Structure of Actin Cross-Linked with -Actinin: A Network of Bundles

O Pelletier, E Pokidysheva, LS Hirst, N Bouxsein, Y Li… - Physical review …, 2003 - APS
O Pelletier, E Pokidysheva, LS Hirst, N Bouxsein, Y Li, CR Safinya
Physical review letters, 2003APS
Three-dimensional laser scanning confocal microscopy has revealed that filamentous actin,
when complexed with the cross-linking protein α-actinin, will spontaneously assemble on a
micron scale into a structure comprised of a relatively rigid, frequently branching, 3D network
of bundles with characteristic mesh size of the order of the persistence length of F-actin. In
contrast, additional nanoscale ordering is observed, as synchrotron x-ray diffraction has
revealed a disordered, distorted square lattice of actin fibers within the individual bundles.
Abstract
Three-dimensional laser scanning confocal microscopy has revealed that filamentous actin, when complexed with the cross-linking protein α-actinin, will spontaneously assemble on a micron scale into a structure comprised of a relatively rigid, frequently branching, 3D network of bundles with characteristic mesh size of the order of the persistence length of F-actin. In contrast, additional nanoscale ordering is observed, as synchrotron x-ray diffraction has revealed a disordered, distorted square lattice of actin fibers within the individual bundles.
American Physical Society