title: Role and organization of the actin cytoskeleton during cell-cell fusion.
abstract: Cell-cell fusion is a ubiquitous process that underlies fertilization and development of eukaryotes. This process requires fusogenic machineries to promote plasma membrane merging, and also relies on the organization of dedicated sub-cortical cytoskeletal assemblies. This review describes the role of actin structures, so called actin fusion foci, essential for the fusion of two distinct cell types: Drosophila myoblast cells, which fuse to form myotubes, and sexually differentiated cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which fuse to form a zygote. I describe the respective composition and organization of the two structures, discuss their proposed role in promoting plasma membrane apposition, and consider the universality of similar structures for cell-cell fusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Biophore building, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Sophie.Martin@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Sophie G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002459:Cell Fusion; D006801:Humans; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins
keywords: Actin fusion focus; Arp2/3; Cell fusion; Drosophila; Fertilization; Formin; Myoblast; Schizosaccharomyces pombe