Tracer studies on f-actin fluctuations.
We present a study on the fluctuations of semiflexible actin filaments using fluorescence videomicroscopy, focusing on the end-to-end fluctuations of single filaments. In order to specifically measure the position of the polymer's ends, we developed a novel noninvasive method that consists of annealing short end tags to the filaments. This allows us to probe polymer fluctuations to a very high accuracy. We compared the distribution of the end-to-end distance with recent theoretical results, and found excellent agreement. We also studied the dynamics of the mean-square end-to-end distance deltaR2(t) and orientation of the ends, deltaTheta(2)(t), finding power laws t(3/4) and t(1/4), respectively. Scaling behavior for deltaR2(t) is observed over several decades in relaxation time in agreement with theoretical results.
Le Goff
Loïc
L
Institut Curie, Physico-Chimie Curie, UMR CNRS/IC 168, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France. Loic.Legoff@curie.fr
Hallatschek
Oskar
O
Frey
Erwin
E
Amblard
François
F
D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000379:methods; D010590:Phalloidine / Q000737:chemistry
D000199:Actins; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010590:Phalloidine