Identification of a myosin VII-talin complex

Myosin VII (M7) plays a role in adhesion in both Dictyostelium and mammalian cells where it is a component of a complex of proteins that serve to link membrane receptors to the underlying actin cytoskeleton. The nature of this complex is not fully known, prompting a search for M7-binding proteins. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments reveal that Dictyostelium M7 (DdM7) interacts with talinA, an actin-binding protein with a known role in cell-substrate adhesion. No additional proteins are observed in the immunoprecipitate, indicating that the interaction is direct. The N-terminal region of the DdM7 tail that lies between the region of predicted coil and the first MyTH4 domain is found to harbor the talinA binding site. Localization experiments reveal that talinA does not serve as a membrane receptor for DdM7 and vice versa. These findings reveal that talinA is a major DdM7 binding partner and suggest that their interaction induces a conformational change in each that, in combination with membrane receptor binding, promotes the assembly of a high avidity receptor complex essential for adhesion of the cell to substrata.