CONTRACTILE SYSTEMS OF A CELL: FROM MUSCLE CONTRACTION TO REGULATION OF CELL FUNCTIONS
G. P. Pinaev
Institute of Cytology RAS, St. Petersburg;
e-mail: pinaev@mail.cytspb.rssi.ru
The review is devoted to analysis of sequential modifications of our views on structural organization and functional significance of actin-myosin system in vital
activity of a cell. Originally it was considered as a contractile apparatus of muscle cells only. Then actin, myosin and their accompanying proteins have been found in
the cytoplasm of all non-muscle cells and shown to take part and be responsible for different types of cell motility. Later on, it has been found that actin is a highly
polymorphic protein, which is able to form different structures and to play a role in a broad spectrum of cellular functions up to signal transduction and chromatin
reorganization. And finally, the latest data demonstrate that actin and myosin directly participate in gene transcription and messenger RNA splicing. Thus, the data
accumulated to date allow us to consider these proteins as the universal structural-regulatory system which provides a way to unite various poorly combined
biochemical processes on the same molecular basis.
Key words: actin, myosin, actin-binding proteins, contractile system, cytoskeleton, signaling, transcription
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