Millisecond Conformational Dynamics of Skeletal Myosin II Power Stroke Studied by High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy

Myosin-based molecular motors are responsible for a variety of functions in the cells. Myosin II is ultimately responsible for muscle contraction and can be affected by multiple mutations, that may lead to myopathies. Therefore, it is essential to understand the nanomechanical properties of myosin II. Due to the lack of technical capabilities to visualize rapid changes in nonprocessive molecular motors, there are several mechanistic details in the force-generating steps produced by myosin II that are poorly understood. In this study, high-speed atomic force microscopy was used to visualize the actin–myosin complex at high temporal and spatial resolutions, providing further details about the myosin mechanism of force generation. A two-step motion of the double-headed heavy meromyosin (HMM) lever arm, coupled to an 8.4 nm working stroke was observed in the presence of ATP. HMM heads attached to an actin filament worked independently, exhibiting different lever arm configurations in given time during experiments. A lever arm rotation was associated with several non-stereospecific long-lived and stereospecific short-lived (∼1 ms) HMM conformations. The presence of free P i increased the short-lived stereospecific binding events in which the power stroke occurred, followed by release of P i after the power stroke.