Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Myo2 Motor Function In The Contractile Ring And The Regulation Of Fission Yeast Cytokinesis, Luther Woodrow Pollard

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Animals, fungi, and amoebas require an actomyosin contractile ring at the division site to perform cytokinesis. The contractile ring initiates and guides the invagination of the plasma membrane as it forms new barriers between the nuclei at the cell equator. Defects in the contractile ring can result in misdirected, delayed, or premature cytokinesis, which leads to abnormal chromosome numbers. Aneuploidies resulting from failed cytokinesis sometimes lead to aggressive forms of cancer. This dissertation was motivated by the goal of better understanding the properties of the contractile ring and how it drives cytokinesis.

Actomyosin is initially recruited to the cell equator …