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Science 8 February 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5557, pp. 1083 - 1086
DOI: 10.1126/science.1067470
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Reports

Single-Molecule Speckle Analysis of Actin Filament Turnover in Lamellipodia

Naoki Watanabe,1* Timothy J. Mitchison12

Lamellipodia are thin, veil-like extensions at the edge of cells that contain a dynamic array of actin filaments. We describe an approach for analyzing spatial regulation of actin polymerization and depolymerization in vivo in which we tracked single molecules of actin fused to the green fluorescent protein. Polymerization and the lifetime of actin filaments in lamellipodia were measured with high spatial precision. Basal polymerization and depolymerization occurred throughout lamellipodia with largely constant kinetics, and polymerization was promoted within one micron of the lamellipodium tip. Most of the actin filaments in the lamellipodium were generated by polymerization away from the tip.

1 Department of Cell Biology and
2 Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: naoki_watanabe{at}hms.harvard.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)