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Nature Cell Biology 10, 13 - 15 (2008)
doi:10.1038/ncb0108-13
Actin nucleation: bacteria get in-Spired
Margot E. Quinlan1 & Eugen Kerkhoff2
- Margot E. Quinlan is at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, N314 Genentech Hall, 600 16th Street, San Francisco CA 94107
-
Bayerisches Genomforschungsnetzwerk (BayGene), Institut für funktionelle Genomik, Universität Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strau
-Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
e-mail: Eugen.Kerkhoff@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Abstract
Spir proteins nucleate actin polymerization by assembling a linear actin oligomer along a cluster of four actin-binding WH2 domains, and this process is enhanced by formins of the Cappuccino family. The discovery of Spir-like proteins in bacteria indicates that pathogens have adopted this mechanism to manipulate the host actin cytoskeleton.
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