How dividing cells stay in shape

摘要

Studies of the mechanism of cytokinesis, the process in which a mother cell cleaves to form two daughter cells, often focus on the contractile actomyosin ring at the cell equator. Sedzinski et al. investigate the mechanics of the acto-myosin cortex found at the cell poles. They find that the presence of a contractile polar cortex makes cytokinesis an inherently unstable process that can result in misalignment of the constriction ring. They propose that membrane blebs forming at the poles of dividing cells stabilize the position of the cleavage furrow by releasing cortical contractility.