Chiral twisting in a bacterial cytoskeletal polymer affects filament size and orientation

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14752-9
• Publication Date: 2020-03-16T11:06:11Z
• Authors: Handuo Shi; David A. Quint; Gregory M. Grason; Ajay Gopinathan; Kerwyn Casey Huang
• Keywords: MreB; Caulobacter crescentus; Molecular motor

Abstract In many rod-shaped bacteria, the actin homolog MreB directs cell-wall insertion and maintains cell shape, but it remains unclear how structural changes to affect its organization in vivo. Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulations for Caulobacter crescentus extract mechanical parameters inputs into a coarse-grained biophysical polymer model that successfully predicts filament properties Our analyses indicate double protofilaments can exhibit left-handed twisting is dependent on bound nucleotide membrane binding; degree of correlates with length orientation filaments observed vitro also suggest binding induces stable curvature similar magnitude Thus, our multiscale modeling cytoskeletal size conformational inferred from simulations, providing paradigm connecting protein structure mechanics cellular function.