Actin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Actin is a globular

Globular protein

Globular proteins, or spheroproteins are one of the two main protein classes, comprising "globe"-like proteins that are more or less soluble in aqueous solutions...

, roughly 42-kDa

KDA

KDA may refer to:* Karachi Development Authority* Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace* Kotelawala Defence Academy* Kramer Design Associates* Lithium diisopropylamide, KDA is the potassium analogue of lithium diisopropylamideOr kDa may refer to:...

moonlighting protein

Protein moonlighting

Protein moonlighting is a phenomenon by which a protein can perform more than one function. Ancestral moonlighting proteins originally possessed a single function but through evolution, acquired additional functions. Many proteins that moonlight are enzymes; others are receptors, ion channels or...

found in all eukaryotic cells

Eukaryote

A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes may more formally be referred to as the taxon Eukarya or Eukaryota. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear...

(the only known exception being nematode

Nematode

The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...

sperm) where it may be present at concentrations of over 100 μM. It is also one of the most highly-conserved

Conserved sequence

In biology, conserved sequences are similar or identical sequences that occur within nucleic acid sequences , protein sequences, protein structures or polymeric carbohydrates across species or within different molecules produced by the same organism...

proteins, differing by no more than 20% in species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

as diverse as algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

and human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

s. Actin is the monomer

Monomer

A monomer is an atom or a small molecule that may bind chemically to other monomers to form a polymer; the term "monomeric protein" may also be used to describe one of the proteins making up a multiprotein complex...

ic subunit of two types of filaments in cells: microfilaments, one of the three major components of the cytoskeleton

Cytoskeleton

The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...

, and thin filaments, part of the contractile apparatus in muscle cells. Thus, actin participates in many important cellular processes including muscle contraction, cell motility

Motility

Motility is a biological term which refers to the ability to move spontaneously and actively, consuming energy in the process. Most animals are motile but the term applies to single-celled and simple multicellular organisms, as well as to some mechanisms of fluid flow in multicellular organs, in...

, cell division and cytokinesis

Cytokinesis

Cytokinesis is the process in which the cytoplasm of a single eukaryotic cell is divided to form two daughter cells. It usually initiates during the late stages of mitosis, and sometimes meiosis, splitting a binucleate cell in two, to ensure that chromosome number is maintained from one generation...

, vesicle and organelle movement, cell signaling

Cell signaling

Cell signaling is part of a complex system of communication that governs basic cellular activities and coordinates cell actions. The ability of cells to perceive and correctly respond to their microenvironment is the basis of development, tissue repair, and immunity as well as normal tissue...

, and the establishment and maintenance of cell junction

Cell junction

A cell junction is a type of structure that exists within the tissue of a some multicellular organism . Cell junctions consist of protein complexes and provide contact between neighbouring cells or between a cell and the extracellular matrix...

s and cell shape. Many of these processes are mediated by extensive and intimate interactions of actin with cellular membranes. In vertebrates, three main groups of actin isoforms, alpha

ACTA1

Actin, alpha skeletal muscle is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ACTA1 gene.-Skeletal actin gene expression:Skeletal alpha actin expression is induced by stimuli and conditions known to cause muscle formation. Such conditions result in fusion of committed cells into myotubes, to form...

, beta, and gamma

ACTG1

Actin, gamma 1, also known as ACTG1, is a gene.-Interactions:ACTG1 has been shown to interact with TMSB4X and CAP1.-Further reading:...

have been identified. The alpha actins are found in muscle tissues and are a major constituent of the contractile apparatus. The beta and gamma actins co-exist in most cell types as components of the cytoskeleton

Cytoskeleton

, and as mediator

Mediator

Mediator may refer to:*A neutral party who assists in negotiations and conflict resolution, the process being known as mediation*Mediator variable in statistics*The Mediator pattern in computer science...

s of internal cell motility.

Formation of thin filament

Genetics

Principal interactions of structural proteins are at cadherin

Cadherin

Cadherins are a class of type-1 transmembrane proteins. They play important roles in cell adhesion, ensuring that cells within tissues are bound together. They are dependent on calcium ions to function, hence their name.The cadherin superfamily includes cadherins, protocadherins, desmogleins, and...

-based adherens junction. Actin filaments are linked to α-actinin

Actinin

Actinin is a microfilament protein. α-Actinin is necessary for the attachment of actin filaments to the Z-lines in skeletal muscle cells, and to the dense bodies in smooth muscle cells...

and to the membrane through vinculin

Vinculin

In mammalian cells, vinculin is a membrane-cytoskeletal protein in focal adhesion plaques that is involved in linkage of integrin adhesion molecules to the actin cytoskeleton...

. The head domain of vinculin associates to E-cadherin via α-, β-, and γ-catenins. The tail domain of vinculin binds to membrane lipids and to actin filaments.
The protein actin is one of the most highly conserved throughout evolution because it interacts with a large number of other proteins, with 80.2% sequence conservation at the gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

level between Homo sapiens
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a species of yeast. It is perhaps the most useful yeast, having been instrumental to baking and brewing since ancient times. It is believed that it was originally isolated from the skin of grapes...

(a species of yeast), and 95% conservation of the primary structure

Primary structure

The primary structure of peptides and proteins refers to the linear sequence of its amino acid structural units. The term "primary structure" was first coined by Linderstrøm-Lang in 1951...

of the protein product.

Although most yeast

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...

s have only a single actin gene, higher eukaryote

Eukaryote

s, in general, express

Gene expression

Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein coding genes such as ribosomal RNA , transfer RNA or small nuclear RNA genes, the product is a functional RNA...

several isoforms of actin encoded by a family of related genes. Mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s have at least six actin isoforms coded by separate genes, which are divided into three classes (alpha, beta

Beta-actin

Beta-actin is one of six different actin isoforms which have been identified in humans. This is one of the two nonmuscle cytoskeletal actins. Actins are highly conserved proteins that are involved in cell motility, structure and integrity...

and gamma) according to their isoelectric point

Isoelectric point

The isoelectric point , sometimes abbreviated to IEP, is the pH at which a particular molecule or surface carries no net electrical charge....

. In general, alpha actins are found in muscle (α-skeletal, α-aortic smooth, α-cardiac, and γ2-enteric smooth), whereas beta and gamma isoforms are prominent in non-muscle cells (β- and γ1-cytoplasmic). Although the amino acid sequences and in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...

properties of the isoforms are highly similar, these isoforms cannot completely substitute for one another in vivo
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...

.

The typical actin gene has an approximately 100-nucleotide 5' UTR, a 1200-nucleotide translated

Translation (genetics)

In molecular biology and genetics, translation is the third stage of protein biosynthesis . In translation, messenger RNA produced by transcription is decoded by the ribosome to produce a specific amino acid chain, or polypeptide, that will later fold into an active protein...

region, and a 200-nucleotide 3' UTR. The majority of actin genes are interrupted by intron

Intron

An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is removed by RNA splicing to generate the final mature RNA product of a gene. The term intron refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene, and the corresponding sequence in RNA transcripts. Sequences that are joined together in the final...

s, with up to 6 introns in any of 19 well-characterised locations. The high conservation of the family makes actin the favoured model for studies comparing the introns-early and introns-late models of intron evolution.

All non-spherical prokaryote

Prokaryote

The prokaryotes are a group of organisms that lack a cell nucleus , or any other membrane-bound organelles. The organisms that have a cell nucleus are called eukaryotes. Most prokaryotes are unicellular, but a few such as myxobacteria have multicellular stages in their life cycles...

s appear to possess genes such as MreB

MreB

MreB is a protein found in bacteria that has been identified as a homologue of actin, as indicated by similarities in tertiary structure and conservation of active site peptide sequence. The conservation of protein structure suggests the common ancestry of the cytoskeletal elements formed by actin,...

, which encode homologues

Homology (biology)

Homology forms the basis of organization for comparative biology. In 1843, Richard Owen defined homology as "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function". Organs as different as a bat's wing, a seal's flipper, a cat's paw and a human hand have a common underlying...

of actin; these genes are required for the cell's shape to be maintained. The plasmid

Plasmid

In microbiology and genetics, a plasmid is a DNA molecule that is separate from, and can replicate independently of, the chromosomal DNA. They are double-stranded and, in many cases, circular...

-derived gene ParM encodes an actin-like protein whose polymerised form is dynamically unstable, and appears to partition the plasmid DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

into the daughter cells during cell division by a mechanism analogous to that employed by microtubules in eukaryotic mitosis

Mitosis

Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...

.
Actin is found in both smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulums.

Functions

Actin forms microfilament

Microfilament

Microfilaments are the thinnest filaments of the cytoskeleton, a structure found in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells. These linear polymers of actin subunits are flexible and relatively strong, resisting buckling by multi-piconewton compressive forces and filament fracture by nanonewton...

s which are typically one of the most dynamic of the three subclasses of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton

Cytoskeleton

.

In turn this gives actin major functions in cells:

To form microfilament
Microfilament
Microfilaments are the thinnest filaments of the cytoskeleton, a structure found in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells. These linear polymers of actin subunits are flexible and relatively strong, resisting buckling by multi-piconewton compressive forces and filament fracture by nanonewton...

s to give mechanical support to cells, and provide trafficking routes through the cytoplasm to support signal transduction.
To allow cell motility in cells which undergo amoeboid
Amoeboid
Amoeboids are single-celled life-forms characterized by an irregular shape."Amoeboid" and "amœba" are often used interchangeably even by biologists, and especially refer to a creature moving by using pseudopodia. Most references to "amoebas" or "amoebae" are to amoeboids in general rather than to...

motion using pseudopods (see actoclampin molecular motors) and phagocytosis, for example of bacteria by macrophage
Macrophage
Macrophages are cells produced by the differentiation of monocytes in tissues. Human macrophages are about in diameter. Monocytes and macrophages are phagocytes. Macrophages function in both non-specific defense as well as help initiate specific defense mechanisms of vertebrate animals...

s.
In metazoan muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

cells, to be the scaffold on which myosin
Myosin
Myosins comprise a family of ATP-dependent motor proteins and are best known for their role in muscle contraction and their involvement in a wide range of other eukaryotic motility processes. They are responsible for actin-based motility. The term was originally used to describe a group of similar...

proteins generate force to support muscle contraction.
In non-muscle cells, to be a track for cargo transport myosins (non-conventional myosins) such as myosin V and VI. Non-conventional myosins use ATP hydrolysis to transport cargo, such as vesicles
Vesicle (biology)
A vesicle is a bubble of liquid within another liquid, a supramolecular assembly made up of many different molecules. More technically, a vesicle is a small membrane-enclosed sack that can store or transport substances. Vesicles can form naturally because of the properties of lipid membranes , or...

and organelles, in a directed fashion much faster than diffusion. Myosin V walks towards the barbed end of actin filaments, while myosin VI walks toward the pointed end. Most actin filaments are arranged with the barbed end toward the cellular membrane and the pointed end toward the cellular interior. This arrangement allows myosin V to be an effective motor for export of cargos, and myosin VI to be an effective motor for import.

Directionality

The polarity of an actin filament can be determined by decorating the microfilament with myosin "S1" fragments, creating barbed (+) and pointed (-) ends on the filament. An S1 fragment is composed of the head and neck domains of myosin II. Under physiologic conditions, G-actin (the monomer

Monomer

form) is transformed to F-actin (the polymer

Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...

form) by ATP, where the role of ATP is essential.

Nucleation and polymerization

Actin polymerization and depolymerization is necessary in chemotaxis

Chemotaxis

Chemotaxis is the phenomenon in which somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. This is important for bacteria to find food by swimming towards the highest concentration of food molecules,...

and cytokinesis

Cytokinesis

. Nucleating factors are necessary to stimulate actin polymerization. One such nucleating factor is the ARP complex which acts as a barbed end of actin in its shape to stimulate the nucleation of G-actin (or monomeric actin). The Arp2/3 complex

Arp2/3 complex

Arp2/3 complex is a seven-subunit protein that plays a major role in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. It is a major component of the actin cytoskeleton and is found in most in actin cytoskeleton-containing eukaryotic cells....

can also bind to actin filaments at 70 degrees to form new actin branches off of existing actin filaments. Also, actin filaments themselves bind ATP, and hydrolysis of this ATP stimulates destabilization of the polymer.

The growth of actin filaments can be regulated by thymosin

Thymosin

Thymosins are small proteins present in many animal tissues. They are named thymosins because they were originally isolated from the thymus, but most are now known to be present in many other tissues...

and profilin

Profilin

Profilin is an actin-binding protein involved in the dynamic turnover and restructuring of the actin cytoskeleton. It is found in all eukaryotic organisms in most cells. Profilin is important for spatially and temporally controlled growth of actin microfilaments, which is an essential process in...

. Thymosin binds to G-actin to buffer the polymerizing process while profilin binds to G-actin to exchange ADP

Adenosine diphosphate

Adenosine diphosphate, abbreviated ADP, is a nucleoside diphosphate. It is an ester of pyrophosphoric acid with the nucleoside adenosine. ADP consists of the pyrophosphate group, the pentose sugar ribose, and the nucleobase adenine....

for ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleoside triphosphate used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism...

promoting the monomeric addition to the barbed, plus end.

Microfilaments

Individual subunit

Protein subunit

In structural biology, a protein subunit or subunit protein is a single protein molecule that assembles with other protein molecules to form a protein complex: a multimeric or oligomeric protein. Many naturally occurring proteins and enzymes are multimeric...

s of microfilaments are known as globular

Globular protein

Globular proteins, or spheroproteins are one of the two main protein classes, comprising "globe"-like proteins that are more or less soluble in aqueous solutions...

actin (G-actin). G-actin subunits assemble into long filamentous polymer

Biopolymer

Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Since they are polymers, Biopolymers contain monomeric units that are covalently bonded to form larger structures. There are three main classes of biopolymers based on the differing monomeric units used and the structure of the biopolymer formed...

s called F-actin. Two parallel F-actin strands must rotate 166 degrees to layer correctly on top of each other. This creates the double helix structure of the microfilaments of the cytoskeleton. Microfilaments measure approximately 7 nm in diameter with a loop of the helix repeating every 37 nm.

Actomyosin filaments

In muscle

Muscle

Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

, actin is the major component of thin filaments, which, together with the motor protein myosin

Myosin

Myosins comprise a family of ATP-dependent motor proteins and are best known for their role in muscle contraction and their involvement in a wide range of other eukaryotic motility processes. They are responsible for actin-based motility. The term was originally used to describe a group of similar...

(which forms thick filaments), are arranged into actomyosin myofibril

Myofibril

A myofibril is a basic unit of a muscle. Muscles are composed of tubular cells called myocytes or myofibers. Myofibers are composed of tubular myofibrils. Myofibrils are composed of long proteins such as actin, myosin, and titin, and other proteins that hold them together...

s. These fibrils comprise the mechanism of muscle contraction

Muscle contraction

Muscle fiber generates tension through the action of actin and myosin cross-bridge cycling. While under tension, the muscle may lengthen, shorten, or remain the same...

. Using the hydrolysis of ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

for energy, myosin heads undergo a cycle during which they attach to thin filaments, exerting a tension, and then depending on the load, perform a power stroke that causes the thin filaments to slide past, shortening the muscle.

In contractile bundles, the actin-bundling protein alpha-actinin

Actinin

Actinin is a microfilament protein. α-Actinin is necessary for the attachment of actin filaments to the Z-lines in skeletal muscle cells, and to the dense bodies in smooth muscle cells...

separates each thin filament by ~35 nm. This increase in distance allows thick filaments to fit in between and interact, enabling deformation or contraction. In deformation, one end of myosin is bound to the plasma membrane while the other end "walks" toward the plus end of the actin filament. This pulls the membrane into a different shape relative to the cell cortex

Cell cortex

The cell cortex is a specialized layer of cytoplasm on the inner face of the plasma membrane that functions as a mechanical support of the plasma membrane. In animal cells it is an actin-rich layer responsible for movements of the cell surface. In plant cells, the cell cortex is reinforced by...

. For contraction, the myosin molecule is usually bound to two separate filaments and both ends simultaneously "walk" toward their filament's plus end, sliding the actin filaments closer to each other. This results in the shortening, or contraction, of the actin bundle (but not the filament). This mechanism is responsible for muscle contraction and cytokinesis

Cytokinesis

, the division of one cell into two.

Nuclear actin

Actin is essential for transcription

Transcription (genetics)

Transcription is the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. Both RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language that can be converted back and forth from DNA to RNA by the action of the correct enzymes...

from RNA polymerases I

RNA polymerase I

RNA polymerase I is, in eukaryotes, the enzyme that only transcribes ribosomal RNA , a type of RNA that accounts for over 50% of the total RNA synthesized in a cell....

, II

RNA polymerase II

RNA polymerase II is an enzyme found in eukaryotic cells. It catalyzes the transcription of DNA to synthesize precursors of mRNA and most snRNA and microRNA. A 550 kDa complex of 12 subunits, RNAP II is the most studied type of RNA polymerase...

and III

RNA polymerase III

RNA polymerase III transcribes DNA to synthesize ribosomal 5S rRNA, tRNA and other small RNAs. The genes transcribed by RNA Pol III fall in the category of "housekeeping" genes whose expression is required in all cell types and most environmental conditions...

