spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif Propose a workshop for 2011 spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 24 July 2008
doi: 10.1242/jcs.034215

Journal of Cell Science 121, 2662-2670 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
jcs.034215v1
121/16/2662    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in JCS
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ono, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ono, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ono, K.
Right arrow Articles by Ono, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Research Article

Essential role of ADF/cofilin for assembly of contractile actin networks in the C. elegans somatic gonad

Kanako Ono, Sawako Yamashiro and Shoichiro Ono*

Department of Pathology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: sono{at}emory.edu)

Accepted 22 May 2008

The somatic gonad of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans contains a myoepithelial sheath, which surrounds oocytes and provides contractile forces during ovulation. Contractile apparatuses of the myoepithelial-sheath cells are non-striated and similar to those of smooth muscle. We report the identification of a specific isoform of actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin as an essential factor for assembly of contractile actin networks in the gonadal myoepithelial sheath. Two ADF/cofilin isoforms, UNC-60A and UNC-60B, are expressed from the unc-60 gene by alternative splicing. RNA interference of UNC-60A caused disorganization of the actin networks in the myoepithelial sheath. UNC-60B, which is known to function in the body-wall muscle, was not necessary or sufficient for actin organization in the myoepithelial sheath. However, mutant forms of UNC-60B with reduced actin-filament-severing activity rescued the UNC-60A-depletion phenotype. UNC-60A has a much weaker filament-severing activity than UNC-60B, suggesting that an ADF/cofilin with weak severing activity is optimal for assembly of actin networks in the myoepithelial sheath. By contrast, strong actin-filament-severing activity of UNC-60B was required for assembly of striated myofibrils in the body-wall muscle. Our results suggest that an optimal level of actin-filament-severing activity of ADF/cofilin is required for assembly of actin networks in the somatic gonad.

Key words: Actin dynamics, Severing, Contraction, Ovulation, Myoepithelial cells


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

UNC-60: a smooth (muscle) operator?

JCS 2008 121: 1601. [Full Text]  





© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008