The control of cellular shape and motility. Mg2+ and tropomyosin regulate the formation and the dissociation of microfilament bundles.

At pH 7.14 and 37 degrees C, in 7.2% (w/v) poly(ethylene glycol) 6000, tropomyosin-regulated actin filaments are converted into filament bundles by increasing the free Mg2+ concentration to 1.7-2.0 mM. When free Mg2+ concentration is decreased below 1.7 mM, bundles dissociate back into tropomyosin-regulated actin filaments. Pure actin filaments are insensitive to this mechanism of control and are found as filament bundles in all the range of free Mg2+ concentrations tested (1.37-2.2 mM). The mechanism of regulation described above is likely to operate in the cell, where the concentration of free Mg2+ is linked to the energy charge of the adenine nucleotide system.