Actin filament formation and turnover within the treadmilling actin filament array at the leading edge of migrating cells are interdependent and coupled, but the mechanisms coordinating these two activities are not understood. We report that Coronin 1B interacts simultaneously with Arp2/3 complex and Slingshot (SSH1L) phosphatase, two regulators of actin filament formation and turnover, respectively. Coronin 1B inhibits filament nucleation by Arp2/3 complex and this inhibition is attenuated by phosphorylation of Coronin 1B at Serine 2, a site targeted by SSH1L. Coronin 1B also directs SSH1L to lamellipodia where SSH1L likely regulates Cofilin activity via dephosphorylation. Accordingly, depleting Coronin 1B increases phospho-Cofilin levels, and alters lamellipodial dynamics and actin filament architecture at the leading edge. We conclude that Coronin 1B's coordination of filament formation by Arp2/3 complex and filament turnover by Cofilin is required for effective lamellipodial protrusion and cell migration.

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Phosphoinositides (PIPs) are ubiquitous regulators of signal transduction events in eukaryotic cells. PIPs are degraded by various enzymes, including PIP phosphatases. The integral membrane Sac1 phosphatases represent a major class of such enzymes. The central role of lipid phosphatases in regulating PIP homeostasis notwithstanding, the biological functions of Sac1-phosphatases remain poorly characterized. Herein, we demonstrate that functional ablation of the single murine Sac1 results in preimplantation lethality in the mouse and that Sac1 insufficiencies result in disorganization of mammalian Golgi membranes and mitotic defects characterized by multiple mechanically active spindles. Complementation experiments demonstrate mutant mammalian Sac1 proteins individually defective in either phosphoinositide phosphatase activity, or in recycling of the enzyme from the Golgi system back to the endoplasmic reticulum, are nonfunctional proteins in vivo. The data indicate Sac1 executes an essential household function in mammals that involves organization of both Golgi membranes and mitotic spindles and that both enzymatic activity and endoplasmic reticulum localization are important Sac1 functional properties. INTRODUCTIONSpatial and temporal regulation of intracellular signaling in eukaryotic cells involves the compartmentalization of membrane surfaces into discrete, albeit often transient, functional units. There are several biochemical strategies by which cells generate such units or domains. One well-established strategy uses the chemical diversity offered by phosphoinositides (PIPs), i.e., phosphorylated forms of phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) (Majerus, 1997;Fruman et al., 1998;Strahl and Thorner, 2007). The chemical heterogeneity of individual PIP species permits the construction of chemically unique platforms on membrane surfaces that, in turn, recruit unique cohorts of proteins that drive specific biological reactions. Spatial and temporal control of such reactions requires a finely coordinated balance between the activities of the lipid kinases that produce PIPs and the activities of enzymes that degrade them. PIP turnover is catalyzed by two general classes of enzymes: phospholipases and PIP phosphatases.Although experimental scrutiny of the phospholipases has historically been more intense, recent demonstrations of the significant biological functions played by PTEN, the myotubularins, and synaptojanins highlight the general importance of PIP phosphatases (Wishart et al., 2001;Wishart and Dixon, 2002;Wenk and De Camilli, 2004).The SAC domain derives from the yeast Sac1 protein (ySac1; Cleves et al., 1989), and it represents a signature for PIP phosphatase catalytic activity . PIP phosphatases such as phosphatase and tensin homolog (mutated in multiple advanced cancers 1) (PTEN) (Maehama et al., 2001), synaptojanins (Cremona et al., 1999), and synaptojanin-like proteins (Srinivasan et al., 1997;Stolz et al., 1998) all harbor SAC domains. The prototypical member of this family, ySac1, catalyzes the dephosphoryla...

Chromophore-assisted laser inactivation (CALI) is a light-mediatedtechnique that offers precise spatiotemporal control of protein inactivation, enabling better understanding of the protein's role in cell function. EGFP has been used effectively as a CALI chromophore, and its cotranslational attachment to the target protein avoids having to use exogenously added labeling reagents. A potential drawback to EGFP-CALI is that the CALI phenotype can be obscured by the endogenous, unlabeled protein that is not susceptible to light inactivation. Performing EGFP-CALI experiments in deficient cells rescued with functional EGFP-fusion proteins permits more complete loss of function to be achieved. Here, we present a modified lentiviral system for rapid and efficient generation of knockdown cell lines complemented with physiological levels of EGFP-fusion proteins. We demonstrate that CALI of EGFP-CapZ␤ increases uncapped actin filaments, resulting in enhanced filament growth and the formation of numerous protrusive structures. We show that these effects are completely dependent upon knocking down the endogenous protein. We also demonstrate that CALI of EGFP-Mena in Mena/VASP-deficient cells stabilizes lamellipodial protrusions.capping protein ͉ Mena/VASP ͉ spatiotemporal ͉ lentivirus

The polarization of the Golgi has long been thought to be important for cell migration. Here we show that Rat2 cells at the edge of an artificial wound repolarize the Golgi relative to the nucleus to face the direction of migration into the wound. However, in the absence of cues from neighboring cells, individual cells do not display Golgi polarity relative to the direction in which they are moving. Instead, the positioning of the Golgi relative to the nucleus remains relatively constant over time and does not reflect changes in the direction of migration. Consistent with this observation, we observe only a slight bias in Golgi positioning to the front of the nucleus and this bias is not higher during periods of time when the cell is moving in a persistent manner. Taken together, these data suggest that Golgi polarity is not a requirement for cell migration.