Abstract

Myosin V is a dimeric molecular motor that moves processively on actin, with the center of mass moving ∼37 nanometers for each adenosine triphosphate hydrolyzed. We have labeled myosin V with a single fluorophore at different positions in the light-chain domain and measured the step size with a standard deviation of <1.5 nanometers, with 0.5-second temporal resolution, and observation times of minutes. The step size alternates between 37 + 2x nm and 37 – 2x, where x is the distance along the direction of motion between the dye and the midpoint between the two heads. These results strongly support a hand-over-hand model of motility, not an inchworm model.

Keywords

FluorophoreMyosinChemistryBiophysicsFluorescencePhysicsOpticsBiology

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Publication Info

Year
2003
Type
article
Volume
300
Issue
5628
Pages
2061-2065
Citations
1834
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Ahmet Yıldız, Joseph N. Forkey, Sean McKinney et al. (2003). Myosin V Walks Hand-Over-Hand: Single Fluorophore Imaging with 1.5-nm Localization. Science , 300 (5628) , 2061-2065. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1084398

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DOI
10.1126/science.1084398