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Cover The ability of cells to migrate into a wounded monolayer is well known
and is thought to reflect the behavior of cell populations in situ.
This month's cover art by William Arthur and Keith Burridge
(University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC) shows rat fibroblasts
migrating into a wounded area. Cells were stained with Hoechst 33342, Texas-Red-Phalloidin, and Golgi-specific antibodies to reveal nuclei
(blue), F-actin (red), and Golgi (green), respectively. An important
feature of the migrating cells is their polarity. This is seen in the
selective protrusion of lamellipodia and filopodia toward the leading
edge facing the wound and the suppression of lateral protrusions. In
addition, the Golgi apparatus and nearby centriole are reoriented to
the region in front of the nucleus in the direction of migration. The
signaling pathways that are initiated upon wounding a monolayer that
gives rise to this polarized phenotype are currently of great interest
to cell biologists. By monitoring the movement of cells into a wounded
monolayer by the above fluorescence microscopic approach, Arthur and
Burridge (Mol. Biol. Cell [2001]. 12, 2711-2720) have
recently shown that expression of dominant negative p190RhoGAP inhibits
polarity in the direction of migration. This suggests that
integrin-triggered RhoA inhibition may underlie spreading and migration
during the wound healing process.
Jennifer
Lippincott-Schwartz