title: Condensation agents determine the temperature-pressure stability of F-actin bundles.
abstract: Biological cells provide a large variety of rodlike filaments, including filamentous actin (F-actin), which can form meshworks and bundles. One key question remaining in the characterization of such network structures revolves around the temperature and pressure stabilities of these architectures as a way to understand why cells actively use proteins for forming them. The packing properties of F-actin in fascin- and Mg(2+) -induced bundles are compared, and significantly different pressure-temperature stabilities are observed because of marked differences in their nature of interaction, solvation, and packing efficiency. Moreover, differences are observed in their morphologies and disintegration scenarios. The pressure-induced dissociation of the actin bundles is reminiscent of a single unbinding transition as observed in other soft elastic manifolds.
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry I-Biophysical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 6, 44227 Dortmund (Germany).
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry I-Biophysical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 6, 44227 Dortmund (Germany).
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berghaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, 44227 Dortmund (Germany).
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von der Ecken
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, 44227 Dortmund (Germany).
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raunser
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry I-Biophysical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 6, 44227 Dortmund (Germany). roland.winter@tu-dortmund.de.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011312:Pressure; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000199:Actins
keywords: biophysics; electron microscopy; high-pressure chemistry; polymers; proteins