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Investigating the roles of Fascin in collective cell migration using Drosophila border cell migration
Author(s) -
Lamb Maureen,
Tootle Tina
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.394.1
Subject(s) - fascin , microbiology and biotechnology , border cells , cell migration , biology , filopodia , invadopodia , nurse cell , cell , oocyte , actin , cancer cell , embryo , genetics , oogenesis , cancer
Fascin is an actin bundling protein that regulates dynamics of cytoskeletal structures, such as filopodia and invadopodia, during cell migration. Importantly, Fascin is known to mediate retinal formation and axonal growth during development by promoting cell migration. In addition, recent research has demonstrated Fascin plays a significant role in cancer invasion and metastasis. However, additional roles of Fascin, including regulation of microtubules, interaction with mechanotransduction machinery, and nuclear localization, have been uncovered that may contribute to its roles in cellular migration. To study the role of Fascin in invasive, collective cellular migration in vivo we use Drosophila border cells as a model. Border cell migration occurs during Stage 9 of oogenesis in which a specified group of follicular epithelial cells cluster together and migrate posteriorly in between the nurse cells to the nurse cell ‐ oocyte border. This process is crucial for oocyte development since aberrant or delayed border cell migration leads to female sterility. While fascin mutants have been highly studied during Drosophila oogenesis, they have not been reported to have border cell migration defects. However, Fascin is highly expressed in the border cells and fascin ‐null flies are sterile. These and other findings led us to hypothesize that Fascin plays a critical role in promoting border cell migration during oogenesis. Contrary to prior reports, we find that follicles from young fascin ‐null flies display a significant delay in border cell migration. Cell‐specific knockdown studies suggest that Fascin is required within the somatic cells or specifically the border cells to mediate migration. Together these findings implicate a role for Fascin in collective cell migration in vivo during Drosophila oogenesis. Furthermore, these findings provide a system to investigate the actin bundling‐independent functions of Fascin in invasive cellular migration. Overall, this research will lead to a more complete understanding of the function of Fascin in developmental cell migrations and cancer metastasis. Support or Funding Information National Institutes of Health: R01GM116885