Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
12:55
Assessing Neural Stem Cell Motility Using an Agarose Gel-based Microfluidic Device
Published on: February 11, 2008
Directional motility induced by epidermal growth factor requires Cdc42
Jeffrey Chou1, Nancy A Burke, Akihiro Iwabu
1Department of Pathology, 713 Scaife, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Experimental Cell Research
|June 12, 2003
Summary
Cellular movement relies on signaling. Cdc42 protein controls cell polarity by directing Phospholipase C-gamma (PLCgamma) to the cell front, influencing cell migration.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Cell motility is crucial for biological processes and involves complex intracellular signaling pathways.
- Phospholipase C-gamma (PLCgamma) is vital for lamellipodial protrusion, while Cdc42 regulates filopodium formation and cell polarity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential link between Cdc42 and PLCgamma in controlling cell directionality and motility.
- To understand how Cdc42 influences the localization and activity of PLCgamma during cell migration.
Main Methods:
- Overexpression of different forms of Cdc42 (constitutively active, dominant negative, GFP-tagged) in NR6 fibroblasts.
- Stimulation of cells with epidermal growth factor (EGF) to induce cell migration.
- Microscopic analysis of cell protrusions, Cdc42 localization, and PLCgamma activity at the leading edge.
Main Results:
- Overexpression of Cdc42 disrupted cell directionality, leading to random protrusions and loss of productive motility.
- Epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation caused transient localization of GFP-tagged Cdc42 at protrusion edges.
- Active, tyrosyl-phosphorylated PLCgamma accumulated at the cell front, co-localizing with phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) hydrolysis.
- Cdc42 and PLCgamma associated in an EGF-dependent manner, suggesting Cdc42 directs PLCgamma to the cell front.
Conclusions:
- Cdc42 plays a critical role in establishing cell polarity during migration.
- Cdc42 likely controls cell polarity, at least partly, by binding to and directing active PLCgamma to the cell's leading edge.
Related Concept Videos
01:39Mechanism of Filopodia Formation
Filopodia are thin, actin-rich cellular protrusions that play an important role in many fundamental cellular functions. They vary in their occurrence, length, and positioning in different cell types, suggesting their diverse roles.
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
01:16Cell Motility through Blebbing
Blebs are a type of membrane protrusion formed by the internal hydrostatic pressure of the cytoplasm. Blebs are observed in several cell types, including fibroblasts, immune cells, and single-celled organisms like the amoeba. The primary function of blebs is cell locomotion and apoptosis, but they are also found during necrosis and cell division. The life cycle of a bleb comprises an initiation phase followed by the expansion and retraction phases.
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...
01:21Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins
Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
01:21Chemotaxis and Direction of Cell Migration
Cells can detect chemical cues in their environment and reorganize the cytoskeleton to migrate toward them or away from them. This directional migration, called chemotaxis, is essential during embryogenesis and development, immune response, tissue repair and regeneration, and reproduction. These chemical cues can either attract or repel the cell's movement. For example, axon development is determined by a combination of chemoattractants and chemorepellents that direct the growing axon towards...
01:32Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration
A migrating cell changes its shape during the cyclic events of attachment and detachment from the substratum and repositions the cell organelles correspondingly. These complex events are orchestrated by the dynamic cytoskeletal network comprising actin filaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules. Cytoskeletal crosstalk — the direct and indirect communication between the different components — is crucial for this coordination. Direct communication involves various linker proteins that...
01:05Mechanism of Ciliary Motion
The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are responsible for cell movement, while in higher organisms, these appendages help in the movement of the extracellular fluids within the body cavities.
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...