In a previous communication (Biosci. Rep. 3, 517–525, 1993) we described quantitative X-ray diffraction studies of α-keratin which were shown to be consistent with the presence of finite arrays of repeating units, successive arrays being set down at axial intervals of 470 Å. In addition the axial interval between repeating units in an array was shown to be 197.9 Å. It was suggested that this could most readily be explained by supposing that a surfacelattice was present which contained a dislocation along a helical path with unit height h = 470 Å and unit twist |t| = 49.1°. The number of repeating units was shown to be in the range 7–9. With 7 repeats the mismatch of the lattice along the dislocation is small and this choice was used to develop a detailed model for the filament. Subsequent studies of molecular interactions have shown however that the coiled-coil rope segments in the rod domain of the molecule are most probably oriented parallel to the dislocation, and so minimization of lattice mismatch may be less important than originally supposed. In the present communication it is shown that the choice of 8, rather than 7, for the number of repeating units yields a model which is more compatible with estimates of the linear density and also provides the basis for a general model for polymorphism in intermediate filament lattices.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
July 01 1985
Intermediate filament structure
R. D. B. Fraser;
R. D. B. Fraser
1Division of Protein Chemistry, CSIRO, 343 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Search for other works by this author on:
T. P. MacRae
T. P. MacRae
1Division of Protein Chemistry, CSIRO, 343 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 17 1985
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© 1985 The Biochemical Society
1985
Biosci Rep (1985) 5 (7): 573–579.
Article history
Received:
June 17 1985
Citation
R. D. B. Fraser, T. P. MacRae; Intermediate filament structure. Biosci Rep 1 July 1985; 5 (7): 573–579. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117070
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Open Access for all
We offer compliant routes for all authors from 2025. With library support, there will be no author nor reader charges in 5 journals. Check here |
![]() |