2018 article

Resolving single-actin filaments within the contractile ring of fission yeast

Laplante, C. (2018, February 13). PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Vol. 115, pp. 1403–1405.

By: C. Laplante n

MeSH headings : Actin Cytoskeleton; Actins; Cytokinesis; Schizosaccharomyces; Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins
TL;DR: There are still many aspects of the general mechanisms of contractile ring assembly, constriction, and disassembly that the authors do not understand and one remaining enigma about cytokinesis is the how the network of actin filaments is structured during constriction. (via Semantic Scholar)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

Cell division is an essential step in the life of all cells. Fungi, amoeboid, and mammalian cells divide by the assembly and constriction of a contractile ring of actin, myosin, and other highly conserved proteins (1). The mechanism of cytokinesis is best understood in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe . Combined years of research have identified more than 100 genes involved in building and constricting the contractile ring (1). Quantitative fluorescence imaging techniques have been developed to calculate the local and global concentration of endogenously tagged proteins involved in cytokinesis (2, 3). Mathematical models were built using these quantitative data to explain the principles that govern the mechanisms of contractile ring assembly (4) and constriction (5). These mathematical models were limited by the lack of information about the organization of proteins within the contractile ring. How the proteins involved in building and constricting the contractile ring organize to generate tension force is still vastly unknown. Recently, superresolution imaging has enabled us to capture the molecular organization of proteins within the constricting contractile ring in fixed cells (6), and high-speed superresolution imaging combined with quantitative analyses has provided molecular organization of protein complexes within the assembling and constricting contractile ring in live cells (7). Even with this combined knowledge, there are still many aspects of the general mechanisms of contractile ring assembly, constriction, and disassembly that we do not understand (8). One remaining enigma about cytokinesis is the how the network of actin filaments, the most abundant protein of the contractile ring, is structured during constriction. Actin filaments within the contractile ring are polymerized, severed, depolymerized, and pulled upon by the action of many other actin-binding proteins present in the cytokinetic machinery. Together, these modifications to the actin network generate tension force that is transmitted to the ingressing plasma membrane … [↵][1]1Email: claplan{at}ncsu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1