Scar/WAVE3 contributes to motility and plasticity of lamellipodial dynamics but not invasion in 3D

摘要

The Scar/WAVE complex plays a major role in the motility of cells by activating the Arp2/3 complex, which initiates actin branching and drives protrusions. Mammals have three Scar/WAVE isoforms, which show some tissue specific expression, but their functions have not been differentiated. Here we show that depletion of the Scar/WAVE3 in the mammalian breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 results in larger and less dynamic lamellipodia. Scar/WAVE3 depleted cells move more slowly but more persistently on a 2-dimensional matrix and they typically only show one lamellipod. However, Scar/WAVE3 appears to have no role in driving invasiveness in a 3D Matrigel invasion assay or a 3D collagen invasion assay, suggesting that lamellipodial persistence as seen in 2D is not crucial in 3D environments.