[The role of phosphoinositide-3-kinase in controlling the shape and directional movement in Physarum polycephalum plasmodium].

The influence of wortmannin and LY294002, specific inhibitors of phosphoinosite-3-kinase, on the shape, motile behavior, and chemotaxis toward glucose has been investigated in Physarum polycephalum plasmodium, a multinuclear amoeboid cell with the autooscillatory mode of motion. Both inhibitors were shown to cause a reduction of the plasmodium frontal edge and a decrease in the efficiency of mass transfer during migration. They also suppress chemotaxis toward glucose and eliminate characteristic changes in autooscillatory behavior normally observed in response to the treatment of the whole plasmodium with glucose. The manifestation of these effects depends on the inhibitor concentration, the duration of treatment, and the size of plasmodium. The involvement of phosphoinosite-3-kinase in creating the frontal edge and in controlling the chemotaxis of Physarum plasmodium suggests that the interrelation of polar shape and directional movement of amoeboid cells with the distribution of phosphoinositides in the plasma membrane has the universal nature.