title: Treadmilling or fragmentation? A proposed repair mechanism for actin filaments.
abstract: A review of the literature concerning "treadmilling" and fragmentation of actin filaments indicates that these two processes take place under similar conditions and that the mere difference of critical concentration at the two ends of the actin filaments is not a sufficient prerequisite for the exchange of actin monomers with polymer subunits. The hypothesis is made that fragmentation is the main prerequisite for the exchange. A repair mechanism for actin filaments is also presented.
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D008274:Magnesium; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011108:Polymers; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011489:Protein Denaturation
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011108:Polymers; C033025:actin subfragments; D008274:Magnesium; D002118:Calcium