Cells make use of molecular motors to transport small molecules, macromolecules and cellular organelles to target region to execute biological functions, which is utmost important for polarized cells, such as neurons. In particular, cytoskeleton motors play fundamental roles in neuron polarization, extension, shape and neurotransmission. Cytoskeleton motors comprise of myosin, kinesin and cytop...

We consider the mechanical properties of the outer hair cell cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is represented as a set of microdomains of different sizes and orientations composed of actin filaments and spectrin crosslinks. An intermediate material between domains is also introduced. The domain characteristics are randomly generated and the histograms of the cytoskeleton stiffness moduli are obtai...

Bacillus anthracis, the agent of anthrax, has gained virulence through its exotoxins produced by vegetative bacilli and is composed of three components forming lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET). So far, little is known about the effects of these toxins on the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Here, we provide an overview on the general effects of toxin upon the cytoskeleton architecture. Thus, we s...

Nephrin, a structural molecule, is also a signaling molecule after phosphorylation. Inhibition of nephrin phosphorylation is correlated with podocyte injury. The PINCH-1-ILK-α-parvin (PIP) complex plays a crucial role in cell adhesion and cytoskeleton formation. We hypothesized that nephrin phosphorylation influenced cytoskeleton and cell adhesion in podocytes by regulating the PIP complex. The...

Resting and phorbol-activated human neutrophils were separated by treatment with Triton X-100 into detergent-extractable and cytoskeleton fractions. Respiratory burst oxidase activity was restricted entirely to the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton also contained approximately 15% of the neutrophil cytochrome b558, an oxidase-associated heme protein, as well as most of the oxidase-related cytosoli...

Cytoskeleton proteins are filament structures that support a large number of important biological processes. These dynamic biopolymers exist in nonequilibrium conditions stimulated by hydrolysis chemical reactions in their monomers. Current theoretical methods provide a comprehensive picture of biochemical and biophysical processes in cytoskeleton proteins. However, the description is only qual...

Classic functions of the actin cytoskeleton include control of cell size and shape and the internal organization of cells. These functions are manifest in cellular processes of fundamental importance throughout biology such as the generation of cell polarity, cell migration, cell adhesion, and cell division. However, studies in the unicellular model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker's y...

The yeast actin cytoskeleton is polarized during most of the cell cycle. Certain environmental factors and mutations are associated with depolarization of the actin cytoskeleton. Is depolarization of the actin cytoskeleton a specific response, or is it a nonspecific reaction to harsh conditions or poor metabolism? If depolarization is a nonspecific response, then any mutation that slows growth ...

The recently shown transmissibility of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) by blood transfusion emphasises the need for better understanding of the cellular prion protein (PrPc) in blood. A substantial amount of cell-associated PrPc in blood resides in platelets. Platelet activation leads to up-regulation of PrPc on the platelet surface and its release on exosomes and microparticles. The s...

Rho proteins (Rho, Rac, Cdc 42) are known to control the organization of the actin cytoskeleton as well as gene expression. Inhibition of Rho proteins by Clostridium difficile toxin B disrupted the F-actin cytoskeleton and enhanced cytokine-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in human epithelial cells. Also specific inhibition by Y-27632 of p160ROCK, which mediates Rho eff...