Summary
Fluorescence microscope observation of myofibrils incubated with rhodamine-phalloidin and coumarine-phallacidin showed an initial appearance of fluorescence bands at the Z-lines and near the middle of the sarcomeres indicating preferential binding of dye to actin subunits located at both actin filament ends. After long incubation times (1–3 h) however, a final pattern is reached which consists of fluorescent Z-lines in the center of uniformly labelled actin bands, with greater fluorescence in the Z-lines than in the uniform region outside the Z-lines. Increasing the temperature or the ionic strength increased the rate of change to the final pattern. These data indicate: (1) that the ends of the actin filament are kinetically more accessible to phallotoxins; (2) at long times when equilibrium binding presumably occurs, the concentration of actin subunits in the Z-band is greater than in the rest of the sarcomere.
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Szczesna, D., Lehrer, S.S. The binding of fluorescent phallotoxins to actin in myofibrils. J Muscle Res Cell Motil 14, 594–597 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141556
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141556