Spatio-temporal regulation of Rac1 mobility by actin islands
Loading...
Citations
Scopus:
Altmetric:
Altmetric::
Download
Associated Records
Authors
File Licence
Editors
Date
2015-11-01
Source Title
PLoS ONE
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
School of Physics
Document Type
Journal Article
Subject Code
Citation
Lakhani, V. V., Hinde, E., Gratton, E. & Elston, T. C. (2015). Spatio-temporal regulation of Rac1 mobility by actin islands. Plos One, 10 (11), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143753.
Access Status
Open Access
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
Abstract
Rho GTPases play important roles in many aspects of cell migration, including polarity establishment and organizing actin cytoskeleton. In particular, the Rho GTPase Rac1 has been associated with the generation of protrusions at leading edge of migrating cells. Previously we showed the mobility of Rac1 molecules is not uniform throughout a migrating cell (Hinde E et. al. PNAS 2013). Specifically, the closer a Rac1 molecule is to the leading edge, the slower the molecule diffuses. Because actin-bound Rac1 diffuses slower than unbound Rac1, we hypothesized that regions of high actin concentration, called "actin islands", act as diffusive traps and are responsible for the non-uniform diffusion observed in vivo. Here, in silico model simulations demonstrate that equally spaced actin islands can regulate the time scale for Rac1 diffusion in a manner consistent with data from live-cell imaging experiments. Additionally, we find this mechanism is robust; different patterns of Rac1 mobility can be achieved by changing the actin islands' positions or their affinity for Rac1.