Academic literature on the topic 'Actin filaments'
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Journal articles on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Cano, M. L., D. A. Lauffenburger, and S. H. Zigmond. "Kinetic analysis of F-actin depolymerization in polymorphonuclear leukocyte lysates indicates that chemoattractant stimulation increases actin filament number without altering the filament length distribution." Journal of Cell Biology 115, no. 3 (November 1, 1991): 677–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.115.3.677.
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The rate of filamentous actin (F-actin) depolymerization is proportional to the number of filaments depolarizing and changes in the rate are proportional to changes in filament number. To determine the number and length of actin filaments in polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the change in filament number and length that occurs during the increase in F-actin upon chemoattractant stimulation, the time course of cellular F-actin depolymerization in lysates of control and peptide-stimulated cells was examined. F-actin was quantified by the TRITC-labeled phalloidin staining of pelletable actin. Lysis in 1.2 M KCl and 10 microM DNase I minimized the effects of F-actin binding proteins and G-actin, respectively, on the kinetics of depolymerization. To determine filament number and length from a depolymerization time course, depolymerization kinetics must be limited by the actin monomer dissociation rate. Comparison of time courses of depolymerization in the presence (pointed ends free) or absence (barbed and pointed ends free) of cytochalasin suggested depolymerization occurred from both ends of the filament and that monomer dissociation was rate limiting. Control cells had 1.7 +/- 0.4 x 10(5) filaments with an average length of 0.29 +/- 0.09 microns. Chemo-attractant stimulation for 90 s at room temperature with 0.02 microM N-formylnorleucylleucylphenylalanine caused a twofold increase in F-actin and about a two-fold increase in the total number of actin filaments to 4.0 +/- 0.5 x 10(5) filaments with an average length of 0.27 +/- 0.07 microns. In both cases, most (approximately 80%) of the filaments were quite short (less than or equal to 0.18 micron). The length distributions of actin filaments in stimulated and control cells were similar.
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MORIYAMA, Kenji, and Ichiro YAHARA. "The actin-severing activity of cofilin is exerted by the interplay of three distinct sites on cofilin and essential for cell viability." Biochemical Journal 365, no. 1 (July 1, 2002): 147–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/bj20020231.
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Cofilin/actin-depolymerizing factor is an essential and conserved modulator of actin dynamics. Cofilin binds to actin in either monomeric or filamentous form, severs and depolymerizes actin filaments, and speeds up their treadmilling. A high turnover rate of F-actin in actin-based motility seems driven largely by cofilin-mediated acceleration of directional subunit release, but little by fragmentation of the filaments. On the other hand, the filament-severing function of cofilin seems relevant for the healthy growth of cells. In this study, we have characterized three mutants of porcine cofilin to elucidate the molecular mechanism that underlies the filament-severing activity of cofilin. The first mutant could neither associate with actin filaments nor sever them, whereas it effectively accelerated their treadmilling and directional subunit release. The second mutant bound to actin filaments, but failed to sever them and to interfere with phalloidin binding to the filament. The third mutant could associate with actin filaments and sever them, although with a very reduced efficacy. Of these mutant proteins, only the last one was able to rescue Δcof1 yeast cells and to induce thick actin bundles in mammalian cells upon overexpression. Therefore, the actin-severing activity of cofilin is an essential element in its vital function and suggested to be exerted by co-operation of at least three distinct sites of cofilin.
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Arikawa, K., J. L. Hicks, and D. S. Williams. "Identification of actin filaments in the rhabdomeral microvilli of Drosophila photoreceptors." Journal of Cell Biology 110, no. 6 (June 1, 1990): 1993–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.110.6.1993.
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The phototransductive microvilli of arthropod photoreceptors each contain an axial cytoskeleton. The present study shows that actin filaments are a component of this cytoskeleton in Drosophila. Firstly, actin was detected in the rhabdomeral microvilli and in the subrhabdomeral cytoplasm by immunogold labeling with antiactin. Secondly, the rhabdomeres were labeled with phalloidin, indicating the presence of filamentous actin. Finally, the actin filaments were decorated with myosin subfragment-1. The characteristic arrowhead complex formed by subfragment-1 decoration points towards the base of the microvilli, so that the fast growing end of each filament is at the distal end of the microvillus, where it is embedded in a detergent-resistant cap. Each microvillus contains more than one actin filament. Decorated filaments extend the entire length of each microvillus and project into the subrhabdomeral cytoplasm. This organization is comparable to that of the actin filaments in intestinal brush border microvilli. Similar observations were made with the photoreceptor microvilli of the crayfish, Procambarus. Our results provide an indication as to how any myosin that is associated with the rhabdomeres might function.
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Braun, Tatjana, Albina Orlova, Karin Valegård, Ann-Christin Lindås, Gunnar F. Schröder, and Edward H. Egelman. "Archaeal actin from a hyperthermophile forms a single-stranded filament." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 30 (June 29, 2015): 9340–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509069112.
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The prokaryotic origins of the actin cytoskeleton have been firmly established, but it has become clear that the bacterial actins form a wide variety of different filaments, different both from each other and from eukaryotic F-actin. We have used electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) to examine the filaments formed by the protein crenactin (a crenarchaeal actin) from Pyrobaculum calidifontis, an organism that grows optimally at 90 °C. Although this protein only has ∼20% sequence identity with eukaryotic actin, phylogenetic analyses have placed it much closer to eukaryotic actin than any of the bacterial homologs. It has been assumed that the crenactin filament is double-stranded, like F-actin, in part because it would be hard to imagine how a single-stranded filament would be stable at such high temperatures. We show that not only is the crenactin filament single-stranded, but that it is remarkably similar to each of the two strands in F-actin. A large insertion in the crenactin sequence would prevent the formation of an F-actin-like double-stranded filament. Further, analysis of two existing crystal structures reveals six different subunit–subunit interfaces that are filament-like, but each is different from the others in terms of significant rotations. This variability in the subunit–subunit interface, seen at atomic resolution in crystals, can explain the large variability in the crenactin filaments observed by cryo-EM and helps to explain the variability in twist that has been observed for eukaryotic actin filaments.
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Stokes, DL, and DJ DeRosier. "The variable twist of actin and its modulation by actin-binding proteins." Journal of Cell Biology 104, no. 4 (April 1, 1987): 1005–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.104.4.1005.
