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Measurements of Myosin-II Motor Activity During Cytokinesis in Fission Yeast

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1369))

Abstract

Fission yeast myosin-II (Myo2p) represents the critical actin-based motor protein that drives actomyosin ring assembly and constriction during cytokinesis. We detail three different methods to measure Myo2p motor function. Actin-activated ATPases provide a readout of actomyosin ATPase motor activity in a bulk assay; actin filament motility assays reveal the speed and efficiency of myosin-driven actin filament gliding (when motors are anchored); myosin-bead motility assays reveal the speed and efficiency of myosin ensembles traveling along actin filaments (when actin is anchored). Collectively, these methods allow us to combine the standard in vivo approaches common to fission yeast with in vitro biochemical methods to learn more about the mechanistic action of myosin-II during cytokinesis.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health RO1 grant (GM097193) to ML.

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Correspondence to Matthew Lord .

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Tang, Q., Pollard, L.W., Lord, M. (2016). Measurements of Myosin-II Motor Activity During Cytokinesis in Fission Yeast. In: Sanchez-Diaz, A., Perez, P. (eds) Yeast Cytokinesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1369. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3145-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3145-3_11

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3144-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3145-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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