Published online July 21, 2008
doi:10.1083/jcb.200712036
The Journal of Cell Biology
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© 2008 Cao et al.
Nuf, a Rab11 effector, maintains cytokinetic furrow integrity by promoting local actin polymerization
Jian Cao1,
Roger Albertson1,
Blake Riggs1,
Christine M. Field2, and
William Sullivan1
1 Sinsheimer Laboratories, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
2 Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
Correspondence to William Sullivan: sullivan{at}biology.ucsc.edu
Plasma membrane ingression during cytokinesis involves both actin remodeling and vesicle-mediated membrane addition. Vesicle-based membrane delivery from the recycling endosome (RE) has an essential but ill-defined involvement in cytokinesis. In the Drosophila melanogaster early embryo, Nuf (Nuclear fallout), a Rab11 effector which is essential for RE function, is required for F-actin and membrane integrity during furrow ingression. We find that in nuf mutant embryos, an initial loss of F-actin at the furrow is followed by loss of the associated furrow membrane. Wild-type embryos treated with Latrunculin A or Rho inhibitor display similar defects. Drug- or Rho-GTP–induced increase of actin polymerization or genetically mediated decrease of actin depolymerization suppresses the nuf mutant F-actin and membrane defects. We also find that RhoGEF2 does not properly localize at the furrow in nuf mutant embryos and that RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway components show strong specific genetic interactions with Nuf. We propose a model in which RE-derived vesicles promote furrow integrity by regulating the rate of actin polymerization through the RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway.
Abbreviations used in this paper: RE, recycling endosome; WT, wild type.
© 2008 Cao et al. This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).

CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati What's this?