Structural basis of fast- and slow-severing actin-cofilactin boundaries.

ABSTRACT: Members of the ADF/cofilin family of regulatory proteins bind actin filaments cooperatively, locally change actin subunit conformation and orientation, and sever filaments at "boundaries" between bare and cofilin-occupied segments. A cluster of bound cofilin introduces two distinct classes of boundaries due to the intrinsic polarity of actin filaments, one at the "pointed" end side and the other at the "barbed" end-side of the cluster; severing occurs more readily at the pointed end side of the cluster ("fast-severing" boundary) than the barbed end side ("slow-severing" boundary). A recent electron-cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) model of the slow-severing boundary revealed structural "defects" at the interface that potentially contribute to severing. However, the structure of the fast-severing b

SUBMITTER: Hocky GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7961102 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature