Extracellular macromolecules, pathogens and cell surface proteins rely on endocytosis to enter cells. Key steps of endocytic carrier formation are cargo molecule selection, plasma membrane folding and detachment from the cell surface. While dedicated proteins mediate each step, the actin cytoskeleton contributes to all. However, its role can be indirect to the actual molecular events driving endocytosis. Here, we review our understanding of the molecular steps mediating local actin polymerization during the formation of endocytic carriers. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is the least reliant on local actin polymerization, as it is only engaged to counter forces induced by membrane tension or cytoplasmic pressure. Two opposite situations are coated pit formation in yeast and at the basolateral surface of polarized mammalian cells which are, respectively, dependent and independent on actin polymerization. Conversely, clathrin-independent endocytosis forming both nanometer [CLIC (clathrin-independent carriers)/GEEC (glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein enriched endocytic compartments), caveolae, FEME (fast endophilin-mediated endocytosis) and IL-2β (interleukin-2β) uptake] and micrometer carriers (macropinocytosis) are dependent on actin polymerization to power local membrane deformation and carrier budding. A variety of endocytic adaptors can recruit and activate the Cdc42/N-WASP or Rac1/WAVE complexes, which, in turn, engage the Arp2/3 complex, thereby mediating local actin polymerization at the membrane. However, the molecular steps for RhoA and formin-mediated actin bundling during endocytic pit formation remain unclear.
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June 2018
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Review Article|
April 20 2018
Local actin polymerization during endocytic carrier formation
Claudia Hinze;
Claudia Hinze
1Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Division of Biosciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
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Emmanuel Boucrot
1Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Division of Biosciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
2Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College, London WC1E 7HX, U.K.
Correspondence: Emmanuel Boucrot (e.boucrot@ucl.ac.uk)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
January 22 2018
Revision Received:
March 06 2018
Accepted:
March 16 2018
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2018
Biochem Soc Trans (2018) 46 (3): 565–576.
Article history
Received:
January 22 2018
Revision Received:
March 06 2018
Accepted:
March 16 2018
Citation
Claudia Hinze, Emmanuel Boucrot; Local actin polymerization during endocytic carrier formation. Biochem Soc Trans 19 June 2018; 46 (3): 565–576. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20170355
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