Department of Cell Biochemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
Department of Cell Biochemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
J Cell Sci. 2018 Apr 9;131(7):jcs208892. doi: 10.1242/jcs.208892.
Symmetry and symmetry breaking are essential in biology. Symmetry comes in different forms: rotational symmetry, mirror symmetry and alternating right-left symmetry (for example, gliding reflection symmetry). Especially the transitions between the different symmetry forms are important because they specify crucial points in cell biology, including gastrulation in development, formation of the cleavage furrow in cell division, or the front in cell polarity. However, the mechanisms of these symmetry transitions are not well understood. Here, we have investigated the fundamental properties of symmetry and symmetry transitions of the cytoskeleton during cell movement. Our data show that the dynamic shape changes of amoeboid cells are far from random, but are the consequence of refined symmetries and symmetry changes that are orchestrated by small G-proteins and the cytoskeleton, with local stimulation by F-actin and Scar, and local inhibition by IQGAP2 and myosin.
对称和对称破缺在生物学中至关重要。对称有不同的形式：旋转对称、镜像对称和交替左右对称（例如，滑动反射对称）。特别是不同对称形式之间的转变非常重要，因为它们指定了细胞生物学中的关键点，包括发育中的原肠胚形成、细胞分裂时的分裂沟形成，或细胞极性中的前沿。然而，这些对称转变的机制还不是很清楚。在这里，我们研究了细胞运动过程中细胞骨架的对称和对称转变的基本性质。我们的数据表明，阿米巴细胞的动态形状变化远非随机，而是由精细的对称和由小分子 G 蛋白和细胞骨架协调的对称变化所导致的，由 F-肌动蛋白和 Scar 局部刺激，由 IQGAP2 和肌球蛋白局部抑制。
