DRhoGEF2 regulates actin organization and contractility in the Drosophila blastoderm embryo.
Author
Summary, in English
Morphogenesis of the Drosophila melanogaster embryo is associated with a dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton that is mediated by small GTPases of the Rho family. Often, Rho1 controls different aspects of cytoskeletal function in parallel, requiring a complex level of regulation. We show that the guanine triphosphate (GTP) exchange factor DRhoGEF2 is apically localized in epithelial cells throughout embryogenesis. We demonstrate that DRhoGEF2, which has previously been shown to regulate cell shape changes during gastrulation, recruits Rho1 to actin rings and regulates actin distribution and actomyosin contractility during nuclear divisions, pole cell formation, and cellularization of syncytial blastoderm embryos. We propose that DRhoGEF2 activity coordinates contractile actomyosin forces throughout morphogenesis in Drosophila by regulating the association of myosin with actin to form contractile cables. Our results support the hypothesis that specific aspects of Rho1 function are regulated by specific GTP exchange factors.
Publishing year
2005
Language
English
Pages
575-585
Publication/Series
Journal of Cell Biology
Volume
168
Issue
4
Full text
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Rockefeller University Press
Topic
- Basic Medicine
- Cell and Molecular Biology
Status
Published
Research group
- Invertebrate Developmental Biology, Udo Haecker's group
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0021-9525