title: A large-scale screen reveals genes that mediate electrotaxis in Dictyostelium discoideum.
abstract: Directional cell migration in an electric field, a phenomenon called galvanotaxis or electrotaxis, occurs in many types of cells, and may play an important role in wound healing and development. Small extracellular electric fields can guide the migration of amoeboid cells, and we established a large-scale screening approach to search for mutants with electrotaxis phenotypes from a collection of 563 Dictyostelium discoideum strains with morphological defects. We identified 28 strains that were defective in electrotaxis and 10 strains with a slightly higher directional response. Using plasmid rescue followed by gene disruption, we identified some of the mutated genes, including some previously implicated in chemotaxis. Among these, we studied PiaA, which encodes a critical component of TORC2, a kinase protein complex that transduces changes in motility by activating the kinase PKB (also known as Akt). Furthermore, we found that electrotaxis was decreased in mutants lacking gefA, rasC, rip3, lst8, or pkbR1, genes that encode other components of the TORC2-PKB pathway. Thus, we have developed a high-throughput screening technique that will be a useful tool to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of electrotaxis.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China. Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, Institute for Regenerative Cures, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Runchi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Siwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Xupin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, Institute for Regenerative Cures, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Yaohui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China. Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, Institute for Regenerative Cures, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Sanjun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China. Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, Institute for Regenerative Cures, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borleis
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Willard
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Huaqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Yoichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamimura
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Yuesheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
authors.forename: Zunxi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Courant Institute and Department of Biology, New York University, 251 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012, USA.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mogilner
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Tingrui
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Peter N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Devreotes
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, Institute for Regenerative Cures, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA. minzhao@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D000076225:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D000076225:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases