The broad objective of this proposal is to understand how cells communicate with each other and with the environment in a meaningful way. To find a target surface for adhesion or a final destination for migration, a cell should be able to explore the environment. Filopodia are long slender cellular protrusions which are believed to be the cell's sensory and guiding organelles. They can recognize environmental cues, detect appropriate surfaces and determine the direction of cell locomotion. Filopodia are especially important for navigation of normal tissue cells and for metastasis of cancer cells, but also for initialization of specialized structures, such as synapses, junctions, and communication pathways. This project will focus on studying the structural basis of the dynamic behavior of filopodia during their formation, protrusion, and differentiation into specialized structures.
The specific aims are designed to investigate the filopodial machinery in depth with a major focus on interaction of the filopodial cytoskeleton with the plasma membrane, and in breadth, by analyzing the structural and dynamic variations among filopodia formed by different cell types in different conditions and for different purposes. Roles of central players of filopodial machinery, IRSp53 and mDia2, functioning at the interface between the cytoskeleton and plasma membrane will be investigated by combination of structural, kinetic, functional and molecular genetics approaches. The range of filopodia-related structures to be investigated includes leading edge filopodia that control cell motility, dendritic filopodia that establish synapses in brain and differentiate into dendritic spines, and junctional filopodia that are involved in formation of permeability barrier in endothelium. The underlying hypothesis for this project suggests that two molecular machineries, actin cytoskeleton assembly and plasma membrane dynamics, tightly cooperate with each other during filopodia protrusion and this balance can be tuned in different directions to produce a variety of filopodia-based structures serving different functions. A key element of our research strategy is to obtain high resolution structural information by platinum replica electron microscopy and correlate it with the dynamic behavior of the same cell recorded by advanced light microscopy. When additionally combined with modern functional approaches, this strategy has a unique ability to fill the existing gap between properties of individual molecules and behavior of a cell by providing bridging information at subcellular and supramolecular levels.

Public Health Relevance

The results will contribute to understanding of the molecular mechanisms of filopodia formation and the roles of filopodia in such fundamental processes in development and disease as cell migration, cell-cell communication, and tissue morphogenesis. This information will help to design drugs, treatments and diagnostic tools.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM070898-09
Application #
8310043
Study Section
Cell Structure and Function (CSF)
Program Officer
Gindhart, Joseph G
Project Start
2004-05-01
Project End
2013-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-01
Budget End
2013-07-31
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$368,986
Indirect Cost
$127,324
Name
University of Pennsylvania
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
042250712
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19104
Svitkina, Tatyana (2016) Imaging Cytoskeleton Components by Electron Microscopy. Methods Mol Biol 1365:99-118
Jones, Steven L; Korobova, Farida; Svitkina, Tatyana (2014) Axon initial segment cytoskeleton comprises a multiprotein submembranous coat containing sparse actin filaments. J Cell Biol 205:67-81
Zwolak, Adam; Yang, Changsong; Feeser, Elizabeth A et al. (2013) CARMIL leading edge localization depends on a non-canonical PH domain and dimerization. Nat Commun 4:2523
Svitkina, Tatyana M (2013) Ultrastructure of protrusive actin filament arrays. Curr Opin Cell Biol 25:574-81
Hu, Jianli; Bai, Xiaobo; Bowen, Jonathan R et al. (2012) Septin-driven coordination of actin and microtubule remodeling regulates the collateral branching of axons. Curr Biol 22:1109-15
Svitkina, Tatyana M (2012) Actin bends over backward for directional branching. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:2693-4
Wang, Yu-Hsiu; Collins, Agnieszka; Guo, Lin et al. (2012) Divalent cation-induced cluster formation by polyphosphoinositides in model membranes. J Am Chem Soc 134:3387-95
Shutova, Maria; Yang, Changsong; Vasiliev, Jury M et al. (2012) Functions of nonmuscle myosin II in assembly of the cellular contractile system. PLoS One 7:e40814
Hoelzle, Matthew K; Svitkina, Tatyana (2012) The cytoskeletal mechanisms of cell-cell junction formation in endothelial cells. Mol Biol Cell 23:310-23
Liu, Jianglan; Zhao, Yuting; Sun, Yujie et al. (2012) Exo70 stimulates the Arp2/3 complex for lamellipodia formation and directional cell migration. Curr Biol 22:1510-5

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