudopods formed on the substratum, and that maintenance of the normal frequency of pseudopod formation appears to be necessary for the normal velocity of cellular translocation, the normal frequency of turning, the normal rate of average pseudopod growth, and the high efficiency of chemotaxis. These results in turn indicate that pseudopod formation is precisely coordinated in space and time, and actin-associated proteins like myoA play key roles in coordination. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
    Pseudopodia
    The trajectory of moving eukaryotic cells depends on the kinetics and direction of extending pseudopods. The direction of pseudopods has been well studied to unravel mechanisms for chemotaxis, wound healing and inflammation. However, the kinetics of pseudopod extension-when and why do pseudopods start and stop- is equally important, but is largely unknown. Here the START and STOP of about 4000 pseudopods was determined in four different species, at four conditions and in nine mutants (fast amoeboids Dictyostelium and neutrophils, slow mesenchymal stem cells, and fungus B.d. chytrid with pseudopod and a flagellum). The START of a first pseudopod is a random event with a probability that is species-specific (23%/s for neutrophils). In all species and conditions, the START of a second pseudopod is strongly inhibited by the extending first pseudopod, which depends on parallel filamentous actin/myosin in the cell cortex. Pseudopods extend at a constant rate by polymerization of branched F-actin at the pseudopod tip, which requires the Scar complex. The STOP of pseudopod extension is induced by multiple inhibitory processes that evolve during pseudopod extension and mainly depend on the increasing size of the pseudopod. Surprisingly, no differences in pseudopod kinetics are detectable between polarized, unpolarized or chemotactic cells, and also not between different species except for small differences in numerical values. This suggests that the analysis has uncovered the fundament of cell movement with distinct roles for stimulatory branched F-actin in the protrusion and inhibitory parallel F-actin in the contractile cortex.
    Pseudopodia
    Neutrophils are subjected to mechanical stimulation as they deform into the narrow capillary segments of the pulmonary microcirculation. The present study seeks to understand the changes in the cytoskeletal structure and the extent of biological activation as a result of this process. Neutrophils were passed through narrow polycarbonate filter pores under physiological driving pressures, fixed, and stained downstream to visualize the F-actin content and distribution. Below a threshold capillary size, the cell remodeled its cytoskeleton through initial F-actin depolymerization, followed by recovery and increase in F-actin content associated with formation of pseudopods. This rapid depolymerization and subsequent recovery of F-actin was consistent with our previous observation of an immediate reduction in moduli with eventual recovery when the cells were subjected to deformation. Results also show that neutrophils must be retained in their elongated shape for an extended period of time for pseudopod formation, suggesting that a combination of low driving pressures and small capillary diameters promotes cellular activation. These observations show that mechanical deformation of neutrophils into narrow pulmonary capillaries have the ability to influence cytoskeletal structure, the degree of cellular activation, and migrational tendencies of the cells.
    Pseudopodia
    Mechanotransduction
    Depolymerization