Myosin

Myosin is a family of ATP-powered motor proteins that move along actin filaments. Its members generate force for muscle contraction, cell movement, and intracellular transport.

Myosin–actin cross-bridge cycle: A repeating sequence in which myosin binds actin, generates force, releases, and resets using ATP. It describes the core ATP-powered cycle shared by many myosin motors.
Motor protein: A protein that converts chemical energy into directed movement or mechanical force. Myosin belongs to this broader class of molecular machines.
Muscle contraction: The generation of force by muscle tissue through interactions between actin and myosin filaments. Myosin II sliding along actin produces the force central to contraction.
Kinesin: A family of ATP-powered motor proteins that generally move along microtubules. Kinesin uses a different cytoskeletal track from myosin's actin filaments.
William Astbury: A British crystallographer who pioneered X-ray studies of biological macromolecules, including muscle proteins. His early structural investigations helped establish muscle proteins as objects of molecular study.
ATP hydrolysis: The chemical reaction that splits ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate, releasing usable free energy. ATP hydrolysis changes myosin's conformation and drives its interaction with actin.
Myosin motor domain: The conserved myosin region that binds actin and ATP and produces force through conformational changes. It contains the machinery responsible for myosin's movement and force generation.
Myosin II: A class of myosin that forms bipolar filaments and generates contractile force in muscle and other cells. It is the best-known myosin class and the main motor in conventional muscle contraction.
Dynein: A family of motor proteins that move along microtubules and power transport, cilia, and flagella. Dynein is a major alternative to myosin for intracellular transport, but follows microtubules.
Albert Szent-Györgyi: A Hungarian physiologist and Nobel laureate who investigated actin and myosin in muscle contraction. His experiments helped reveal how actin and myosin participate in muscle movement.

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