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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

In Vitro Polymerization of F-actin on Early Endosomes
Published on: August 28, 2017
Surfing pathogens and the lessons learned for actin polymerization
1Cell Biology and Biophysics Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrabetae 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
A number of unrelated bacterial species as well as vaccinia virus (ab)use the process of actin polymerization to facilitate and enhance their infection cycle. Studies into the mechanism by which these pathogens hijack and control the actin cytoskeleton have provided many interesting insights into the regulation of actin polymerization in migrating cells. This review focuses on what we have learnt from the actin-based motilities of Listeria, Shigella and vaccinia and discusses what we would still like to learn from our nasty friends, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Rickettsia
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