Abstract
Cytoskeletal filamentous actin (F-actin) has long been considered a molecule that may regulate exo- and endocytosis. However, its exact roles remained elusive. Recent studies shed new light on many crucial roles of F-actin in regulating exo- and endocytosis. Here, this progress is reviewed from studies of secretory cells, particularly neurons and endocrine cells. These studies reveal that F-actin is involved in mediating all kinetically distinguishable forms of endocytosis, including ultrafast, fast, slow, bulk, and overshoot endocytosis, likely via membrane pit formation. F-actin promotes vesicle replenishment to the readily releasable pool most likely via active zone clearance, which may sustain synaptic transmission and overcome short-term depression of synaptic transmission during repetitive firing. By enhancing plasma membrane tension, F-actin promotes fusion pore expansion, vesicular content release, and a fusion mode called shrink fusion involving fusing vesicle shrinking. Not only F-actin, but also the F-actin assembly pathway, including ATP hydrolysis, N-WASH, and formin, are involved in mediating these roles of exo- and endocytosis. Neurological disorders, including spinocerebellar ataxia 13 caused by Kv3.3 channel mutation, may involve impairment of F-actin and its assembly pathway, leading in turn to impairment of exo- and endocytosis at synapses that may contribute to neurological disorders.
Introduction
Vesicle exocytosis releases neurotransmitters and hormones to mediate important functions, such as synaptic transmission, stress responses, and immune responses (; ; ; ). After exocytosis, fused vesicles must be retrieved via endocytosis, which recycles vesicles and thus sustains exocytosis in secretory cells, particularly in nerve terminals (; ; ). Half a century of studies identified many core exo- and endocytic proteins, such as SNARE proteins, synaptotagmin, and dynamin (; ; ). However, the role of actin in the exo- and endocytosis of secretory cells remained not well understood despite it being one of the most abundant cytoskeletal proteins (; ).
Studies over the past three decades led to proposals that actin is involved in many steps of exo- and endocytosis in secretory cells. These potential roles include vesicle clustering in nerve terminals, physical barrier to prevent vesicle docking at the plasma membrane, facilitation of vesicle mobilization to the readily releasable pool (RRP) that seems to contradict its physical barrier function, fusion pore expansion, vesicle merging at the plasma membrane, and endocytosis that recycles vesicles (; ). With respect to its vesicle clustering role, filamentous actin (F-actin), together with synapsin, has long been proposed to provide a cytoskeletal scaffold linking vesicles together, leading to formation of vesicle clusters in nerve terminals (reviewed in ). Recent studies suggest that synapsin alone can form a distinct liquid phase in an aqueous environment, which may catalyze vesicle clustering at nerve terminals (). Microinjection of reagents that bind to the intrinsically disordered region of synapsin causes dispersal of synaptic vesicle clusters, suggesting that liquid-liquid phase separation may mediate synaptic vesicle clustering (). These results suggest re-examination of the role of F-actin in vesicle clustering in the future. Accordingly, this topic will not be further discussed here.
With respect to its physical barrier role, early studies showed that disruption of actin polymerization increases the frequency of spontaneous and evoked transmitter release at synapses and in endocrine cells, suggesting that F-actin behind the plasma membrane may restrain docking of vesicles at release sites (; ; ; ; ; ). In neuroendocrine cells, the region of cytosol adjacent to the plasma membrane contains the most actin filaments, called the cortical actin network (reviewed in ). This cortical actin network may act as a physical barrier that opposes vesicle access to release sites, as shown in studies of chemicals that stabilize or inhibit actin polymerization (; ). The physical barrier function has been systematically surveyed in several excellent reviews (; ; ). Thus, readers are referred to these reviews for more detailed discussion of the physical barrier function. This review focuses on actin’s roles in mediating endocytosis, facilitating replenishment of the RRP, promoting fusion pore expansion, and merging vesicles with the plasma membrane. Potential mechanisms that may reconcile the apparent conflict between actin’s physical barrier function versus facilitatory role in RRP replenishment are also suggested.
Actin Is Crucial for All Kinetically Distinguishable Forms of Endocytosis
Early studies regarding actin’s role in endocytosis in secretory cells reached different conclusions as to whether actin is needed and at which step(s). For example, at lamprey giant synapses, latrunculin B, which disrupts actin polymerization, causes accumulation of clathrin-coated pits and vesicles (; ), whereas latrunculin A (Lat A), which also disrupts actin polymerization, does not affect endocytosis as measured using FM1-43 uptake (). At frog neuromuscular junctions, Lat A reduces FM1-43 uptake into nerve terminals (). Whether this effect is caused by inhibition of endocytosis or exocytosis has not been distinguished. On the other hand, cytochalasin D, which inhibits actin polymerization, does not affect FM1-43 uptake or release, implying that actin may not be needed for endocytosis at frog neuromuscular junctions (). At hippocampal synapses, Lat A does not affect endocytosis after action potential trains (; ; ). At goldfish retinal bipolar synapses, latrunculin B and cytochalasin D do not inhibit endocytosis over a time course <∼20 s, but may slow down bulk endocytosis (). Lat A inhibits fast endocytosis at mossy fiber boutons () and ultrafast endocytosis at hippocampal synapses (). These pharmacological studies do not reach a consensus regarding the effect of actin blockers on endocytosis at the same synapse, at different synapses, or for different endocytic modes. However, these studies rely on actin blockers, and some studies use only one blocker at one concentration. False-positive or -negative results owing to off-target effects or difficulty blocking actin polymerization in live cells might contribute to these apparent controversial results (). In the following, we review more recent studies that used genetic combined with pharmacological approaches to study actin’s endocytic role in mammalian cells.
There are six actin isoforms in mammalian cells. β-Cytoplasmic actin (β-actin), encoded by Actb, and γ-cytoplasmic actin (γ-actin), encoded by Actg1, are ubiquitously expressed and are the major isoforms in the nervous system (Figure 1A; ; ). β- or γ-actin knockout at two types of nerve terminals in mice, the calyx of Held and hippocampal boutons, were generated (Wu et al., 2016). At the giant calyx of Held nerve terminal, capacitance measurements reveal four kinetically different forms of endocytosis, including slow endocytosis (tens of seconds), rapid or fast endocytosis (a few seconds), bulk endocytosis (forming vesicles larger than regular vesicles), and endocytosis overshoot (retrieving more vesicles than were exocytosed) (; ; Yamashita et al., 2005, 2010; ; Xu et al., 2008; ; Wu et al., 2009; Xue et al., 2012). At cultured small conventional hippocampal boutons, endocytosis can be measured with imaging of pH-sensitive pHluorin attached to synaptic vesicle proteins (; ; ; ; Zhang et al., 2013; ; ).
FIGURE 1
Capacitance measurements at calyces reveal that β- or γ-actin knockout inhibits slow endocytosis, rapid endocytosis (Figures 1B,C), bulk endocytosis (detected as the large downward capacitance shift; Figure 1D), and endocytosis overshoot (Figure 1D; Wu et al., 2016). Electron microscopy and pHluorin imaging at hippocampal synapses show that β- or γ-actin knockout inhibits slow endocytosis and endosome-like structure formation due to bulk endocytosis (Wu et al., 2016). Thus, actin is crucial in mediating rapid, slow, bulk, and overshoot endocytosis. An actin mutant with a polymerization defect could not rescue endocytosis in boutons lacking β-actin, suggesting that polymerized actin, which is known to exert mechanical forces (
This suggestion, supported by genetic evidence, is consistent with pharmacological evidence that Lat A inhibits a very fast form of endocytosis with a time constant of ∼0.5 s recorded with capacitance measurements at cerebellar and hippocampal mossy fiber boutons (Figure 1E;
This possibility, inferred from studies of secretory cells, may not generalize to non-secretory vesicle endocytosis in mammalian cells, where F-actin is thought to be needed to overcome membrane tension only when plasma membrane tension is high (
Many factors are involved in nucleating F-actin. Neural Wiskott-Aldrich-syndrome protein (N-WASP) may activate actin-related protein 2/3 complex (Arp2/3) to form branched actin networks together with myosin, whereas formins are involved in forming linear actin filaments (
Recent studies reveal an unexpected relationship between potassium channels and endocytosis mediated by nucleation of F-actin at synapses (Zhang et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2021). Since the discovery of potassium channels, the physiological and pathological impact of potassium channels has been attributed to their ion conductance, which sets the cell membrane potential and repolarizes the membrane during action potentials (
Figure 1H provides a schematic summary of the role of actin and its assembly pathways in mediating synaptic vesicle endocytosis. The implications of the studies discussed above are integrated in the figure to show the involvement of F-actin and F-actin nucleation factors, such as Kv3.3, Arp2/3, formin, and myosin II, in all kinetically distinguishable forms of endocytosis.
