title: Making muscles: Arp, two, three.
abstract: In Drosophila embryos, muscle fiber formation via myoblast fusion relies on essential contributions made by the conserved Arp2/3 microfilament nucleation machinery. Two key nucleation promoting factors (NPFs), SCAR and WASp, have been shown to mediate this aspect of Arp2/3 function. We have used these unique circumstances, to study the requirements and coordination of distinct NPF activities, within a common developmental setting. Our results suggest that, although operating within close spatial and temporal proximity, the two regulators of actin polymerization are used in a step-wise manner and perform separate functional roles. Our approach also allows us to assess the involvement of the Arp2/3 machinery in formation of a distinct, fusion-associated actin structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Boaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gildor
authors.forename: R'ada
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Massarwa
authors.forename: Ben-Zion
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Shilo
authors.forename: Eyal D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Schejter
mesh_terms: D051376:Actin-Related Protein 2-3 Complex / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D024510:Muscle Development / Q000502:physiology*; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000502:physiology; D051316:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051376:Actin-Related Protein 2-3 Complex; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; C449671:SCAR protein, Drosophila; C477859:WASp protein, Drosophila; D051316:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein