In cell biology, the
cleavage furrow is the indentation of the cell's surface that begins the progression of cleavage, by which animal and some algal cells undergo
cytokinesis, the final splitting of the membrane, in the process of
cell division. The same proteins responsible for muscle contraction,
actin and
myosin, begin the process of forming the cleavage furrow. Other
cytoskeletal proteins and actin binding proteins are involved in the procedure.