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Vol. 17, Issue 9, 3921-3929, September 2006

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Guanylyl Cyclase Protein and cGMP Product Independently Control Front and Back of Chemotaxing Dictyostelium Cells

Department of Biology, University of Groningen, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands

Submitted May 3, 2006; Revised June 2, 2006; Accepted June 8, 2006
Monitoring Editor: Yu-li Wang

Chemotaxis of amoeboid cells is driven by actin filaments in leading pseudopodia and actin–myosin filaments in the back and at the side of the cell to suppress pseudopodia. In Dictyostelium, cGMP plays an important role during chemotaxis and is produced predominantly by a soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC). The sGC protein is enriched in extending pseudopodia at the leading edge of the cell during chemotaxis. We show here that the sGC protein and the cGMP product have different functions during chemotaxis, using two mutants that lose either catalytic activity (sGCcat) or localization to the leading edge (sGCN). Cells expressing sGCN exhibit excellent cGMP formation and myosin localization in the back of the cell, but they exhibit poor orientation at the leading edge. Cells expressing the catalytically dead sGCcat mutant show poor myosin localization at the back, but excellent localization of the sGC protein at the leading edge, where it enhances the probability that a new pseudopod is made in proximity to previous pseudopodia, resulting in a decrease of the degree of turning. Thus cGMP suppresses pseudopod formation in the back of the cell, whereas the sGC protein refines pseudopod formation at the leading edge.

This article was published online ahead of print in MBC in Press (http://www.molbiolcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1091/mbc.E06-05-0381) on June 21, 2006.

Address correspondence to: Peter J.M. Van Haastert (p.j.m.van.haastert{at}rug.nl)

Abbreviations used: mKO, monomeric Kusabira-Orange; PB, phosphate buffer; sGC, soluble guanylyl cyclase.

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