Podosomes are highly dynamic structures with a life-time of 2-12 min. Dynamic behavior of podosomes comprises de novo formation, fission into daughter podosomes and dissolution. In addition, fusion of podosomes has been observed, and there also exists a pool of more static podosomes in a cell.
![]() Podosome dynamics in a primary human macrophage. Image from confocal time lapse movie of a migrating macrophage expressing GFP-actin. Podosome cores are visible as actin-rich dots. White frame indicates detail image below. (Linder and Kopp, J. Cell Science, 2005). |
Dynamic behavior (i.e., fission or dissolution) of podosomes in primary human macrophages is often preceded by contact with microtubule plus ends.
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Large panel:
Image from confocal time lapse movie of primary human macrophage, podosomes visualized by mRFP-labeled actin, microtubule plus ends visualized by GFP-CLIP170. Size bar: 10 µm.
Detail images:
1) a podosome dissolves after contact with microtubule plus ends. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 0.6 MB)
2) a podosome remains static. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 0.8 MB)
3) a large podosome precursor cluster splits into two daughter podosomes. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 1.3 MB)
(Kopp et al., Mol. Biol. Cell, 2006).
Image from confocal time lapse movie of primary human macrophage, podosomes visualized by mRFP-labeled actin, microtubule plus ends visualized by GFP-CLIP170. Size bar: 10 µm.
Detail images:
1) a podosome dissolves after contact with microtubule plus ends. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 0.6 MB)
2) a podosome remains static. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 0.8 MB)
3) a large podosome precursor cluster splits into two daughter podosomes. Watch movie (sequence 6.6 min, 1.3 MB)
(Kopp et al., Mol. Biol. Cell, 2006).