Nature has devised a wide range of actin-based motile systems by modulating the structural organization of actin and myosin, ranging from highly ordered cross-striated muscle to dynamic non-muscle cells.
Describes the structural organization of actin and myosin across different cell types, from highly ordered muscle cells to dynamic non-muscle cells.
By modulating the level of structural organization of two primary components, actin and myosin, nature has devised a wide range of actin-based motile systems. At one extreme is the cross-striated muscle cell with its highly ordered and stable arrangement of filaments, specialised for rapid contractions. And at the other are non-muscle cells, like fibroblasts and amoebae, whose dynamic protrusive movements depend on the continual growth and breakdown of less organised actin filament arrays coupled, in some way, with the shearing of monomeric, tailless myosin molecules.
Small et al. (Tue,) reported a review. Nature has devised a wide range of actin-based motile systems by modulating the structural organization of actin and myosin, ranging from highly ordered cross-striated muscle to dynamic non-muscle cells.