Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-19-2006

Publication Title

Journal of Cell Science

Department

Department of Chemistry

Abstract

Class I myosins are single-headed motor proteins, implicated in various motile processes including organelle translocation, ion-channel gating, and cytoskeleton reorganization. Here we describe the cellular localization of myosin-IE and its role in the phagocytic uptake of solid particles and cells. A complete analysis of the kinetic and motor properties of Dictyostelium discoideum myosin-IE was achieved by the use of motor domain constructs with artificial lever arms. Class I myosins belonging to subclass IC like myosin-IE are thought to be tuned for tension maintenance or stress sensing. In contrast to this prediction, our results show myosin-IE to be a fast motor. Myosin-IE motor activity is regulated by myosin heavy chain phosphorylation, which increases the coupling efficiency between the actin and nucleotide binding sites tenfold and the motile activity more than fivefold. Changes in the level of free Mg(2+) ions, which are within the physiological range, are shown to modulate the motor activity of myosin-IE by inhibiting the release of adenosine diphosphate.

DOI

10.1242/jcs.02774

Original Citation

Dürrwang U, Fujita-Becker S, Erent M, Kull FJ, Tsiavaliaris G, Geeves MA, Manstein DJ. Dictyostelium myosin-IE is a fast molecular motor involved in phagocytosis. J Cell Sci. 2006 Feb 1;119(Pt 3):550-8. doi: 10.1242/jcs.02774. PMID: 16443752.

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