Bundles of actin filaments also known as ‘actin cables’ or ‘stress fibres’ were found in non-muscle cells more than 40 years ago 3. Soon after, it was shown that myosin (myosin II) forms periodic ...

Here, we produced cytoplasmic protrusions with optical tweezers in mature BY-2 suspension cultured cells to study the parameters involved in the movement of actin filaments during changes in ...

Some cells, such as immune cells, are highly mobile—they constantly remodel their shape, migrate toward a wound that needs to be closed or chase down bacteria in the bloodstream. This mobility is ...

Non-muscle myosin II (NM II) is a hexameric actin-binding protein that is formed of two heavy chains, two essential light chains and two regulatory light chains. Its conformation and function are ...

Research has uncovered how motor protein myosin, which is responsible for contraction of skeletal muscles, functions also in non-muscle cells to build contractile structures at the inner face of the ...

Actomyosin is a protein complex composed of actin and myosin. It is found in muscle fibers where it plays a role in muscle contraction. Actin is one of the most abundant proteins in eukaryotes. It ...

(September 29, 2005, La Jolla, CA) Scientists from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of Vermont have captured the first 3-dimensional (3D) atomic-resolution images of the ...

Cells use the polymerization of actin alone to create some types of movement, but many other forms of movement require interplay between actin and an enzyme called ...

Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells. This 'barrier' tissue performs its function thanks to specialized structures called 'junctions'. They ensure cell cohesion and regulate ...

Striated muscle contraction requires intricate interactions of microstructures. The classic textbook assumption that myosin filaments are compressed at the meshed Z-disc during striated muscle fibre ...