Whole length myosin binding protein C stabilizes myosin S2 as measured by gravitational force spectroscopy

The mechanical stability of the myosin subfragment-2 (S2) was tested with simulated force spectroscopy (SFS) and gravitational force spectroscopy (GFS). Experiments examined unzipping S2, since it required less force than stretching parallel to the coiled coil. Both GFS and SFS demonstrated that the force required to destabilize the light meromyosin (LMM) was greater than the force required to destabilize the coiled coil at each of three different locations along S2. GFS data also conveyed that the mechanical stability of the S2 region is independent from its association with the myosin thick filament using cofilaments of myosin tail and a single intact myosin. The C-terminal end of myosin binding protein C (MyBPC) binds to LMM and the N-terminal end can bind either S2 or actin. The force required to destabilize the myosin coiled coil molecule was 3 times greater in the presence of MyBPC than in its absence. Furthermore, the in vitro motility assay with full length slow skeletal MyBPC slowed down the actin filament sliding over myosin thick filaments. This study demonstrates that skeletal MyBPC both enhanced the mechanical stability of the S2 coiled coil and reduced the sliding velocity of actin filaments over polymerized myosin filaments.