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Previous studies demonstrated that actin filaments have variable twist in which the intersubunit angles vary by approximately +/- 10 degrees within a filament. In this work we show that this variability was unchanged when different methods were used to prepare filaments for electron microscopy. We also show that actin-binding proteins can modulate the variability in twist. Three preparations of actin filaments were photographed in the electron microscope: negatively stained filaments, replicas of rapidly frozen, etched filaments, and frozen hydrated filaments. In addition, micrographs of actin + tropomyosin + troponin (thin filaments), of actin + myosin S1 (decorated filaments), and of filaments frayed from the acrosomal process of Limulus sperm (Limulus filaments) were obtained. We used two independent methods to measure variable twist based on Fourier transforms of single filaments. The first involved measuring layer line intensity versus filament length and the second involved measuring layer line position. We measured a variability in the intersubunit angle of actin filaments of approximately 12 degrees independent of the method of preparation or of measurement. Thin filaments have 15 degrees of variability, but the increase over pure actin is not statistically significant. Decorated filaments and Limulus filaments, however, have significantly less variability (approximately 2 and 1 degree, respectively), indicating a torsional stiffening relative to actin. The results from actin alone using different preparative methods are evidence that variable twist is a property of actin in solution. The results from actin filaments in the presence of actin-binding proteins suggest that the angular variability can be modulated, depending on the biological function.
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Bearer, E. L. "Direct observation of actin filament severing by gelsolin and binding by gCap39 and CapZ." Journal of Cell Biology 115, no. 6 (December 15, 1991): 1629–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.115.6.1629.
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Dynamic behavior of actin filaments in cells is the basis of many different cellular activities. Remodeling of the actin filament network involves polymerization and depolymerization of the filaments. Proteins that regulate these behaviors include proteins that sever and/or cap actin filaments. This report presents direct observation of severing of fluorescently-labeled actin filaments. Coverslips coated with gelsolin, a multi-domain, calcium-dependent capping and severing protein, bound rhodamine-phalloidin-saturated filaments along their length in the presence of EGTA. Upon addition of calcium, attached filaments bent as they broke. Actophorin, a low molecular weight, monomer sequestering, calcium-independent severing protein did not sever phalloidin-saturated filaments. Both gCap 39, a gelsolin-like, calcium-dependent capping protein that does not sever filaments, and CapZ, a heterodimeric, non-calcium-dependent capping protein, bound the filaments by one end to the coverslip. Visualization of individual filaments also revealed severing activity present in mixtures of actin-binding proteins isolated by filamentous actin affinity chromatography from early Drosophila embryos. This activity was different from either gelsolin or actophorin because it was not inhibited by phalloidin, but was calcium independent. The results of these studies provide new information about the molecular mechanisms of severing and capping by well-characterized proteins as well as definition of a novel type of severing activity.
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Hartwig, J. H., and P. Shevlin. "The architecture of actin filaments and the ultrastructural location of actin-binding protein in the periphery of lung macrophages." Journal of Cell Biology 103, no. 3 (September 1, 1986): 1007–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.103.3.1007.
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A highly branched filament network is the principal structure in the periphery of detergent-extracted cytoskeletons of macrophages that have been spread on a surface and either freeze or critical point dried, and then rotary shadowed with platinum-carbon. This array of filaments completely fills lamellae extended from the cell and bifurcates to form 0.2-0.5 micron thick layers on the top and bottom of the cell body. Reaction of the macrophage cytoskeletons with anti-actin IgG and with anti-IgG bound to colloidal gold produces dense staining of these filaments, and incubation with myosin subfragment 1 uniformly decorates these filaments, identifying them as actin. 45% of the total cellular actin and approximately 70% of actin-binding protein remains in the detergent-insoluble cell residue. The soluble actin is not filamentous as determined by sedimentation analysis, the DNAase I inhibition assay, and electron microscopy, indicating that the cytoskeleton is not fragmented by detergent extraction. The spacing between the ramifications of the actin network is 94 +/- 47 nm and 118 +/- 72 nm in cytoskeletons prepared for electron microscopy by freeze drying and critical point drying, respectively. Free filament ends are rare, except for a few which project upward from the body of the network or which extend down to the substrate. Filaments of the network intersect predominantly at right angles to form either T-shaped and X-shaped overlaps having striking perpendicularity or else Y-shaped intersections composed of filaments intersecting at 120-130 degrees angles. The actin filament concentration in the lamellae is high, with an average value of 12.5 mg/ml. The concentration was much more uniform in freeze-dried preparations than in critical point-dried specimens, indicating that there is less collapse associated with the freezing technique. The orthogonal actin network of the macrophage cortical cytoplasm resembles actin gels made with actin-binding protein. Reaction of cell cytoskeletons and of an actin gel made with actin-binding protein with anti-actin-binding protein IgG and anti-IgG-coated gold beads resulted in the deposition of clusters of gold at points where filaments intersect and at the ends of filaments that may have been in contact with the membrane before its removal with detergent. In the actin gel made with actin-binding protein, 75% of actin-fiber intersections labeled, and the filament spacing between intersections is consistent with that predicted on theoretical grounds if each added actin-binding protein molecule cross-links two filaments to form an intersection in the gel.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Ijpma, Gijs, Ahmed M. Al-Jumaily, Simeon P. Cairns, and Gary C. Sieck. "Myosin filament polymerization and depolymerization in a model of partial length adaptation in airway smooth muscle." Journal of Applied Physiology 111, no. 3 (September 2011): 735–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00114.2011.
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Length adaptation in airway smooth muscle (ASM) is attributed to reorganization of the cytoskeleton, and in particular the contractile elements. However, a constantly changing lung volume with tidal breathing (hence changing ASM length) is likely to restrict full adaptation of ASM for force generation. There is likely to be continuous length adaptation of ASM between states of incomplete or partial length adaption. We propose a new model that assimilates findings on myosin filament polymerization/depolymerization, partial length adaptation, isometric force, and shortening velocity to describe this continuous length adaptation process. In this model, the ASM adapts to an optimal force-generating capacity in a repeating cycle of events. Initially the myosin filament, shortened by prior length changes, associates with two longer actin filaments. The actin filaments are located adjacent to the myosin filaments, such that all myosin heads overlap with actin to permit maximal cross-bridge cycling. Since in this model the actin filaments are usually longer than myosin filaments, the excess length of the actin filament is located randomly with respect to the myosin filament. Once activated, the myosin filament elongates by polymerization along the actin filaments, with the growth limited by the overlap of the actin filaments. During relaxation, the myosin filaments dissociate from the actin filaments, and then the cycle repeats. This process causes a gradual adaptation of force and instantaneous adaptation of shortening velocity. Good agreement is found between model simulations and the experimental data depicting the relationship between force development, myosin filament density, or shortening velocity and length.
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Luo, Weibo, Benjamin Lin, Yingfei Wang, Jun Zhong, Robert O'Meally, Robert N. Cole, Akhilesh Pandey, Andre Levchenko, and Gregg L. Semenza. "PHD3-mediated prolyl hydroxylation of nonmuscle actin impairs polymerization and cell motility." Molecular Biology of the Cell 25, no. 18 (September 15, 2014): 2788–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e14-02-0775.
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Actin filaments play an essential role in cell movement, and many posttranslational modifications regulate actin filament assembly. Here we report that prolyl hydroxylase 3 (PHD3) interacts with nonmuscle actin in human cells and catalyzes hydroxylation of actin at proline residues 307 and 322. Blocking PHD3 expression or catalytic activity by short hairpin RNA knockdown or pharmacological inhibition, respectively, decreased actin prolyl hydroxylation. PHD3 knockdown increased filamentous F-actin assembly, which was reversed by PHD3 overexpression. PHD3 knockdown increased cell velocity and migration distance. Inhibition of PHD3 prolyl hydroxylase activity by dimethyloxalylglycine also increased actin polymerization and cell migration. These data reveal a novel role for PHD3 as a negative regulator of cell motility through posttranslational modification of nonmuscle actins.
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Small, J. V., M. Herzog, and K. Anderson. "Actin filament organization in the fish keratocyte lamellipodium." Journal of Cell Biology 129, no. 5 (June 1, 1995): 1275–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.129.5.1275.
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From recent studies of locomoting fish keratocytes it was proposed that the dynamic turnover of actin filaments takes place by a nucleation-release mechanism, which predicts the existence of short (less than 0.5 microns) filaments throughout the lamellipodium (Theriot, J. A., and T. J. Mitchison. 1991. Nature (Lond.). 352:126-131). We have tested this model by investigating the structure of whole mount keratocyte cytoskeletons in the electron microscope and phalloidin-labeled cells, after various fixations, in the light microscope. Micrographs of negatively stained keratocyte cytoskeletons produced by Triton extraction showed that the actin filaments of the lamellipodium are organized to a first approximation in a two-dimensional orthogonal network with the filaments subtending an angle of around 45 degrees to the cell front. Actin filament fringes grown onto the front edge of keratocyte cytoskeletons by the addition of exogenous actin showed a uniform polarity when decorated with myosin subfragment-1, consistent with the fast growing ends of the actin filaments abutting the anterior edge. A steady drop in filament density was observed from the mid-region of the lamellipodium to the perinuclear zone and in images of the more posterior regions of lower filament density many of the actin filaments could be seen to be at least several microns in length. Quantitative analysis of the intensity distribution of fluorescent phalloidin staining across the lamellipodium revealed that the gradient of filament density as well as the absolute content of F-actin was dependent on the fixation method. In cells first fixed and then extracted with Triton, a steep gradient of phalloidin staining was observed from the front to the rear of the lamellipodium. With the protocol required to obtain the electron microscope images, namely Triton extraction followed by fixation, phalloidin staining was, significantly and preferentially reduced in the anterior part of the lamellipodium. This resulted in a lower gradient of filament density, consistent with that seen in the electron microscope, and indicated a loss of around 45% of the filamentous actin during Triton extraction. We conclude, first that the filament organization and length distribution does not support a nucleation release model, but is more consistent with a treadmilling-type mechanism of locomotion featuring actin filaments of graded length. Second, we suggest that two layers of filaments make up the lamellipodium; a lower, stabilized layer associated with the ventral membrane and an upper layer associated with the dorsal membrane that is composed of filaments of a shorter range of lengths than the lower layer and which is mainly lost in Triton.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Niedermayer, Thomas. "On the depolymerization of actin filaments." Phd thesis, Universität Potsdam, 2012. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2013/6360/.
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Actin is one of the most abundant and highly conserved proteins in eukaryotic cells. The globular protein assembles into long filaments, which form a variety of different networks within the cytoskeleton. The dynamic reorganization of these networks - which is pivotal for cell motility, cell adhesion, and cell division - is based on cycles of polymerization (assembly) and depolymerization (disassembly) of actin filaments. Actin binds ATP and within the filament, actin-bound ATP is hydrolyzed into ADP on a time scale of a few minutes. As ADP-actin dissociates faster from the filament ends than ATP-actin, the filament becomes less stable as it grows older. Recent single filament experiments, where abrupt dynamical changes during filament depolymerization have been observed, suggest the opposite behavior, however, namely that the actin filaments become increasingly stable with time. Several mechanisms for this stabilization have been proposed, ranging from structural transitions of the whole filament to surface attachment of the filament ends.
The key issue of this thesis is to elucidate the unexpected interruptions of depolymerization by a combination of experimental and theoretical studies. In new depolymerization experiments on single filaments, we confirm that filaments cease to shrink in an abrupt manner and determine the time from the initiation of depolymerization until the occurrence of the first interruption. This duration differs from filament to filament and represents a stochastic variable. We consider various hypothetical mechanisms that may cause the observed interruptions. These mechanisms cannot be distinguished directly, but they give rise to distinct distributions of the time until the first interruption, which we compute by modeling the underlying stochastic processes. A comparison with the measured distribution reveals that the sudden truncation of the shrinkage process neither arises from blocking of the ends nor from a collective transition of the whole filament. Instead, we predict a local transition process occurring at random sites within the filament.
The combination of additional experimental findings and our theoretical approach confirms the notion of a local transition mechanism and identifies the transition as the photo-induced formation of an actin dimer within the filaments. Unlabeled actin filaments do not exhibit pauses, which implies that, in vivo, older filaments become destabilized by ATP hydrolysis.
