Leiomodin2 is a polymerase at the pointed ends of actin filaments
Thomas D. Pollard · 2026
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Description
Thomas D Pollard explains, in 2026, a surprise about how muscle actin filaments grow at their slow end. Actin strands add and lose units at both ends, but the pointed end in muscle was thought to be capped shut by another protein. Two new studies overturn that picture, identifying a protein called leiomodin 2 as the first known builder at the pointed end.
Pollard traces the puzzle from early observations that pointed ends in living muscle do change length, through the biophysics and structural work that caught leiomodin in the act. He discusses what kind of machinery could add units at a capped end and lists the questions now open. The discovery, he argues, will reshape thinking on muscle filament length control.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Thomas D. Pollard |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 18084 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |