Dynamin triple knockout cells reveal off target effects of commonly used dynamin inhibitors

Dynamin, which is encoded by three genes in mammals, is a GTPase implicated in endocytic membrane fission. Dynamin 1 and 3 are predominantly expressed in brain, whereas dynamin 2 is ubiquitously expressed. With the goal of assessing the impact of the lack of dynamin on cell physiology, we previously generated and characterized dynamin 1 and 2 double knockout (DKO) fibroblasts. These DKO cells were unexpectedly viable in spite of a severe impairment of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. As low-level expression of the dynamin 3 gene in these cells could not be excluded, we have now engineered dynamin 1, 2 and 3 triple KO (TKO) fibroblasts. These cells did not reveal any additional defects beyond what was previously observed in DKO fibroblasts. Surprisingly, although fluid-phase endocytosis and peripheral membrane ruffling were not impaired by the lack of all three dynamins, two structurally similar, widely used dynamin inhibitors, dynasore and Dyngo-4a, robustly inhibited these two processes both in wild-type and TKO cells. Dynamin TKO cells will be useful tools for the further exploration of dynamin-dependent processes and the development of more specific dynamin inhibitors.