High impact information on Arp14D

• Lamellae are initiated by parallel and partially redundant signaling pathways involving Rac GTPases and the adaptor protein Nck, which stimulate SCAR, an Arp2/3 activator [1].
• We found that the Arp2/3 complex is required for ring canal expansion during oogenesis but not for the formation of parallel actin bundles in nurse cell cytoplasm and bristle shaft cells [2].
• We used these mutations to study how the Arp2/3 complex contributes to well-characterized actin structures in the ovary and the pupal epithelium [2].
• The requirement for Arp2/3 in ring canals indicates that the polymerization of actin filaments at the ring canal plasma membrane is important for driving ring canal growth [2].
• The Arp2/3 complex has been shown to dramatically increase the slow spontaneous rate of actin filament nucleation in vitro, and it is known to be important for remodeling the actin cytoskeleton in vivo [2].

Biological context of Arp14D

• Here we have addressed how two actin regulators, capping protein, a barbed end binding protein, and the Arp2/3 complex, a potent actin assembly nucleator, function to generate properly organized bundles [3].
• RESULTS: We show that Drosophila embryos contain a typical Arp2/3 complex and that components of this complex localize to the margins of the expanding caps, to mature pseudocleavage furrows, and to somatic cell cleavage furrows during the postcellularization embryonic divisions [4].
• Arabidopsis NAP1 is essential for Arp2/3-dependent trichome morphogenesis [5].
• A similar phenotype has been observed in Src64 mutants and in mutants for genes encoding Arp2/3 complex components, supporting that these protein products act together to control specific processes in vivo [6].

Anatomical context of Arp14D

• The SCAR/WAVE family represents a group of Arp2/3 activators that are associated with lamellipodia formation [5].
• The conserved Arp2/3 microfilament nucleation machinery, likely acting in response to the activating element SCAR, plays an essential role in establishment of a cortical F-actin array, and contributes to specific aspects of cyclic microfilament restructuring [7].

Other interactions of Arp14D

• A mutation that disrupts the arpc1 subunit of Arp2/3 leads to spindle fusions that are characteristic of pseudocleavage furrow disruption [4].
• The scrambled gene is also required for cap expansion and furrow assembly, and Scrambled is required for Arp2/3 localization to the cap margins [4].
• An important regulator of F-actin formation is the Arp2/3 complex, which in turn is activated by Wasp and Wave [8].

References