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Letter

Nature Cell Biology 10, 306–313 (1 March 2008) | doi:10.1038/ncb1692

Differentially oriented populations of actin filaments generated in lamellipodia collaborate in pushing and pausing at the cell front

Stefan A. Koestler , Sonja Auinger , Marlene Vinzenz , Klemens Rottner & J. Victor Small

Eukaryotic cells advance in phases of protrusion, pause and withdrawal. Protrusion occurs in lamellipodia, which are composed of diagonal networks of actin filaments, and withdrawal terminates with the formation of actin bundles parallel to the cell edge.