Figure 7: Schematic summary of the role of MYPT1 in regulating contractility and microtubule acetylation.

A model for MYPT1 as a molecular switch that reciprocally modulates the level of actomyosin-mediated cellular contractility and microtubule acetylation. When MYPT1 binds and dephosphorylates MLC or HDAC6, cellular contractility is decreased or HDAC6 activity is inhibited with increased acetylation of microtubules, respectively. Conversely, when MYPT1 is not bound to MLC, cellular contractility is enhanced due to increased phosphorylation of MLC; when not bound to MYPT1, HDAC6 activity is increased and promotes deacetylation of microtubules.