This destabilization can be identified with an acceleration of the depolymerization prior to the interruption. In the final part of this thesis, we theoretically analyze this acceleration to infer the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis. We show that the rate of ATP hydrolysis is constant within the filament, corresponding to a random as opposed to a vectorial hydrolysis mechanism.Aktin ist eines der am häufigsten vorkommenden und am stärksten konservierten Proteine in eukaryotischen Zellen. Dieses globuläre Protein bildet lange Filamente, die zu einer großen Vielfalt von Netzwerken innerhalb des Zellskeletts führen. Die dynamische Reorganisation dieser Netzwerke, die entscheidend für Zellbewegung, Zelladhäsion, und Zellteilung ist, basiert auf der Polymerisation (dem Aufbau) und der Depolymerisation (dem Abbau) von Aktinfilamenten. Aktin bindet ATP, welches innerhalb des Filaments auf einer Zeitskala von einigen Minuten in ADP hydrolysiert wird. Da ADP-Aktin schneller vom Filamentende dissoziiert als ATP-Aktin, sollte ein Filament mit der Zeit instabiler werden. Neuere Experimente, in denen abrupte dynamische Änderungen während der Filamentdepolymerisation beobachtet wurden, deuten jedoch auf ein gegenteiliges Verhalten hin: Die Aktinfilamente werden mit der Zeit zunehmend stabiler. Mehrere Mechanismen für diese Stabilisierung wurden bereits vorgeschlagen, von strukturellen Übergängen des gesamten Filaments bis zu Wechselwirkungen der Filamentenden mit dem experimentellen Aufbau. Das zentrale Thema der vorliegenden Dissertation ist die Aufklärung der unerwarteten Unterbrechungen der Depolymerisation. Dies geschieht durch eine Kombination von experimentellen und theoretischen Untersuchungen. Mit Hilfe neuer Depolymerisationexperimente mit einzelnen Filamenten bestätigen wir zunächst, dass die Filamente plötzlich aufhören zu schrumpfen und bestimmen die Zeit, die von der Einleitung der Depolymerisation bis zum Auftreten der ersten Unterbrechung vergeht. Diese Zeit unterscheidet sich von Filament zu Filament und stellt eine stochastische Größe dar. Wir untersuchen daraufhin verschiedene hypothetische Mechanismen, welche die beobachteten Unterbrechungen verursachen könnten. Die Mechanismen können experimentell nicht direkt unterschieden werden, haben jedoch verschiedene Verteilungen für die Zeit bis zur ersten Unterbrechung zur Folge. Wir berechnen die jeweiligen Verteilungen, indem wir die zugrundeliegenden stochastischen Prozesse modellieren. Ein Vergleich mit der gemessenen Verteilung zeigt, dass der plötzliche Abbruch des Depolymerisationsprozesses weder auf eine Blockade der Enden, noch auf einen kollektiven strukturellen Übergang des gesamten Filaments zurückzuführen ist. An Stelle dessen postulieren wir einen lokalen Übergangsprozess, der an zufälligen Stellen innerhalb des Filaments auftritt. Die Kombination von weiteren experimentellen Ergebnissen und unserem theoretischen Ansatz bestätigt die Vorstellung eines lokalen Übergangsmechanismus und identifiziert den Übergang als die photo-induzierte Bildung eines Aktindimers innerhalb des Filaments. Nicht fluoreszenzmarkierte Aktinfilamente zeigen keine Unterbrechungen, woraus folgt, dass ältere Filamente in vivo durch die ATP-Hydrolyse destabilisiert werden. Die Destabilisierung zeigt sich durch die Beschleunigung der Depolymerisation vor der Unterbrechung. Im letzten Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit untersuchen wir diese Beschleunigung mit theoretischen Methoden, um auf den Mechanismus der ATP-Hydrolyse zu schließen. Wir zeigen, dass die Hydrolyserate von ATP innerhalb des Filaments konstant ist, was dem sogenannten zufälligen Hydrolysemechanismus entspricht und im Gegensatz zum sogenannten vektoriellen Mechanismus steht.
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Murtagh, Michael Stephen. "Electron microscopy of actin and thin filaments." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.421969.
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Strehle, Dan. "Bundles of Semi-flexible Cytoskeletal Filaments." Doctoral thesis, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2014. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-144750.
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Schaut man durch ein Mikroskop auf eine biologische Zelle mit angefärbten Zytoskelett, so erblickt man lange, mehr oder minder gerade Objekte. Mit ziemlicher Sicherheit gehören diese zu einer von drei Arten von Zytoskelettfilamenten -- Aktin- oder Mikrofilamente, Intermediärfilamente und Mikrotubuli. Schon seit mehreren Jahrzehnten versucht man die mechanischen Eigenschaften lebender Zellen nicht nur zu beschreiben, sondern ihr Verhalten von zwei tieferen Ebenen ausgehend zu verstehen: Inwiefern beschreiben die Eigenschaften von Filamentnetzwerken und -gelen die Zellmechanik und, noch tiefgreifender, wie bestimmen eigentlich die einzelnen Filamente die Netzwerkmechanik. Das Verständnis der Mechanik homogener und isotroper, verhedderter als auch quervernetzter Gele ist dabei erstaunlich detailreich, ohne jedoch vollständig dem jüngeren Verständnis von Zellen als glassartige Systeme zu entsprechen. In den letzten Jahren sind daher anisotrope Strukturen mehr und mehr in den Fokus gerückt, die die Bandbreite möglichen mechanischen Verhaltens enorm bereichern. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit solch einem hochgradig anisotropen System -- nämlich Aktinbündeln -- unter drei Gesichtspunkten. Mit Hilfe von aktiven Biegedeformationen wird ein funktionales Modul, das eine differentielle Antwort auf verschiedenen Zeitskalen liefert, identifiziert. Es handelt sich um Aktinfilamente, die durch transiente Quervernetzer gebündelt werden. Während sich das System nach kurz anhaltenden Deformation völlig elastisch verhält, sorgt eine Restrukturierung der Quervernetzer während langanhaltender Deformationen für eine plastische Verformung des Bündels. In einem weiteren Aspekt widmet sich die Arbeit der frequenz- und längenabhängigen Biegesteifigkeit. Die Methode des Bündel-Wigglings, das Induzieren von \"Seilwellen\", wird dabei genutzt, um aus der Wellenform die Biegesteifigkeit zu berechnen. Bündel von Aktinbündeln zeigen dabei ein Verhalten, das vom klassischen Worm-like-chain-Modell abweicht und stattdessen durch das Worm-like-bundle-Modell beschrieben werden kann. Der letzte Aspekt dieser Arbeit untersucht den Musterbildungsprozess bei der Entstehung von Aktinbündeln. Gänzlich unerwartet entstehen quasi-isotrope Strukturen mit langreichweitiger Ordnung, wenn der Bündelungsprozess erst nach der Polymerisation von Filamenten frei von zusätzlichen mechanischen Einwirkungen einsetzt. Da dieser Zustand nicht von der klassischen Flüssigkristalltheorie vorhergesagt wird, soll eine Simulation eine Hypothese zum Entstehungsmechanismus testen. Die Annahme einer lateralen Kondensation von Filamenten zu Bündeln reicht demnach aus, um die beobachteten Strukturen zu erzeugen. Diese Arbeit leistet somit einen Beitrag zum Verständnis hochgradig anisotroper Strukturen und deren Überstrukturen, wie sie auch in lebendigen Zellen reichlich vorhanden sindBeing the most basic unit of living organisms, the cell is a complex entity comprising thousands of different proteins. Yet only very few of which are considered to play a leading part in the cell’s mechanical integrity. The biopolymers actin, intermediate filaments and microtubules constitute the so-called cytoskeleton – a highly dynamic, constantly restructuring scaffold endowing the cell not only with integrity to sustain mechanical perturbations but also with the ability to rapidly reorganize or even drive directed motion. Actin has been regarded to be the protagonist and tremendous efforts have been made to understand passive actin networks using concepts from polymer rheology and statistical mechanics. In bottom-up approaches isotropic, homogeneous actin-gels are well-characterized with rheological methods that measure elastic and viscous properties on different time scales. Cells, however, are not exclusively isotropic networks of any of the mentioned filaments. Rather, actin alone can already be organized into heterogeneous and highly anisotropic structures like bundles. These heterogeneous structures have only come into focus recently with theoretical work addressing bundle networks. and, in the case of the worm-like bundle theory, individual bundles. This work aims at characterizing bundles and bundle-crosslinker systems mechanically in two complementary approaches – in the time as well as in the frequency domain. In addition, it illuminates a bundle formation mechanism that leads to bundle networks displaying higher ordering
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Saeed, Mezida Bedru. "Nanoscale rearrangements in cortical actin filaments at lytic immunological synapses." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2018. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/nanoscale-rearrangements-in-cortical-actin-filaments-at-lytic-immunological-synapses(8d00dd58-7b1a-435b-ad6c-016b12ff34d9).html.
