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Dynamics of the unbound head during myosin V processive translocation

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 14, pages 246–248 (2007)Cite this article

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Abstract

Myosin V moves cargoes along actin filaments by walking hand over hand. Although numerous studies support the basic hand-over-hand model, little is known about the fleeting intermediate that occurs when the rear head detaches from the filament. Here we use submillisecond dark-field imaging of gold nanoparticle–labeled myosin V to directly observe the free head as it releases from the actin filament, diffuses forward and rebinds. We find that the unbound head rotates freely about the lever-arm junction, a trait that likely facilitates travel through crowded actin meshworks.

NOTE: In the version of this article initially published online, the length of the step shown in Figure 3e was mislabeled: it should be +25nm, not +24nm. In addition, the word "(right)" was erroneously included in the legend of Figure 2b. The errors have been corrected for all versions of the article.

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Figure 1: Tracking the motion of the M5 lever arm with millisecond time resolution.
Figure 2: Characterization of the one-head-bound intermediate.
Figure 3: A myosin V model mechanism.

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  • 18 February 2007

    NOTE: In the version of this article initially published online, the length of the step shown in Figure 3e was mislabeled: it should be +25nm, not +24nm. In addition, the word "(right)" was erroneously included in the legend of Figure 2b. The errors have been corrected for all versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Vale (University of California, San Francisco) for the loan of the dark-field condenser and Z. Bryant and S. Churchman for insightful commentary. A.R.D. is a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow. J.A.S. is supported by grant GM33289 from the US National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University School of Medicine, Beckman Center, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, 94305-5307, California, USA

    Alexander R Dunn & James A Spudich

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  1. Alexander R Dunn
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  2. James A Spudich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James A Spudich.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Expression of M5elc and M5cam (PDF 472 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Sample trace showing alternating 53- and 21-nm steps (PDF 410 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Step-size and dwell-time histograms (PDF 105 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

Sample axial and lateral displacements during the one-head-bound intermediate (PDF 140 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 5

Axial and lateral standard deviation histograms (PDF 455 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 6

Mathematical modeling of the one-head-bound state (PDF 94 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 7

Lateral displacement during the one-head-bound intermediate (PDF 144 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 8

M5elc free-head rebinding kinetics in the presence of 100 mM BDM (PDF 345 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 9

M5elc free-head rebinding kinetics in the presence of 50 mM free phosphate (PDF 113 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

M5elc labeled with a 40-nm gold particle walks on actin (MOV 546 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 201 kb)

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Dunn, A., Spudich, J. Dynamics of the unbound head during myosin V processive translocation. Nat Struct Mol Biol 14, 246–248 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1206

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