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Protein filaments

Bundles from boundaries

Nature Materials volume 9, pages 788–790 (2010)Cite this article

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Using a micropatterning technique, the architecture of actin networks is revealed to be influenced by the spatial organization of actin filament nucleation. Considering the geometric boundaries within live cells, implications in the realm of actin-induced cell functions are vast.

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Figure 1: Actin filaments are organized into highly diverse complex assemblies in different regions of the cell.
Figure 2: A fluorescence image showing that actin filaments can organize into a filopodial-like compact bundle by the spatial organization of nucleating factors2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Denis Wirtz and Shyam B. Khatau are in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences in Oncology Center, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.,

    Denis Wirtz & Shyam B. Khatau

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  1. Denis Wirtz
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  2. Shyam B. Khatau
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Correspondence to Denis Wirtz or Shyam B. Khatau.

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Wirtz, D., Khatau, S. Bundles from boundaries. Nature Mater 9, 788–790 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2868

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