ABSTRACT
Cell and tissue morphogenesis depend on the production and spatial organization of tensional forces in the actin cytoskeleton. Actin network architecture is made of distinct modules characterized by specific filament organizations. The assembly of these modules are well described, but their integration in a cellular network is less understood. Here, we investigated the mechanism regulating the interplay between network architecture and the geometry of the extracellular environment of the cell. We found that α-actinin, a filament crosslinker, is essential for network symmetry to be consistent with extracellular microenvironment symmetry. It is required for the interconnection of transverse arcs with radial fibres to ensure an appropriate balance between forces at cell adhesions and across the actin network. Furthermore, this connectivity appeared necessary for the ability of the cell to integrate and to adapt to complex patterns of extracellular cues as they migrate. Our study has unveiled a role of actin filament crosslinking in the spatial integration of mechanical forces that ensures the adaptation of intracellular symmetry axes in accordance with the geometry of extracellular cues.
This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: L.B., M.T.; Methodology: F.S., H.E., L.K., M.T.; Software: L.K.; Validation: L.K.; Formal analysis: H.E., L.K., M.T.; Investigation: F.S., A.P., H.E., L.K.; Resources: A.P.; Data curation: F.S., H.E., L.K.; Writing - original draft: F.S., M.T.; Writing - review & editing: F.S., M.T.; Supervision: L.B., M.T.; Project administration: L.B., M.T.; Funding acquisition: L.B., M.T.
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the European Research Council (741773, AAA) awarded to L.B., (771599, ICEBERG) awarded to M.T., and from the Agence Nationale de la recherche (ANR; ANR-14-CE11-0003-01, MaxForce) awarded to L.B. and M.T.
Supplementary information
Supplementary information available online at http://jcs.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jcs.236604.supplemental
- Received July 15, 2019.
- Accepted October 8, 2019.
- © 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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