SUMMARY Actomyosin contractility plays a central role in a wide range of cellular processes, including the establishment of cell polarity, cell migration, tissue integrity, and morphogenesis during development. The contractile response is variable and depends on actomyosin network architecture and biochemical composition. To determine how this coupling regulates actomyosin-driven contraction, we used a micropatterning method that enables the spatial control of actin assembly. We generated a variety of actin templates and measured how defined actin structures respond to myosin-induced forces. We found that the same actin filament crosslinkers either enhance or inhibit the contractility of a network, depending on the organization of actin within the network. Numerical simulations unified the roles of actin filament branching and crosslinking during actomyosin contraction. Specifically, we introduce the concept of “network connectivity” and show that the contractions of distinct actin architectures are described by the same master curve when considering their degree of connectivity. This makes it possible to predict the dynamic response of defined actin structures to transient changes in connectivity. We propose that, depending on the connectivity and the architecture, network contraction is dominated by either sarcomeric-like or buckling mechanisms. More generally, this study reveals how actin network contractility depends on its architecture under a defined set of biochemical conditions.

The organization of actin filaments into higher-ordered structures governs eukaryotic cell shape and movement. Global actin network size and architecture is maintained in a dynamic steady-state through regulated assembly and disassembly. Here, we used experimentally defined actin structures in vitro to investigate how the activity of myosin motors depends on network architecture. Direct visualization of filaments revealed myosin-induced actin network deformation. During this reorganization myosins selectively contracted and disassembled anti-parallel actin structures while parallel actin bundles remained unaffected. The local distribution of nucleation sites and the resulting orientation of actin filaments appeared to regulate the scalability of the contraction process. This “orientation selection” mechanism for selective contraction and disassembly suggests how the dynamics of the cellular actin cytoskeleton can be spatially controlled by actomyosin contractility.

Microtubules and actin filaments are the two main cytoskeleton networks supporting intracellular architecture and cell polarity. The centrosome nucleates and anchors microtubules and is therefore considered to be the main microtubule-organizing center. However, recurring, yet unexplained, observations have pointed towards a connection between the centrosome and actin filaments. Here we have used isolated centrosomes to demonstrate that the centrosome can directly promote actin filament assembly. A cloud of centrosome-associated actin filaments could be identified in living cells as well. Actin-filament nucleation at the centrosome was mediated by the nucleation promoting factor WASH in combination with the Arp2/3 complex. Pericentriolar material 1 (PCM1) appeared to modulate the centrosomal actin network by regulating Arp2/3 complex and WASH recruitment to the centrosome. Hence our results reveal an additional facet of the centrosome as an intracellular organizer and provide mechanistic insights into how the centrosome can function as an actin filament-organizing center.

Cell migration requires the generation of branched actin networks that power the protrusion of the plasma membrane in lamellipodia. The actin-related proteins 2 and 3 (Arp2/3) complex is the molecular machine that nucleates these branched actin networks. This machine is activated at the leading edge of migrating cells by Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-family verprolin-homologous protein (WAVE, also known as SCAR). The WAVE complex is itself directly activated by the small GTPase Rac, which induces lamellipodia. However, how cells regulate the directionality of migration is poorly understood. Here we identify a new protein, Arpin, that inhibits the Arp2/3 complex in vitro, and show that Rac signalling recruits and activates Arpin at the lamellipodial tip, like WAVE. Consistently, after depletion of the inhibitory Arpin, lamellipodia protrude faster and cells migrate faster. A major role of this inhibitory circuit, however, is to control directional persistence of migration. Indeed, Arpin depletion in both mammalian cells and Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba resulted in straighter trajectories, whereas Arpin microinjection in fish keratocytes, one of the most persistent systems of cell migration, induced these cells to turn. The coexistence of the Rac-Arpin-Arp2/3 inhibitory circuit with the Rac-WAVE-Arp2/3 activatory circuit can account for this conserved role of Arpin in steering cell migration.

The organization of actin filaments into large ordered structures is a tightly controlled feature of many cellular processes. However, the mechanisms by which actin filament polymerization is initiated from the available pool of profilin-bound actin monomers remain unknown in plants. Because the spontaneous polymerization of actin monomers bound to profilin is inhibited, the intervention of an actin promoting factor is required for efficient actin polymerization. Two such factors have been characterized from yeasts and metazoans: the Arp2/3 complex, a complex of seven highly conserved subunits including two actin-related proteins (ARP2 and ARP3), and the FORMIN family of proteins. The recent finding that Arabidopsis thaliana plants lacking a functional Arp2/3 complex exhibit rather modest morphological defects leads us to consider whether the large FORMIN family plays a central role in the regulation of actin polymerization. Here, we have characterized the mechanism of action of Arabidopsis FORMIN1 (AFH1). Overexpression of AFH1 in pollen tubes has been shown previously to induce abnormal actin cable formation. We demonstrate that AFH1 has a unique behavior when compared with nonplant formins. The activity of the formin homology domain 2 (FH2), containing the actin binding activity, is modulated by the formin homology domain 1 (FH1). Indeed, the presence of the FH1 domain switches the FH2 domain from a tight capper (K d ;3.7 nM) able to nucleate actin filaments that grow only in the pointed-end direction to a leaky capper that allows barbed-end elongation and efficient nucleation of actin filaments from actin monomers bound to profilin. Another exciting feature of AFH1 is its ability to bind to the side and bundle actin filaments. We have identified an actin nucleator that is able to organize actin filaments directly into unbranched actin filament bundles. We suggest that AFH1 plays a central role in the initiation and organization of actin cables from the pool of actin monomers bound to profilin.

