近日，奥地利维也纳大学教授Christa Schleper及其研究团队的论文发现了动态突起介导阿斯加德古菌的爬行运动。相关论文于2026年9月30日发表在《自然》杂志上。

爬行运动是真核细胞的标志，需要动态的肌动蛋白细胞骨架、受调控的黏附和空间组织的信号通路。阿斯加德古菌被认为是已知与真核生物亲缘关系最近的原核生物，可能在其大量“真核生物特征蛋白”中编码这些功能。少数已培养的成员表现出复杂的细胞形态，由一个中央细胞体组成，从该细胞体伸出若干突起，突起内充满基于肌动蛋白的细胞骨架。在此，对Lokiarchaea和Hodarchaea谱系中两种生物的活细胞显微镜观察显示，它们在分钟时间尺度上动态且大幅改变其细胞形状，并以1.5–4.8微米/分钟的速度生长和回缩其广泛的突起。黏附到玻璃表面后，细胞利用其突起进行主动爬行运动。然而，在选定的肌动蛋白抑制剂存在下，观察到的动力学被阻止，表明肌动蛋白在这些过程中起核心作用。观察到的细胞可塑性和运动性是原核生物中的独特特征，可能对第一批真核细胞的出现至关重要，这些真核细胞被认为是通过阿斯加德古菌的一个成员与α-变形菌（线粒体的祖先）结合而形成的。

附：英文原文

Title: Dynamic protrusions mediate crawling motility in Asgard archaea

Author: Radler, Philipp, Viehboeck, Tobias, Luo, Zhen-Hao, Masla, Nevena, Schmidt, Katharina, Hauschild, Robert, Nobu, Masaru K., Bulgheresi, Silvia, Stradal, Theresia E. B., Rottner, Klemens, Imachi, Hiroyuki, Sixt, Michael, Schleper, Christa

Issue&Volume: 2026-09-30

Abstract: Crawling motility is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells and requires a dynamic actin cytoskeleton, regulated adhesion and spatially organized signalling pathways1,2. Asgard archaea, which are considered the closest known prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes, potentially encode these functions within their large set of ‘eukaryotic signature proteins’3,4,5,6. The few cultivated members show a complex cell morphology, consisting of a central cell body from which several protrusions extend, filled with an actin-based cytoskeleton7,8. Here, live-cell microscopy of two organisms of the Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea lineages7,9 showed that they dynamically and greatly change their cell shape on a minute time scale and grow and retract their extensive protrusions with a speed of 1.5–4.8μmmin1, respectively. After adhering to a glass surface, cells use their protrusions to undergo active crawling motion. In the presence of selected actin inhibitors, however, the observed dynamics were arrested, suggesting a central role of actin in these processes. The observed cellular plasticity and motility are unique features among prokaryotes and might have been crucial for the emergence of the first eukaryotic cells that are thought to have formed through the association of a member of the Asgard archaea and an α-proteobacterium, the ancestor of mitochondria.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11063-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-11063-9