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Published 11 September 2006. doi:10.1083/jcb.200603013
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $8.00
JCB, Volume 174, Number 6, 863-875
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Article

Role of fascin in filopodial protrusion



Danijela Vignjevic1, Shin-ichiro Kojima1, Yvonne Aratyn1, Oana Danciu1, Tatyana Svitkina2, and Gary G. Borisy1

1 Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611
2 Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19014

Correspondence to Danijela Vignjevic: danijela.vignjevic{at}curie.fr

In this study, the mechanisms of actin-bundling in filopodia were examined. Analysis of cellular localization of known actin cross-linking proteins in mouse melanoma B16F1 cells revealed that fascin was specifically localized along the entire length of all filopodia, whereas other actin cross-linkers were not. RNA interference of fascin reduced the number of filopodia, and remaining filopodia had abnormal morphology with wavy and loosely bundled actin organization. Dephosphorylation of serine 39 likely determined cellular filopodia frequency. The constitutively active fascin mutant S39A increased the number and length of filopodia, whereas the inactive fascin mutant S39E reduced filopodia frequency. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching of GFP-tagged wild-type and S39A fascin showed that dephosphorylated fascin underwent rapid cycles of association to and dissociation from actin filaments in filopodia, with t1/2 < 10 s. We propose that fascin is a key specific actin cross-linker, providing stiffness for filopodial bundles, and that its dynamic behavior allows for efficient coordination between elongation and bundling of filopodial actin filaments.

D. Vignjevic and S.I. Kojima contributed equally to this paper.

D. Vignjevic's present address is Equipe de Morphogenese et Signalisation Cellulaires, UMR 144, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut Curie, Institut Curie, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.

Abbreviations used in this paper: shRNA, small hairpin RNA; WT, wild-type.


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