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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Dec 2.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2011 Apr 27;9(6):427–439. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2574

Figure 3. Manifestations of actin rearrangement.

Figure 3

Within the cell, actin filaments can be arranged to form multiple structures. Stress fibres are large assemblies of actin filaments that can span the length of the cell. The presence of myosin in stress fibres enables contractility. Underneath the plasma membrane is the loosely organized network of actin filaments that is termed cortical actin. Actin filaments also can be organized to produce a range of cellular extensions, including podosomes, lamellipodia, filopodia, microvilli and large membrane ruffles. Podosomes contain several actin-binding proteins, signalling molecules and metalloproteinases (black dots). ER, endoplasmic reticulum.