Within each tapering stereocilium of the cochlea of the alligator lizard is a bundle of actin filaments with > 3,000 filaments near the tip and only 18-29 filaments at the base where the bundle enters into the cuticular plate; there the filaments splay out as if on the surface of a cone, forming the rootlet. Decoration of the hair cells with subfragment 1 of myosin reveals that all the filament...

The role of filaments in consistency changes and movement in a motile cytoplasmic extract of Amoeba proteus was investigated by correlating light and electron microscopic observations with viscosity measurements. The extract is prepared by the method of Thompson and Wolpert (1963) . At 0 °C, this extract is nonmotile and similar in structure to ameba cytoplasm, consisting of groundplasm, vesicl...

BACKGROUND The protein kinases Mps1 and Polo, which are required for proper cell cycle regulation in meiosis and mitosis, localize to numerous ooplasmic filaments during prometaphase in Drosophila oocytes. These filaments first appear throughout the oocyte at the end of prophase and are disassembled after egg activation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We showed here that Mps1 and Polo protein...

Branching filaments with striking perpendicularity form when actin polymerizes in the presence of macrophage actin-binding protein. Actin-binding protein molecules are visible at the branch points. Compared with actin polymerized in the absence of actin-binding proteins, not only do the filaments branch but the average length of the actin filaments decreases from 3.2 to 0.63 micrometer. Arrowhe...

Much is known about the composition and function of the postsynaptic density (PSD), but less is known about its molecular organization. We use EM tomography to delineate the organization of PSDs at glutamatergic synapses in rat hippocampal cultures. The core of the PSD is dominated by vertically oriented filaments, and ImmunoGold labeling shows that PSD-95 is a component of these filaments. Ver...

Inferring line-of-sight distances from redshifts in and around galaxy clusters is complicated by peculiar velocities, a phenomenon known as the "Fingers of God" (FoG). This presents significant challenge for finding filaments large observational data sets these artificial elongations can be wrongly identified cosmic web extraction algorithms. Upcoming targeted wide-field spectroscopic surveys t...

The actin filament network at the leading edge of motile cells relies on localized branching by Arp2/3 complex from "mother" filaments growing near the plasma membrane. The nucleotide bound to the mother filaments (ATP, ADP and phosphate, or ADP) may influence the branch dynamics. To determine the effect of the nucleotide bound to the subunits of the mother filament on the formation and stabili...