Lamellar phase of stacked two-dimensional rafts of actin filaments.
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.
Wong
Gerard C L
GC
Materials Department, Physics Department, Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. gclwong@uiuc.edu
Lin
Alison
A
Tang
Jay X
JX
Li
Youli
Y
Janmey
Paul A
PA
Safinya
Cyrus R
CR
D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D011487:Protein Conformation
D000199:Actins