Lamin A/C deficiency enables increased myosin-II bipolar filament ensembles that promote divergent actomyosin network anomalies through self-organization

Nuclear envelope proteins influence cell cytoarchitecure by poorly understood mechanisms. Here we show that small interfering RNA–mediated silencing of lamin A/C (LMNA) promotes contrasting stress fiber assembly and disassembly in individual cells and within cell populations. We show that LMNA-deficient cells have elevated myosin-II bipolar filament accumulations, irregular formation of actin comet tails and podosome-like adhesions, increased steady state nuclear localization of the mechanosensitive transcription factors MKL1 and YAP, and induced expression of some MKL1/serum response factor–regulated genes such as that encoding myosin-IIA (MYH9). Our studies utilizing live cell imaging and pharmacological inhibition of myosin-II support a mechanism of deregulated myosin-II self-organizing activity at the nexus of divergent actin cytoskeletal aberrations resulting from LMNA loss. In light of our results, we propose a model of how the nucleus, via linkage to the cytoplasmic actomyosin network, may act to control myosin-II contractile behavior through both mechanical and transcriptional feedback mechanisms.