Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
actin filament
References
Images
cytoskeleton Diagram showing the structure and interaction of actin and myosin filaments in muscle, with labeled actin filaments, myosin filaments, tropomyosin molecules, troponin, and a myosin molecule with rod and heads.
Britannica AI Icon

actin filament

cytoskeleton
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

cytoskeleton
cytoskeleton Bundles of actin filaments occur in the cytoskeletons of cells such as fibroblasts (mouse embryo fibroblasts shown; cells were stained with a green fluorescent-tagged peptide called phalloidin).

Actin filaments are a crucial component of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells. These filaments are composed of the globular protein actin, which polymerizes to form long, fibrous structures known as F-actin.12

In muscle cells, actin filaments work with myosin to generate force for contraction through a sliding filament mechanism. In non-muscle cells, actin filaments form dynamic networks that are essential for maintaining cell shape, enabling various forms of cellular movement like the formation of microvilli and filopodia, and playing a role in cell division. Actin exists in two forms: G-actin (globular) and F-actin (fibrous).123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. cell - Actin filaments
  2. actin: Top Questions
  3. actin

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.