Myosin Dynamics in Cellular Motility and Adhesion
Summary
Myosin motors, particularly nonmuscle myosin II (NM2) isoforms, are central to the generation and transmission of mechanical forces that drive cell movement and maintain cell–matrix and cell–cell attachments. By cyclically hydrolysing ATP and engaging with filamentous actin, NM2 motors assemble into bipolar filaments that generate contractile tension. This actomyosin contractility underpins lamellipodial protrusion, filopodial retraction and the maturation of focal adhesions into stress fibres. Spatial and temporal control of NM2 assembly and activity is achieved through regulatory light chain phosphorylation, motor domain kinetics and interactions with scaffolding proteins at adhesion sites. These coordinated events enable processes as diverse as wound closure, tissue morphogenesis and immune cell trafficking, and their dysregulation contributes to cancer invasion, developmental disorders and fibrotic disease. Current research is elucidating how mechanical feedback between myosin-generated tension and adhesion complex stability orchestrates dynamic remodelling of the cytoskeleton to balance cell shape, polarity and directional motility.
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Myosin Dynamics in Cellular Motility and Adhesion publication trend
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Technical terms
Actomyosin: The force-generating complex of actin filaments and myosin motors.
Nonmuscle myosin II (NM2): Class II myosin isoforms that assemble into bipolar filaments to produce contractile tension in nonmuscle cells.
Myosin light chain phosphorylation: Post-translational modification of regulatory light chains that activates myosin motor activity and filament assembly.
Focal adhesions: Multiprotein assemblies that couple the actomyosin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix.
Stress fibres: Contractile bundles of actin and myosin that maintain cell shape and generate intracellular tension.
Cingulin and Paracingulin: Junctional scaffold proteins that tether myosin II filaments to tight and adherens junctions.
References
- Structure, regulation, and mechanisms of nonmuscle myosin-2. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2024).
- Cingulin and paracingulin tether myosins-2 to junctions to mechanoregulate the plasma membrane. Journal of Cell Biology (2023).
- Functions of Nonmuscle Myosin II in Assembly of the Cellular Contractile System. PLOS ONE (2012).
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