SCAR/WAVE

Davidson, A. J. and Insall, R. H. (2013) SCAR/WAVE. Communicative and Integrative Biology, 6(6), e27033. (doi: 10.4161/cib.27033) (PMID:24753786) (PMCID:PMC3984289)

Abstract

The SCAR/WAVE complex drives the actin polymerisation that underlies protrusion of the front of the cell and thus drives migration. However, it is not understood how the activity of SCAR/WAVE is regulated to generate the infinite range of cellular shape changes observed during cell motility. What are the relative roles of the subunits of the SCAR/WAVE complex? What signaling molecules do they interact with? And how does the complex integrate all this information in order to control the temporal and spatial polymerisation of actin during protrusion formation? Unfortunately, the interdependence of SCAR complex members has made genetic dissection hard. In our recent paper,1 we describe stabilization of the Dictyostelium SCAR complex by a small fragment of Abi. Here we summarize the main findings and discuss how this approach can help reveal the inner workings of this impenetrable complex.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Insall, Professor Robert and Davidson, Mr Andrew
• Authors: Davidson, A. J., and Insall, R. H.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Communicative and Integrative Biology
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis (Routledge)
• ISSN: 1942-0889
• ISSN (Online): 1942-0889
• Published Online: 13 November 2013
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 Landes Bioscience
• First Published: First published in Communicative and Integrative Biology 6(6):e27033
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License