Paper Citing NAMD - Abstract
Koussa, Mounir A.; Sotomayor, Marcos; Wong, Wesley P.; Corey, David P.
Towards Force Spectroscopy of Single Tip-Link Bonds
MECHANICS OF HEARING: PROTEIN TO PERCEPTION, 1703 Art. No. 030002, 2015
Inner-ear mechanotransduction relies on tip links, fine protein filaments made of cadherin-23 and protocadherin-15 that convey tension to mechanosensitive channels at the tips of hair-cell stereocilia. The tip-link cadherins are thought to form a heterotetrameric complex, with two cadherin-23 molecules forming the upper part of the filament and two protocadherin-15 molecules forming the lower end. The interaction between cadherin-23 and protocadherin-15 is mediated by their N-terminal tips. Missense mutations that modify the interaction interface impair binding and lead to deafness. Molecular dynamics simulations predict that the tip-link bond is mechanically strong enough to withstand forces in hair cells, but its experimentally determined strength is unknown. We have developed molecular tools to facilitate single-molecule force spectroscopy on the tip link bond. Self-assembling DNA nanoswitches are functionalized with the interacting tips of cadherin-23 and protocadherin-15 using the enzyme sortase under conditions that preserve protein function. These tip link nanoswitches are designed to provide a signature force-extension profile. This molecular signature should allow us to identify single-molecule rupture events in pulling experiments.
