Myosin Research Paper

The myosin superfamily is the motor protein responsible for converting the chemical energy of ATP into mechanical energy of movement in muscle contraction and other intracellular processes by interactions with actin. How myosin generates force is a subject of considerable controversy, even after fifty years of intense research.1 Currently, the debate rests on the exact mechanism of the beginning of the powerstroke. This has pharmaceutical interests, as a novel drug discovered by high-throughput screening, Omecamtiv Mecarbil (OM), affects the kinetics of cardiac myosin II by stabilizing a transient state at the beginning of the powerstroke, thereby increasing heart contractility.2,3 A new high-resolution structure of myosin in a previously