A bleb initiation model for chemotaxis suggests a role for myosin II clusters and cortex rupture

Blebs, pressure driven protrusions of the plasma membrane, facilitate the movement of cells such as the soil amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and other eukaryotes such as white blood cells and cancer cells. Blebs initiate or nucleate when proteins connecting the membrane to the cortex detach, either as a result of a rupture of the cortex or as a direct consequence of a build up in hydrostatic pressure. While linker detachment resulting from excess hydrostatic pressure is well understood, the mechanism by which cells rupture their cortex in locations of bleb formation is not so clear. Consequently, existing predictive models of bleb site selection do not account for it. To resolve this, we propose a model for bleb initiation which combines the geometric forces on the cell cortex/membrane complex with the underlying activity of actin binding proteins. In our model gaps, resulting from a rupture of the cortex, form at locations of high membrane energy where an accumulation of myosin II helps to weaken the cortex. We validate this model in part through a membrane energy functional which combines stresses on the cell boundary from membrane tension, curvature, membrane-cortex linker tension with hydrostatic pressure. Application of this functional to microscopy images of chemotaxing Dictyostelium discoideum cells identifies bleb nucleation sites at the highest energy locations 96.7% of the time. Sensitivity analysis of the model components points to membrane tension and hydrostatic pressure, all of which are regulated by myosin II, as critical to model predictability. Furthermore, microscopy reveals discrete clusters of myosin II along the leading edge of the cell, with blebs emerging from 80% of these sites. Together, our findings suggest a critical role for myosin II in bleb initiation through the formation of gaps and provides a predictive mathematical model for quantitative studies of blebbing. Author summary Eukaryotic cells such as white blood cells and cancer cells have been observed to move by making spherical herniation of their plasma membrane, referred to as blebs. The precise mechanism by which cells select locations around their boundary to initiate blebs is unclear. We hypothesize that blebs initiate at locations of high membrane energy where an accumulation of myosin II helps to rupture the cortex and/or detach linker proteins. We test this hypothesis by formulating a free energy functional representation of membrane energy to predict where blebs will initiate. The functional accounts for geometric forces due to membrane tension, curvature and membrane-cortex linker tension as well as hydrostatic pressure. Application of the functional to data from the soil amoeba, Dictyostelium disodium, identifies blebs at the highest energy locations over 90% of the time. Sensitivity analysis of model components points to membrane tension and hydrostatic pressure, all influenced by myosin II, as major forces driving bleb initiation. Additionally, we observe clusters of myosin II at locations of bleb initiation, further supporting its role in the process.