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Review
. 2025 Jun:94:102522.
doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2025.102522. Epub 2025 May 3.

Myosin 2 - A general contractor for the cytoskeleton

Joseph J Tidei  1 , Patrick W Oakes  2 , Jordan R Beach  3
Affiliations
Review

Myosin 2 - A general contractor for the cytoskeleton

Joseph J Tidei et al. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Cells derive their shape, and in turn much of their behavior, from the organization of the cytoskeleton. While a myriad of proteins contribute to the regulation and organization of this dynamic structure, two of the principal components are actin filaments, which provide the structure, and myosin motors, which generate the majority of the forces. Here we review recent results on the assembly and kinetics of non-muscle myosin 2, and highlight how the cellular environment modulates local myosin behavior and signaling.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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      ** This study uses the apical cortex of epithelial cells to provide an exquisite example of how cells can generate architecturally unique but adjacent actomyosin structures in tight spatial proximity.

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