Intestinal microvilli, finger-like protrusions on the cell surface, are packed with the motor protein myosin-1a. This myosin was thought to serve a purely structural role, but now Vanderbilt cell biologists have demonstrated that it is an active motor. They show that myosin-1a moves membrane toward the tips of intestinal microvilli, where the membrane buds off in vesicles. The findings have implications for nutrient processing and other aspects of gastrointestinal physiology.
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