Microtubule networks in frog egg extracts can spontaneously contract in a manner that can be quantitatively described by an active fluid model.

The viscous hydraulics of contracting endoplasmic reticulum networks challenge common solute transport theories, suggesting the contraction of peripheral sheets as a plausible driving mechanism.

Novel mechanisms for cellular centering and symmetry breaking involving persistent contractile actomyosin flows and their hydrodynamic interactions with the fluid cytosol are presented and studied using a minimal, reconstituted system.

Spontaneous contractions allow shedding of the fluid boundary layer and thereby stabilize microbiota.

The RhoGTPase domain containing protein GRAF recruits to the cleavage furrow during myosin II assembly to hydrolyze Rho-GTP and restrict actomyosin contractility for regulating the time of onset of constriction during Drosophila cellularization.

Cytokinetic actomyosin ring disassembly occurs through a novel mechanism in which the increased ring curvature, generated through contraction, itself promotes the disassembly process.

Spatially coordinated apical constriction occurs during Drosophila salivary gland invagination, but the salivary gland can form fully internalized and elongated tubes even when this process is completely blocked.

In fission yeast cell wall stress triggers a cytokinesis blockage specifically in the onset of actomyosin ring constriction.

Positive feedback between contractile ring myosin and compression-driven cortical flow can explain the exponential accumulation of contractile ring components and constriction rate acceleration that ensures timely cell separation during cytokinesis.

The physiological contraction of skeletal muscle is controlled by structural changes in the thick filaments, establishing a new paradigm for developing potential treatments for muscle weakness.