Apical Sarcomere-like Actomyosin Contracts Nonmuscle Drosophila Epithelial Cells.

ABSTRACT: Actomyosin networks generate contractile force that changes cell and tissue shape. In muscle cells, actin filaments and myosin II appear in a polarized structure called a sarcomere, in which myosin II is localized in the center. Nonmuscle cortical actomyosin networks are thought to contract when nonmuscle myosin II (myosin) is activated throughout a mixed-polarity actin network. Here, we identified a mutant version of the myosin-activating kinase, ROCK, that localizes diffusely, rather than centrally, in epithelial cell apices. Surprisingly, this mutant inhibits constriction, suggesting that centrally localized apical ROCK/myosin activity promotes contraction. We determined actin cytoskeletal polarity by developing a barbed end incorporation assay for Drosophila embryos, which revealed bar

SUBMITTER: Coravos JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5102765 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature