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First published online 14 November 2002
doi: 10.1242/jcs.00190

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EhPAK, a member of the p21-activated kinase family, is involved in the control of Entamoeba histolytica migration and phagocytosis

Elisabeth Labruyère^1,*, Christophe Zimmer², Vincent Galy^1,, Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin² and Nancy Guillén¹

¹ Unité de Biologie Cellulaire du Parasitisme, INSERM U389, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
² Unité d'Analyse d'Images Quantitative, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
Present address: Gene expression program, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: elabruye{at}pasteur.fr)

Accepted 25 September 2002

Entamoeba histolytica migration is essential for the development of amoebiasis, a human disease characterised by invasion and destruction of tissues. Amoebic motility requires both polarisation of the cell and formation of a predominant pseudopod. As p21-activated kinases PAKs are known to regulate eukaryotic cell motility and morphology, we investigated the role of PAK in E. histolytica. We showed that the C-terminal domain of EhPAK comprised a constitutive kinase activity in vitro and that overproduction of this fragment, in E. histolytica, caused a significant reduction in amoeboid migration, as measured by dynamic image analysis, indicating an involvement of EhPAK in this process. A dramatic loss of polarity, as indicated by the increased number of membrane extensions all around E. histolytica, was also observed, suggesting that the N-terminal domain of EhPAK was necessary for maintenance of cell polarity. To support this view, we showed that despite the absence of the consensus motif to bind to Rac and Cdc42, the N-terminal domain of EhPAK bound to Rac1, suggesting that the N-terminal region was a regulatory domain. In addition, we also found an increased rate of human red blood cell phagocytosis, suggesting for the first time an active role for a PAK protein in this process. Taking together, the results suggest strongly that EhPAK is a key regulatory element in polarity, motility and phagocytosis of E. histolytica.

Key words: Amoebiasis, Pseudopod, Serine/threonine kinase, Quantitative imaging, Rac

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