1gk7: Difference between revisions

[[Image:1gk7.gif|left|200px]]<br /><applet load="1gk7" size="350" color="white" frame="true" align="right" spinBox="true"  

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are key components of the cytoskeleton in higher eukaryotic cells. The elementary IF 'building block' is an elongated coiled-coil dimer consisting of four consecutive alpha-helical segments. The segments 1A and 2B include highly conserved sequences and are critically involved in IF assembly. Based on the crystal structures of three human vimentin fragments at 1.4-2.3 A resolution (PDB entries 1gk4, 1gk6 and 1gk7), we have established the molecular organization of these two segments. The fragment corresponding to segment 1A forms a single, amphipatic alpha-helix, which is compatible with a coiled-coil geometry. While this segment might yield a coiled coil within an isolated dimer, monomeric 1A helices are likely to play a role in specific dimer-dimer interactions during IF assembly. The 2B segment reveals a double-stranded coiled coil, which unwinds near residue Phe351 to accommodate a 'stutter'. A fragment containing the last seven heptads of 2B interferes heavily with IF assembly and also transforms mature vimentin filaments into a new kind of structure. These results provide the first insight into the architecture and functioning of IFs at the atomic level.

1GK7 is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_protein Single protein] structure of sequence from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens Homo sapiens] with <scene name='pdbligand=SO4:'>SO4</scene> as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ligand ligand]. Full crystallographic information is available from [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca-bin/ocashort?id=1GK7 OCA].  

[[Category: Strelkov, S V.]]

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