Theories of Amoeboid Movement

Abstract

Theories of amoeboid movement are reviewed. The prevailing theory, based upon the colloidal nature of protoplasm, stresses the importance of reversible sol gel changes to account for contractility and movement. In this paper, the author again considers contractility to be the locomotive force. To explain the process, protoplasm is conceived to be a 3-dimensional network of protein chains, linked together by cross-linkages of the side chains. In such a structure, contraction may occur either by a rearrangement of the side chain connection, resulting in a narrowing of the meshes of the molecular reticulum, or by folding of the protein chains.