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Actin proteins assemble to protect the genome

The assembly of polymerized actin with motor proteins at DNA breaks in the nucleus supports the mobility and repair of DNA. This finding reveals a layer of regulation that helps to preserve genome integrity.
  1. Vassilis Roukos

    1. Vassilis Roukos is at the Institute of Molecular Biology, 55128 Mainz, Germany.

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The protein actin polymerizes to produce filaments that form crosslinked networks in the cytoplasm of cells. These networks support many fundamental biological processes — such as cell movement and division and the intracellular trafficking of molecules. Reports that actin also has functions in the cell nucleus remain controversial1,2, partly because of the challenges of performing experiments that exclusively perturb the nuclear actin pool without also perturbing actin in the cytoplasm. Two studies3,4 in Nature now provide the most compelling evidence so far that polymerized actin has roles in cell nuclei in which DNA has been damaged, and that it could be essential for maintaining genome stability.

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Nature 559, 35-37 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05339-y

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