Contents
Quiz Test Your Knowledge! Click Here Contribute | Essential Info: What is the Role of Actin Filaments in Mechanotransduction?4.1 IntroductionActin is a 42 kDa protein that is found in abundance in almost every cell (the exception being nematode sperm cells). It has been highly conserved throughout evolution and is known today as a fundamental component of the cellular cytoskeleton.Actin may be found either in its globular or monomeric form (G-actin) or in a polymeric or filamentous form (F-actin). It is in the latter form that actin, together with supporting and regulatory proteins and molecules, play a crucial role in the cells ability to sense and measure external forces, generate internal force, and ultimately respond to these mechanical signals. One example highlighting the importance of actin is in the motility of both individual cellular structures such as filopodia, and of the cell as a whole. Whether this motility occurs in response to a mechanical signal or enables the cell to explore its surroundings, the role of actin remains the same. That is, structural rearrangements of the actin filament networks and polymerization of new filaments generates forces that drive motility and counteract external forces. The following sections provide an overview of how actin contributes to mechanosensing, to generating internal forces and to the transduction of mechanical signals to other cellular components or machinery. Detailed descriptions of how actin enables the function of specific cellular structures and ‘functional modules’ or cellular machinery can be found throughout the website. |
MBInfo © 2013 National University of Singapore.
MBInfo is sponsored by:
