Neuronal cells must extend a motile growth cone while maintaining the cell body in its original position. In migrating cells, myosin contraction provides the driving force that pulls the rear of the cell toward the leading edge. We have characterized the function of myosin light chain phosphatase, which down-regulates myosin activity, in Drosophila photoreceptor neurons. Mutations in the gene encoding the myosin binding subunit of this enzyme cause photoreceptors to drop out of the eye disc epithelium and move toward and through the optic stalk. We show that this phenotype is due to excessive phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain Spaghetti squash rather than another potential substrate, Moesin, and that it requires the nonmuscle myosin II heavy chain Zipper. Myosin binding subunit mutant cells continue to express apical epithelial markers and do not undergo ectopic apical constriction. In addition, mutant cells in the wing disc remain within the epithelium and differentiate abnormal wing hairs. We suggest that excessive myosin activity in photoreceptor neurons may pull the cell bodies toward the growth cones in a process resembling normal cell migration.
INTRODUCTIONThe cytoskeleton plays a variety of roles during development, allowing cells to change their shape, adhesive properties, and motility (Jamora and Fuchs, 2002). Two critical components of the cytoskeleton are actin and nonmuscle myosin II. The contractile activity of actomyosin complexes has been implicated in cell migration, epithelial sheet movements, cytokinesis, axon outgrowth, and cell adhesion (Maciver, 1996;Jacinto et al., 2002;Dent and Gertler, 2003). During migration of several cell types, myosin activity is required to retract the rear of the cell (Ridley et al., 2003).Nonmuscle myosin II consists of a hexamer of two myosin heavy chains (MHC), two myosin light chains (MLC), and two myosin regulatory light chains (MRLC) (Korn and Hammer, 1988). Phosphorylation of key serine and threonine residues on MRLC stimulates the ATPase activity of MHC and promotes its assembly into filaments, leading to stress fiber contraction (Adelstein and Conti, 1975;Craig et al., 1983;Umemoto et al., 1989;Katoh et al., 2001). Mutations in the Drosophila orthologs of these myosin subunits have provided insight into the developmental functions of myosin II. Mutations in zipper (zip), which encodes MHC, cause defects in cytokinesis, closure of the dorsal embryonic epidermis over the amnioserosa, axon patterning, and myofibril formation (Zhao et al., 1988;Young et al., 1993;Bloor and Kiehart, 2001). spaghetti squash (sqh), encoding MRLC, is required for cytokinesis, oogenesis, and imaginal disc eversion (Karess et al., 1991;Wheatley et al., 1995;Edwards and Kiehart, 1996;Jordan and Karess, 1997).Actin-binding proteins of the ezrin, radixin, and moesin (ERM) family are thought to link transmembrane proteins to the actin cytoskeleton (Bretscher, 1999). ERM proteins are activated by phosphorylation of a conserved threonine residue, which inhibits associati...