Uniform cAMP stimulation of Dictyostelium cells induces localized patches of signal transduction and pseudopodia

Mol Biol Cell. 2003 Dec;14(12):5019-27. doi: 10.1091/mbc.e03-08-0566. Epub 2003 Oct 31.

Abstract

The chemoattractant cAMP induces the translocation of cytosolic PHCrac-GFP to the plasma membrane. PHCrac-GFP is a green fluorescent protein fused to a PH domain that presumably binds to phosphatydylinositol polyphosphates in the membrane. We determined the relative concentration of PHCrac-GFP in the cytosol and at different places along the cell boundary. In cells stimulated homogeneously with 1microM cAMP we observed two distinct phases of PHCrac-GFP translocation. The first translocation is transient and occurs to nearly the entire boundary of the cell; the response is maximal at 6-8 s after stimulation and disappears after approximately 20 s. A second translocation of PHCrac-GFP starts after approximately 30 s and persists as long as cAMP remains present. Translocation during this second response occurs to small patches with radius of approximately 4-5 microm, each covering approximately 10% of the cell surface. Membrane patches of PHCrac-GFP are both temporally and spatially closely associated with pseudopodia, which are extended at approximately 10 s from the area with a PHCrac-GFP patch. These signaling patches in pseudopodia of homogeneously stimulated cells resemble the single patch of PHCrac-GFP at the leading edge of a cell in a gradient of cAMP, suggesting that PHCrac-GFP is a spatial cue for pseudopod formation also in uniform cAMP.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Transport
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism*
  • Cell Membrane / physiology
  • Cell Movement / drug effects
  • Cell Movement / physiology*
  • Chemotactic Factors / pharmacology
  • Cyclic AMP / pharmacology
  • Dictyostelium / metabolism*
  • Dictyostelium / physiology
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary / physiology
  • Pseudopodia / metabolism*
  • Pseudopodia / physiology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / physiology
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*

Substances

  • Chemotactic Factors
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Cyclic AMP