A conformational change in the actin subunit can change the flexibility of the actin filament - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 1993 Jul 20;232(2):334-41.

doi: 10.1006/jmbi.1993.1393.

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A conformational change in the actin subunit can change the flexibility of the actin filament

A Orlova et al. J Mol Biol. 1993.

Abstract

The mechanical properties of F-actin are very significant, given the central structural role played by actin filaments within muscle and the cytoskeleton. We have determined that actin can exist in a state that has a fourfold increase in flexibility over normal F-actin, and nucleotide. Three-dimensional reconstructions from electron micrographs suggest that this increased flexibility arises from a rotation of subdomain-2, the smallest subdomain, of the actin subunit. The modulation of actin's flexibility by Ca2+ and Mg2+ may have important physiological consequences within the cell. Further, since it has been shown that myosin-decorated actin filaments are more flexible than pure F-actin, it is possible that myosin induces this more flexible state in actin.

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