Mechanical unfolding reveals stable 3-helix intermediates in talin and α-catenin
Fig 6
Stability of the intermediate states.
Talin rod (a) R3 and (b) R9 over time in constant force SMD using constant force pulling at different force regimes. R9 is a strong 5-helix bundle, while stable 3-helix intermediates were observed in both R3 and R9 (gray shading). The pink trace in panel (b) corresponds to end-to-end distance measured under 200 pN applied force, where 220 pN simulation was used as a starting structure after passing the 5h to 3h transition (dashed gray arrow).