A new protein that gels F actin in the cell cortex of Dictyostelium discoideum

It is thought that the dense actin filament networks found in the cortex of many cell types^1-4 might account for the gelled consistency of the cortex⁵ and the exclusion of other organelles from this region of the cytoplasm^6-8. We now demonstrate that a new actin-binding protein from Dictyostelium that gels actin in vitro is concentrated in the cell cortex, suggesting that this protein, in association with actin, accounts for the gel-like properties of this region of the cell.