The discovery of the role of ActA to polymerise actin at one pole of Listeria monocytogenes represents a key event in the field of cellular microbiology. It uncovered much more than the molecular principle behind actin‐based motility of Listeria within the cytosol of infected cells, and it changed the way how actin dynamics could be studied and eventually understood. The ActA discovery took place at a time when cell biology, biochemistry and microbiology came together in a very fruitful fashion. Here, we provide an overview of the science that took place around this event. Then, we outline the wide array of research fields that have been impacted by this finding. This ranges from structural and biophysical investigations on actin and its dynamics, the role of actin polymerisation during infection with different pathogens, to actin‐dynamics during various pathologies. Like a comet in the sky, Pascale Cossart's work on ActA has inspired and will inspire generations of (life) scientists.

中文翻译：

---

肌动蛋白彗星引导着这种方式：李斯特菌肌动蛋白颠覆如何影响细胞生物学，感染生物学和结构生物学。

ActA在单核细胞增生性李斯特菌一极处聚合肌动蛋白的作用的发现代表了细胞微生物学领域的关键事件。它不仅发现了基于肌动蛋白的利斯特氏菌运动性背后的分子原理在被感染细胞的胞质溶胶中，它改变了肌动蛋白动力学研究和最终理解的方式。ActA的发现发生在细胞生物学，生物化学和微生物学以非常有成果的方式融合在一起的时候。在此，我们概述了围绕此事件发生的科学。然后，我们概述了受到这一发现影响的广泛研究领域。这包括对肌动蛋白及其动力学的结构和生物物理研究，在不同病原体感染过程中肌动蛋白聚合的作用，以及各种病理过程中的肌动蛋白动力学。就像天上的一颗彗星一样，帕斯卡尔·科萨特（Pascale Cossart）在ActA上的工作已经激发并将启发几代（生命）科学家。