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Robust processivity of myosin V under off-axis loads

Nature Chemical Biology volume 6, pages 300–305 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The dimeric motor myosin V transports organelles along actin filament tracks over long distances in cells. Myosin V is a smart 'walker' that is able to swiftly adjust to variable 'road conditions' to continue its processive movement across dense cellular environments. Coordination between the two heads via intramolecular load modulates biochemical kinetics and ensures highly efficient unidirectional motion. However, little is known about how load-induced regulation of the processive stepping occurs in vivo, where myosin V experiences significant off-axis loads applied in various directions. To reveal how myosin V remains processive in cells, we measured the effect of the off-axis loads, applied to individual actomyosin V bonds in a range of angles, on the coordination between the two heads and myosin V processive stepping. We found that myosin V remains highly processive under diagonal loads owing to asymmetrical ADP affinities and that the native 6IQ lever optimizes the subunit coordination, which indicates that myosin V is designed to be an intracellular transporter.

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Figure 1: Constructs and loading angles.
Figure 2: Dependence of the unbinding force on loading angle.
Figure 3: Dependence of the proportion of the weaker-binding state, Pw, on [ADP] at various angles under forward and backward loads.
Figure 4: Asymmetry of ADP affinities depends on loading direction and lever length.
Figure 5: Analysis of the stepping motion of myosin V under the off-axis external backward loads.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Kinosita Jr. for critical reading and valuable comments. This work was supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research, Scientific Research (A) and the Academic Frontier Project from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (S.I.). The work was also supported by grant GM071688 from the US National Institutes of Health (E.M.D.L.C.). Y.O. is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. A.O.O. was supported by US National Institutes of Health predoctoral fellowship F31AR051614. E.M.D.L.C. is also supported by an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award (0940075N), a US National Science Foundation CAREER Award (MCB-0546353) and a Hellman Family Fellowship.

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  1. Adrian O Olivares

    Present address: Present address: Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yusuke Oguchi, Sergey V Mikhailenko, Takashi Ohki & Shin'ichi Ishiwata

  2. Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Adrian O Olivares & Enrique M De La Cruz

  3. Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    Shin'ichi Ishiwata

  4. Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore (WABIOS), Singapore, Singapore

    Shin'ichi Ishiwata

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Contributions

Y.O. performed the experiments and analyzed the results. Y.O., S.V.M. and S.I. designed the experiments. Y.O., S.V.M. and S.I. wrote the manuscript, with the support of A.O.O. and E.M.D.L.C. Y.O., S.V.M., T.O., A.O.O. and E.M.D.L.C. prepared DNA constructs and purified proteins. S.I. supervised the entire project. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shin'ichi Ishiwata.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Supplementary Results, Supplementary Figures 1–15 and Supplementary Tables 1–3 (PDF 1634 kb)

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Oguchi, Y., Mikhailenko, S., Ohki, T. et al. Robust processivity of myosin V under off-axis loads. Nat Chem Biol 6, 300–305 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.322

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