Actomyosin contraction powers the sealing of epithelial sheets during embryogenesis and wound closure; however, the mechanisms are poorly understood. After laser ablation wounding of Madin–Darby canine kidney cell monolayers, we observed distinct steps in wound closure from time-lapse images of myosin distribution during resealing. Immediately upon wounding, actin and myosin II regulatory light chain accumulated at two locations: (1) in a ring adjacent to the tight junction that circumscribed the wound and (2) in fibers at the base of the cell in membranes extending over the wound site. Rho-kinase activity was required for assembly of the myosin ring, and myosin II activity was required for contraction but not for basal membrane extension. As it contracted, the myosin ring moved toward the basal membrane with ZO-1 and Rho-kinase. Thus, we suggest that tight junctions serve as attachment points for the actomyosin ring during wound closure and that Rho-kinase is required for localization and activation of the contractile ring.
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1 January 2007
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January 02 2007
Two distinct modes of myosin assembly and dynamics during epithelial wound closure
Masako Tamada,
Masako Tamada
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
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Tomas D. Perez,
Tomas D. Perez
2Department of Biological Sciences and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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W. James Nelson,
W. James Nelson
2Department of Biological Sciences and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Michael P. Sheetz
Michael P. Sheetz
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
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Masako Tamada
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Tomas D. Perez
2Department of Biological Sciences and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
W. James Nelson
2Department of Biological Sciences and Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
Michael P. Sheetz
1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Correspondence to Michael P. Sheetz: [email protected]
M. Tamada's present address is Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017 Hyogo, Japan.
T.D. Perez's present address is Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
Abbreviation used in this paper: MLC, myosin II regulatory light chain.
Received:
September 18 2006
Accepted:
December 01 2006
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
J Cell Biol (2007) 176 (1): 27–33.
Article history
Received:
September 18 2006
Accepted:
December 01 2006
Connected Content
This article has been corrected
Two distinct modes of myosin assembly and dynamics during epithelial wound closure
Related
A dual need for myosin in wounds
Citation
Masako Tamada, Tomas D. Perez, W. James Nelson, Michael P. Sheetz; Two distinct modes of myosin assembly and dynamics during epithelial wound closure . J Cell Biol 1 January 2007; 176 (1): 27–33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200609116
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