Researchers gain new insight on wonder of cell division
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 21:16
in Biology & Nature
Biologists have discovered a mechanism that is critical to cytokinesis - nature's completion of mitosis, where a cell divides into two identical daughter cells. The researchers have opened a new window on the assembly and activity of a ring of actin and myosin filaments that contract to pinch a cell at just the right time. They focused on key proteins whose roles drive signalling mechanisms that promote the production of both linear and branching microfilaments along the inside surface membrane of a dividing cell. By down-regulating the production of branched microfilaments at the right time, the membrane may be more malleable and better able to pinch inward and complete cytokinesis...