# Dynamic Pattern Formation in the Cell Cortex

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $392,933

## Abstract

Project Summary
All eukaryotic cells share the ability to heal themselves and to divide; these capacities are essential for life and,
when deficient, result in a variety of human diseases. While both processes occur in response to very different
stimuli—damage in the case of healing, anaphase onset in the case of cell division—the same core players are
employed: Rho GTPases and their ultimate targets, the components of the actomyosin cytoskeleton. In
keeping with the fact that the stimuli are different, the regulators that control Rho GTPases in cell repair and
cell division differ considerably. However, we have discovered that in both cell repair and cell division, the
regulators impact the Rho GTPases in a fashion that produces GTPase activity waves. For cell repair, two
complementary, concentric waves, one of Cdc42 activity and one of Rho activity, form around wounds and
close inward, with an ring of actomyosin closing over the wound in their wake. For cytokinesis, randomly
moving waves of Rho activity are initially found throughout the cell cortex, but become focused at the cell
equator by the mitotic spindle. Once confined to the equator, the waves direct the assembly of the
actomyosin-based cytokinetic apparatus, which follows the waves inward and pinches the cell in half.
Here we propose experiments designed to determine how the waves arise, how they assume their
characteristic forms, and how they are interpreted by the cell cortex to build the actomyosin-based structures
needed for healing and cell division. The proposed work will provide fundamental new insights into cell repair
and cell division. Given the medical importance of these processes, the proposed work will likewise benefit
efforts to improve human health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10122138
- **Project number:** 2R01GM052932-20
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** WILLIAM BEMENT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $392,933
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1997-03-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10122138

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10122138, Dynamic Pattern Formation in the Cell Cortex (2R01GM052932-20). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10122138. Licensed CC0.

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