Live imaging of the actin cytoskeleton is crucial for the study of many fundamental biological processes, but current approaches to visualize actin have several limitations. Here we describe Lifeact, a 17-amino-acid peptide, which stained filamentous actin (F-actin) structures in eukaryotic cells and tissues. Lifeact did not interfere with actin dynamics in vitro and in vivo and in its chemically modified peptide form allowed visualization of actin dynamics in nontransfectable cells.Reliable visualization of the actin cytoskeleton is essential for various fields of biomedical research. Imaging of actin dynamics has been mostly achieved by injection of fluorescently labeled actin (technically demanding) or small amounts of fluorescently labeled phalloidin, an F-actin-binding and stabilizing compound 1,2 . A widely used alternative is the expression of actin-GFP fusion proteins. However, all described actin fusions are functionally impaired and rely on nontagged actin 3 to buffer the defects. Recently, fusions of GFP to actin-binding domains have been used, notably from moesin in Drosophila melanogaster 4 , LimE in Dictyostelium discoideum 5 , ABP120 in D. discoideum and mammalian cells 6,7 , and utrophin in Xenopus laevis 8 . These probes consist of large domains, compete with their endogenous counterparts and are restricted to cells that can be transfected.Abp140-GFP is the only probe that has been successfully used to label actin cables, in budding yeast 9,10 . Using total internal reflection (TIRF) microscopy to monitor localization of Abp140 domains fused to GFP, we found that the first 17 aa of Abp140 were sufficient to mediate actin Correspondence should be addressed to M.S.

Small-vessel vasculitis (SVV) is a chronic autoinflammatory condition linked to antineutrophil cytoplasm autoantibodies (ANCAs). Here we show that chromatin fibers, so-called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), are released by ANCA-stimulated neutrophils and contain the targeted autoantigens proteinase-3 (PR3) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Deposition of NETs in inflamed kidneys and circulating MPO-DNA complexes suggest that NET formation triggers vasculitis and promotes the autoimmune response against neutrophil components in individuals with SVV.SVV is a relapsing-remitting autoinflammatory disorder leading to necrotic inflammation of small-sized blood vessels and capillaries 1 . ANCAs directed against granule proteins of neutrophils, namely against PR3 in Wegener's granulomatosis and MPO in microscopic polyangiitis, are implicated in the pathogenesis of SVV 2 . In vitro studies have demonstrated an activating effect of ANCAs on cytokine-primed neutrophils 3 , which was further corroborated by animal models of these diseases 4,5 . However, the basic mechanism that induces the life-threatening exacerbations of vasculitis and the sustained autoimmune response against neutrophil components remains elusive.A unique type of cell death of neutrophil granulocytes has recently been discovered that is characterized by the active release of chromatin fibers, so-called NETs, that trap and kill invading microbes extracellularly 6 . However, this glutinous DNA web can also stick to the endothelium and cause tissue damage during sepsis 7 , similar to neutrophil-induced As ANCA can activate the respiratory burst by binding to PR3 or MPO on the neutrophil surface 3 , we examined whether ANCA-mediated activation of neutrophils induces NET formation. We primed isolated neutrophils with tumor necrosis factor-α and incubated them with purified IgG from individuals with SVV or healthy donors as performed previously 3 . We observed robust NET formation (as determined by immunofluorescence 6,8; Supplementary Methods online) in neutrophils incubated with ANCA-IgG (Fig. 1a and Supplementary Table 1 online) but not in those incubated with control IgG, in which most nuclei retained the typical lobulated structure (Fig. 1b). After 180 min, we found that 23% of neutrophils incubated with ANCA-IgG produced NETs, compared to 11% of control IgG-treated neutrophils (Fig. 1c). Incubation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), known as a strong inducer of NETs, triggered NET production in 38% of all neutrophils (Fig. 1c). We also induced NETs with a PR3-specific mouse monoclonal antibody ( Supplementary Fig. 1 online), supporting the hypothesis that PR3-specific autoantibodies within the ANCA-IgG fraction trigger NET formation. ANCA-induced cell death of neutrophils was previously regarded as a dysregulated form of apoptosis 9 , but the link to NETs had not been noticed. The morphological changes of neutrophil nuclei clearly indicated to us that ANCA-induced NETs were of nuclear rather than of mitochondrial origin, as recently desc...

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