Heat-Induced Gelation of Myosin in the Presence of Actin

The rabbit muscle contractile proteins, myosin, actin and reconstituted actomyosin were mixed in 0.1–1.0 M KCl, 20 mM buffers, pH 5.0–8.0, and were tested quantitatively for thermally induced gelation properties by measuring the rigidity (shear modulus) of the system at 20–70°. Scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM) was also used to study the structure of the gels formed by gelation of myosin in the presence of F-actin. Under the standard condition, i.e. at 0.6 M KCl, pH 6.0 and 65°, decrease of the myosin/actin mole ratio to about 1.5–2.0 in the reconstituted acto-myosin system resulted in substantial augmentation of the rigidity of the gel formed. Further decreases in the myosin ratio relative to F-actin reduced the rigidity value of the gel to close to the level of myosin alone. Gel-formability of the reconstituted actomyosin was maximal at pH 5.5–6.0 and between 0.5 and 0.8 M KCl and decreased considerably at other pH values and KCl concentrations. The SEM studies revealed progressive changes in three dimensional ordering as actin concentration in the actomyosin varied. These were in concordance with the results of gel strength.