Actin is a highly abundant protein that controls the shape and movement of all our cells. Actin achieves this by assembling into filaments, one actin molecule at a time. The proteins of the formin ...

Living cells are highly organized, yet they are not assembled using rigid blueprints or by following a predetermined plan.

Actin filaments are dynamic protein-fibers in the cell built from single actin proteins. Many cellular functions, including cell movement, are regulated by constant filament assembly and disassembly.

Confocal microscope image reveals distinct patterns of the actin in bone cells. Actin is a cytoskeletal protein that is important for cells to adhere to surfaces, and to move. Actin filaments are ...

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 ...

Skeletal and heart muscles contract and relax upon sliding of parallel filaments of the proteins myosin and actin. Nebulin, another long slender protein, which is present only in skeletal muscle, ...

Biophysicists have gained a new insight about the dynamics of cellular movement, which is key to processes ranging from stem-cell differentiation and wound healing to the development of diseases such ...

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 ...

Cells in the human body are made to move. They assemble during embryo development, migrate to repair tissue, hunt pathogens, and perform a host of other tasks requiring travel. As part of the ...