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Lytic effector function of Natural Killer (NK) cells and CD8+ T cells occurs through discrete and regulated cell biological steps triggered by recognition of diseased cells. Recent studies of the NK cell synapse support the idea that dynamic nanoscale rearrangements in cortical filamentous (F)-actin are a critical cell biological checkpoint for lytic granule access to NK cell membrane. Loss of function mutations in the LYST gene, a well-characterised cause of Chediak- Hegashi syndrome (CHS), result in the formation of giant lysosomal organelles including lytic granules. Here, we report a mismatch between the extent of cortical F-actin remodelling and enlarged lytic granules that limits the functionality of LYST- deficient NK cells in a human model of CHS. Using super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy we found that LYST-deficient NK cells had nanoscale rearrangements in the organisation of cortical actin filaments that were indistinguishable from control cells- despite a 2.5-fold increase in the size of polarised granules. Importantly, treatment of LYST-deficient NK cells with actin depolymerising drugs increased the formation of small secretory domains at the synapse and restored their ability to lyse target cells. These data establish that sub-synaptic F-actin is the major factor limiting the release of enlarged lytic granules from CHS NK cells, and reveal a novel target for therapeutic interventions. While the importance of cortical actin filaments in NK cell cytotoxicity have been established, its persistence at the early stages of T cell synapse formation is disputed. We studied the organisation of cortical actin filaments in synapses formed by primary human T cells using STED microscopy and detected intact cortical actin filaments in key T cell effector subsets including memory CD8+ T cells as early as 5-minutes post-activation. Quantitative analysis revealed that activation specific rearrangements in cortical actin filaments at both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell synapses serve to increase the space between filaments. Additionally, comparison of cytolytic T cells with freshly isolated and IL-2 activated primary NK cells revealed that rapid maturation of the cortical actin meshwork is a specific feature of CD8+ T cell lytic synapses. Using chemical inhibition of actin nucleators, we show that increased cortical relaxation is mediated primarily by the activity of actin related proteins (Arp) -2/3. Taken together, these data establish the critical requirement for dynamic rearrangements in cortical actin filaments at lytic synapses but underscore cell-specific differences in its regulation.
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Wisanpitayakorn, Pattipong. "Understanding Mechanical Properties of Bio-filaments through Curvature." Digital WPI, 2019. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-dissertations/584.
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Cells are dynamic systems that generate and respond to forces through the complex interplay between biochemical and mechanical regulations. Since cellular processes often happen at the molecular level and are challenging to be observed under in vivo conditions due to limitations in optical microscopy, multiple analysis tools have been developed to gain insight into those processes. One of the ways to characterize these mechanical properties is by measuring their persistence length, the average length over which filaments stay straight. There are several approaches in the literature for measuring the persistence length of the filaments, including Fourier analysis of images obtained using fluorescence microscopy. Here, we show how curvature can be used to quantify local deformations of cell shape and cellular components. We develop a novel technique, called curvature analysis, to measure the stiffness of bio-filaments from fluorescent images. We test our predictions with Monte-Carlo generated filaments. We also apply our approach to microtubules and actin filaments obtained from in vitro gliding assay experiments with high densities of non-functional motors. The presented curvature analysis is significantly more accurate compared to existing approaches for small data sets. To study the effect of motors on filament deformations and velocities observed in gliding assays with functional and non-functional motors, we developed Langevin dynamics simulations of on glass and lipid surfaces. We found that generally the gliding velocity increases with an increase in motor density and a decrease in diffusion coefficient, and that motor density and diffusion coefficient have no clear effect on filament curvatures, except at a very low diffusion coefficients. Finally, we provide an ImageJ plugin to make curvature and persistence length measurements more accessible to everyone.
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Niedermayer, Thomas Verfasser], and Reinhard [Akademischer Betreuer] [Lipowsky. "On the depolymerization of actin filaments / Thomas Niedermayer. Betreuer: Reinhard Lipowsky." Potsdam : Universitätsbibliothek der Universität Potsdam, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1030155208/34.
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Fulzele, Keertik S. "ROLE OF ACTIN CYTOSKELETON FILAMENTS IN MECHANOTRANSDUCTION OF CYCLIC HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE." MSSTATE, 2004. http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-07122004-171347/.
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This research examines the role of actin cytoskeleton filaments in chondroinduction by cyclic hydrostatic pressurization. A chondroinductive hydrostatic pressurization system was developed and characterized. A pressure of 5 MPa at 1 Hz frequency, applied for 7200 cycles (4 hours intermittent) per day, induced chondrogenic differentiation in C3H10T1/2 cells while 1800 cycles (1 hour intermittent) did not induce chondrogenesis. Quantitative analysis of chondrogenesis was determined as sulfated glycosaminoglycan synthesis and rate of collagen synthesis while qualitative analysis was obtained as Alcian Blue staining and collagen type II immunostaining. Actin disruption using 2 uM Cytochalasin D inhibited the enhanced sGAG synthesis in the chondroinductive hydrostatic pressurization environment and significantly inhibited rate of collagen synthesis to the mean level lower than that of the non-pressurized group. These results suggest an involvement of actin cytoskeleton filaments in mechanotransduction of cyclic hydrostatic pressure.
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Niedermayer, Thomas [Verfasser], and Reinhard [Akademischer Betreuer] Lipowsky. "On the depolymerization of actin filaments / Thomas Niedermayer. Betreuer: Reinhard Lipowsky." Potsdam : Universitätsbibliothek der Universität Potsdam, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1030155208/34.
