Table 1.

Comparison of the functional and morphological studies of gelsolin and ADF/cofilin

Experimental method	Gelsolin	ADF/cofilin
Purified proteins	Ca2+-sensitive, severs actin filaments, caps barbed end. Severing and capping increases free pointed ends, binds actin with very high affinity, and dissociates phalloidin from actin filaments.	pH-sensitive, weakly severs actin filaments, increases pointed end off rate. Severing increases free pointed and barbed ends, binds actin with lower affinity, and dissociates phalloidin from actin filaments.
Extracts	Serial platelet extracts demonstrate binding and dissociation of gelsolin from actin immediately after agonist exposure.	Increased depolymerization rate of Listeria actin rocket tails in Xenopus extract, increased dissociation of pointed end in platelet extracts.
Whole cells	Localized to Listeria rocket tails, overexpression increases the speed of Listeria and increases fibroblast chemotaxis	Localized to Listeria rocket tails, overexpression in fibroblasts causes rounding of cells, increases chemotaxis in Dictyostelium.
Mouse knockout experiments	Decreased chemotaxis of neutrophils, defective platelet function, abnormal stress fibers in fibroblasts, defective retraction of neurites, increased susceptibility to ischemic brain damage, and defective podosome formation in osteoclasts.	Not done.

See text for references.