Open AccessLeep1 interacts with PIP3 and the Scar/WAVE complex to regulate cell migration and macropinocytosis
Author(s) -
Yihong Yang,
Dong Liu,
Xiaoting Chao,
Shashi P. Singh,
Peter A. Thomason,
Yan Ya,
MengQiu Dong,
Lei Li,
Robert H. Insall,
Huaqing Cai
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of cell biology/the journal of cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.414
H-Index - 380
eISSN - 1540-8140
pISSN - 0021-9525
DOI - 10.1083/jcb.202010096
Subject(s) - biology , cell polarity , microbiology and biotechnology , polarity (international relations) , dictyostelium , cell migration , cytoskeleton , regulator , cell signaling , pseudopodia , cell , signal transduction , actin , genetics , gene
Polarity is essential for diverse functions in many cell types. Establishing polarity requires targeting a network of specific signaling and cytoskeleton molecules to different subregions of the cell, yet the full complement of polarity regulators and how their activities are integrated over space and time to form morphologically and functionally distinct domains remain to be uncovered. Here, by using the model system Dictyostelium and exploiting the characteristic chemoattractant-stimulated translocation of polarly distributed molecules, we developed a proteomic screening approach, through which we identified a leucine-rich repeat domain–containing protein we named Leep1 as a novel polarity regulator. We combined imaging, biochemical, and phenotypic analyses to demonstrate that Leep1 localizes selectively at the leading edge of cells by binding to PIP3, where it modulates pseudopod and macropinocytic cup dynamics by negatively regulating the Scar/WAVE complex. The spatiotemporal coordination of PIP3 signaling, Leep1, and the Scar/WAVE complex provides a cellular mechanism for organizing protrusive structures at the leading edge.