Akt1-associated actomyosin remodelling is required for nuclear lamina dispersal and nuclear shrinkage in epidermal terminal differentiation

Abstract Keratinocyte cornification and epidermal barrier formation are tightly controlled processes, which require complete degradation of intracellular organelles, including removal of keratinocyte nuclei. Keratinocyte nuclear destruction requires Akt1-dependent phosphorylation and degradation of the nuclear lamina protein, Lamin A/C, essential for nuclear integrity. However, the molecular mechanisms that result in complete nuclear removal and their regulation are not well defined. Post-confluent cultures of rat epidermal keratinocytes (REKs) undergo spontaneous and complete differentiation, allowing visualisation and perturbation of the differentiation process in vitro. We demonstrate that there is dispersal of phosphorylated Lamin A/C to structures throughout the cytoplasm in differentiating keratinocytes. We show that the dispersal of phosphorylated Lamin A/C is Akt1-dependent and these structures are specific for the removal of Lamin A/C from the nuclear lamina; nuclear contents and Lamin B were not present in these structures. Immunoprecipitation identified a group of functionally related Akt1 target proteins involved in Lamin A/C dispersal, including actin, which forms cytoskeletal microfilaments, Arp3, required for actin filament nucleation, and Myh9, a component of myosin IIa, a molecular motor that can translocate along actin filaments. Disruption of actin filament polymerisation, nucleation or myosin IIa activity prevented formation and dispersal of cytoplasmic Lamin A/C structures. Live imaging of keratinocytes expressing fluorescently tagged nuclear proteins showed a nuclear volume reduction step taking less than 40 minutes precedes final nuclear destruction. Preventing Akt1-dependent Lamin A/C phosphorylation and disrupting cytoskeletal Akt1-associated proteins prevented nuclear volume reduction. Single cell RNA sequencing of differentiating keratinocytes identified gene changes correlated with lamin dispersal, which we propose are due to changes in lamina-associated domains upon Lamin A/C dispersal. We propose keratinocyte nuclear destruction and differentiation requires myosin II activity and the actin cytoskeleton for two intermediate processes: Lamin A/C dispersal and rapid nuclear volume reduction.