ArticleThe Journal of cell biology2020
Conserved actin machinery drives microtubule-independent motility and phagocytosis in Naegleria.
Article in The Journal of cell biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Discovery of an Atypical Arp2/3 Complex in Malaria Parasites Sheds New Light on Nuclear Actin.Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Arp2/3 involvement in intercellular bridge membrane fluctuations and constriction during neural stem cell divisions.iScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Please inhibit responsibly: Natural and synthetic actin toxins as useful tools in cell biology.Molecular biology of the cell · 2025Review
- Reduced cell-substrate adhesion formation promotes cell migration inMolecular biology of the cell · 2025Article
- Reduced cell-substrate adhesion formation promotes cell migration inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Eating the brain - A multidisciplinary study provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying the cytopathogenicity of Naegleria fowleri.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Computational discovery of potential therapeutic agents against brain-eating amoeba (Naegleria fowleri).PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- From Molecules to Amoeboid Movement: A New Way for Understanding the Morphology Through Actin-Binding Proteins.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- Actin network evolution as a key driver of eukaryotic diversification.Journal of cell science · 2024Review
- Archaeal actins and the origin of a multi-functional cytoskeleton.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Review
- Cooperative actin filament nucleation by the Arp2/3 complex and formins maintains the homeostatic cortical array in Arabidopsis epidermal cells.The Plant cell · 2024Article
- Transcriptomic profiling of "brain-eating amoeba"Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- The evolution and diversity of actin-dependent cell migration.Molecular biology of the cell · 2023Review
- A conserved pressure-driven mechanism for regulating cytosolic osmolarity.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- An Atypical F-Actin Capping Protein Modulates Cytoskeleton Behaviors Crucial for Trichomonas vaginalis Colonization.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Endocytosis in cancer and cancer therapy.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2023Review
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Abstract
Much of our understanding of actin-driven phenotypes in eukaryotes has come from the "yeast-to-human" opisthokont lineage and the related amoebozoa. Outside of these groups lies the genus Naegleria, which shared a common ancestor with humans >1 billion years ago and includes the "brain-eating amoeba." Unlike nearly all other known eukaryotic cells, Naegleria amoebae lack interphase microtubules; this suggests that actin alone drives phenotypes like cell crawling and phagocytosis. Naegleria therefore represents a powerful system to probe actin-driven functions in the absence of microtubules, yet surprisingly little is known about its actin cytoskeleton. Using genomic analysis, microscopy, and molecular perturbations, we show that Naegleria encodes conserved actin nucleators and builds Arp2/3-dependent lamellar protrusions. These protrusions correlate with the capacity to migrate and eat bacteria. Because human cells also use Arp2/3-dependent lamellar protrusions for motility and phagocytosis, this work supports an evolutionarily ancient origin for these processes and establishes Naegleria as a natural model system for studying microtubule-independent cytoskeletal phenotypes.
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