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AAT Bioquest

What is myosin made of?

Posted November 4, 2022


Answer

Myosin is made of multiple protein chains. It has two large heavy chains and two pairs of small light chains, which are known as the essential and regulatory light chains. Structurally, most myosin molecules have a head, neck, and tail domain. The head domain attaches to the filamentous actin. The neck domain plays a linking role and also serves as a binding site for myosin light chains. The tail domain facilitates interaction with myosin subunits and cargo molecules and often assists with guiding motor activity. 

Additional resources

Actin, Myosin, and Cell Movement

Actin

Cell Navigator® F-Actin Labeling Kit *Red Fluorescence*

Phalloidin-iFluor® 488 Conjugate