The tendency of actin to polymerize initially thwarted crystal production. Holmes and colleagues overcame this by complexing rabbit skeletal actin with DNase I, thereby preventing polymerization and ...

A tiny chemical modification on one of the most abundant and important proteins in cells, actin, has long been somewhat mysterious, its function not fully understood, but scientists have now taken a ...

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 ...

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in eLife on deciphering the actin structure-dependent preferential cooperative binding of cofilin. The actin filament is a double-stranded helical structure ...

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 ...

Tiny things matter – for instance, one amino acid can completely alter the architecture of the cell. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Warwick investigated the structure and mechanics ...

The dynamic processes that occur during the growth of actin, via polymerization, and the breakdown of actin both play significant roles in cellular mechanisms like migration and adhesion. Due to the ...

Cells constantly probe their environments, searching for physical cues that guide their behavior. And yet a cell's response to its environment is always biochemical, mediated by the chemistry of its ...

In about one out of every 1,000 pregnancies, the neural tube, a key nervous system structure, fails to close properly. Georgia Tech physicists are now helping explain why this happens, having ...

The cytoskeleton is far more than a static scaffold—it’s a dynamic, adaptable network that shapes cells, moves cargo, and drives vital processes. From swirling cytoplasmic flows to microtubule ...