Actin Facilitates Vesicle Replenishment to the Readily Releasable Pool
After release of vesicles at active zone release sites, they must be replenished. This process, called vesicle mobilization or replenishment to the RRP, is crucial to sustain synaptic transmission and minimize short-term synaptic depression during repetitive firing (
FIGURE 2

Actin promotes RRP replenishment likely by facilitating active zone clearance. (A) Sampled Cm traces induced by a pair of depol20 ms at an interval of 200 ms in a control (Ctrl, left) and an Actb–/– (right) calyx. Measurements of the capacitance jumps induced by the first and second depol20 ms (ΔCm1 and ΔCm2) are schematically shown. (B) Left: the ratio between the second and first ΔCm (ΔCm2/ΔCm1) during a pair of depol20 ms plotted versus paired-pulse interval at control and Actb–/– calyces. Right: same as in left but plotting the interval between 0 and 1 s. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 (t-test). The data in A,B show that β-actin knockout reduces ΔCm2/ΔCm1. (C) Top: a dual pulse of 50 ms (to 0 mV) was applied at different intervals (200 and 500 ms) to the calyx. Presynaptic calcium currents (Ipre) and excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) are shown. Bottom: similar arrangement as in the top, but with the presynaptic pipette solution containing Lat A to inhibit actin polymerization. Arrows indicate that latrunculin A inhibits EPSC induced by a second pulse. (D) The Kv3.3 channel regulates EPSCs during repetitive action potential firing: sampled EPSCs (top) and the amplitude of EPSCs (bottom, mean + SEM) induced by 10 action potentials at 100 Hz at the calyx of wild-type mice, Kv3.3–/– mice, and mice with a mutation (Kv3.3 G592R) that causes spinocerebellar ataxia 13 and inhibits F-actin nucleation at the calyx. (E) Schematic diagram showing that the F-actin cytoskeleton may facilitate active zone clearance and thus RRP replenishment. RRP replenishment may involve active zone clearance, vesicle docking, and vesicle priming that makes the docked vesicle release-ready. Panels A,B are adapted from Wu et al. (2016) with permission. Panel C is adapted from
Since RRP replenishment sustains synaptic transmission during repetitive firing, suppression of RRP replenishment by inhibition of F-actin predicts severe short-term depression of synaptic transmission. This prediction was verified by measurements of the excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) during repetitive firing in Kv3.3 knockout or G592R Kv3.3 knock-in mice, in which F-actin nucleation at nerve terminals is impaired (Figure 2D; Wu et al., 2021). Taken together, these results suggest that F-actin opposes short-term depression, and thus helps to sustain synaptic transmission during repetitive firing.
Given that inhibition of endocytosis by the block of dynamin, calmodulin, calcium influx, and SNARE proteins slows down RRP replenishment, it has been suggested that endocytosis facilitates RRP replenishment via clearance of the active zone as perturbed by exocytosis (
The exact mechanism of how actin and endocytosis mediate active zone clearance remains unclear. Annexin A2, a calcium-, actin-, and lipid-binding protein involved in exocytosis, may induce actin bundling that seems essential for generating active exocytotic sites in chromaffin cells (
Actin’s role in facilitating RRP replenishment is apparently in conflict with its physical barrier function, which has been suggested based on an observed increase in spontaneous and evoked vesicular content release after inhibition of actin polymerization (
Filamentous Actin Promotes Fusion Pore Expansion and Thus Content Release by Enhancing Membrane Tension
Filamentous actin blockers that reduce F-actin (Figure 3A) and myosin II inhibitors slow down catecholamine release as detected with amperometry (Figures 3B,C;
FIGURE 3

F-actin promotes fusion pore expansion by enhancing plasma membrane tension. (A) Latrunculin A (Lat A) reduces F-actin: sampled Lifeact-labeled F-actin at the cell bottom of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells before (0 s, left) and 600 s after (right) application of Lat A (3 μM) or a control (Ctrl) solution. (B) A single amperometric spike along with the five parameters: quantal size Q (pC), half-width (ms), peak amplitude (pA), foot signal duration (ms), and mean foot current (pA). (C) Half-width (mean ± SEM) of amperometric spikes in control (CT) or in the presence of blebbistatin (BL), cytochalasin D (CD), ML-7 (ML7), or Lat A. Data normalized to the mean in control. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001 (t-test). (D) Lat A slows down neuropeptide Y-EGFP (NPY-EGFP) release from single vesicles: fluorescence of NPY-EGFP (FNPY) from single vesicles in Ctrl (left) and in the presence of Lat A (right). Decay indicates release of neuropeptide Y-EGFP. NPY-EGFP images at times indicated are also shown. The initial increase of NPY-EGFP fluorescence is due to fusion pore opening that increases the vesicular lumen pH. (E) Top: setup drawing. Cell membrane is labeled with the phospholipase C ΔPH domain attached with mNeonGreen (PHG, green), whereas the bath solution contains Atto 532 (A532, red, pseudo-color). Bottom left: STED PHG/A532 images immediately before (time 0) and after fusion during imaging every 0.1 s. PHG-labeled fusion pore is visible. The stimulation was a depolarization from –80 to +10 mV for 1 s (depol1 s). Bottom right: similar to left panel but showing a pore not visible to STED microscopy. (F) The percentage of fusion pores induced by depol1s that are visible to STED microscopy (Porev%) at 310 or 650 mOsm (bath solution) in calcium (Ca2+), strontium (Sr2+), or dynasore (DnS, with 5 mM Ca2+). Porev was detected with PHG STED imaging as shown in E. Data show that 650 mOsm reduces Porev%. (G) Latrunculin A (Lat A) reduces membrane tension. Left: drawings of the micropipette aspiration technique. Negative pressure (ΔP) in the pipette (with a diameter D) draws the cell membrane into the pipette by a length L. Middle: pipette-aspirated cells (bright-field images) in the absence (Ctrl) and presence of Lat A (0.5 μM). Arrows indicate membrane projection (L) into the micropipette (ΔP = 500 Pa). Right: normalized projection length (L/D, mean + SEM) for aspirated cells in the absence (Ctrl) or presence of Lat A (0.5 μM). *p = 0.011 (t-test). (H) Lat A inhibits Porev (fusion pore visible to STED microscopy) percentage: the percentage of Porev (Porev%) in the absence (–) or presence (+) of 3 μM Lat A in a bath containing Ca2+, Sr2+, or DnS. Porev was detected with STED imaging of PHG as shown in panel E. (I) Schematic drawing showing that F-actin cytoskeleton enhances plasma membrane tension and thus promotes fusion pore expansion that releases vesicular contents rapidly and completely. Promotion of fusion pore expansion does not necessarily flatten the fusion pore, explained in more detail in Figure 4. Panels A,D,G are adapted from
Filamentous Actin Promotes Shrink Fusion
For many decades, two fusion modes were thought to control hormone and transmitter release (
FIGURE 4

Actin promotes shrink fusion by enhancing plasma membrane tension. (A) PHG-labeled Ω-profile fluorescence (FPH; normalized to baseline), A532 spot fluorescence (F532; normalized to baseline), PHG-labeled Ω-profile height (H; circles), PHG-labeled Ω-profile width (W; triangles), and sampled images at times indicated with lines showing shrink fusion. The experimental setup is the same as that shown in Figure 3E. (B) Percentages (mean + SEM) of fusion events undergoing Ω-shrink fusion in Ctrl or in the presence of 3 μM Lat A (***p < 0.001), 4 μM Cyto D (***p < 0.001), or ATPγS (2 mM, replacing 2 mM ATP in the whole-cell pipette; ***p < 0.001) (t-test). (C) Percentages (mean + SEM) of Ω-shrink fusion induced by whole-cell calcium (1.5 μM) dialysis in Ctrl, Actb–/– cells, Actb–/– cells overexpressed with β-Actin–mEGFP, Ctrl cells treated with Lat A (Lat A), and Actb–/– cells treated with Lat A. ***p < 0.001 (t-test). (D) Left: schematic of the model (not to scale). Cells maintain an outward (swelling) osmotic pressure ΔP = Pcell – Pext (green arrows), with cell pressure Pcell exceeding extracellular pressure Pext. Intact vesicles maintain swelling pressure (red arrow), with vesicle pressure Pves > Pcell. Following fusion with plasma membrane (PM), rapid equilibration between vesicle lumen and extracellular medium is assumed, so Pves = Pext. The vesicle osmotic pressure then equals ΔP but is now an inward squeezing pressure. The model calculates the vesicle tension, γves, while the PM tension, γPM, and the adhesion energy εadhesion to the actin cortex (maroon layer adjacent to PM) are taken from experiment. Right: predicted shrink fusion sequence. Computed vesicle shapes and free energies for squeezing pressure ΔP = 100 Pa and the indicated effective diameters D (such that vesicle area equals πD2). A transition occurs at D = 56 nm from Ω to Λ shape (defined as a profile lacking overhang). (E) Shrink fusion mechanism predicted by the model. Osmotic squeezing deflates the vesicular Ω-shape profile and abolishes its membrane tension, so the Ω-profile’s membrane is reeled into the PM by PM tension and PM adhesion to the actin cortex. Panels A,D,E are adapted from
