Dynein c from Chlamydomonas flagella inner arms

Please acknowledge the following publication in any use of the images in these pages:
S.A. Burgess, M.L. Walker, H. Sakakibara, P.J. Knight & K. Oiwa (2003) Dynein structure and power stroke. Nature, 421, 715-718.

Dynein front page | Stalk Flexibility | Stem Flexibility | Linker Region | Model Page | Molecular Contractility Group

Download the Nature article (pdf)

Negatively-stained electron micrographs of dynein c prepared in ADP and vanadate (ADP.Vi) and in the absence of nucleotide (apo). Images of individual dynein c molecules are processed by single-particle analysis to produce classes each containing similar images. The images in each class are averaged to show that view of the molecule with improved clarity.
Dynein is flexible. Therefore analysis yields many classes covering the range of different structures, as well as classes representing different views of the molecule. The class average images can be put into an order which shows a progression of structures between the extremes of the range. We have converted these progressions into a series of ‘flick-book’-style movies. These show flexibility of the stalk and the stem and the linker regions of the molecule. We have devised a speculative model that correlates several known features of dynein with our images, and we suggest a mechanism of the power stroke.

Images showing the mean conformation of the stalk and stem in ADP.Vi (pre-power stroke conformation) and apo (post-power stroke conformation) demonstrate the power stroke of dynein c. The images have been aligned such that the stem is fixed, and the head and stalk move downwards when ADP and Vi are released. The tip of the stalk moves about 15 nm.

Power stroke

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