Apical Sarcomere-like Actomyosin Contracts Nonmuscle Drosophila Epithelial Cells
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nihms-819563.pdf
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Author(s)
Coravos, Jonathan Stuck
Martin, Adam C
Date Issued
October 2016
Journal
Developmental Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Coravos, Jonathan S., and Adam C. Martin. “Apical Sarcomere-Like Actomyosin Contracts Nonmuscle Drosophila Epithelial Cells.” Developmental Cell 39, no. 3 (November 2016): 346–358.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Actomyosin networks generate contractile force that changes cell and tissue shape. In muscle cells, actin filaments and myosin II appear in a polarized structure called a sarcomere, in which myosin II is localized in the center. Nonmuscle cortical actomyosin networks are thought to contract when nonmuscle myosin II (myosin) is activated throughout a mixed-polarity actin network. Here, we identified a mutant version of the myosin-activating kinase, ROCK, that localizes diffusely, rather than centrally, in epithelial cell apices. Surprisingly, this mutant inhibits constriction, suggesting that centrally localized apical ROCK/myosin activity promotes contraction. We determined actin cytoskeletal polarity by developing a barbed end incorporation assay for Drosophila embryos, which revealed barbed end enrichment at junctions. Our results demonstrate that epithelial cells contract with a spatially organized apical actomyosin cortex, involving a polarized actin cytoskeleton and centrally positioned myosin, with cell-scale order that resembles a muscle sarcomere.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.DEVCEL.2016.09.023
