title: What is the diameter of the actin filament?
abstract: The limits of the most recent models of the actin filament are discussed. These model are generated without taking into account the effect of protein osmotic pressure and, in general, of the solvent conditions. As a result they do not provide a bona fide representation of the actin filament in vivo. A new 'fluttering wing' model is proposed which predicts that orientation of the monomers, intermonomer contacts and diameter of the actin filament are sensitive to protein osmotic pressure and to interaction with regulatory proteins.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università di Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grazi
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009132:Muscles / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D012997:Solvents
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012997:Solvents