Molecular structure of soluble vimentin tetramers

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are essential constituents of the metazoan cytoskeleton. A vast family of cytoplasmic IF proteins are capable of self-assembly from soluble tetrameric species into typical 10-12 nm wide filaments. The primary structure of these proteins includes the signature central 'rod' domain of ~ 300 residues which forms a dimeric α-helical coiled coil composed of three segments (coil1A, coil1B and coil2) interconnected by non-helical, flexible linkers (L1 and L12). The rod is flanked by flexible terminal head and tail domains. At present, the molecular architecture of mature IFs is only poorly known, limiting our capacity to rationalize the effect of numerous disease-related mutations found in IF proteins. Here we addressed the molecular structure of soluble vimentin tetramers which are formed by two antiparallel, staggered dimers with coil1B domains aligned (A₁₁ tetramers). By examining a series of progressive truncations, we show that the presence of the coil1A domain is essential for the tetramer formation. In addition, we employed a novel chemical cross-linking pipeline including isotope labelling to identify intra- and interdimeric cross-links within the tetramer. We conclude that the tetramer is synergistically stabilized by the interactions of the aligned coil1B domains, the interactions between coil1A and the N-terminal portion of coil2, and the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged head and rod domains. Our cross-linking data indicate that, starting with a straight A₁₁ tetramer, flexibility of linkers L1 and L12 enables 'backfolding' of both the coil1A and coil2 domains onto the tetrameric core formed by the coil1B domains. Through additional small-angle X-ray scattering experiments we show that the elongated A₁₁ tetramers dominate in low ionic strength solutions, while there is also a significant structural flexibility especially in the terminal domains.