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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jan 15.
Published in final edited form as: ACS Chem Biol. 2010 Jan 15;5(1):79–90. doi: 10.1021/cb900256m

Figure 1. Cartoon of a cell during early stages of cytokinesis.

Figure 1

During cytokinesis, a contractile ring assembles. It is located just beneath the plasma membrane and includes a network of actin and myosin II filaments as well as septins and Anillin. Phosphorylation and activation of myosin II at the cleavage furrow is regulated by several kinases, including ROCK, MLCK and Citron kinase. The mitotic kinases Plk1 and Aurora B both localize to the cleavage furrow as well as midzone microtubules where they function as key regulators of cytokinesis. An expanding collection of small molecules has been used to dissect cytokinesis regulation in both time and space. Key cytokinesis protein and their corresponding small molecule inhibitors are shown. For clarity, only localizations at the cleavage furrow and midzone microtubules are shown. Not drawn to scale.