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Lui, John. "The stoichiometry of caldesmon and actin in chicken gizzard thin filaments." Thesis, Boston University, 1988. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/38067.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityPLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
Regulation of smooth muscle contraction has been known to inovlve two distinct mechanisms. The role of myosin phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in the control of vertebrate smooth muscle contraction has been well documented. Recent evidence also suggests the existence of a thin filament-linked regulatory system in smooth muscle. Dual regulation of smooth muscle contraction may allow smooth muscle to vary tension output over a wide range of stretch and to maintain developed tension at low energy cost. Since the discovery of caldesmon in chicken gizzard smooth muscles, this protein was subsequently shown to be an actin and calmodulin binding protein. Since this protein was shown to be present in the thin filaments of smooth muscle in relatively large amounts, it has been proposed that caldesmon may be involved in thin filament linked regulation of smooth muscle contraction. While caldesmon has been shown to inhibit actin-activated myosin ATPase activity and to crosslink F-actin filaments in vitro, the precise function and action of caldesmon in vivo is uncertain. One approach to understand the mechanism of caldesmon mediated effects in smooth muscle is to construct a thin filament structural model. A model of thin filaments may provide insight on how contractile proteins interact during contraction and how thin filament associated proteins, possibily caldesmon may regulate this process. In this study, the stoichiometry of thin filament components of chicken gizzard smooth muscles is evaluated by quantitative gel densitometry. This showed an actin:tropomyosin:caldesmon ratio of 28:4:1. Together with results obtained from electron microscopic and biochemical studies, the stoichiometry obtained in this study will be used to formulate possible model of smooth muscle thin filaments.
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Gressin, Laurène. "Désassemblage de réseaux de filaments d'actine : rôle de l'architecture et du confinement." Thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes (ComUE), 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016GREAY068/document.
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Le cytosquelette est un assemblage de protéines intracellulaires qui assure le maintien de la forme des cellules et la production de force. Ce cytosquelette est formé de trois types de polymères, dont les filaments d'actine qui sont impliqués dans des fonctions essentielles telles que la motilité cellulaire, la division cellulaire ou encore la morphogénèse. Les filaments d'actine s'agencent en structures organisées dont la dynamique est assurée par la polymérisation et le désassemblage des filaments, contrôlés spatio-temporellement. La plupart des structures d'actine sont dans un état stationnaire dynamique où l'assemblage est compensé par le désassemblage, ce qui permet de maintenir une concentration de monomères intracellulaire élevée. En effet, le réservoir d'actine in vivo est limité et la formation de nouvelles structures de filaments d'actine est dépendante d'un désassemblage efficace des structures les plus âgées. Le but de ma thèse a été d'étudier comment l'organisation architecturale des structures d'actine influence le désassemblage par la machinerie protéique composée de l'ADF/cofiline et d'un de ses cofacteurs Aip1.J'ai d'abord pu montrer que l'efficacité du désassemblage dépendait de l'agencement des filaments d'actine. Quand les réseaux branchés ne requièrent que l'action de l'ADF/cofiline pour être désassemblés efficacement, les faisceaux de filaments d'actine ont besoin de la présence simultanée de l'ADF/cofiline et de l'Aip1. Une étude à l'échelle moléculaire a ensuite été menée pour comprendre le mécanisme du désassemblage des filaments d'actine par ces deux protéines au niveau du filament individuel.Dans un second temps, j'ai développé un système expérimental composé de micropuits de taille comparable à la cellule. Cette technologie nous a permis de réaliser des expériences en milieu confiné, dans lequel le réservoir d'actine était limité de la même manière que le réservoir d'actine cellulaire. J'ai mis ce système a profit pour reconstituer le turnover d'une comète d'actine, un réseau branché formé à la surface d'une bille recouverte de nucléateurs de l'actine.Ce travail de thèse a permis d’établir des lois fondamentales contrôlant la dynamique de l’actine et plus particulièrement comment l’architecture de l’actine et l’environnement peuvent influencer le désassemblage de structures complexesThe actin cytoskeleton is a major component of the internal architecture of eukaryotic cells. Actin filaments are organized into different structures, the dynamics of which is spatially and temporally controlled by the polymerization and disassembly of filaments. Most actin structures are in a dynamic steady state regime where the assembly is balanced by the disassembly, which maintains a high concentration of intracellular actin monomers. In vivo the pool of actin monomers is limited and the formation of new actin filament structures is dependent on an effective disassembly of the older structures. The goal of my thesis was to study the influence of different architectures of actin by the disassembly machinery made of ADF/cofilin and its cofactor Aip1.Firstly, I showed that the efficiency of the disassembly was dependent on the architecture of actin filaments organizations. Although the branched networks need only ADF/cofilin to be efficiently disassembled, the actin cables require the simultaneous action of ADF/cofilin and Aip1. Further investigations at the molecular scale indicate that the cooperation between ADF/cofilin and Aip1 is optimal above a certain threshold of molecules of ADF/cofilin bound to actin filaments. During my PhD I demonstrated that although ADF/cofilin is able to dismantle selectively branched networks through severing and debranching, the stochastic disassembly of actin filaments by ADF/cofilin and Aip1 represents an efficient alternative pathway for the full disassembly of all actin networks. We propose a model in which the binding of ADF/cofilin is required to trigger a structural change of the actin filaments, as a prerequisite for their disassembly by Aip1.Secondly, I developed an experimental system made of cell-sized microwells. This technology allowed us to develop experiments in a closed environment in which the actin pool is limited in the same way as the cellular environment. I used this experimental system to study how a limited pool of components limits both the assembly and the disassembly of a branched network.This thesis highlights the importance of developing new tools to obtain more “physiological” reconstituted systems in vitro to establish some of the general principles governing actin dynamics
Books on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Yang, Po Fong. Filamentous actin disruption and diminished inositol phosphate response in gingival fibroblasts caused by Treponema denticola. [Toronto: University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry], 1998.
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E, Estes James, Higgins Paul J, and International Conference on the Biophysics, Biochemistry, and Cell Biology of Actin (1992 : Troy, N.Y.), eds. Actin: Biophysics, biochemistry, and cell biology. New York: Plenum Press, 1994.
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(Editor), James E. Estes, and Paul J. Higgins (Editor), eds. Actin: Biophysics, Biochemistry and Cell Biology (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology). Springer, 1994.
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1933-, Sugi Haruo, and Pollack Gerald H, eds. Mechanism of myofilament sliding in muscle contraction. New York: Plenum Press, 1993.
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Filamentous Actin within neuronal interphase nuclei in vitro and in vivo: An ultrastructural study. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1993.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Pavelka, Margit, and Jürgen Roth. "Actin Filaments." In Functional Ultrastructure, 148–49. Vienna: Springer Vienna, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-99390-3_78.
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Amos, Linda A., and W. Bradshaw Amos. "Actin Filaments." In Molecules of the Cytoskeleton, 42–55. London: Macmillan Education UK, 1991. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21739-7_3.
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Dashek, William V. "Microtubules, intermediate filaments, and actin filaments." In Plant Cells and their Organelles, 110–24. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118924846.ch6.
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Bershadsky, Alexander D., and Juri M. Vasiliev. "Systems of Actin Filaments." In Cytoskeleton, 13–78. Boston, MA: Springer US, 1988. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5278-5_2.
