PMID: 22158895

Authors:

Galkin VE, Orlova A, Kudryashov DS, Solodukhin A, Reisler E, Schroder GF, Egelman EH

Title:

Remodeling of actin filaments by ADF/cofilin proteins.

Journal:

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 20;108(51):20568-72. Epub 2011 Dec 7.

Abstract:

Cofilin/ADF proteins play key roles in the dynamics of actin, one of the most abundant and highly conserved eukaryotic proteins. We used cryoelectron microscopy to generate a 9-A resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of cofilin-decorated actin filaments, the highest resolution achieved for a complex of F-actin with an actin-binding protein. We show that the cofilin-induced change in the filament twist is due to a unique conformation of the actin molecule unrelated to any previously observed state. The changes between the actin protomer in naked F-actin and in the actin-cofilin filament are greater than the conformational changes between G- and F-actin. Our results show the structural plasticity of actin, suggest that other actin-binding proteins may also induce large but different conformational changes, and show that F-actin cannot be described by a single molecular model.