Putting the brakes on cytokinesis with alpha-actinin.
Although signal transduction pathways provide spatiotemporal control of cytokinesis, additional regulation likely occurs through complex cytoskeletal network interactions. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Mukhina et al. (2007) show that myosin-II modulates the cortical lifetime of the actin crosslinker alpha-actinin, which in turn tunes actin filament dynamics, thereby controlling furrow ingression.
Reichl
Elizabeth M
EM
Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Robinson
Douglas N
DN
D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D000185:Actinin / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000502:physiology*; D024462:Myosin Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
D000185:Actinin; D024462:Myosin Type II