Fascin in lamellipodia contributes to cell elasticity by controlling the orientation of filamentous actin

Fascin, an actin-bundling protein, is present in the filopodia and lamellipodia of growth cones. However, few studies have examined lamellipodial fascin because it is difficult to observe. In this study, we evaluated lamellipodial fascin. We visualized the actin meshwork of lamellipodia in live growth cones by super-resolution microscopy. Fascin was colocalized with the actin meshwork in lamellipodia. Ser39 of fascin is a well-known phosphorylation site that controls the binding of fascin to actin filaments. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments with confocal microscopy showed that binding of fascin was controlled by phosphorylation of Ser39 in lamellipodia. Moreover, TPA, an agonist of protein kinase C, induced phosphorylation of fascin and dissociation from actin filaments in lamellipodia. Time series images showed that dissociation of fascin from the actin meshwork was induced by TPA. As fascin dissociated from actin filaments, the orientation of the actin filaments became parallel to the leading edge. The angle of actin filaments against the leading edge was changed from 73° to 15°. This decreased the elasticity of the lamellipodia by 40%, as measured by atomic force microscopy. These data suggest that actin bundles made by fascin contribute to elasticity of the growth cone.