Single molecule fluorescence polarization techniques have been used for three-dimensional (3D) orientation measurements to observe the dynamic properties of single molecules. However, only few techniques can simultaneously measure 3D orientation and position. Furthermore, these techniques often require complex equipment and cumbersome analysis. We have developed a microscopy system and synthesized highly fluorescent, rod-like shaped quantum dots (Q rods), which have linear polarizations, to simultaneously measure the position and 3D orientation of a single fluorescent probe. The optics splits the fluorescence from the probe into four different spots depending on the polarization angle and projects them onto a CCD camera. These spots are used to determine the 2D position and 3D orientation. Q rod orientations could be determined with better than 10°accuracy at 33 ms time resolution. We applied our microscopy and Q rods to simultaneously measure myosin V movement along an actin filament and rotation around its own axis, finding that myosin V rotates 90°for each step. From this result, we suggest that in the two-headed bound state, myosin V necks are perpendicular to one another, while in the one-headed bound state the detached trailing myosin V head is biased forward in part by rotating its lever arm about its own axis. This microscopy system should be applicable to a wide range of dynamic biological processes that depend on single molecule orientation dynamics.quantum rods | single molecule imaging S ingle molecule fluorescence imaging techniques are being increasingly used to observe the dynamic properties of single molecules like spatial orientation, which provides information on a protein's three-dimensional (3D) motility and its conformational changes (1, 2). These techniques can be grouped into two different classes: intensity distribution techniques and interference pattern techniques. In the first class, 3D orientation is determined by comparing fluorescence intensities among several excitation or detection polarizations. For example, in single-molecule fluorescence polarization microscopy (3), the dye is excited by multiple polarized beams incident from different directions. The resulting emission is split with respect to its polarization and detected with avalanche photodiodes, which allows for sensitivity to the 3D orientation of a single dye's transition dipole moments. The second class takes advantage of single molecule emission patterns created by defocusing. Defocused imaging reveals additional structures in single-molecule emission patterns that depend on the orientation of the emitting dipole (4-7). The 3D orientation is obtained by comparing the defocused images with corresponding calculated model images. This technique can be used to determine both the position and orientation of the dye. However, because the defocused image is spread over a greater number of pixels, the image inherently has poor position accuracy. Furthermore, in most orientation-determination techniques, time consuming fitting...
The sarcomere, the minimal mechanical unit of muscle, is composed of myosins, which self-assemble into thick filaments that interact with actin-based thin filaments in a highly-structured lattice. This complex imposes a geometric restriction on myosin in force generation. However, how single myosins generate force within the restriction remains elusive and conventional synthetic filaments do not recapitulate the symmetric bipolar filaments in sarcomeres. Here we engineered thick filaments using DNA origami that incorporate human muscle myosin to directly visualize the motion of the heads during force generation in a restricted space. We found that when the head diffuses, it weakly interacts with actin filaments and then strongly binds preferentially to the forward region as a Brownian ratchet. Upon strong binding, the two-step lever-arm swing dominantly halts at the first step and occasionally reverses direction. Our results illustrate the usefulness of our DNA origami-based assay system to dissect the mechanistic details of motor proteins.
Muscle contraction can be explained by the swinging lever-arm model. However, the dynamic features of how the myosin head swings the lever-arm and its initial interactions with actin are not well understood even though they are essential for the muscle force generation, contraction speed, heat production, and response to mechanical perturbations. This is because myosin heads during force generation have not been directly visualized. Here, we engineered thick filaments composed of DNA origami and recombinant human muscle myosin, and directly visualized the heads during force generation using nanometer-precision single-molecule imaging.We found that when the head diffuses, it weakly interacts with actin filaments and then strongly binds preferentially to the forward region as a Brownian ratchet.Upon strong binding, the head two-step lever-arm swing dominantly halts at the first step and occasionally reverses direction. These results can explain all mechanical characteristics of muscle contraction and suggest that our DNA origami-based assay system can be used to dissect the mechanistic details of motor proteins.
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