Different modes of state transitions determine pattern in the Phosphatidylinositide-Actin system.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In a motile polarized cell the actin system is differentiated to allow protrusion at the front and retraction at the tail. This differentiation is linked to the phosphoinositide pattern in the plasma membrane. In the highly motile Dictyostelium cells studied here, the front is dominated by PI3-kinases producing PI(3,4,5)tris-phosphate (PIP3), the tail by the PI3-phosphatase PTEN that hydrolyses PIP3 to PI(4,5)bis-phosphate. To study de-novo cell polarization, we first depolymerized actin and subsequently recorded the spontaneous reorganization of actin patterns in relation to PTEN.

Results

In a transient stage of recovery from depolymerization, symmetric actin patterns alternate periodically with asymmetric ones. The switches to asymmetry coincide with the unilate

SUBMITTER: Gerisch G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3199247 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature