Contractile proteins articles from across Nature Portfolio

Modulation of the myosin molecular motor has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for both heart disease and heart failure. Here, the authors use AI-based virtual high throughput screening to identify compounds that acts as a cardiac-specific myosin modulators.

A cryo-electron tomography study reports the structure of thick myosin filaments of mouse cardiac muscle in the relaxed state in situ and the MyBP-C links that connect them with the surrounding thin actin filaments.

Myocytes are a key cell type that enable animal movement, but their evolutionary origins remain unclear. Colgren and Nichols describe molecular and functional similarities between a contractile module in tissues of a sponge and muscle tissues in other animals, indicating a common evolutionary origin.

Proteins are most at home in water, although it has been known for some time that they can remain functional in non-aqueous environments. Researchers have now shown that in solvent-free melts, the oxygen-binding protein myoglobin adopts a near-native structure and retains its biological activity.

The sliding movement of the actin–myosin protein conjugate responsible for contracting muscles can be inhibited using a dendrimer that glues them together.