title: Lamellar phase of stacked two-dimensional rafts of actin filaments.
abstract: We examined liquid crystalline phases of the cytoskeletal polyelectrolyte filamentous (F-)actin in the presence of multivalent counterions. As a function of increasing ion concentration, the F-actin rods in either an isotropic or a nematic phase will transform into a new and unexpected lamellar phase of cross-linked rafts (L(XR) phase), before condensing into a bundled phase of parallel, close-packed rods. This behavior is generic for alkali earth divalent ions Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+, and the structural transitions are achieved without any architecture-specific actin-binding linker proteins.
authors.affiliation: Materials Department, Physics Department, Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. gclwong@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Gerard C L
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jay X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Youli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Janmey
authors.forename: Cyrus R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Safinya
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D000199:Actins