Observing EYFP-Actin in Opossum Kidney Cells

One of the most significant properties of actin is its ability to very quickly assemble into long polymer rods called microfilaments which have a variety of roles. Microfilaments form part of the cell’s cytoskeleton, interact with myosin to permit movement of the cell, and pinch the cell into two during cell division. In muscle contraction, filaments of actin and myosin alternately unlink and chemically link in a sliding action. The energy for this reaction is supplied by adenosine triphosphate, ATP. Actin is present in most cells, especially muscle cells and contributes to the cell’s structure and movement. In the digital videos presented above, normal opossum kidney epithelial cells (OK line) are expressing enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) fused to human beta-actin.