Directed cell motility is at the basis of biological phenomena such as development, wound healing, and metastasis. It has been shown that substrate attachments mediate motility by coupling the cell's cytoskeleton with force generation. However, it has been unclear how the persistence of cell directionality is facilitated. We show that mRNA localization plays an important role in this process, but the mechanism of action is still unknown. In this study, we show that the zipcode-binding protein 1 transports β-actin mRNA to the focal adhesion compartment, where it dwells for minutes, suggesting a means for associating its localization with motility through the formation of stable connections between adhesions and newly synthesized actin filaments. In order to demonstrate this, we developed an approach for assessing the functional consequences of β-actin mRNA and protein localization by tethering the mRNA to a specific location-in this case, the focal adhesion complex. This approach will have a significant impact on cell biology because it is now possible to forcibly direct any mRNA and its cognate protein to specific locations in the cell. This will reveal the importance of localized protein translation on various cellular processes.

β-secretase (or BACE1) is the key enzyme in the production of β-amyloid (Aβ), which accumulates in the senile plaques characteristic for Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, the lack of BACE1 prevents β-processing of the amyloid precursor protein and Aβ production, which made it a promising target for drug development. However, the loss of BACE1 is also detrimental, leading to myelination defects and altered neuronal activity, functions that have been associated with the cleavage of Neuregulin and a voltage-gated sodium channel subunit. Here we show that the Drosophila ortholog of BACE, dBACE, is required for glial survival. Cell-specific knockdown experiments reveal that this is a non-cell autonomous function, as a knockdown of dBACE in photoreceptor neurons leads to progressive degeneration of glia in their target zone, the lamina. Interestingly, this phenotype is suppressed by the loss of the fly amyloid precursor protein (APPL), whereas a secretion-deficient form of APPL enhances the degeneration. This shows that full-length APPL in neurons promotes the death of neighboring glial cells and that β-processing of APPL is needed to prevent glial death. These results therefore not only demonstrate a novel function for an APP protein in glia, but they also show this function specifically requires regulation by β-cleavage.