Paxillin Regulates Multicellular Development and Electrotaxis of Dictyostelium discoideum
JIANG Ruida1, WANG Xiaoyan1,2, FU Yujia1, DING Xue1, GAO Runchi1,2*
Paxillin is a multi-domain adaptor protein for cell migration through recruiting the structural and signaling molecules. It is widely present in biological organisms and participates in physiological and pathological events such as embryonic development, angiogenesis, and tumor development. The occurrence of these physiological and pathological events is closely related to bioelectrical signals. It is a common research method to explore the mechanism of electrical signals using the model organism Dictyostelium discoideum. In this study, the multicellular development phenotype and electrotaxis of the mutant strain paxB– were investigated. The results showed that the deletion of paxB gene resulted in the formation of multicellular bodies with larger base and smaller sporangium structure, suggesting that paxB might play an important role in the directional movement of cells during the multicellular development of Dictyostelium discoideum. Subsequently, the electrotaxis of paxB– cells was tested under a DC (directed current) EF (electric field) at 12 V/cm. The results showed that the electrotaxis index of paxB– cells decreased to 0.33±0.03, which was significantly different from that of wild-type cells at 0.83±0.01. However, the average trajectory speed of paxB– cells was (6.20±0.05) μm/min, which was significantly higher than that of wild-type cells at (4.50±0.05) μm/min. Western blot and phosphorylation site analysis showed that the roles of paxB might be related to ERK signaling pathway and the serine de-phosphorylation. This study provides a powerful supplement for revealing the molecular mechanism of cell response to electrical signals, and also provides a reference for exploring the biological processes guided by bioelectricity such as embryonic development and tumor metastasis.
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