Ondřej Kučera, Valerie Siahaan, Daniel Janda, Sietske H Dijkstra, Eliška Pilátová, Eva Zatecka, Stefan Diez, Marcus Braun, Zdenek Lansky
Constriction of the cytokinetic ring, a circular structure of actin filaments, is an essential step during cell division. Mechanical forces driving the constriction are attributed to myosin motor proteins, which slide actin filaments along each other. However, in multiple organisms, ring constriction has been reported to be myosin independent. How actin rings constrict in the absence of motor activity remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that anillin, a non-motor actin crosslinker, indispensable during cytokinesis, autonomously propels the contractility of actin bundles...
July 28, 2021: Nature Communications