Release of HIV-1 particles from macrophages is promoted by an anchored cytoskeleton and driven by mechanical constraints

A feature of HIV-1 replication in macrophages is that viral assembly occurs at the limiting membrane of a compartment often named VCC (virus-containing compartments). Assembled virions accumulate in the lumen of the VCC, from where they can be released into the extracellular medium, via mechanisms that remain poorly described. Here we show that the actin cytoskeleton contributes to this process by combining pharmacological and mechanical perturbations with imaging and biochemical analysis. We found that jasplakinolide inhibited HIV-1 release from macrophages and led to scattering of the compartment. Concomitantly, both the integrin CD18 and the phosphorylated form of PYK2 were displaced away from the VCC. Inhibition of PYK2 activity promoted retention of viral particles in VCC that lost their connections to the surface. Finally, in infected macrophages undergoing frustrated phagocytosis, VCC rapidly trafficked to the basal membrane and released their viral content, in a manner dependent on their association with the actin cytoskeleton. These results highlight that VCC trafficking and virus release are intimately linked to the reorganization of the macrophage actin cytoskeleton that can be modulated by external physical cues.

cAMP Bursts Control T Cell Directionality by Actomyosin Cytoskeleton Remodeling

T lymphocyte migration is an essential step to mounting an efficient immune response. The rapid and random motility of these cells which favors their sentinel role is conditioned by chemokines as well as by the physical environment. Morphological changes, underlaid by dynamic actin cytoskeleton remodeling, are observed throughout migration but especially when the cell modifies its trajectory. However, the signaling cascade regulating the directional changes remains largely unknown. Using dynamic cell imaging, we investigated in this paper the signaling pathways involved in T cell directionality. We monitored cyclic adenosine 3′-5′ monosphosphate (cAMP) variation concomitantly with actomyosin distribution upon T lymphocyte migration and highlighted the fact that spontaneous bursts in cAMP starting from the leading edge, are sufficient to promote actomyosin redistribution triggering trajectory modification. Although cAMP is commonly considered as an immunosuppressive factor, our results suggest that, when transient, it rather favors the exploratory behavior of T cells.

An image analysis method to survey the dynamics of polar protein abundance in the regulation of tip growth

Tip growth is critical for the lifestyle of many walled cells. In yeast and fungi, this process is typically associated with the polarized deposition of conserved tip factors, including landmarks, Rho GTPases, cytoskeleton regulators, and membrane and cell wall remodelers. Because tip growth speeds may vary extensively between life cycles or species, we asked whether the local amount of specific polar elements could determine or limit tip growth speeds. Using the model fission yeast, we developed a quantitative image analysis pipeline to dynamically correlate single tip elongation speeds and polar protein abundance in large data sets. We found that polarity landmarks are typically diluted by growth. In contrast, tip growth speed is positively correlated with the local amount of factors related to actin, secretion or cell wall remodeling, but, surprisingly, exhibits long saturation plateaus above certain concentrations of those factors. Similar saturation observed for Spitzenkörper components in much faster growing fungal hyphae suggests that elements independent of canonical surface remodelers may limit single tip growth. This work provides standardized methods and resources to decipher the complex mechanisms that control cell growth.This article has an associated First Person interview with Sarah Taheraly, joint first author of the paper.