biosights: April 13, 2015

A motif that helps myosin II-B lead from behind

Myosin II-A and myosin II-B play distinct roles in establishing the front–back polarity of migrating mesenchymal cells. Juanes-Garcia et al. identify a short, serine-rich motif in the non-helical tail domain of myosin II-B that enables this isoform to form stable actomyosin bundles that define the cell rear. This biosights episode presents the paper by Juanes-Garcia et al. from the April 13, 2015, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with the paper's senior author, Miguel Vicente-Manzanares (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain). Produced by Caitlin Sedwick and Ben Short. See the associated paper in JCB for details on the funding provided to support this original research.

Subscribe to biosights via iTunes or RSS View biosights archive

The Rockefeller University Press biosights@rockefeller.edu