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Contractile rings are composed of microfilaments and are responsible for separating the daughter cells during cytokinesis. Contractile ring assembly proceeds along with other cell cycle events; however, very few mechanistic details are known about the timing and coordination of the contractile rings with the cell cycle.
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Actin and myosin or actomyosin filaments also play a significant role in cells other than those involved in muscle contraction (which occurs within the sarcomere of muscle cells). The mechanism of non-muscle cell contractile bundles was first observed in Dictyostelium and Acanthamoeba. In non-muscle cells, two bundles are commonly found: stress fibers and actomyosin adherence belts. These contractile bundles are smaller and less organized than the ones found in muscle cells. They  are held...
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Actin is a family of globular proteins that are highly abundant in eukaryotic cells. It makes up approximately 1-5% of total cell protein concentration. Actin monomers polymerize to form a complex network of polarized filaments, the actin cytoskeleton, that plays a crucial role in many cellular processes, including cell motility, division, endocytosis, and metastasis of cancer cells.
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Actin and myosin are contractile proteins that form the sarcomere found in skeletal muscle tissues for regulating muscle contraction. Actin, a globular contractile protein, interacts with myosin for muscle contraction. The skeletal tissue appears striped or striated under a microscope due to the repeated arrangement of contractile proteins actin and myosin along the length of myofibrils. Dark A bands and light I bands repeat along myofibrils, and the alignment of myofibrils in the cell causes...
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Blebs are a type of membrane protrusion formed by the internal hydrostatic pressure of the cytoplasm. Blebs are observed in several cell types, including fibroblasts, immune cells, and single-celled organisms like the amoeba. The primary function of blebs is cell locomotion and apoptosis, but they are also found during necrosis and cell division. The life cycle of a bleb comprises an initiation phase followed by the expansion and retraction phases.
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Actin is a highly conserved cytoskeletal protein found abundantly in eukaryotic cells. It constitutes 10% weight of the total cellular protein in muscle cells, while in non-muscle cells, it is lower and makes up around 1–5 percent of the total cell protein. Actin found in the unicellular amoebae and complex multicellular animals is around 80% similar, demonstrating their conservation over a billion years of evolution.  Actin coding genes are conserved within species and across...
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Ex Vivo Assessment of Contractility, Fatigability and Alternans in Isolated Skeletal Muscles
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Cell contractility in early animal evolution.

Thibaut Brunet1

  • 1Institut Pasteur, Université Paris-Cité, CNRS UMR3691, Evolutionary Cell Biology and Evolution of Morphogenesis Unit, 25-28 Rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France.

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|September 26, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Animal contractility evolved from ancient actomyosin functions like cell crawling. Key innovations include multicellular coordination and specialized muscle cells, shaping diverse contractile tissues across the animal kingdom.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Cell biology
  • Developmental biology

Background:

  • Animal tissue contractility, driven by actin/myosin II (actomyosin), is fundamental for behavior and morphogenesis.
  • Ancient actomyosin functions include cell crawling and cytokinesis, present in unicellular eukaryotes and metazoan cells.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize insights into the evolutionary history of animal contractile tissue.
  • To explore the innovations driving the development of specialized contractile cell types.

Main Methods:

  • Review of morphological and molecular studies on animal contractile tissues.
  • Comparative analysis of actomyosin functions across metazoans and choanoflagellates.

Main Results:

  • Apical constriction is a universal metazoan trait shared with choanoflagellates.
  • Two key innovations: multicellular actomyosin coordination (supracellular cables) and evolution of distinct striated and non-muscle myosin II-expressing cell types.
  • Contractile cells evolved from generic epithelial/mesenchymal cells, transitioning through various forms like epitheliomuscular tissues to specialized muscle.

Conclusions:

  • The evolution of animal contractility involved integrating ancient actomyosin functions with novel multicellular coordination mechanisms.
  • Specialized contractile cell types arose from ancestral cells, leading to the diversity of muscle tissues observed today.
  • Elaboration of the contractile apparatus and regulatory transcription factors underpin these evolutionary transitions.