Structured RhoGEF recruitment drives myosin II organization on large exocytic vesicles.

The Rho family of GTPases plays a crucial role in cellular mechanics by regulating actomyosin contractility through the parallel induction of actin and myosin assembly and function. Using exocytosis of large vesicles in the Drosophila larval salivary gland as a model, we followed the spatiotemporal regulation of Rho1, which in turn creates distinct organization patterns of actin and myosin. After vesicle fusion, low levels of activated Rho1 reach the vesicle membrane and drive actin nucleation in an uneven, spread-out pattern. Subsequently, the Rho1 activator RhoGEF2 distributes as an irregular meshwork on the vesicle membrane, activating Rho1 in a corresponding punctate pattern and driving local myosin II recruitment, resulting in vesicle constriction. Vesicle membrane buckling and subsequent crumpling occur at local sites of high myosin II concentrations. These findings indicate that distinct thresholds for activated Rho1 create a biphasic mode of actomyosin assembly, inducing anisotropic membrane crumpling during exocrine secretion.

The AHR target gene scinderin activates the WNT pathway by facilitating the nuclear translocation of ß-catenin.

The ligand-activated transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) regulates cellular detoxification, proliferation and immune evasion in a range of cell types and tissues, including cancer cells. In this study, we used RNA-sequencing to identify the signature of the AHR target genes regulated by the pollutant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) and the endogenous ligand kynurenine (Kyn), a tryptophan-derived metabolite. This approach identified a signature of six genes (CYP1A1, ALDH1A3, ABCG2, ADGRF1 and SCIN) as commonly activated by endogenous or exogenous ligands of AHR in multiple colon cancer cell lines. Among these, the actin-severing protein scinderin (SCIN) was necessary for cell proliferation; SCIN downregulation limited cell proliferation and its expression increased it. SCIN expression was elevated in a subset of colon cancer patient samples, which also contained elevated ß-catenin levels. Remarkably, SCIN expression promoted nuclear translocation of ß-catenin and activates the WNT pathway. Our study identifies a new mechanism for adhesion-mediated signaling in which SCIN, likely via its ability to alter the actin cytoskeleton, facilitates the nuclear translocation of ß-catenin. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first authors of the paper.

In vivo 3D profiling of site-specific human cancer cell morphotypes in zebrafish.

Tissue microenvironments affect the functional states of cancer cells, but determining these influences in vivo has remained a challenge. We present a quantitative high-resolution imaging assay of single cancer cells in zebrafish xenografts to probe functional adaptation to variable cell-extrinsic cues and molecular interventions. Using cell morphology as a surrogate readout of cell functional states, we examine environmental influences on the morphotype distribution of Ewing Sarcoma, a pediatric cancer associated with the oncogene EWSR1-FLI1 and whose plasticity is thought to determine disease outcome through non-genomic mechanisms. Computer vision analysis reveals systematic shifts in the distribution of 3D morphotypes as a function of cell type and seeding site, as well as tissue-specific cellular organizations that recapitulate those observed in human tumors. Reduced expression of the EWSR1-FLI1 protein product causes a shift to more protrusive cells and decreased tissue specificity of the morphotype distribution. Overall, this work establishes a framework for a statistically robust study of cancer cell plasticity in diverse tissue microenvironments.

Feedback inhibition of actin on Rho mediates content release from large secretory vesicles.

Secretion of adhesive glycoproteins to the lumen of Drosophila melanogaster larval salivary glands is performed by contraction of an actomyosin network assembled around large secretory vesicles, after their fusion to the apical membranes. We have identified a cycle of actin coat nucleation and disassembly that is independent of myosin. Recruitment of active Rho1 to the fused vesicle triggers activation of the formin Diaphanous and actin nucleation. This leads to actin-dependent localization of a RhoGAP protein that locally shuts off Rho1, promoting disassembly of the actin coat. When contraction of vesicles is blocked, the strict temporal order of the recruited elements generates repeated oscillations of actin coat formation and disassembly. Interestingly, different blocks to actin coat disassembly arrested vesicle contraction, indicating that actin turnover is an integral part of the actomyosin contraction cycle. The capacity of F-actin to trigger a negative feedback on its own production may be widely used to coordinate a succession of morphogenetic events or maintain homeostasis.

Live Imaging of Myogenesis in Indirect Flight Muscles in Drosophila.

The indirect flight muscles (IFMs) are the largest muscles in the fly, making up the bulk of the adult thorax. IFMs in Drosophila are generated during pupariation by fusion of hundreds of muscle precursor cells (myoblasts) with larval muscle templates (myotubes). Prominent features, including the large number of fusion events, the structural similarity to vertebrate muscles, and the amenability to the powerful genetic techniques of the Drosophila system make the IFMs an attractive system to study muscle cell fusion. Here we describe methods for live imaging of IFMs, both in intact pupae, and in isolated IFMs ex-vivo. The protocols elaborated upon here were used in the manuscript by ( Segal et al., 2016 ).

Adhesion and Fusion of Muscle Cells Are Promoted by Filopodia.

Indirect flight muscles (IFMs) in Drosophila are generated during pupariation by fusion of hundreds of myoblasts with larval muscle templates (myotubes). Live observation of these muscles during the fusion process revealed multiple long actin-based protrusions that emanate from the myotube surface and require Enabled and IRSp53 for their generation and maintenance. Fusion is blocked when formation of these filopodia is compromised. While filopodia are not required for the signaling process underlying critical myoblast cell-fate changes prior to fusion, myotube-myoblast adhesion appears to be filopodia dependent. Without filopodia, close apposition between the cell membranes is not achieved, the cell-adhesion molecule Duf is not recruited to the myotube surface, and adhesion-dependent actin foci do not form. We therefore propose that the filopodia are necessary to prime the heterotypic adhesion process between the two cell types, possibly by recruiting the cell-adhesion molecule Sns to discrete patches on the myoblast cell surface.

Surface apposition and multiple cell contacts promote myoblast fusion in Drosophila flight muscles.

Fusion of individual myoblasts to form multinucleated myofibers constitutes a widely conserved program for growth of the somatic musculature. We have used electron microscopy methods to study this key form of cell-cell fusion during development of the indirect flight muscles (IFMs) of Drosophila melanogaster. We find that IFM myoblast-myotube fusion proceeds in a stepwise fashion and is governed by apparent cross talk between transmembrane and cytoskeletal elements. Our analysis suggests that cell adhesion is necessary for bringing myoblasts to within a minimal distance from the myotubes. The branched actin polymerization machinery acts subsequently to promote tight apposition between the surfaces of the two cell types and formation of multiple sites of cell-cell contact, giving rise to nascent fusion pores whose expansion establishes full cytoplasmic continuity. Given the conserved features of IFM myogenesis, this sequence of cell interactions and membrane events and the mechanistic significance of cell adhesion elements and the actin-based cytoskeleton are likely to represent general principles of the myoblast fusion process.