Cytokinetic contractile ring structural progression in an early embryo: positioning of scaffolding proteins, recruitment of α-actinin, and effects of myosin II inhibition.

Our knowledge of the assembly and dynamics of the cytokinetic contractile ring (CR) in animal cells remains incomplete. We have previously used super-resolution light microscopy and platinum replica electron microscopy to elucidate the ultrastructural organization of the CR in first division sea urchin embryos. To date, our studies indicate that the CR initiates as an equatorial band of clusters containing myosin II, actin, septin and anillin, which then congress over time into patches which coalesce into a linear array characteristic of mature CRs.