Vimentin Filaments Integrate Low-complexity Domains in a Complex Helical Structure

Overview

Journal Nat Struct Mol Biol

Specialties Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2024 Apr 17

PMID 38632361

Authors

Matthias Eibauer

Miriam S Weber

Rafael Kronenberg-Tenga

Charlie T Beales

Rajaa Boujemaa-Paterski

Yagmur Turgay

Suganya Sivagurunathan

Julia Kraxner

Sarah Koster

Robert D Goldman

Ohad Medalia

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are integral components of the cytoskeleton. They provide cells with tissue-specific mechanical properties and are involved in numerous cellular processes. Due to their intricate architecture, a 3D structure of IFs has remained elusive. Here we use cryo-focused ion-beam milling, cryo-electron microscopy and tomography to obtain a 3D structure of vimentin IFs (VIFs). VIFs assemble into a modular, intertwined and flexible helical structure of 40 α-helices in cross-section, organized into five protofibrils. Surprisingly, the intrinsically disordered head domains form a fiber in the lumen of VIFs, while the intrinsically disordered tails form lateral connections between the protofibrils. Our findings demonstrate how protein domains of low sequence complexity can complement well-folded protein domains to construct a biopolymer with striking mechanical strength and stretchability.

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