The actin-related protein (Arp) 2/3 complex is an essential regulator of de novo actin filament formation. Arp2/3 nucleates the polymerization of actin and creates branched actin filaments when activated by Arp2/3-complex activating domain (VCA) of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome proteins (WASP family proteins). We found that the branching of actin filaments on pre-existing ADP filaments mediated by t...

Organelle movement is essential for proper function of living cells. In plants, these movements generally depend on actin filaments, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Here, in Arabidopsis, we identify associations of short actin filaments along the chloroplast periphery on the plasma membrane side associated with chloroplast photorelocation and anchoring to the plasma membrane. We have t...

The scaffold of striated muscle is predominantly comprised of myosin and actin polymers known as thick filaments and thin filaments, respectively. The roles these filaments play in muscle contraction are well known, but the extent to which variations in filament mechanical properties influence muscle function is not fully understood. Here we review information on the material properties of thic...

In negatively stained preparations made from glycerinated crane fly spermatids and sperm, actin-like filaments are seen which bind heavy meromyosin (HMM) to form arrowhead complexes, the reaction with HMM being blocked by ATP and pyrophosphate. In preparations from young spermatids the actin-like filaments are found singly, or in small groups, while in those from mature sperm the actin-like fil...

Sea urchin eggs and oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage were fixed at various times after insemination, and thin sections were examined. Actin filaments can first be found in the cortical cytoplasm 1 min after insemination, and by 2 min enormous numbers of filaments are present. At these early stages, the filaments are only occasionally organized into bundles, but one end of many filaments co...

We want to study the perturbation growth of an initial seed of an ellipsoidal shape in Top-Hat collapse model of the structure formation in the Modied Chaplygin gas cosmology. Considering reasonable values of the constants and the parameters of the model under study, we can show that a very small deviation from spherical symmetry (ellipsoidal geometry) in the initial seed leads to a nal highly ...

the ontogeny of the gill structure in starlet ( acipenser ruthenus ) was studied histologically from hatching up to 50 days post hatching (dph). based on the obtained results, the first developmental phase of the biological systems in this species was started from hatching with an intense organogenesis and the second phase from 9 dph with the beginning of exogenous feeding. the gill anlage was ...

Muscle fibers of the tarantula femur exhibit structural and biochemical characteristics similar to those of other long-sarcomere invertebrate muscles, having long A-bands and long thick filaments. 9-12 thin filaments surround each thick filament. Tarantula muscle has a paramyosin:myosin heavy chain molecular ratio of 0.31 +/- 0.079 SD. We studied the myosin cross-bridge arrangement on the surfa...

We studied the cytoskeletal reorganization of saponized human platelets after stimulation by using the quick-freeze deep-etch technique, and examined the localization of myosin in thrombin-treated platelets by immunocytochemistry at the electron microscopic level. In unstimulated saponized platelets we observed cross-bridges between: adjoining microtubules, adjoining actin filaments, microtubul...

The contractile ring in dividing animal cells is formed primarily through the reorganization of existing actin filaments (Cao, L.-G., and Y.-L. Wang. 1990. J. Cell Biol. 110:1089-1096), but it is not clear whether the process involves a random recruitment of diffusible actin filaments from the cytoplasm, or a directional movement of cortically associated filaments toward the equator. We have st...