title: F-actin assembly in Dictyostelium cell locomotion and shape oscillations propagates as a self-organized reaction-diffusion wave.
abstract: The crawling locomotion and shape of eukaryotic cells have been associated with the stochastic molecular dynamics of actin and its protein regulators, chiefly Arp2/3 and Rho family GTPases, in making a cytoskeleton meshwork within cell extensions. However, the cell's actin-dependent oscillatory shape and extension dynamics may also yield insights into locomotory mechanisms. Confocal observations of live Dictyostelium cells, expressing a green fluorescent protein-actin fusion protein, demonstrate oscillating supramolecular patterns of filamentous actin throughout the cell, which generate pseudopodia at the cell edge. The distinctively dissipative spatio-temporal behavior of these structures provides strong evidence that reversible actin filament assembly propagates as a self-organized, chemical reaction-diffusion wave.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology-Chemistry, University of Bremen, Leobener Str./NW2, D-28359 Bremen, Germany. vicker@uni-bremen.de
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Vicker
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004058:Diffusion; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins