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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Cytokinetic Events in Fission Yeast
Published on: February 20, 2017
Myosin II recruitment during cytokinesis independent of centralspindlin-mediated phosphorylation
Jordan R Beach1, Thomas T Egelhoff
1Department of Cell Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Abstract:
During cell division, the mechanisms by which myosin II is recruited to the contractile ring are not fully understood. Much recent work has focused on a model in which spatially restricted de novo filament assembly occurs at the cell equator via localized myosin II regulatory light chain (RLC) phosphorylation, stimulated by the RhoA-activating centralspindlin complex. Here, we show that a recombinant myosin IIA protein that assembles constitutively and is incapable of binding RLC still displays strong localization to the furrow in mammalian cells. Furthermore, this RLC-deficient myosin II efficiently drives cytokinesis, demonstrating that centralspindlin-based RLC phosphorylation is not necessary for myosin II localization during furrowing. Myosin II truncation analysis further reveals two distinct myosin II tail properties that contribute to furrow localization: a central tail domain mediating cortical furrow binding to heterologous binding partners and a carboxyl-terminal region mediating co-assembly with existing furrow myosin IIA or IIB filaments.
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