Y. Takagi

Myosin-5 varies its steps along the irregular F-actin track

This study reveals that myosin-5 takes variable step lengths along F-actin tracks, adapting to angular disorder in the track structure.

Myosin-driven Nucleation of Actin Filaments Drives Stereocilia Development Critical for Hearing

This study identifies a mutation in MYO15 that disrupts actin nucleation at stereocilia tips, causing hearing loss by impairing stereocilia growth.

Assembly of a double-stranded RNA synthesizing complex: RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE 2 docks with NUCLEAR RNA POLYMERASE IV at the clamp domain

The paper identifies how RDR2 binds to the clamp domain of Pol IV to facilitate dsRNA synthesis for siRNA production in plants.

The Formin Inhibitor, SMIFH2, Inhibits Members of the Myosin Superfamily

The paper shows SMIFH2 inhibits myosin ATPase activity and actin filament translocation, affecting myosin 2A, myosin 10, and other non-muscle myosins, suggesting caution in using SMIFH2 to infer formin function.

The ATPase mechanism of myosin 15, the molecular motor mutated in DFNB3 deafness

This study characterizes the ATPase mechanism of MYO15A, a motor protein involved in stereocilia development, and identifies its kinetic properties relevant to hearing loss.

The Hrq1 helicase stimulates Pso2 translesion nuclease activity to promote DNA inter-strand crosslink repair

This study shows Hrq1 helicase enhances Pso2 nuclease activity to facilitate DNA inter-strand crosslink repair in yeast.

Nanoscale pattern extraction from relative positions of sparse 3D localisations

The paper introduces a method to extract high-resolution ordered features from localisation microscopy data by analyzing relative molecular positions, applied to infer ultrastructure of various biological structures.

A revised 1.6 Å structure of the GTPase domain of the Parkinson’s disease-associated protein LRRK2 provides insights into mechanisms

This paper reports a 1.6 Å crystal structure of the GTPase domain of LRRK2, revealing how PD-associated mutations at Arg-1441 impair nucleotide-dependent conformational dynamics.

A practical method for efficient and optimal production of selenomethionine-labeled recombinant protein complexes in the insect cells

This paper describes a method to efficiently produce selenomethionine-labeled recombinant protein complexes in insect cells by overcoming SeMet toxicity through baculovirus infection and TEQC.

Molecular basis of human asparagine synthetase inhibitor specificity

The paper determines the X-ray crystal structure of human ASNS and builds a computational model of the enzyme-inhibitor complex to understand specificity.

Defect-Facilitated Buckling in Supercoiled Double-Helix DNA

The paper develops a statistical-mechanical model to study DNA buckling and plectoneme domain behavior under stretching forces and ionic conditions, showing defect-facilitated kink formation and energy reduction.

Quantitative mass imaging of single molecules in solution

This paper introduces a method to mass-image single biomolecules in solution with high precision and resolution, enabling the study of molecular interactions and assemblies.

Bipolar filaments of human nonmuscle myosin 2-A and 2-B have distinct motile and mechanical properties

This study compares the motile and mechanical properties of NM-2A and NM-2B filaments, showing that NM2-A filaments require specific conditions to move processively.