Balance between Force Generation and Relaxation Leads to Pulsed Contraction of Actomyosin Networks.

ABSTRACT: Actomyosin contractility regulates various biological processes, including cell migration and cytokinesis. The cell cortex underlying the membrane of eukaryote cells exhibits dynamic contractile behaviors facilitated by actomyosin contractility. Interestingly, the cell cortex shows reversible aggregation of actin and myosin called "pulsed contraction" in diverse cellular phenomena, such as embryogenesis and tissue morphogenesis. Although contractile behaviors of actomyosin machinery have been studied extensively in several in vitro experiments and computational studies, none of them successfully reproduced the pulsed contraction observed in vivo. Recent experiments have suggested the pulsed contraction is dependent upon the spatiotemporal expression of a small GTPase protein called RhoA. T

SUBMITTER: Yu Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6303541 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature