Elongator controls cortical interneuron migration by regulating actomyosin dynamics

The migration of cortical interneurons is a fundamental process for the establishment of cortical connectivity and its impairment underlies several neurological disorders. During development, these neurons are born in the ganglionic eminences and they migrate tangentially to populate the cortical layers. This process relies on various morphological changes that are driven by dynamic cytoskeleton remodelings. By coupling time lapse imaging with molecular analyses, we show that the Elongator complex controls cortical interneuron migration in mouse embryos by regulating nucleokinesis and branching dynamics. At the molecular level, Elongator fine-tunes actomyosin forces by regulating the distribution and turnover of actin microfilaments during cell migration. Thus, we demonstrate that Elongator cell-autonomously promotes cortical interneuron migration by controlling actin cytoskeletal dynamics.