Researchers have visualized at the molecular level how formins bind to the ends of actin filaments. This allowed them to uncover how formins mediate the addition of new actin molecules to a growing ...

An electron microscopy study revealed key details of actin filaments, which are essential structural elements of cells and muscles. Actin filaments -- protein structures critical to living movement ...

Right: Cells whose actin filaments were disrupted. Time zero indicates the beginning cell plate formation. The phragmoplast microtubules are yellow, and the cell plate is magenta. Using microscopic ...

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 ...

Actin filaments - protein structures critical to living movement from single cells to animals - have long been known to have polarity associated with their physical characteristics, with growing ...

The discovery opens the door to healthier aging in humans. The cytoskeleton provides most cells with their shape, structure, and internal organization. In turn, the cytoskeleton relies on a type of ...

Formins are made of two identical parts (red, orange) that encircle the actin (grey) filament in a ring-like conformation. “Our discovery allows us to interpret decades of biochemical studies on ...