Toward Mechanogenomics of Myosin

Abstract

Myosin is a large superfamily of molecular motors. It is known that myosin evolves to a wide variety of classes performing diverse tasks with different mechanical characteristics: some fast, some efficient, and some exerting large forces. Although their core structures are similar, their subtle differences in sequence can cause drastic differences in their mechanical characteristics. This study used sequence analysis to identify conserved and unique structures of several myosin families including myosin II, myosin V, and myosin VI. Our studies revealed key residues that potentially contribute to the different mechanics of different myosins, such as the differences between alpha- and beta-cardiac myosins, as well as the unique structures of myosin VI, the only reverse-directional myosin. This systematic study leads to the understanding of genomic basis for protein mechanics.