Abstract |
Myosin V is a two-headed molecular motor that binds six light chains per heavy chain, which creates unusually long lever arms. This motor moves processively along its actin track in discrete 36-nm steps. Our model is that one head of the two-headed myosin V tightly binds to actin and swings its long lever arm through a large angle, providing a stroke. We created single-headed constructs with different-size lever arms and show that stroke size is proportional to lever arm length. In a two-headed molecule, the stroke provides the directional bias, after which the unbound head diffuses to find its binding site, 36 nm forward. Our two-headed construct with all six light chains per head reconstitutes the 36-nm processive step seen in tissue-purified myosin V. Two-headed myosin V molecules with only four light chains per head are still processive, but their step size is reduced to 24 nm. A further reduction in the length of the lever arms to one light chain per head results in a motor that is unable to walk processively. This motor produces single small approximately 6-nm strokes, and ATPase and pyrene actin quench measurements show that only one of the heads of this dimer rapidly binds to actin for a given binding event. These data show that for myosin V with its normal proximal tail domain, both heads and a long lever arm are required for large, processive steps.
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Authors | Thomas J Purcell, Carl Morris, James A Spudich, H Lee Sweeney |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A)
Vol. 99
Issue 22
Pg. 14159-64
(Oct 29 2002)
ISSN: 0027-8424 [Print] United States |
PMID | 12386339
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)
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Chemical References |
- Actins
- Pyrenes
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Adenosine Triphosphatases
- Myosin Type V
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Topics |
- Actins
(chemistry, metabolism)
- Adenosine Triphosphatases
(chemistry, metabolism)
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Chickens
- Models, Molecular
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Myosin Type V
(chemistry, genetics, metabolism)
- Protein Processing, Post-Translational
- Protein Structure, Tertiary
- Pyrenes
(chemistry, metabolism)
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
(chemistry, genetics, metabolism)
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