TY  - JOUR
A1  - Reverey, Julia F.
A1  - Jeon, Jae-Hyung
A1  - Bao, Han
A1  - Leippe, Matthias
A1  - Metzler, Ralf
A1  - Selhuber-Unkel, Christine
T1  - Superdiffusion dominates intracellular particle motion in the supercrowded cytoplasm of pathogenic Acanthamoeba castellanii
JF  - Scientific reports
N2  - Acanthamoebae are free-living protists and human pathogens, whose cellular functions and pathogenicity strongly depend on the transport of intracellular vesicles and granules through the cytosol. Using high-speed live cell imaging in combination with single-particle tracking analysis, we show here that the motion of endogenous intracellular particles in the size range from a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers in Acanthamoeba castellanii is strongly superdiffusive and influenced by cell locomotion, cytoskeletal elements, and myosin II. We demonstrate that cell locomotion significantly contributes to intracellular particle motion, but is clearly not the only origin of superdiffusivity. By analyzing the contribution of microtubules, actin, and myosin II motors we show that myosin II is a major driving force of intracellular motion in A. castellanii. The cytoplasm of A. castellanii is supercrowded with intracellular vesicles and granules, such that significant intracellular motion can only be achieved by actively driven motion, while purely thermally driven diffusion is negligible.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11690
SN  - 2045-2322
VL  - 5
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -