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Updated: May 11, 2026

Measuring Cell-Edge Protrusion Dynamics during Spreading using Live-Cell Microscopy
Published on: November 1, 2021
Membrane and actin dynamics interplay at lamellipodia leading edge
Sara Bisi1, Andrea Disanza, Chiara Malinverno
1IFOM, Fondazione Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy.
Abstract:
The multimolecular WAVE regulatory (WRC) and Arp2/3 complexes are primarily responsible to generate pushing forces at migratory leading edges by promoting branch elongation of actin filaments. The architectural complexity of these units betrays the necessity to impose a tight control on their activity. This is exerted through temporally coordinated and coincident signals which limit the intensity and duration of this activity. In addition, interactions of the WRC and Arp2/3 complexes with membrane binding and surprisingly membrane trafficking proteins is also emerging, revealing the existence of an 'endocytic wiring system' that spatially restrict branched actin elongation for the execution of polarized functions during cell migration.
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