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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Reconstitution of Actin-Based Motility with Commercially Available Proteins
Published on: October 28, 2022
Cofilin phosphatases and regulation of actin dynamics
Timothy Y Huang1, Céline DerMardirossian, Gary M Bokoch
1The Scripps Research Institute, Departments of Immunology and Cell Biology, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Abstract:
Cofilin is a ubiquitous actin-binding factor required for the reorganization of actin filaments in eukaryotes. The dephosphorylation of cofilin enables its actin severing and depolymerizing activity and drives directional cell motility, thus providing a simple phosphoregulatory mechanism for actin reorganization. To date, two cofilin-specific phosphatases have been identified: Slingshot and Chronophin. These cofilin phosphatases are unrelated in sequence and regulatory properties, each potentially providing a unique mechanism for cofilin activation under varying biological circumstances.
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