The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence
regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen. We review here the current understanding of …

In this paper we report, clarify and broaden various recent efforts to complement the
chemistry-centered models of force generation in (skeletal) muscles by mechanics-centered …

The small molecule drug omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) specifically targets cardiac muscle
myosin and is known to enhance cardiac muscle performance, yet its impact on human …

Molecular motors such as kinesin and myosin often work in groups to generate the directed
movements and forces critical for many biological processes. Although much is known about …

Nonmusclemyosin 2 (NM-2) powers cell motility and tissue morphogenesis by assembling
into bipolar filaments that interact with actin. Although the enzymatic properties of purified …

Living systems provide a paradigmatic example of active soft matter. Cells and tissues
comprise viscoelastic materials that exert forces and can actively change shape. This …

Cytokinesis in animal cells requires the assembly and constriction of a contractile
actomyosin ring. Non-muscle myosin II is essential for cytokinesis, but the role of its motor …

Almost every model of muscle contraction in the literature to date is a molecular power
stroke model, even though this corpuscular mechanism is opposed by centuries of science …

In vitro motility assays, where purified myosin and actin move relative to one another, are
used to better understand the mechanochemistry of the actomyosin adenosine …

It is not known which kinetic step in the acto-myosin ATPase cycle limits contraction speed in
unloaded muscles (V0). Huxley's 1957 model [Huxley AF (1957) Prog Biophys Biophys …