Omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) is a positive cardiac inotrope in phase-3 clinical trials for treatment of heart failure. Although initially described as a direct myosin activator, subsequent studies are at odds with this description and do not explain OM-mediated increases in cardiac performance. Here we show, via single-molecule, biophysical experiments on cardiac myosin, that OM suppresses myosin’s working stroke and prolongs actomyosin attachment 5-fold, which explains inhibitory actions of the drug observed in vitro. OM also causes the actin-detachment rate to become independent of both applied load and ATP concentration. Surprisingly, increased myocardial force output in the presence of OM can be explained by cooperative thin-filament activation by OM-inhibited myosin molecules. Selective suppression of myosin is an unanticipated route to muscle activation that may guide future development of therapeutic drugs.

We present MEMLET (MATLAB-enabled maximum-likelihood estimation tool), a simple-to-use and powerful program for utilizing maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) for parameter estimation from data produced by single-molecule and other biophysical experiments. The program is written in MATLAB and includes a graphical user interface, making it simple to integrate into the existing workflows of many users without requiring programming knowledge. We give a comparison of MLE and other fitting techniques (e.g., histograms and cumulative frequency distributions), showing how MLE often outperforms other fitting methods. The program includes a variety of features. 1) MEMLET fits probability density functions (PDFs) for many common distributions (exponential, multiexponential, Gaussian, etc.), as well as user-specified PDFs without the need for binning. 2) It can take into account experimental limits on the size of the shortest or longest detectable event (i.e., instrument "dead time") when fitting to PDFs. The proper modification of the PDFs occurs automatically in the program and greatly increases the accuracy of fitting the rates and relative amplitudes in multicomponent exponential fits. 3) MEMLET offers model testing (i.e., single-exponential versus double-exponential) using the log-likelihood ratio technique, which shows whether additional fitting parameters are statistically justifiable. 4) Global fitting can be used to fit data sets from multiple experiments to a common model. 5) Confidence intervals can be determined via bootstrapping utilizing parallel computation to increase performance. Easy-to-follow tutorials show how these features can be used. This program packages all of these techniques into a simple-to-use and well-documented interface to increase the accessibility of MLE fitting.

Key steps of cardiac mechanochemistry, including the force-generating working stroke and the release of phosphate (Pi), occur rapidly after myosin-actin attachment. An ultra-high-speed optical trap enabled direct observation of the timing and amplitude of the working stroke, which can occur within <200 μs of actin binding by β-cardiac myosin. The initial actomyosin state can sustain loads of at least 4.5 pN and proceeds directly to the stroke or detaches before releasing ATP hydrolysis products. The rates of these processes depend on the force. The time between binding and stroke is unaffected by 10 mM Pi which, along with other findings, indicates the stroke precedes phosphate release. After Pi release, Pi can rebind enabling reversal of the working stroke. Detecting these rapid events under physiological loads provides definitive indication of the dynamics by which actomyosin converts biochemical energy into mechanical work.

15Key steps of cardiac mechanochemistry, including the force-generating working stroke and the release 16 of phosphate (P i ), occur rapidly after myosin-actin attachment. An ultra-high-speed optical trap enabled 17 direct observation of the timing and amplitude of the working stroke, which can occur within <200 s of 18 actin binding by -cardiac myosin. The initial actomyosin state can sustain loads of at least 4.5 pN and 19 proceeds directly to the stroke or detaches before releasing ATP hydrolysis products. The rates of these 20 processes depend on the force. The time between binding and stroke is unaffected by 10 mM P i which, 21 along with other findings, indicates the stroke precedes phosphate release. After P i release, P i can 22rebind enabling reversal of the working stroke. Detecting these rapid events under physiological loads 23 provides definitive indication of the dynamics by which actomyosin converts biochemical energy into 24 mechanical work. 25 26

We characterized experimental artifacts arising from the non-linear response of acousto-optical deflectors (AODs) in an ultra-fast force-clamp optical trap and have shown that using electro-optical deflectors (EODs) instead eliminates these artifacts. We give an example of the effects of these artifacts in our ultra-fast force clamp studies of the interaction of myosin with actin filaments. The experimental setup, based on the concept of Capitanio et al. [Nat. Methods 9, 1013-1019 (2012)] utilizes a bead-actin-bead dumbbell held in two force-clamped optical traps which apply a load to the dumbbell to move it at a constant velocity. When myosin binds to actin, the filament motion stops quickly as the total force from the optical traps is transferred to the actomyosin attachment. We found that in our setup, AODs were unsuitable for beam steering due to non-linear variations in beam intensity and deflection angle as a function of driving frequency, likely caused by low-amplitude standing acoustic waves in the deflectors. These aberrations caused instability in the force feedback loops leading to artifactual jumps in the trap position. We demonstrate that beam steering with EODs improves the performance of our instrument. Combining the superior beam-steering capability of the EODs, force acquisition via back-focal-plane interferometry, and dual high-speed FPGA-based feedback loops, we apply precise and constant loads to study the dynamics of interactions between actin and myosin. The same concept applies to studies of other biomolecular interactions.

KIF3AC is a mammalian neuron-specific kinesin-2 implicated in intracellular cargo transport. It is a heterodimer of KIF3A and KIF3C motor polypeptides which have distinct biochemical and motile properties as engineered homodimers. Single-molecule motility assays show that KIF3AC moves processively along microtubules at a rate faster than expected given the motility rates of the KIF3AA and much slower KIF3CC homodimers. To resolve the stepping kinetics of KIF3A and KIF3C motors in homo- and heterodimeric constructs and determine their transport potential under load, we assayed motor activity using interferometric scattering microscopy and optical trapping. The distribution of stepping durations of KIF3AC molecules is described by a rate (k1= 11 s−1) without apparent kinetic asymmetry. Asymmetry was also not apparent under hindering or assisting mechanical loads in the optical trap. KIF3AC shows increased force sensitivity relative to KIF3AA yet is more capable of stepping against mechanical load than KIF3CC. Interestingly, the behavior of KIF3C mirrors prior studies of kinesins with increased interhead compliance. Microtubule gliding assays containing 1:1 mixtures of KIF3AA and KIF3CC result in speeds similar to KIF3AC, suggesting the homodimers mechanically impact each other’s motility to reproduce the behavior of the heterodimer. Our observations are consistent with a mechanism in which the stepping of KIF3C can be activated by KIF3A in a strain-dependent manner, similar to application of an assisting load. These results suggest that the mechanochemical properties of KIF3AC can be explained by the strain-dependent kinetics of KIF3A and KIF3C.

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The development of DNA-based biosensors requires a deep understanding of how DNA molecules adsorb and organize on solid state surfaces as well as the electronic properties of individual and aggregates of DNA molecules. Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), we have successfully characterized an attractive force driven molecular void formation for DNA chemically adsorbed on Au(111) as a function of strand length and deposition conditions. Here we report the observation of these void structures formed on the Au(111) surface by adsorption of both 45 and 90 base pair long, thiolated double-stranded DNA. We found that the average void diameter decreases when increasing the number of base pairs exposed to the surface. The critical determinant in the molecular void formation is the total charge delivered to the surface via the adsorption of the DNA strands and the related counterions, which can ultimately be quantified by the number of base pairs in each adsorbed DNA molecule. Complementary measurements involving STM and AFM suggest that an intact Au(111) surface area is preserved inside the void and is surrounded by a submonolayer of DNA molecules adsorbed on the surface. The discussion of the possible mechanisms for the void formation implies an effective attraction between the DNA molecules.