spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 25 August 2009
doi: 10.1242/jcs.047597

Journal of Cell Science 122, 3282-3293 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
jcs.047597v1
122/18/3282    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 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
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nowak, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Baylies, M. K.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nowak, S. J.
Right arrow Articles by Baylies, M. K.
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

Nap1-mediated actin remodeling is essential for mammalian myoblast fusion

Scott J. Nowak1, Patrick C. Nahirney2, Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis1 and Mary K. Baylies1,*

1 Program in Developmental Biology, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA
2 Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada

* Author for correspondence (m-baylies{at}ski.mskcc.org)

Accepted 18 June 2009

Myoblast fusion is crucial for the formation, growth, maintenance and regeneration of healthy skeletal muscle. Unfortunately, the molecular machinery, cell behaviors, and membrane and cytoskeletal remodeling events that govern fusion and myofiber formation remain poorly understood. Using time-lapse imaging approaches on mouse C2C12 myoblasts, we identify discrete and specific molecular events at myoblast membranes during fusion and myotube formation. These events include rearrangement of cell shape from fibroblast to spindle-like morphologies, changes in lamellipodial and filopodial extensions during different periods of differentiation, and changes in membrane alignment and organization during fusion. We find that actin-cytoskeleton remodeling is crucial for these events: pharmacological inhibition of F-actin polymerization leads to decreased lamellipodial and filopodial extensions and to reduced myoblast fusion. Additionally, shRNA-mediated inhibition of Nap1, a member of the WAVE actin-remodeling complex, results in accumulations of F-actin structures at the plasma membrane that are concomitant with a decrease in myoblast fusion. Our data highlight distinct and essential roles for actin cytoskeleton remodeling during mammalian myoblast fusion, provide a platform for cellular and molecular dissection of the fusion process, and suggest a functional conservation of Nap1-regulated actin-cytoskeleton remodeling during myoblast fusion between mammals and Drosophila.

Key words: Live imaging, Cell-cell fusion, Myoblast fusion, Muscle, Actin


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?




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2009