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First published online October 22, 2008

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How to grow a fusion pore

Fusion between neighbouring cells, which is a key process in the development of muscle, bone and trophoblasts, proceeds via the formation and expansion of intercellular pores. Fusion-pore initiation has been well studied, but less is known about the properties of expanded pores or the mechanism that drives enlargement. Now, Leonid Chernomordik and colleagues (p. 3619) visualise pore expansion in insect Sf9 cells that express the viral fusogen gp64. The authors show that, in this system, pore expansion occurs without the loss of membrane material in the contact zone, which suggests that membrane is displaced towards the periphery of the contact zone as pores enlarge. Moreover, cells must be metabolically active for pore expansion to occur, but plasma-membrane tension is not required. It has previously been proposed that the actin cytoskeleton drives pore expansion; the authors show, however, that pore growth is accompanied by a local disassembly of cortical actin. In addition, pore expansion is promoted and inhibited by actin-depolymerising and -polymerising agents, respectively. The authors propose an alternative model in which pore expansion is driven by factors such as membrane-bending proteins, which minimise the bending energy of the pore-rim membrane. Their results shed light on the mechanism of cell fusion and syncytium formation.

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Related articles in JCS:

Fusion-pore expansion during syncytium formation is restricted by an actin network

Andrew Chen, Eugenia Leikina, Kamran Melikov, Benjamin Podbilewicz, Michael M. Kozlov, and Leonid V. Chernomordik
JCS 2008 121: 3619-3628. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?