Actin plays roles in many important cellular processes, including cell motility, organelle movement, and cell signaling. The discovery of transmembrane actin-binding proteins at the outer nuclear membrane (ONM) raises the exciting possibility that actin can play a role in direct force transmission to the nucleus and the genome at its interior. Actin-dependent nucleus displacement was first described a decade ago. We are now gaining a more detailed understanding of its mechanisms, as well as new roles for actin during mitosis and meiosis, for gene expression, and in the cell's response to mechanical stimuli. Here we review these recent developments, the actin-binding proteins involved, the tissue specificity of these mechanisms, and methods developed to reconstitute and study this interaction in vitro.
Preamble: The Nucleus and the Surrounding ActinThe nucleus was once considered a simple, static reservoir for the genetic material of the cell. We now know that it plays a wide range of roles, from controlling mechanical sensing to regulating gene expression. Similarly, actin structures around the nuclear envelope (NE) (see Glossary) were first described decades ago, but their role was initially unclear. The discovery of the transmembrane linker of nucleoskeleton to cytoskeleton (LINC) complexes in the early 21st century established that nuclear lamins and chromatin inside the nucleus mechanically connect to the cytoskeleton outside the nucleus [1]. The NE and the actin cytoskeleton (Boxes 1 and 2) are now generating renewed interest as active partners in gene expression. NE proteins are implicated in a wide variety of diseases and their connections to actin may thus play important roles in many physiological processes, likely in a tissue-dependent manner (Figure 1).Here, we discuss the recently described roles that NE-associated actin plays, including displacement of the nucleus within the cell, NE breakdown (NEBD), gene expression, and cellular responses to stress. An entire parallel field has also risen from the (long controversial) idea that actin can assemble and perform functions inside the nucleus, although we do not discuss nuclear actin in this review.
Actin Functions around the NucleusActin for Positioning Nuclei: Anchoring and Moving Nuclei into Position Actin mediates nuclear movement to a particular functional position within the cell in many tissues and is responsible for maintaining this position. One striking example is the interkinetic movement of nuclei in pseudostratified epithelia, first described in 1935 [2], in which nuclei are displaced from the basal to the apical surface of the cell to undergo mitosis. The roles of actin and microtubules in mediating nuclear movement differ significantly depending on the tissue, most likely due to the geometry and the thickness of the epithelial layer, which determine the mechanical constraints and the distance the nucleus must move [3]. Microtubules are required for nuclear movement in the highly elongated cells of the rodent neocortex, whereas in the zebra...