The actin cytoskeleton is essential for diverse processes in mammalian cells; these processes range from establishing cell polarity to powering cell migration to driving cytokinesis to positioning intracellular organelles. How these many functions are carried out in a spatiotemporally regulated manner in a single cytoplasm has been the subject of much study in the cytoskeleton field. Recent work has identified a host of actin nucleation factors that can build architecturally diverse actin structures. The biochemical properties of these factors, coupled with their cellular location, likely define the functional properties of actin structures. In this article, we describe how recent advances in cell biology and biochemistry have begun to elucidate the role of individual actin nucleation factors in generating distinct cellular structures. We also consider how the localization and orientation of actin nucleation factors, in addition to their kinetic properties, are critical to their ability to build a functional actin cytoskeleton.

中文翻译：

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通过肌动蛋白成核因子规范肌动蛋白结构的结构和功能。

肌动蛋白的细胞骨架对于哺乳动物细胞的各种过程至关重要。这些过程的范围从建立细胞极性到促进细胞迁移到驱动胞质分裂到定位细胞内细胞器。如何在单个细胞质中以时空调节的方式实现这些许多功能是细胞骨架领域中许多研究的主题。最近的工作已经确定了许多肌动蛋白成核因子，它们可以构建结构上多样化的肌动蛋白结构。这些因素的生化特性及其在细胞中的位置可能会定义肌动蛋白结构的功能特性。在本文中，我们描述了细胞生物学和生物化学的最新进展如何开始阐明单个肌动蛋白成核因子在产生不同细胞结构中的作用。