Inhibition of actomyosin ATPase by vanadate.

Actin-myosin subfragment-1 (SF-1) or actin-heavy meromyosin is dissociated by the binding of ADP and vanadate (Vi) under conditions such that ADP alone does not dissociate the complex. The association constant of the stable complex M.ADP.Vi, in which M indicates myosin [Goodno, C. C. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 2620-2624] with actin is smaller than the average association constant of the intermediate states of the actin-SF-1 ATPase cycle. Actin-SF-1 ATPase activity is 90% inhibited by ADP plus vanadate. The reaction of actin with M.ADP.Vi produces a slow release of ADP and vanadate and quantitative recovery of ATPase activity. The rate of dissociation of ligands was almost linear in actin concentration; consequently, the rate constant of dissociation could only be roughly estimated as 0.5-1 sec-1. The rate of dissociation of ADP and vanadate is thus increased by a factor of 10(5) compared to M.ADP.Vi. The rate of release of ligands by regulated actin (actin-tropomyosin-troponin) was reduced to 1/10th to 1/20th by removal of calcium ion. Therefore the M.ADP.Vi complex has the properties of a more stable analogue of the myosin-ADP-phosphate complex that is generated in the normal ATPase cycle. The activation of ligand release (ratio of rate of dissociation of ADP and vanadate from actomyosin relative to myosin) is much larger than the activation of myosin ATPase by actin, whereas the actual rates of the reactions are much slower.

Inhibition of myosin ATPase by vanadate ion.

Inhibition of the myosin ATPase by vanadate ion (Vi) has been studied in 90 mM NaCl/5 mM MgCl2/20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, at 25 degrees C. Although the onset of inhibition during the assay is slow and dependent upon Vi concentration (kapp approximately 0.3 M-1 s-1), the final level of inhibition approaches 100%, provided the Vi concentration is in slight excess over the concentration of ATPase sites. Inhibition is not reversible by dialysis or the addition of reducing agents. The source of this irreversible inhibition consists of the formation of a stable, inactive complex with the composition M . ADP . Vi (where M represents a single myosin active site). The complex has been isolated, and its mechanism of formation from M, ADP, and Vi has been studied. Omission of ATP increases the rate of formation by about 35-fold (kapp approximately 11 M-1 s-1), yet this rate is still low in comparison with the rates of simple protein-ligand association reactions. This slowness is interpreted in terms of a rate-limited isomerization step that follows the association of M+, ADP, and Vi: M+ . ADP . Vi leads to M+. ADP . Vi (+ indicates the inactive product of the isomerization). The properties of M.ADP.Vi are compared with those of the ATPase intermediate M**.ADP . Pi, and the possible role of Vi as an analog of Pi is discussed.

Kinetics and regulation of the myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase.

1. The steady-state kinetic behaviour of the ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) of intact myofibrils was studied in the presence of both high and low concentrations of Ca2+ (0.25 mM and less than 10 nM respectively). 2. Kinetic data were collected over the initial linear phase of the assay, which lasts for 20--60s. To obtain consistent data we found it necessary to use either fresh myofibril preparations or preparations that had been stored in the presence of thiol compounds. 3. When assayed in the presence of 0.25 mM-Ca2+, the myofibrillar ATPase obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics over the range 0.03--5.0 mM-MgATP (Km 16 +/- 6 micrometer, V 0.4 +/- 0.1 mumol/min per mg). 4. At low Ca2+ concentrations (less than 10 nM) the myofibrillar ATPase displayed pronounced substrate inhibition, which was not observed at high Ca2+ concentrations. Thus increasing the MgATP concentration had the net effect of decreasing the ATPase activity at low Ca2+ relative to that at high Ca2+. This preferential effect of MgATP on the low-Ca2+ ATPase may be important in Ca2+ control. 5. The substrate inhibition that was observed at low Ca2+ was lost on storage or thiol modification of the myofibrils. 6. Under physiological conditions (2 mM-MgATP, I 0.15, pH 7.0), the ATPase of fresh and thiol-protected myofibrils displayed approx. 100-fold activation by Ca2+.

Thermal transitions of myosin and its helical fragments. Regions of structural instability in the myosin molecule.

The structural stabilities of all the familiar proteolytic fragments of myosin have been investigated in melting studies over the pH ranges 5.5-7.0 in 0.5 M KCl. All fragments except subfragment 2 undergo a melting transition manifested by the cooperative uptake of protons in the temperature range 34-47 degrees C, and these fragments experience an increase in transition temperature, Tm as the pH is increased. Subfragment 2 undergoes a melting transition in the 43-55 degrees C range, manifested by the dissociation of protons, and it experiences a decrease in Tm as the pH is increased. These results suggest that pH changes can modulate the relative stabilities of the light meromysin, subfragment-1, and subfragment-2 regions of the myosin molecule.

Thermal transitions of myosin and its helical fragments. I. Shifts in proton equilibria accompanying unfolding.

The thermal transitions of myosin and its helical fragments have been studied with pH as the observable. Heating unbuffered solutions of these proteins near their pI values causes an abrupt rise in pH at a characteristic temperature (the "melting temperature," Tm) which is due to structural changes within the protein. Since the pH shift turns out to be insensitive to the degree of protein aggregation, we have obtained acceptable melting curves even under conditions where the protein coagulates during melting. The melting profiles and Tm vlaues of myosin, myosin rod, and light meromyosin have been found to be remarkably similar (Tm equal to 40 plus or minus 1 degree, 0.5 M KCl, pH 5.9). Proton binding which occurs during melting coincides with the unfolding of a section of myosin rod. Taken in the context of other studies, the proton binding is thought to occur near the "hinge region."

Thermal transitions of myosin and its helical fragments. II. Solvent-induced variations in conformational stability.

The melting behavior of myosin and myosin rod has been studied over the pH range 5.4-7.0, in 0.5 M KCl. Both proteins exhibit almost identical T-m values, which increase from about 37 to 43 degrees as the pH is elevated through the range of study, T-m follows a sigmoidal dependence upon pH, and the inflection point occurs near pH 6.5. The influence of salt concentration on T-m was studied, by the variation of KCl from 0.15 to 2.92 M. With an increasing KCl concentration, both proteins exhibit similar, sigmoidal declines in T-m from about 44 to 34 degrees. Under all conditions of pH and ionic strength studied, melting is accompanied by an absorption of H+ by the protein. The concentration of the protein, the age of the preparation, and the presence of divalent metal ions fail to exert a significant effect on the T-m values obtained by our methods. The effects of salt concentration and pH on the thermal stability of myosin and myosin rod are discussed in terms of the location of the melting process within the myosin molecule. Myosin is shown to possess several of the requisite features for energy transduction via a proton-coupling mechanism. These features provide a framework for investigating some aspects of the molecular basis of muscle contraction within the context of the sliding filament model.

On the enthalpy of binding of ADP to heavy meromyosin.

The binding of ADP to heavy meromyosin has been studied by microcalorimetry. Minute amounts of myokinase interfere with binding measurements, but by selection of appropriate conditions, we can estimate that the value of the apparent deltaHbinding lies between - 1.0 and - 3.0 kcal per mole of ADP bound (0.3 M KC1, 2 mM MgC12, 20mM Tris, pH 8.00, 20 degrees C). Values of deltaHbinding reported to date are an order of magnitude larger, and we suggest that these values are artifactual results due to myokinase contamination.