Actin filament nucleation, polymerization, and branching are crucial steps in many forms of cell motility, cell shape, and intracellular organelle movements in a wide range of organisms. Previous biochemical data suggests that an anti-parallel actin dimer can incorporate itself into growing filamentous actin (F-actin) and has a role in branching. Furthermore, it is a widespread belief that nucl...

Abstract: iNOS is inducible by a variety of factors related to inflammation and referred to as inducible NOS(iNOS). It is regulated at the level of gene expression; once expressed, it produces NO at a high rate. iNOS gene-expression profiling is an important tool in understanding molecular markers of the responses of cells and tissues to external factors. In this article a semiquantitative reve...

Actin network architecture and dynamics play a central role in cell contractility tissue morphogenesis. Pulsed contractions driven by RhoA represent generic mode of actomyosin contractility, but the mechanisms underlying (1) how their specific emerges, (2) this supports contractile function network, remain unclear. Here, we combine quantitative microscopy, single-molecule imaging, numerical sim...

Myosin-5a is a molecular motor that transport cargoes and steps in symmetric hand-over-hand mechanism along actin, with both heads attached most of the time. By tracking 20 nm gold nanoparticles to single head myosin-5a heavy meromyosin-like construct, sub-nanometer precision via interferometric scattering (iSCAT) microscopy, analysis stride-sizes showed peaks corresponding 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, ...

Actin filaments have the pointed (slow growing) end and barbed (fast end. Interactions with actin-binding proteins at each enable control of length actin filaments. Tropomodulin (Tmod) modulates filament by interacting tropomyosin (Tpm) filament. Tmod binds two Tpm molecules through distinct binding sites – site 1 2. Establishing structure Tmod-Tpm interface is critical to understand mechanism ...

Abstract Over the last 25 years, extensive progress has been made in developing a range of nanotechnological applications where cytoskeletal filaments and molecular motors are key elements. This includes novel, highly miniaturized lab on chip systems for biosensing, nanoseparation etc but also new materials parallel computation devices solving otherwise intractable mathematical problems. For su...

Objective: VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) plays a critical role in physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Endothelial 3D podosomes (3DPs) are type of F-actin-rich membrane microdomain, predominantly found tip cells controlled by signaling during sprouting angiogenesis, such as occurs retinal vasculature development. The molecular mechanisms governing 3DP formation have not been...