Cracked actin filaments as mechanosensitive receptors

Actin filament networks are exposed to mechanical stimuli, but the effect of strain on actin filament structure has not been well-established in molecular detail. This is a critical gap in understanding because the activity of a variety of actin-binding proteins have recently been determined to be altered by actin filament strain. We therefore used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to apply tensile strains to actin filaments and find that changes in actin subunit organization are minimal in mechanically strained, but intact, actin filaments. However, a conformational change disrupts the critical D-loop to W-loop connection between longitudinal neighboring subunits, which leads to a metastable cracked conformation of the actin filament, whereby one protofilament is broken prior to filament severing. We propose that the metastable crack presents a force-activated binding site for actin regulatory factors that specifically associate with strained actin filaments. Through protein-protein docking simulations, we find that 43 evolutionarily-diverse members of the dual zinc finger containing LIM domain family, which localize to mechanically strained actin filaments, recognize two binding sites exposed at the cracked interface. Furthermore, through its interactions with the crack, LIM domains increase the length of time damaged filaments remain stable. Our findings propose a new molecular model for mechanosensitive binding to actin filaments.