ジャーナル: Nat Struct Mol Biol / 年: 2024 タイトル: Vimentin filaments integrate low-complexity domains in a complex helical structure. 著者: Matthias Eibauer / Miriam S Weber / Rafael Kronenberg-Tenga / Charlie T Beales / Rajaa Boujemaa-Paterski / Yagmur Turgay / Suganya Sivagurunathan / Julia Kraxner / Sarah Köster / Robert D ...著者: Matthias Eibauer / Miriam S Weber / Rafael Kronenberg-Tenga / Charlie T Beales / Rajaa Boujemaa-Paterski / Yagmur Turgay / Suganya Sivagurunathan / Julia Kraxner / Sarah Köster / Robert D Goldman / Ohad Medalia / 要旨: 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 ...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.