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Kroeger, M. "Dynamics of Actin Filaments." In Progress and Trends in Rheology V, 338–39. Heidelberg: Steinkopff, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-51062-5_160.
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Kinosita, Kazuhiko, Naoya Suzuki, Shin’ichi Ishiwata, Takayuki Nishizaka, Hiroyasu Itoh, Hiroyuki Hakozaki, Gerard Marriott, and Hidetake Miyata. "Orientation of Actin Monomers in Moving Actin Filaments." In Mechanism of Myofilament Sliding in Muscle Contraction, 321–29. Boston, MA: Springer US, 1993. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2872-2_31.
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Siccardi, Stefano, and Andrew Adamatzky. "Models of Computing on Actin Filaments." In Emergence, Complexity and Computation, 309–46. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33921-4_14.
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Farkas, Zeno, Imre Derényi, and Tomas Vicsek. "Dynamics of Actin Filaments in Motility Assays." In Structure and Dynamics of Confined Polymers, 327–32. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0401-5_20.
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Lindberg, Uno, Clarence E. Schutt, Robert D. Goldman, Maria Nyåkern-Meazza, Louise Hillberg, Li-Sophie Zhao Rathje, and Staffan Grenklo. "Tropomyosins Regulate the Impact of Actin Binding Proteins on Actin Filaments." In Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 223–31. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85766-4_17.
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Letourneau, Paul C. "Actin in Axons: Stable Scaffolds and Dynamic Filaments." In Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, 265–90. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/400_2009_15.
Full textConference papers on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Chaudhuri, Ovijit, Sapun H. Parekh, Allen Liu, and Daniel A. Fletcher. "Viscoelasticity of Growing Actin Networks." In ASME 2004 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. ASMEDC, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/imece2004-60076.
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Actin self-assembles to form filaments that can organize into dendritic networks through interactions with various actin binding proteins. Growing actin filament networks produce significant mechanical forces that play a key role in many dynamic cellular processes such as motility, cytokinesis, and phagocytosis. We investigated the mechanical properties of growing actin networks with atomic force microscopy and found the actin networks to behave as viscoelastic solids.
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Bidone, Tamara C., Marco A. Deriu, Francesco Mastrangelo, Giacomo Di Benedetto, Monica Soncini, and Umberto Morbiducci. "Elastic Network Modeling of Actin Filaments." In ASME 2010 Summer Bioengineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/sbc2010-19074.
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Cell mechanics depends on the mechanical properties of actin microfilaments (MFs), microtubules (MTs) and intermediate filaments (IFs), that build the cytoskeleton. Actin microfilaments are the most abundant components and play significant roles in various cellular processes [1]. Among them, the mechanical properties of MFs are essential for the functions of the cytoskeleton and are directly related to their molecular architecture.
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Bidone, Tamara Carla, Haosu Tang, and Dimitrios Vavylonis. "Insights Into the Mechanics of Cytokinetic Ring Assembly Using 3D Modeling." In ASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/imece2014-39006.
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During fission yeast cytokinesis, actin filaments nucleated by cortical formin Cdc12 are captured by myosin motors bound to a band of cortical nodes. The myosin motors exert forces that pull nodes together into a contractile ring. Cross-linking interactions help align actin filaments and nodes into a single bundle. Mutations in the myosin motor domain and changes in the concentration of cross-linkers alpha-actinin and fimbrin alter the morphology of the condensing network, leading to clumps, rings or extended meshworks. How the contractile tension developing during ring formation depends on the interplay between network morphology, myosin motor activity, cross-linking and actin filament turnover remains to be elucidated. We addressed this question using a 3D computational model in which semiflexible actin filaments (represented as beads connected by springs) grow from formins, can be captured by myosin in neighboring nodes, and get cross-linked with one another through an attractive interaction. We identify regimes of tension generation between connected nodes under a wide set of conditions regarding myosin dynamics and strength of cross-linking between actin filaments. We find conditions that maximize circumferential tension, correlate them with network morphology and propose experiments to test these predictions. This work addresses “Morphogenesis of soft and living matter” using computational modeling to simulate cytokinetic ring assembly from the key molecular mechanisms of viscoelastic cross-linked actin networks that include active molecular motors.
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Bidone, Tamara C., Marco A. Deriu, Giacomo Di Benedetto, Diana Massai, and Umberto Morbiducci. "Insights Into the Molecular Mechanisms of Actin Dynamics: A Multiscale Modeling Approach." In ASME 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/sbc2011-53417.
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Actin dynamics, which is at the basis of many fundamental cellular processes as cell migration [1], is governed by the self-assembly and disassembly of actin monomers (G-actin) that, in turn, are determined by the kinetics of ATP hydrolysis and by the local concentrations of Mg2+ and Ca2+ [2]. During cell migration, interactions of the actin filaments (F-actin) with different nucleotide-cation complexes induce local topological rearrangements, because the filament building G-actins undergo conformational shifts between multiple equilibrium states separated by low-energy barriers. For example, the structural rearrangements of the DNase-I binding loop (residues 38–52) in subdomain 2 are driven by ATP hydrolysis and the changes in the conformation of subdomain 4 are induced by the presence of a tightly-bound Mg2+ or Ca2+ ion (Figure 1a). These conformational shifts alter the cross-linking between monomers, varying the contact surfaces among adjacent inter- and intrasubdomains of G-actin, and reflect on the overall properties of F-actin.
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Bidone, Tamara C., TaeYoon Kim, Marco A. Deriu, Umberto Morbiducci, and Roger D. Kamm. "Multiscale Biomechanics of Actin Filaments and Crosslinked Networks." In Biomedical Engineering. Calgary,AB,Canada: ACTAPRESS, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.2316/p.2012.764-175.
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Chang, Leda, Fransiska S. Franke, Paula Flicker, and David Keller. "Left and right topography of F-actin filaments." In Photonics West '95, edited by Mehdi Vaez-Iravani. SPIE, 1995. http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.205937.
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Kroon, Martin. "A Theoretical Assessment of the Influence of Myosin Filament Dispersion on Smooth Muscle Contraction." In ASME 2011 Summer Bioengineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/sbc2011-53071.
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A new constitutive model for the biomechanical behavior of smooth muscle tissue is employed to investigate the influence of statistical dispersion in the orientation of myosin filaments. The number of activated cross-bridges between the actin and myosin filaments governs the contractile force generated by the muscle and also the contraction speed. A strain-energy function is used to describe the mechanical behavior of the smooth muscle tissue. The predictions from the constitutive model are compared to histological and isometric tensile test results for smooth muscle tissue from swine carotid artery. In order to be able to predict the active stress at different muscle lengths, a filament dispersion significantly larger than the one observed experimentally was required. Furthermore, a comparison of the predicted active stress for a case of uniaxially oriented myosin filaments and a case of filaments with a dispersion based on the experimental histological data shows that the difference in generated stress is noticeable but limited. Thus, the results suggest that myosin filament dispersion alone cannot explain the increase in active muscle stress with increasing muscle stretch.
