MAL (red) nuclear export (left) is prevented in serum-stimulated cells (right) by the loss of G actin binding.

TREISMAN/AAAS

Changes in cell shape or mobility require changes in gene expression. In a new study, Maria Vartiainen, Sebastian Guettler, Banafshe Larijani, and Richard Treisman (Cancer Research UK, London, UK) reveal how actin coordinates both shape and transcription at once.

Actin rapidly polymerizes into a filamentous (F) form in response to cell growth and motility triggers, such as serum stimulation. Serum stimulation also causes a transcription cofactor called MAL to promote transcription from target genes including actin. Reportedly, MAL can bind to monomeric (G) actin. It's possible then that serum-induced polymerization of actin, by lowering the cytoplasmic pool of G actin, frees up transcriptionally active MAL.

Live cell analyses by Vartiainen et al. now reveal that nuclear actin regulates MAL. Fluorescently labeled MAL shuttled back and...

The Rockefeller University Press
2007
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
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