Up-and-down movement of a sliding actin filament in the in vitro motility assay

Abstract We observed a three-dimensional up-and-down movement of an actin filament sliding on heavy mero-myosin (HMM) molecules in an in vitro motility assay. The up-and-down movement occurred along the direction perpendicular to the planar glass plane on which the filament demonstrated a sliding movement. The height length of the up-and-down movement was measured by monitoring the extent of diminishing fluorescent emission from the marker attached to the filament in the evanescent field of attenuation. The height lengths whose distribution exhibits a local maximum were found around the two values, 150 nm and 90 nm, separately. This undulating three-dimensional movement of an actin filament suggests that the interactions between myosin (HMM) molecules and the actin filament may temporally be modulated during its sliding movement.