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Ujihara, Yoshihiro, Masanori Nakamura, Hiroshi Miyazaki, and Shigeo Wada. "Effects of the Initial Alignment and Passive Reorientation of Actin Fibers on the Tensile Stiffness of Whole Cells." In ASME 2010 Summer Bioengineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/sbc2010-19669.
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Actin filaments are known to be concerned with cell stiffness and shape stability of cells. Structurally, actin filaments are classified into two. One is a cortical actin network beneath cell membrane and the other is actin fibers (AFs) which run transversely within a cell. Reportedly, skewed alignment of AFs induces anisotropic deformation of a cell [1]. Therefore, it is important to understand how the alignments of AFs are reflected in the mechanical properties of a cell.
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Shibatay, N., K. Tanaka, K. Okamoto, and T. Onji. "REORGANIZATION OF ACTIN AND MYOSIN IN THE ACTIVATED PLATELETS." In XIth International Congress on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Schattauer GmbH, 1987. http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1643539.
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This study was done to clarify the intracellular dynamic arrangements of myosin(My) and actin(Ac) in activation process of human platelets (PLs) from unactivated to activated stage (clot retraction) in electron microscopy. The observation of unactivated PLs was done either in the fresh whole blood fixed directly with 0.1 % glutaraldehyde or in PLs isolated by gel filtration of platelet rich plasma(PRP) containing prostaglandin I2 (10 ng/ml). The isolated PLs mounted on a glass cover slip were used as activated PLs (adrerent ones). The contracted PLs were prepared in PRP incubated with thrombin (0.5 u/ml) and 20 mM CaCl- for 10-60 min. Treating PLs with 0.15 % Triton X-100 containing 0.05 % glutaraldehyde produced cytoskeleton. My and F-Ac were identified by an indirect immuno-cytochemical method using the specific antibody (rabbit IgG) against PL-My and protein A-gold and by demonstration of in “arrow-head” decoration by Ishikawa's method using skeletal meromyosin (HMM), respectively. [Results] (1) Unactivated PLs. Mys in monomer or oligomer distributed homogenously in scare association with cytoskeleton. Cytoskeletons were exclusively composed of F-Ac networks of crossolinked short filaments which were thinly distributed in the cytoplasm with partial connection to the cell membrance. (2) Surface activated spreading PLs. PLs adhered to the glass cover slip in dendritic forms. Mys were densely located around granulomere and formed linear arrays associated with F-Ac filaments of the cytoskeleton surrounding the granulomere and running straightly in cytoplasm. (3) Contracted PLs. Activated PLs protruded several filopodia in which networks or bundles of F-Ac filaments were found connecting to extracellular fibrin strand through cell membrene. Microfilaments formed arrow-head decoration with HMM pointing toward the cell body. The cytoskeleton in contracted PLs contained thick filaments of My-polymers attaching to F-Ac filaments end by end. It is concluded that the reorganization of Ac-My is the basis for the shape change, secretion and clot retraction of activated PLs.
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Leon, Lenin J., Yongkuk Lee, Ming-Yuan Wei, R. Lloyd Carroll, and Parviz Famouri. "Selective photoimmobilization of actin filaments for developing an intelligent nanodevice." In 2010 IEEE 10th Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO). IEEE, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/nano.2010.5697858.
Full textReports on the topic "Actin filaments"
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Sadot, Einat, Christopher Staiger, and Mohamad Abu-Abied. Studies of Novel Cytoskeletal Regulatory Proteins that are Involved in Abiotic Stress Signaling. United States Department of Agriculture, September 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.32747/2011.7592652.bard.
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In the original proposal we planned to focus on two proteins related to the actin cytoskeleton: TCH2, a touch-induced calmodulin-like protein which was found by us to interact with the IQ domain of myosin VIII, ATM1; and ERD10, a dehydrin which was found to associate with actin filaments. As reported previously, no other dehydrins were found to interact with actin filaments. In addition so far we were unsuccessful in confirming the interaction of TCH2 with myosin VIII using other methods. In addition, no other myosin light chain candidates were found in a yeast two hybrid survey. Nevertheless we have made a significant progress in our studies of the role of myosins in plant cells. Plant myosins have been implicated in various cellular activities, such as cytoplasmic streaming (1, 2), plasmodesmata function (3-5), organelle movement (6-10), cytokinesis (4, 11, 12), endocytosis (4, 5, 13-15) and targeted RNA transport (16). Plant myosins belong to two main groups of unconventional myosins: myosin XI and myosin VIII, both closely related to myosin V (17-19). The Arabidopsis myosin family contains 17 members: 13 myosin XI and four myosin VIII (19, 20). The data obtained from our research of myosins was published in two papers acknowledging BARD funding. To address whether specific myosins are involved with the motility of specific organelles, we cloned the cDNAs from neck to tail of all 17 Arabidopsis myosins. These were fused to GFP and used as dominant negative mutants that interact with their cargo but are unable to walk along actin filaments. Therefore arrested organelle movement in the presence of such a construct shows that a particular myosin is involved with the movement of that particular organelle. While no mutually exclusive connections between specific myosins and organelles were found, based on overexpression of dominant negative tail constructs, a group of six myosins (XIC, XIE, XIK, XI-I, MYA1 and MYA2) were found to be more important for the motility of Golgi bodies and mitochondria in Nicotiana benthamiana and Nicotiana tabacum (8). Further deep and thorough analysis of myosin XIK revealed a potential regulation by head and tail interaction (Avisar et al., 2011). A similar regulatory mechanism has been reported for animal myosin V and VIIa (21, 22). In was shown that myosin V in the inhibited state is in a folded conformation such that the tail domain interacts with the head domain, inhibiting its ATPase and actinbinding activities. Cargo binding, high Ca2+, and/or phosphorylation may reduce the interaction between the head and tail domains, thus restoring its activity (23). Our collaborative work focuses on the characterization of the head tail interaction of myosin XIK. For this purpose the Israeli group built yeast expression vectors encoding the myosin XIK head. In addition, GST fusions of the wild-type tail as well as a tail mutated in the amino acids that mediate head to tail interaction. These were sent to the US group who is working on the isolation of recombinant proteins and performing the in vitro assays. While stress signals involve changes in Ca2+ levels in plants cells, the cytoplasmic streaming is sensitive to Ca2+. Therefore plant myosin activity is possibly regulated by stress. This finding is directly related to the goal of the original proposal.