Budding roles for myosin II on the Golgi

Abstract

Myosin II--conventional myosin--has been typecast in muscle-man roles. While members of the Schwarzenegger clan from skeletal muscle have grabbed the limelight, myosin II motors in nonmuscle cells labour away in many varied and subtle roles. Recent findings show that nonmuscle myosin II, along with other myosins and cytoskeletal proteins, assembles on Golgi membranes. Nonmuscle myosin II associates transiently with membranes of the trans-Golgi network during the budding of a subpopulation of transport vesicles. The exact role of myosin II in vesicular trafficking is not yet understood, but its participation heralds a novel role for actin-based motors in vesicle budding.