An important component of muscle elasticity is the PEVK region of titin, so
named because of the preponderance of these amino acids. However, the PEVK
region, similar to other elastomeric proteins, is thought to form a random
coil and therefore its structure cannot be determined by standard techniqu
es. Here we combine single-molecule electron microscopy and atomic force mi
croscopy to examine the conformations of the human cardiac titin PEVK regio
n. In contrast to a simple random coil, we have found that cardiac PEVK sho
ws a wide range of elastic conformations with end-to-end distances ranging
from 9 to 24 nm and persistence lengths from 0.4 to 2.5 nm. Individual PEVK
molecules retained their distinctive elastic conformations through many st
retch-relaxation cycles, consistent with the view that these PEVK conformer
s cannot be interconverted by force. The multiple elastic conformations of
cardiac PEVK may result from varying degrees of proline isomerization. The
single-molecule techniques demonstrated here may help elucidate the conform
ation of other proteins that lack a well-defined structure.