Fluorescence anisotropy decays were used to quantify the degree of rapid librational motion associated with several fluorescent probes attached to contractile proteins. This information allows an analysis of how far kappa 2, the resonance energy transfer orientation factor, may deviate from the dynamically averaged value of 2/3. Extrema can then be set on R0, the critical transfer distance, and...

Despite a century of research into the nature of animal cell division, a molecular explanation for the positioning of the actomyosin contractile ring has remained elusive. The discovery of a novel interaction between regulators of Rho family small GTPases has revealed a link between the mitotic microtubules and the contractile ring during the later stages of mitosis. The properties of the inter...

An actomyosin-based contractile ring provides the forces necessary for cell cleavage in several organisms [1-3]. Myosin II is an essential component of the actomyosin ring and has also been detected as a "spot" in interphase Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells [4-5]. It is currently unknown if this myosin II-containing spot is important for cytokinesis. In this study, we characterize this myosin II...

BACKGROUND An actomyosin-based contractile ring plays a pivotal role in cytokinesis. Despite the identification of many components of the ring, the steps involved in its assembly are unknown. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an attractive organism in which to study cytokinesis because its cell cycle has been well characterized; it divides by medial fission using an actomyosin ring...

During cytokinesis, a contractile actomyosin ring constricts and divides the cell in two. How the ring marshals actomyosin forces to generate tension is not settled. Recently, a superresolution microscopy study of the fission yeast ring revealed that myosins and formins that nucleate actin filaments colocalize in plasma membrane-anchored complexes called nodes in the constricting ring. The node...

Cytokinesis in budding yeast is accomplished by the concerted action of actomyosin ring function and septum formation. The actomyosin ring is not essential for cell viability, but it is required for efficient cell division. Deletion of the actomyosin ring results in abnormal septum formation, and a delay in cytokinesis and cell separation. In contrast, septum formation is essential for cell via...

Cytokinesis in many eukaryotes requires an actomyosin-based contractile ring [1]. In fission yeast, cytokinesis involves the type II myosins Myo2p and Myp2p and the type V myosin Myo51p [2]. A recent study by Laplante et al.[3], using deletion mutants of myp2 and myo51 and the mis-sense mutant myo2-E1 [4], concluded that each myosin has distinct functions and proposed that Myp2p plays the domin...

Herein we report a case of primary leiomyosarcoma of testis, which was believed to originate from normal testicular structures.  It contained smooth muscle cells, blood vessels and contractile cells of the seminiferous tubules.  No evidence of tumor spread was found.Treatment consisted of orchiectomy with high ligation of the spermatic cord.  The patient received no adjuvant therapy and there w...