Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1982 May 1;93(2):452–458. doi: 10.1083/jcb.93.2.452

Polymorphism of actin paracrystals induced by polylysine

PMCID: PMC2112856  PMID: 7096448

Abstract

We describe a method for the induction of different polymorphic forms of actin filament paracrystals. This polymorphism is probably based on differences in the stagger and/or polarity of adjacent filaments in single-layered paracrystals and by superposition of different layers in multilayered paracrystals. The helical parameters defining the filament geometry are indistinguishable for the different polymorphic forms observed and for the four different actins used. Analysis of these paracrystals, some of which are ordered to better than 2.5 nm, should provide a reference structure suitable for alignment and orientation within the actin filament of high resolution models of the actin monomer obtained from crystal data.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (981.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abe S. I., Kamiya R., Eguchi G. Actin paracrystal in the acrosome of newt sperm. Exp Cell Res. 1981 Apr;132(2):510–514. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(81)90133-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adelman M. R. Physarum action. Observations on its presence, stability, and assembly in plasmodial extracts and development of an improved purification procedure. Biochemistry. 1977 Nov 1;16(22):4862–4871. doi: 10.1021/bi00641a018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Aebi U., Fowler W. E., Isenberg G., Pollard T. D., Smith P. R. Crystalline actin sheets: their structure and polymorphism. J Cell Biol. 1981 Nov;91(2 Pt 1):340–351. doi: 10.1083/jcb.91.2.340. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Aebi U., Smith P. R., Isenberg G., Pollard T. D. Structure of crystalline actin sheets. Nature. 1980 Nov 20;288(5788):296–298. doi: 10.1038/288296a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown S. S., Spudich J. A. Nucleation of polar actin filament assembly by a positively charged surface. J Cell Biol. 1979 Feb;80(2):499–504. doi: 10.1083/jcb.80.2.499. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Castellani L., O'Brien E. J. Structure of actin paracrystals induced by nerve growth factor. J Mol Biol. 1981 Mar 25;147(1):205–213. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90089-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DeRosier D. J., Censullo R. Structure of F-actin needles from extracts of sea urchin oocytes. J Mol Biol. 1981 Feb 15;146(1):77–99. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90367-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. DeRosier D., Mandelkow E., Silliman A. Structure of actin-containing filaments from two types of non-muscle cells. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jul 15;113(4):679–695. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90230-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. DeRosier D., Tilney L., Flicker P. A change in the twist of the actin-containing filaments occurs during the extension of the acrosomal process in Limulus sperm. J Mol Biol. 1980 Mar 15;137(4):375–389. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90163-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gillis J. M., O'Brien E. J. The effect of calcium ions on the structure of reconstituted muscle thin filaments. J Mol Biol. 1975 Dec 15;99(3):445–459. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80137-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moore P. B., Huxley H. E., DeRosier D. J. Three-dimensional reconstruction of F-actin, thin filaments and decorated thin filaments. J Mol Biol. 1970 Jun 14;50(2):279–295. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90192-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. O'Brien E. J., Bennett P. M., Hanson J. Optical diffraction studies of myofibrillar structure. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1971 May 27;261(837):201–208. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1971.0051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. O'Brien E. J., Gillis J. M., Couch J. Symmetry and molecular arrangement in paracrystals of reconstituted muscle thin filaments. J Mol Biol. 1975 Dec 15;99(3):461–475. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80138-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Oriol-Audit C. Polyamine-induced actin polymerization. Eur J Biochem. 1978 Jun 15;87(2):371–376. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12386.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smith P. R., Aebi U. The determination of the helical screw angle of a helical particle from its diffraction pattern. J Mol Biol. 1976 Sep 15;106(2):271–275. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(76)90084-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Smith P. R. An integrated set of computer programs for processing electron micrographs of biological structures. Ultramicroscopy. 1978;3(2):153–160. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3991(78)80021-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Spudich J. A., Amos L. A. Structure of actin filament bundles from microvilli of sea urchin eggs. J Mol Biol. 1979 Apr 5;129(2):319–331. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(79)90285-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Spudich J. A., Huxley H. E., Finch J. T. Regulation of skeletal muscle contraction. II. Structural studies of the interaction of the tropomyosin-troponin complex with actin. J Mol Biol. 1972 Dec 30;72(3):619–632. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(72)90180-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Strzelecka-Gołaszewska H., Pròchniewicz E., Drabikowski W. Interaction of actin with divalent cations. 1. The effect of various cations on the physical state of actin. Eur J Biochem. 1978 Jul 17;88(1):219–227. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1978.tb12441.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Suck D., Kabsch W., Mannherz H. G. Three-dimensional structure of the complex of skeletal muscle actin and bovine pancreatic DNAse I at 6-A resolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jul;78(7):4319–4323. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.7.4319. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tilney L. G., Derosier D. J., Mulroy M. J. The organization of actin filaments in the stereocilia of cochlear hair cells. J Cell Biol. 1980 Jul;86(1):244–259. doi: 10.1083/jcb.86.1.244. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wakabayashi T., Huxley H. E., Amos L. A., Klug A. Three-dimensional image reconstruction of actin-tropomyosin complex and actin-tropomyosin-troponin T-troponin I complex. J Mol Biol. 1975 Apr 25;93(4):477–497. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(75)90241-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yang Y. Z., Korn E. D., Eisenberg E. Binding of tropomyosin to copolymers of Acanthamoeba actin and muscle actin. J Biol Chem. 1979 Mar 25;254(6):2084–2088. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. dos Remedios C. G., Dickens M. J. Actin microcrystals and tubes formed in the presence of gadolinium ions. Nature. 1978 Dec 14;276(5689):731–733. doi: 10.1038/276731a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES