Abstract
In the unactivated Limulus sperm, a 60-µm-long bundle of actin filaments crosslinked by the protein scruin is bent and twisted into a coil around the base of the nucleus. At fertilization, the bundle uncoils and fully extends in five seconds to support a finger of membrane known as the acrosomal process. This biological spring is powered by stored elastic energy and does not require the action of motor proteins or actin polymerization1. In a 9.5-Å electron cryomicroscopic structure of the extended bundle, we show that twist, tilt and rotation of actin–scruin subunits deviate widely from a ‘standard’ F-actin filament. This variability in structural organization allows filaments to pack into a highly ordered and rigid bundle in the extended state and suggests a mechanism for storing and releasing energy between coiled and extended states without disassembly.
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Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the NCRR and NIGMS of NIH. We thank M. Baker for assistance in the helixhunter and foldhunter searches, and M. Dougherty for advice on graphical display.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary figure 1
Bundle Packing (DOC 441 kb)
Supplementary figure 2
Actin coordinates expressed as density (DOC 426 kb)
Supplementary movie
Transformation between the F-actin structure and the actin found in the bundle (MP4 2455 kb)
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Schmid, M., Sherman, M., Matsudaira, P. et al. Structure of the acrosomal bundle. Nature 431, 104–107 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02881
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02881
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