. In Pol I transcription, actin and myosin (MYO1C

MYO1C

Myosin-Ic is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MYO1C gene.-Further reading:...

, which binds DNA) act as a molecular motor. For Pol II transcription, β-actin is needed for the formation of the pre-initiation complex. Pol III contains β-actin as a subunit. Actin can also be a component of chromatin remodeling complexes as well as pre-mRNP particles (that is, precursor messenger RNA

Messenger RNA

Messenger RNA is a molecule of RNA encoding a chemical "blueprint" for a protein product. mRNA is transcribed from a DNA template, and carries coding information to the sites of protein synthesis: the ribosomes. Here, the nucleic acid polymer is translated into a polymer of amino acids: a protein...

bundled in proteins), and is involved in nuclear export

Nuclear pore

Nuclear pores are large protein complexes that cross the nuclear envelope, which is the double membrane surrounding the eukaryotic cell nucleus. There are about on average 2000 nuclear pore complexes in the nuclear envelope of a vertebrate cell, but it varies depending on cell type and the stage in...

of RNAs and proteins.

History

Actin was first observed experiment

Experiment

An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...

ally in 1887 by W.D. Halliburton, who extracted a protein from muscle that 'coagulated' preparations of myosin, which he dubbed "myosin-ferment." However, Halliburton was unable to further characterise his findings, and the discovery of actin is credited instead to Brúnó F. Straub, a young biochemist working in Albert Szent-Györgyi

Albert Szent-Györgyi

Albert Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt was a Hungarian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle...

's laboratory at the Institute of Medical Chemistry at the University of Szeged

University of Szeged

The University of Szeged is one of Hungary's most distinguished universities, and is among the most prominent higher education institutions in Central Europe...

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

.

In 1942, Straub developed a novel technique for extracting muscle protein that allowed him to isolate substantial amounts of relatively pure actin. Straub's method is essentially the same as that used in laboratories today. Szent-Gyorgyi had previously described the more viscous form of myosin produced by slow muscle extractions as 'activated' myosin, and, since Straub's protein produced the activating effect, it was dubbed actin. The hostilities of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

meant that Szent-Gyorgyi and Straub were unable to publish the work in Western scientific journal

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

s; it became well known in the West only in 1945, when it was published as a supplement to the Acta Physiologica Scandinavica.

Straub continued to work on actin, and in 1950 reported that actin contains bound ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

and that, during polymerisation of the protein into microfilaments, the nucleotide

Nucleotide

Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...

is hydrolysed to ADP

Adenosine diphosphate

and inorganic phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

(which remain bound in the microfilament). Straub suggested that the transformation of ATP-bound actin to ADP-bound actin played a role in muscular contraction. In fact, this is true only in smooth muscle

Smooth muscle

Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle. It is divided into two sub-groups; the single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit smooth muscle tissues, the autonomic nervous system innervates a single cell within a sheet or bundle and the action potential is propagated by...

, and was not supported through experimentation until 2001.

The crystal structure

X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...

of G-actin was solved in 1990 by Kabsch and colleagues. In the same year, a model for F-actin was proposed by Holmes and colleagues. The model was derived by fitting a helix of G-actin structures according to low-resolution fiber diffraction data from the filament. Several models of the filament have been proposed since. However, there is still no high-resolution X-ray structure of F-actin.

The Listeria bacteria use the cellular machinery to move around inside the host cell, by inducing directed polymerisation of actin by the ActA

Actin assembly-inducing protein

The Actin assembly-inducing protein is a protein encoded and used by Listeria monocytogenes to propel itself through a mammalian host cell. ActA is a bacterial surface protein comprising a membrane-spanning region...

transmembrane protein

Transmembrane protein

A transmembrane protein is a protein that goes from one side of a membrane through to the other side of the membrane. Many TPs function as gateways or "loading docks" to deny or permit the transport of specific substances across the biological membrane, to get into the cell, or out of the cell as...

, thus pushing the bacterial cell around.

Formation of thin filament

Genetics

Functions

Directionality

Nucleation and polymerization

Microfilaments

Actomyosin filaments

Nuclear actin

History

See also