Title
Complete unfolding of the titin molecule under external force
Date Issued
01 January 1998
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Kellermayer M.S.Z.
Smith S.B.
Granzier H.L.
University of Oregon
Publisher(s)
Academic Press Inc.
Abstract
Titin (also known as connectin) is a giant filamentous protein that spans the distance between the Z- and M-lines of the vertebrate muscle sarcomere. Several earlier studies have implicated titin as playing a fundamental role in maintaining sarcomeric structural integrity and generating the passive force of muscle. The elastic properties of titin were characterized in recent single-molecule mechanical works that described the molecule as an entropic spring in which partial unfolding may take place at high forces during stretch and refolding at low forces during release. In the present work titin molecules were stretched using a laser tweezer with forces above 400 pN. The high external forces resulted in complete mechanical unfolding of the molecule, characterized by the disappearance of force hysteresis at high forces. Titin refolded following complete denaturation, as the hysteresis at low forces reappeared in subsequent stretch-release cycles. The broad force range throughout which unfolding occurred indicates that the various globular domains in titin require different unfolding forces due to differences in the activation energies for their unfolding.
Start page
197
End page
205
Volume
122
Issue
February 1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioquímica, Biología molecular Métodos de investigación bioquímica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0031711834
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Structural Biology
ISSN of the container
10478477
Sponsor(s)
We thank Dr. Gyöngyi Kellermayer and Mark MacNabb for their excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease (AR-42652) and the American Heart Association, Washington Affiliate, to H.L.G., and by grants from NIH (5R01 GM 32543) and NSF (MCB 9631153; B1R931845) to C.B. H.L.G. is an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. National Science Foundation B1R931845, MCB 9631153 NSF National Institutes of Health 5R01 GM 32543 NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases R29AR042652 NIAMS
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus