Two-tiered coupling between flowing actin and immobilized N-cadherin/catenin complexes in neuronal growth cones.

ABSTRACT: Neuronal growth cones move forward by dynamically connecting actin-based motility to substrate adhesion, but the mechanisms at the individual molecular level remain unclear. We cultured primary neurons on N-cadherin-coated micropatterned substrates, and imaged adhesion and cytoskeletal proteins at the ventral surface of growth cones using single particle tracking combined to photoactivated localization microscopy (sptPALM). We demonstrate transient interactions in the second time scale between flowing actin filaments and immobilized N-cadherin/catenin complexes, translating into a local reduction of the actin retrograde flow. Normal actin flow on micropatterns was rescued by expression of a dominant negative N-cadherin construct competing for the coupling between actin and endogenous N-cad

SUBMITTER: Garcia M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4460488 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature