title: Cell motility and SCAR localisation in axenically growing Dictyostelium cells.
abstract: Dictyostelium is a popular experimental organism, in particular for studies of actin dynamics, cell motility and chemotaxis. We find that the motility of axenic cells is unexpectedly different from other strains during growth. In particular, vegetative AX3 cells do not show detectable localisation of SCAR and its regulatory complex to actin-rich protrusions such as filopodia and pseudopodia. Similarly, a range of different mutations, in particular knockouts of members of the SCAR complex and Ras proteins, cause different phenotypes during vegetative growth in different parental strains. Development reverses this unusual behaviour; aggregation-competent AX3 cells localise SCAR in the same way as cells of other strains and species. Studies on cell motility using vegetative cells should therefore be interpreted with caution.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, Birmingham University, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Alice Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Pollitt
authors.forename: Simone L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Blagg
authors.forename: Neysi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ibarra
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Insall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005838:Genotype; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D010641:Phenotype; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C491975:SCAR protein, Dictyostelium; D018631:ras Proteins