Summary

The polarity of actin filaments is fundamental for the subcellular mechanics of actin-myosin interaction; however, little is known about how actin filaments are oriented with respect to myosin in non-muscle cells and how actin polarity organization is established and maintained. Here we approach these questions by investigating changes in the organization and polarity of actin relative to myosin II during actin filament translocation. Actin and myosin II reorganization was followed both kinetically, using microinjected fluorescent analogs of actin and myosin, and ultrastructurally, using myosin S1 decoration and immunogold labelling, in cultured fibroblasts that were induced to contract by treatment with cytochalasin D. We observed rapid (within 15 minutes) formation of ordered actin filament arrays: short tapered bundles and aster-like assemblies, in which filaments had uniform polarity with their barbed ends oriented toward the aggregate of myosin II at the base of a bundle or in the center of an aster. The resulting asters further interacted with each other and aggregated into bigger asters. The arrangement of actin in asters was in sharp contrast to the mixed polarity of actin filaments relative to myosin in non-treated cells. At the edge of the cell, actin filaments became oriented with their barbed ends toward the cell center; that is, the orientation was opposite to what was observed at the edge of nontreated cells. This rearrangement is indicative of relative translocation of actin and myosin II and of the ability of myosin II to sort actin filaments with respect to their polarity during translocation. The results suggest that the myosin II-actin system of non-muscle cells is organized as a dynamic network where actin filament arrangement is defined in the course of its interaction with myosin II.