How does F-actin-provided membrane tension mediate shrink fusion? A recent study found that the swelling osmotic pressure maintained by cells, the positive intracellular-to-extracellular osmotic pressure difference, may squeeze the Ω-profile and reduce the Ω-profile membrane tension, generating a tension gradient from the plasma membrane to the Ω-profile that reels Ω-profile membrane into the plasma membrane (Figures 4D,E;
Given that the swelling osmotic pressure and cortical F-actin required for mediating shrink fusion are general properties of cells (
It has been proposed that small synaptic vesicles, with diameters in the range of ∼20–60 nm, may undergo shrink-collapse fusion, with shrinking as the major component for larger synaptic vesicles and collapse as the primary component for smaller synaptic vesicles. Supporting this proposal, inhibition of F-actin assembly with Lat A, cytochalasin D, or an inhibitor of the formin-dependent F-actin assembly reduces F-actin at nerve terminals and causes accumulation of Ω-profiles at the active zone of lamprey giant synapses (
Conclusion and Future Research Questions
Recent studies reveal an essential role of F-actin in mediating all kinetically distinguishable forms of endocytosis, including ultrafast, fast, slow, bulk, and overshoot endocytosis (Figure 5). Ultrastructural examination and real-time imaging suggest that F-actin is involved in pit formation, a critical step of endocytosis that has just been visualized in real time in live cells (
FIGURE 5

Schematic summary of F-actin’s functions in RRP replenishment, fusion pore expansion, fused vesicle merging via shrink fusion, and all distinguishable forms of endocytosis in secretory cells. The schematic drawing shows RRP replenishment involving active zone clearance, vesicle docking and priming, fusion pore opening, fusion pore expansion that releases vesicular contents, shrink fusion that merges fused vesicles at the plasma membrane, and classical endocytosis involving pit formation and fission of the pit. F-actin promotes (1) RRP replenishment likely by facilitating active zone clearance, (2) fusion pore expansion by enhancing the plasma membrane tension, (3) shrink fusion by providing membrane tension to reel of fusing vesicular membrane, and (4) endocytosis likely by generating forces needed for pit formation. Actin nucleation factors, including Kv3.3, N-WASP, Arp2/3, myosin II, and formin are also involved in these processes. This cartoon represents a synthesis of many suggestions derived from the many studies discussed in this review.
While recent studies reveal important roles of F-actin in regulating exo- and endocytosis, how F-actin generates forces to mediate endocytosis and pit formation remains not well understood. How actin facilitates active zone clearance and thus RRP replenishment also remains unclear, owing to the difficulty of visualizing active zone clearance in live synapses (
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Statements
Author contributions
L-GW designed and wrote the manuscript. CYC participated in writing the manuscript. Both authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Research Program (ZIA NS003009-16 and ZIA NS003105-11 to L-GW).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
actin, exocytosis, endocytosis, synaptic transmission, neurological disorder
Citation
Wu L-G and Chan CY (2022) Multiple Roles of Actin in Exo- and Endocytosis. Front. Synaptic Neurosci. 14:841704. doi: 10.3389/fnsyn.2022.841704
Received
22 December 2021
Accepted
11 February 2022
Published
04 March 2022
Volume
14 - 2022
Edited by
Lucia Tabares, University of Seville, Spain
Reviewed by
Silvio O. Rizzoli, Society for Scientific Data Processing, Max Planck Society, Germany; Helena Haque Chowdhury, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
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© 2022 Wu and Chan.
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*Correspondence: Ling-Gang Wu, wul@ninds.nih.gov
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