Lifeact-GFP alters F-actin organization, cellular morphology and biophysical behaviour.

ABSTRACT: Live-imaging techniques are at the forefront of biology research to explore behaviour and function from sub-cellular to whole organism scales. These methods rely on intracellular fluorescent probes to label specific proteins, which are commonly assumed to only introduce artefacts at concentrations far-exceeding routine use. Lifeact, a small peptide with affinity for actin microfilaments has become a gold standard in live cell imaging of the cytoskeleton. Nevertheless, recent reports have raised concerns on Lifeact-associated artefacts at the molecular and whole organism level. We show here that Lifeact induces dose-response artefacts at the cellular level, impacting stress fibre dynamics and actin cytoskeleton architecture. These effects extend to the microtubule and intermediate filament

SUBMITTER: Flores LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6397297 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature