The kinesin Kif21b regulates radial migration of cortical projection neurons through a non-canonical function on actin cytoskeleton

José Rivera Alvarez (1) , Laure Asselin (1) , Peggy Tilly (1) , Roxane Benoit (1) , Claire Batisse (1) , Ludovic Richert (2) , Julien Batisse (1) , Bastien Morlet (1) , Florian Levet (3, 4) , Noémie Schwaller (1) , Yves Mély (2) , M. Ruff (1) , Anne-Cécile Reymann (1) , Juliette Godin (1)

1 IGBMC - Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire
2 LBP - Laboratoire de Bioimagerie et Pathologies
3 IINS - Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience [Bordeaux]
4 BIC - Bordeaux Imaging Center

Completion of neuronal migration is critical for brain development. Kif21b is a plus-end-directed kinesin motor protein that promotes intracellular transport and controls microtubule dynamics in neurons. Here we report a physiological function of Kif21b during radial migration of projection neurons in the mouse developing cortex. In vivo analysis in mouse and live imaging on cultured slices demonstrate that Kif21b regulates the radial glia-guided locomotion of newborn neurons independently of its motility on microtubules. We show that Kif21b directly binds and regulates the actin cytoskeleton both in vitro and in vivo in migratory neurons. We establish that Kif21b-mediated regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics influences branching and nucleokinesis during neuronal locomotion. Altogether, our results reveal atypical roles of Kif21b on the actin cytoskeleton during migration of cortical projection neurons.

Mots clés: Kif21b; actin; cytoskeleton; glia-guided locomotion; kinesin; microtubule; neuronal polarization; nucleokinesis; radial migration

Domaines: Neurobiologie; Génomique, Transcriptomique et Protéomique [q-bio.GN]; Embryologie et organogenèse

José Rivera Alvarez, Laure Asselin, Peggy Tilly, Roxane Benoit, Claire Batisse, et al.. The kinesin Kif21b regulates radial migration of cortical projection neurons through a non-canonical function on actin cytoskeleton. Cell Reports, 2023, 42 (7), pp.112744. ⟨10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112744⟩. ⟨hal-04163589⟩