title: Unravelling the Actin Cytoskeleton: A New Competitive Edge?
abstract: Dynamic rearrangements in the actin cytoskeleton underlie a wide range of cell behaviours, which in turn contribute to many aspects of human health including embryogenesis, cancer metastasis, wound healing, and inflammation. Precise control of the actin cytoskeleton requires the coordinated activity of a diverse set of different actin regulators. However, our current understanding of the actin cytoskeleton has focused on how individual actin regulatory pathways function in isolation from one another. Recently, competition has emerged as a means by which different actin assembly factors can influence each other's activity at the cellular level. Here such findings will be used to explore the possibility that competition within the actin cytoskeleton confers cellular plasticity and the ability to prioritise multiple conflicting stimuli.
authors.affiliation: School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Science Building, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.affiliation: School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Science Building, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK. Electronic address: w.wood@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: actin; chemotaxis; competition; cytoskeleton; filopod; lamellipod