Structural basis for polarized elongation of actin filaments
Abstract
Eukaryotic cells utilize actin filaments to move, change shape, divide, and transport cargo. Decades of experiments have established that actin filaments elongate and shorten significantly faster from one end than the other, but the underlying mechanism for this asymmetry has not been explained. We used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structures of the actin filament ends in the ATP, ADP plus γ-phosphate, and ADP nucleotide states. We characterize the structures of actin subunits at both ends of the filament, explain the mechanisms leading to these differences, and connect the divergent structural properties of the two ends to their distinct polymerization rate constants.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 16, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2011128117
Entities
People
- Gregory A. Voth
- Harshwardhan Katkar
- Steven Z Chou
- Thomas D. Pollard
- Vilmos Zsolnay
Organizations
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- United States Department of Defense
- University of Chicago
- Yale University