title: Myosin tails and single α-helical domains.
abstract: The human genome contains 39 myosin genes, divided up into 12 different classes. The structure, cellular function and biochemical properties of many of these isoforms remain poorly characterized and there is still some controversy as to whether some myosin isoforms are monomers or dimers. Myosin isoforms 6 and 10 contain a stable single α-helical (SAH) domain, situated just after the canonical lever. The SAH domain is stiff enough to be able to lengthen the lever allowing the myosin to take a larger step. In addition, atomic force microscopy and atomistic simulations show that SAH domains unfold at relatively low forces and have a high propensity to refold. These properties are likely to be important for protein function, enabling motors to carry cargo in dense actin networks, and other proteins to remain attached to binding partners in the crowded cell.
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Batchelor
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolny
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Lorna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dougan
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paci
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: *Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peckham
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009218:Myosins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D009218:Myosins