Myosin Va maneuvers through actin intersections and diffuses along microtubules
- M. Yusuf Ali*,†,
- Elena B. Krementsova*,
- Guy G. Kennedy*,
- Rachel Mahaffy‡,
- Thomas D. Pollard‡,§,
- Kathleen M. Trybus*, and
- David M. Warshaw*
- *Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405; and
- ‡Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
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Contributed by Thomas D. Pollard, December 26, 2006 (received for review November 6, 2006)
Abstract
Certain types of intracellular organelle transport to the cell periphery are thought to involve long-range movement on microtubules by kinesin with subsequent handoff to vertebrate myosin Va (myoVa) for local delivery on actin tracks. This process may involve direct interactions between these two processive motors. Here we demonstrate using single molecule in vitro techniques that myoVa is flexible enough to effectively maneuver its way through actin filament intersections and Arp2/3 branches. In addition, myoVa surprisingly undergoes a one-dimensional diffusive search along microtubules, which may allow it to scan efficiently for kinesin and/or its cargo. These features of myoVa may help ensure efficient cargo delivery from the cell center to the periphery.
Footnotes
- §To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: thomas.pollard{at}yale.edu
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Author contributions: M.Y.A., G.G.K., T.D.P., K.M.T., and D.M.W. designed research; M.Y.A., E.B.K., and G.G.K. performed research; E.B.K., R.M., T.D.P., and K.M.T. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; M.Y.A., G.G.K., K.M.T., and D.M.W. analyzed data; and M.Y.A., T.D.P., K.M.T., and D.M.W. wrote the paper.
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↵ †On leave from: Department of Physics, Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh.
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0611471104/DC1.
- Abbreviations:
- myoVA,
- myosin VA;
- Qdot,
- quantum dot.
- © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
