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The cargo-binding domain regulates structure and activity of myosin 5

Abstract

Myosin 5 is a two-headed motor protein that moves cargoes along actin filaments1,2. Its tail ends in paired globular tail domains (GTDs) thought to bind cargo3. At nanomolar calcium levels, actin-activated ATPase is low and the molecule is folded. Micromolar calcium concentrations activate ATPase and the molecule unfolds3,4,5,6. Here we describe the structure of folded myosin and the GTD's role in regulating activity. Electron microscopy shows that the two heads lie either side of the tail, contacting the GTDs at a lobe of the motor domain (Pro 117–Pro 137) that contains conserved acidic side chains, suggesting ionic interactions between motor domain and GTD. Myosin 5 heavy meromyosin, a constitutively active fragment lacking the GTDs, is inhibited and folded by a dimeric GST–GTD fusion protein. Motility assays reveal that at nanomolar calcium levels heavy meromyosin moves robustly on actin filaments whereas few myosins bind or move. These results combine to show that with no cargo, the GTDs bind in an intramolecular manner to the motor domains, producing an inhibited and compact structure that binds weakly to actin and allows the molecule to recycle towards new cargoes.

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Figure 1: Structure of switched-off myosin 5 and HMM-GTD complex.
Figure 2: GTD-binding region of myosin 5 motor domain.
Figure 3: Regulation of actin-activated myosin 5 ATPase activity by GST–GTD dimers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. A. Burgess for expert advice and assistance with image processing, F. Zhang for technical assistance and The Wellcome Trust for support. T.S. was supported by a fellowship from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. Author contributions Electron microscopy and image processing were performed by K.T., TIRF microscopy by T.S., ATPase assays by J.R.S., and protein preparations by T.S. GST–GTD was created by J.A.H., molecular models by P.J.K., sequence alignments by J.R.S. and P.J.K., and the paper by all authors. J.R.S. and P.J.K. contributed equally to this work.

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Correspondence to Peter J. Knight.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Notes

This file contains Supplementary Discussion, Supplementary Figures 1–4 with legends, legends for two Supplementary Movies, Supplementary Methods, and six references. (PDF 1130 kb)

Supplementary Movie 1

TIRF microscopy of GFP-HMM moving on actin. (AVI 1216 kb)

Supplementary Movie 2

TIRF microscopy of Cy-3 myosin moving on actin. (AVI 1215 kb)

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Thirumurugan, K., Sakamoto, T., Hammer, J. et al. The cargo-binding domain regulates structure and activity of myosin 5. Nature 442, 212–215 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04865

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