Cell motility and SCAR localisation in axenically growing Dictyostelium cells

Alice Pollitt, SL Blagg, N Ibarra, Robert Insall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dictyostelium is a popular experimental organism, in particular for studies of actin dynamics, cell motility and chemotaxis. We find that the motility of axenic cells is unexpectedly different from other strains during growth. In particular, vegetative AX3 cells do not show detectable localisation of SCAR and its regulatory complex to actin-rich protrusions such as filopodia and pseudopodia. Similarly, a range of different mutations, in particular knockouts of members of the SCAR complex and Ras proteins, cause different phenotypes during vegetative growth in different parental strains. Development reverses this unusual behaviour; aggregation-competent AX3 cells localise SCAR in the same way as cells of other strains and species. Studies on cell motility using vegetative cells should therefore be interpreted with caution.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1091-8
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Journal of Cell Biology
Volume85
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Sept 2006

Keywords

  • axenic cells
  • strain-specific behaviour
  • vegetative growth
  • Dictyostelium
  • SCAR

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