Cofilin 1
Actin Depolymerizing Factors
A family of low MOLECULAR WEIGHT actin-binding proteins found throughout eukaryotes. They remodel the actin CYTOSKELETON by severing ACTIN FILAMENTS and increasing the rate of monomer dissociation.
Cofilin 2
Lim Kinases
Serine protein kinases involved in the regulation of ACTIN polymerization and MICROTUBULE disassembly. Their activity is regulated by phosphorylation of a threonine residue within the activation loop by intracellular signaling kinases such as P21-ACTIVATED KINASES and by RHO KINASE.
Destrin
A member of the actin depolymerizing factors. Its depolymerizing activity is independent of HYDROGEN-ION CONCENTRATION.
Microfilament Proteins
Actins
Filamentous proteins that are the main constituent of the thin filaments of muscle fibers. The filaments (known also as filamentous or F-actin) can be dissociated into their globular subunits; each subunit is composed of a single polypeptide 375 amino acids long. This is known as globular or G-actin. In conjunction with MYOSINS, actin is responsible for the contraction and relaxation of muscle.
Actin Cytoskeleton
Fibers composed of MICROFILAMENT PROTEINS, which are predominately ACTIN. They are the smallest of the cytoskeletal filaments.
Pseudopodia
Phosphorylation
Profilins
A family of low molecular weight proteins that bind ACTIN and control actin polymerization. They are found in eukaryotes and are ubiquitously expressed.
Gelsolin
A 90-kDa protein produced by macrophages that severs ACTIN filaments and forms a cap on the newly exposed filament end. Gelsolin is activated by CALCIUM ions and participates in the assembly and disassembly of actin, thereby increasing the motility of some CELLS.
p21-Activated Kinases
Cell Surface Extensions
Actin-Related Protein 2-3 Complex
A complex of seven proteins including ARP2 PROTEIN and ARP3 PROTEIN that plays an essential role in maintenance and assembly of the CYTOSKELETON. Arp2-3 complex binds WASP PROTEIN and existing ACTIN FILAMENTS, and it nucleates the formation of new branch point filaments.
Phalloidine
Cytoskeleton
Ethenoadenosine Triphosphate
rho-Associated Kinases
A group of intracellular-signaling serine threonine kinases that bind to RHO GTP-BINDING PROTEINS. They were originally found to mediate the effects of rhoA GTP-BINDING PROTEIN on the formation of STRESS FIBERS and FOCAL ADHESIONS. Rho-associated kinases have specificity for a variety of substrates including MYOSIN-LIGHT-CHAIN PHOSPHATASE and LIM KINASES.
Actin-Related Protein 3
Cell Movement
Biopolymers
Actin-Related Protein 2
Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
Nerve Tissue Proteins
'Nerve tissue proteins' are specialized proteins found within the nervous system's biological tissue, including neurofilaments, neuronal cytoskeletal proteins, and neural cell adhesion molecules, which facilitate structural support, intracellular communication, and synaptic connectivity essential for proper neurological function.
Polymerization
CapZ Actin Capping Protein
Protein Kinases
rho GTP-Binding Proteins
Dendritic Spines
Contractile Proteins
Protein Binding
RNA, Small Interfering
Small double-stranded, non-protein coding RNAs (21-31 nucleotides) involved in GENE SILENCING functions, especially RNA INTERFERENCE (RNAi). Endogenously, siRNAs are generated from dsRNAs (RNA, DOUBLE-STRANDED) by the same ribonuclease, Dicer, that generates miRNAs (MICRORNAS). The perfect match of the siRNAs' antisense strand to their target RNAs mediates RNAi by siRNA-guided RNA cleavage. siRNAs fall into different classes including trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA), repeat-associated RNA (rasiRNA), small-scan RNA (scnRNA), and Piwi protein-interacting RNA (piRNA) and have different specific gene silencing functions.
Cytoskeletal Proteins
Major constituent of the cytoskeleton found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. They form a flexible framework for the cell, provide attachment points for organelles and formed bodies, and make communication between parts of the cell possible.
Actin Capping Proteins
Actin capping proteins are cytoskeletal proteins that bind to the ends of ACTIN FILAMENTS to regulate actin polymerization.
Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic
Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
Stress Fibers
Bundles of actin filaments (ACTIN CYTOSKELETON) and myosin-II that span across the cell attaching to the cell membrane at FOCAL ADHESIONS and to the network of INTERMEDIATE FILAMENTS that surrounds the nucleus.
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Diphosphate
A phosphoinositide present in all eukaryotic cells, particularly in the plasma membrane. It is the major substrate for receptor-stimulated phosphoinositidase C, with the consequent formation of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate and diacylglycerol, and probably also for receptor-stimulated inositol phospholipid 3-kinase. (Kendrew, The Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology, 1994)
14-3-3 Proteins
A large family of signal-transducing adaptor proteins present in wide variety of eukaryotes. They are PHOSPHOSERINE and PHOSPHOTHREONINE binding proteins involved in important cellular processes including SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION; CELL CYCLE control; APOPTOSIS; and cellular stress responses. 14-3-3 proteins function by interacting with other signal-transducing proteins and effecting changes in their enzymatic activity and subcellular localization. The name 14-3-3 derives from numerical designations used in the original fractionation patterns of the proteins.
Molecular Sequence Data
Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.
Amino Acid Sequence
Protein Footprinting
A method for determining points of contact between interacting proteins or binding sites of proteins to nucleic acids. Protein footprinting utilizes a protein cutting reagent or protease. Protein cleavage is inhibited where the proteins, or nucleic acids and protein, contact each other. After completion of the cutting reaction, the remaining peptide fragments are analyzed by electrophoresis.
Glia Maturation Factor
A factor identified in the brain that influences the growth and differentiation of NEURONS and NEUROGLIA. Glia maturation factor beta is the 17-kDa polypeptide product of the GMFB gene and is the principal component of GLIA MATURATION FACTOR.