Skip to main content
Log in

WasC, a WASP family protein, is involved in cell adhesion and migration through regulation of F-actin polymerization in Dictyostelium

  • Microbial Genetics, Genomics and Molecular Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The actin cytoskeleton is involved in the regulation of cell morphology and migration. Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome proteins (WASPs) play an important role in controlling actin polymerization by activating the Arp2/3 complex. The present study investigated the roles of WasC, one of the 3 WASPs in Dictyostelium, in cellular processes. Cells lacking WasC displayed strong cell adhesion and approximately 1.5-fold increase in F-actin levels as compared to the wild-type cells. Loss of wasC caused defects in phagocytosis and decreased the migration speed in chemoattractant-mediated cell migration but did not affect directionality. WasC was localized to the protruding region in migrating cells and, transiently and rapidly translocated to the cell cortex in response to chemoattractant stimulation, in an F-actin dependent manner. Our results suggest that WasC is involved in cell adhesion and migration by regulating F-actin polymerization at the leading edge of migrating cells, probably as a negative regulator. The increased strength of adhesion in wasC null cells is likely to decrease the migration speed but not the directionality

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adachi, H., Hasebe, T., Yoshinaga, K., Ohta, T., and Sutoh, K. 1994. Isolation of Dictyostelium discoideum cytokinesis mutants by restriction enzyme-mediated integration of the blasticidin S resistance marker. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.205, 1808–1814.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Artemenko, Y., Lampert, T.J., and Devreotes, P.N. 2014. Moving towards a paradigm: common mechanisms of chemotactic signaling in Dictyostelium and mammalian leukocytes. Cell. Mol. Life Sci.71, 3711–3747.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cardelli, J. 2001. Phagocytosis and macropinocytosis in Dictyostelium: phosphoinositide-based processes, biochemically distinct. Traffic2, 311–320.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm, R.L. and Firtel, R.A. 2004. Insights into morphogenesis from a simple developmental system. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.5, 531–541.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, C.Y., Feoktistov, A., Hollingsworth, R.J., Rivero, F., and Mandel, N.S. 2013. An attenuating role of a WASP-related protein, WASP-B, in the regulation of F-actin polymerization and pseudopod formation via the regulation of RacC during Dictyostelium chemotaxis. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.436, 719–724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, A.J., Amato, C., Thomason, P.A., and Insall, R.H. 2018. WASP family proteins and formins compete in pseudopodand bleb-based migration. J. Cell Biol.217, 701–714.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Hostos, E.L., Bradtke, B., Lottspeich, F., Guggenheim, R., and Gerisch, G. 1991. Coronin, an actin binding protein of Dictyostelium discoideum localized to cell surface projections, has sequence similarities to G protein ß subunits. EMBO J.10, 4097–4104.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han, J.W., Leeper, L., Rivero, F., and Chung, C.Y. 2006. Role of RacC for the regulation of WASP and phosphatidylinositol 3- kinase during chemotaxis of Dictyostelium. J. Biol. Chem.281, 35224–35234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcock-DeGregori, S.E. 2003. Now, swing your partner! 3Ddomain switching of WASP activates Arp2/3 complex. Nat. Struct. Biol.10, 583–584.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Insall, R., Muller-Taubenberger, A., Machesky, L., Kohler, J., Simmeth, E., Atkinson, S.J., Weber, I., and Gerisch, G. 2001. Dynamics of the Dictyostelium Arp2/3 complex in endocytosis, cytokinesis, and chemotaxis. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton50, 115–128.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jeon, T.J., Lee, D.J., Lee, S., Weeks, G., and Firtel, R.A. 2007. Regulation of Rap1 activity by RapGAP1 controls cell adhesion at the front of chemotaxing cells. J. Cell Biol.179, 833–843.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M.R. and Jeon, T.J. 2012. Cell migration: regulation of cytoWasC regulation of actin cytoskeleton 7 skeleton by Rap1 in Dictyostelium discoideum. J. Microbiol.50, 555–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, S.A., Han, J.W., Lee, Y., Firtel, R.A., and Chung, C.Y. 2005. A Dictyostelium homologue of WASP is required for polarized F-actin assembly during chemotaxis. Mol. Biol. Cell16, 2191–2206.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Panchal, S.C., Kaiser, D.A., Torres, E., Pollard, T.D., and Rosen, M.K. 2003. A conserved amphipathic helix in WASP/Scar proteins is essential for activation of Arp2/3 complex. Nat. Struct. Biol.10, 591–598.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Park, B., Kim, H., and Jeon, T.J. 2018. Loss of RapC causes defects in cytokinesis, cell migration, and multicellular development of Dictyostelium. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 499, 783–789.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ridley, A.J., Schwartz, M.A., Burridge, K., Firtel, R.A., Ginsberg, M.H., Borisy, G., Parsons, J.T., and Horwitz, A.R. 2003. Cell migration: integrating signals from front to back. Science302, 1704–1709.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodal, A.A., Sokolova, O., Robins, D.B., Daugherty, K.M., Hippenmeyer, S., Riezman, H., Grigorieff, N., and Goode, B.L. 2005. Conformational changes in the Arp2/3 complex leading to actin nucleation. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol.12, 26–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Veltman, D.M. and Insall, R.H. 2010. WASP family proteins: their evolution and its physiological implications. Mol. Biol. Cell21, 2880–2893.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Veltman, D.M., King, J.S., Machesky, L.M., and Insall, R.H. 2012. SCAR knockouts in Dictyostelium: WASP assumes SCAR’s position and upstream regulators in pseudopods. J. Cell Biol.198, 501–508.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by research funds from Chosun University to T.J. Jeon (2018).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taeck Joong Jeon.

Additional information

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://www.springerlink.com/content/120956.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jeon, P., Jeon, T.J. WasC, a WASP family protein, is involved in cell adhesion and migration through regulation of F-actin polymerization in Dictyostelium. J Microbiol. 58, 696–702 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-0138-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-0138-9

Keywords

Navigation