Conformational changes in twitchin kinase in vivo revealed by FRET imaging of freely moving C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: The force-induced unfolding and refolding of proteins is speculated to be a key mechanism in the sensing and transduction of mechanical signals in the living cell. Yet, little evidence has been gathered for its existence in vivo. Prominently, stretch-induced unfolding is postulated to be the activation mechanism of the twitchin/titin family of autoinhibited sarcomeric kinases linked to the mechanical stress response of muscle. To test the occurrence of mechanical kinase activation in living working muscle, we generated transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans expressing twitchin containing FRET moieties flanking the kinase domain and developed a quantitative technique for extracting FRET signals in freely moving C. elegans, using tracking and simultaneous imaging of animals in three

SUBMITTER: Porto D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8523150 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature