Makito Miyazaki

Biophysics and Physicobiology

Mechanical self-organization of the actin cytoskeleton in artificial cells

The actin cytoskeleton generates diverse cellular functions, including intracellular positioning, symmetry breaking, and cell migration, through dynamic self-organization. Despite extensive molecular characterization of actin-binding proteins, the physical principles by which local molecular interactions give rise to c...

Reconstitution of actomyosin networks in cell-sized liposomes dissects distinct mechanisms of membrane blebbing and symmetry breaking

It is shown that actin-membrane coupling strength determines the magnitude of membrane deformation, while its balance with actin network connectivity governs the bleb initiation mechanism, either by detachment of the cortex from the membrane or by rupture of the cortex.

Structure and dynamics of a four-protofilament microtubule from Heimdallarchaeales α/β-tubulin

These results indicate expansion in microtubule protofilament number during eukaryogenesis, and suggest microtubule-like polymers can form from a range of protofilament numbers, with reduced architectures potentially adapted to small cellular dimensions and lower mechanical loads.