Myosins are a large family of motor proteins found in eukaryotic tissues.

They are responsible for actin-based motility.

Most myosin molecules are composed of both a head and a tail domain.

The head domain binds the filamentous actin, and uses ATP hydrolysis to generate force and to "walk" along the filament towards the (+) end (with the exception of one family member, myosin VI, which moves towards the (-) end).

The tail domain generally mediates interaction with cargo molecules and/or other myosin subunits.

Myosin II, responsible for skeletal muscle contraction, is perhaps the best-studied example of these properties.

In muscle cells, it is myosin II that is responsible for producing the contractile force..

For more information about the topic Myosin, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

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