Memorias de investigación
Research Publications in journals:
Contraction speed of the actomyosin cytoskeleton in the absence of the cell membrane
Year:2013

Research Areas
  • Physics - Structure of materials

Information
Abstract
The contraction of the actomyosin cytoskeleton, which is produced by the sliding of myosin II along actin filaments, drives important cellular activities such as cytokinesis and cell migration. To explain the contraction velocities observed in such physiological processes, we have studied the contraction of intact cytoskeletons of Dictyostelium discoideum cells after removing the plasma membrane using Triton X-100. The technique developed in this work allows for the quantitative measurement of contraction rates of individual cytoskeletons. The relationship of the contraction rates with forces was analyzed using three different myosins with different in vitro sliding velocities. The cytoskeletons containing these myosins were always contractile and the contraction rate was correlated with the sliding velocity of the myosins. However, the values of the contraction rate were two to three orders of magnitude slower than expected from the in vitro sliding velocities of the myosins, presumably due to internal and external resistive forces. The contraction process also depended on actin cross-linking proteins. The lack of ?-actinin increased the contraction rate 2-fold and reduced the capacity of the cytoskeleton to retain internal materials, while the lack of filamin resulted in the ATP-dependent disruption of the cytoskeleton. Interestingly, the myosin-dependent contraction rate of intact contractile rings is also reportedly much slower than the in vitro sliding velocity of myosin, and is similar to the contraction rates of cytoskeletons (different by only 2?3 fold), suggesting that the contraction of intact cells and cytoskeletons is limited by common mechanisms.
International
Si
JCR
Si
Title
Soft Matter
ISBN
1744-683X
Impact factor JCR
3,909
Impact info
Datos JCR del año 2012
Volume
9
10.1039/C3SM27867K
Journal number
From page
4390
To page
4400
Month
SIN MES
Ranking
Participants

Research Group, Departaments and Institutes related
  • Creador: Centro o Instituto I+D+i: Centro de tecnología Biomédica CTB