A myosin II nanomachine mimicking the striated muscle

Irene Pertici, Lorenzo Bongini, Luca Melli, Giulio Bianchi, Luca Salvi, Giulia Falorsi, Caterina Squarci, Tamás Bozó, Dan Cojoc, Miklós S. Z. Kellermayer, Vincenzo Lombardi () and Pasquale Bianco
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Irene Pertici: University of Florence
Lorenzo Bongini: University of Florence
Luca Melli: University of Florence
Giulio Bianchi: University of Florence
Luca Salvi: University of Florence
Giulia Falorsi: University of Florence
Caterina Squarci: University of Florence
Tamás Bozó: Semmelweis University
Dan Cojoc: IOM-CNR
Miklós S. Z. Kellermayer: Semmelweis University
Vincenzo Lombardi: University of Florence
Pasquale Bianco: University of Florence

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The contraction of striated muscle (skeletal and cardiac muscle) is generated by ATP-dependent interactions between the molecular motor myosin II and the actin filament. The myosin motors are mechanically coupled along the thick filament in a geometry not achievable by single-molecule experiments. Here we show that a synthetic one-dimensional nanomachine, comprising fewer than ten myosin II dimers purified from rabbit psoas, performs isometric and isotonic contractions at 2 mM ATP, delivering a maximum power of 5 aW. The results are explained with a kinetic model fitted to the performance of mammalian skeletal muscle, showing that the condition for the motor coordination that maximises the efficiency in striated muscle is a minimum of 32 myosin heads sharing a common mechanical ground. The nanomachine offers a powerful tool for investigating muscle contractile-protein physiology, pathology and pharmacology without the potentially disturbing effects of the cytoskeletal—and regulatory—protein environment.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06073-9

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