Summary Cell motility driven by actin filament assembly demands the spatial and temporal coordination of numerous regulatory Actin Binding Proteins (ABPs) [1], many of which bind with affinities and kinetics that depend on the chemical state (ATP, ADP-Pi or ADP) of actin filament subunits. ADF/cofilin, one of three ABPs that precisely choreograph actin assembly and organization into “comet-tails” that drive motility in reconstituted in vitro systems [2], binds and stochastically severs “aged” ADP actin filament segments of de novo growing actin filaments [3]. Severing increases the density of filament ends from which subunits can add and dissociate, thereby increasing overall actin filament assembly dynamics. Deficiencies in methodologies to track in real time the nucleotide state of actin filaments as well as ADF/cofilin severing limits the molecular understanding of coupling between actin filament chemical and mechanical states and severing. We engineered a fluorescently labeled ADF/cofilin that retains actin filament binding and severing activities. Since ADF/cofilin binding depends strongly on the actin-bound nucleotide direct visualization of fluorescent ADF/cofilin binding serves as a marker of the actin filament nucleotide state and permits assessment of the “ATP/ADP-Pi cap” length of individual actin filaments during assembly and elongation. Bound ADF/cofilin allosterically accelerates Pi release from unoccupied filament subunits, which shortens the filament ATP/ADP-Pi cap length by nearly an order of magnitude. Rapid elongation far exceeds ADF/cofilin-acceleration of Pi release under in vivo conditions; thereby filament barbed end capping is required for efficient ADF/cofilin binding and severing. Real time visualization of filament severing indicates that fragmentation scales with and occurs preferentially at boundaries between bare and ADF/cofilin decorated filament segments, thereby controlling the overall filament length depending on the ADF/cofilin activity and filament binding density.

Formins are present in all eukaryotes and are essential for the creation of actin-based structures responsible for diverse cellular processes. Because multicellular organisms contain large formin gene families, establishing the physiological functions of formin isoforms has been difficult. Using RNAi, we analyzed the function of all 9 formin genes within the moss Physcomitrella patens. We show that plants lacking class II formins (For2) are severely stunted and composed of spherical cells with disrupted actin organization. In contrast, silencing of all other formins results in normal elongated cell morphology and actin organization. Consistent with a role in polarized growth, For2 are apically localized in growing cells. We show that an N-terminal phosphatase tensin (PTEN)-like domain mediates apical localization. The PTEN-like domain is followed by a conserved formin homology (FH)1-FH2 domain, known to promote actin polymerization. To determine whether apical localization of any FH1-FH2 domain mediates polarized growth, we performed domain swapping. We found that only the class II FH1-FH2, in combination with the PTEN-like domain, rescues polarized growth, because it cannot be replaced with a similar domain from a For1. We used in vitro polymerization assays to dissect the functional differences between these FH1-FH2 domains. We found that both the FH1 and the FH2 domains from For2 are required to mediate exceptionally rapid rates of actin filament elongation, much faster than any other known formin. Thus, our data demonstrate that rapid rates of actin elongation are critical for driving the formation of apical filamentous actin necessary for polarized growth.Physcomitrella patens ͉ moss ͉ profilin ͉ tip growth ͉ RNAi F ormin proteins are critical regulators of the actin cytoskeleton that drive cellular processes in all eukaryotes ranging from division and motility to cell polarity, including axonal morphogenesis (1-4). The defining features of formins are the formin homology domains (FH1 and FH2) (5). The FH1 domain is characterized by the presence of polyproline stretches known to interact with the small actin monomer binding protein, profilin (6). The FH2 domain promotes actin filament nucleation, and is located C-terminal to the FH1 domain (7,8). Structural studies reveal that the FH2 domain forms a ring-like structure, which sits at the barbed end of an actin filament (9, 10). After nucleating a filament, the FH2 domain remains at the fast-growing filament end, and influences elongation rate as it moves processively with this end as additional monomers are incorporated. In vitro, the actin nucleating and elongating characteristics of individual formins can vary quite dramatically (3, 5). Because complex eukaryotes contain large formin gene families, the in vivo significance of these differences has been difficult to assess.Plants have been particularly challenging, because most angiosperms contain many formin genes (11). For example, Arabidopsis thaliana has 21 formins that group into 2 distinct families b...

The WH2 (Wiscott-Aldridge syndrome protein homology domain 2) repeat is an actin interacting motif found in monomer sequestering and filament assembly proteins. We have stabilized the prototypical WH2 family member, thymosin-b4 (Tb4), with respect to actin, by creating a hybrid between gelsolin domain 1 and the C-terminal half of Tb4 (G1-Tb4). This hybrid protein sequesters actin monomers, severs actin filaments and acts as a leaky barbed end cap. Here, we present the structure of the G1-Tb4:actin complex at 2 Å resolution. The structure reveals that Tb4 sequesters by capping both ends of the actin monomer, and that exchange of actin between Tb4 and profilin is mediated by a minor overlap in binding sites. The structure implies that multiple WH2 motifcontaining proteins will associate longitudinally with actin filaments. Finally, we discuss the role of the WH2 motif in arp2/3 activation.