The pH-dependent conformational transition in glycogen phosphorylase b. The effect of carnosine and anserine on its activity.

The conformational transition of phosphorylase b which occurs upon pH change from 6.0 to 7.0 is linked to the pH-dependent activity regulation. Skeletal muscle dipeptides, carnosine and anserine, activate rabbit and bovine phosphorylase b at pH 6.5-6.0 and inhibit it at pH 6.5-7.0. The enzyme activation constant was found to be equal to 20 mM, and the inhibition constant corresponded to 22 mM for both carnosine and anserine. The data obtained suggest that glycogen phosphorylase b adopts different conformational states at pH 6.0 and 7.0. Evidence for the pH-induced conformational transition of the enzyme was obtained using chemical modification of histidine residues. The change in the phosphorylase activity under effects of the dipeptides in the pH range of 7.0-6.0 may be due to their physiological role in muscle contraction.

[The role of phosphorylase kinase subunits in interaction with glycogen]. / Rol' sub''edinits kinazy fosforilazy vo vzaimodeistii s glikogenom.

The interaction of rabbit skeletal muscle phosphorylase kinase with CNBr-activated glycogen results in the formation of a covalent complex. The non-bound kinase was removed by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and phenyl-Sepharose. The amount of the bound protein increased with an increase in the number of activated groups in the glycogen molecule; the enzyme activity was thereby decreased. The kinase covalently and non-covalently bound to glycogen exhibited a higher affinity for the protein substrate (phosphorylase b) as well as for Mg2+ and Ca2+ than did the kinase in the absence of glycogen. Electrophoresis performed under denaturating conditions showed that the gamma-subunit of phosphorylase kinase is responsible for the enzyme binding to CNBr-glycogen. The effect of cross-linking reagents (glutaric aldehyde, 1.5-difluoro-2.4-dinitrobenzene) on the binding of phosphorylase kinase subunits was studied. Glycogen afforded protection of the gamma-subunit from the cross-linking to other enzyme subunits. An analysis of the subunit composition of phosphorylase kinase covalently bound to CNBr-glycogen and of the enzyme treated with cross-linking reagents in the presence of glycogen-revealed that the gamma-subunit is involved in the specific binding of phosphorylase kinase to glycogen.

Study of properties of phosphorylase kinase using hydrophobic chromatography.

The structure of nonactivated and activated forms of phosphorylase kinase has been investigated. The enzyme activation was achieved by phosphorylation with cAMP-dependent protein kinase as well as by incubation of the enzyme in an alkaline medium (pH 8.8). For structural comparison of the enzymic forms, hydrophobic chromatography on phenyl-Sepharose and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were used. It has been shown that the enzyme activation results in a release of a low molecular weight component (Mr 16 000). The properties of this component resemble those of calmodulin. Evidence for the formation of an unstable nonactivated phosphorylase kinase - calmodulin complex may be important for the correct understanding of the mechanism of enzyme activation.

The role of cysteinyl residues in the phosphorylase kinase activity as revealed by iodacetamide modification.

In native nonactivated phosphorylase kinase [14C] iodacetamide interacts with 50 cysteinyl residues per enzyme molecule (alpha beta gamma delta)4. According to their reactivity towards iodacetamide these residues can be classified into 3 groups. The most reactive cysteinyl residues are involved in the enzyme activation caused by modification of SH-groups. The enzyme inhibition is biphasic. The fast and slow inactivation reactions follow the pseudo-first order kinetics. The rate of inactivation is increased by Ca2+. Mg-ATP effectively protects the enzyme against the inactivation and chemical modification of three SH-groups per protomer (apha beta gamma delta). The kinetics of inactivation and of the [14C] iodacetamide label incorporation demonstrate that two cysteinyl residues per enzyme protomer (alpha beta gamma delta) are essential for the enzyme activity. These residues are located near the ATP-binding site of the beta and gamma subunits of phosphorylase kinase.

[Properties of the catalytically active fragment obtained by limited proteolysis of phosphorylase kinase]. / Svoistva kataliticheski aktivnogo fragmenta, poluchennogo putem ogranichennogo proteoliza kinazy fosforilazy.

The activation of phosphorylase kinase by limited proteolysis with subtilisin results in a formation of new enzyme forms differing in their molecular weights. Using gradient electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, it was shown that the high molecular weight fraction is made up of active fragments having different molecular weights. The low molecular weight fraction was found to contain only one active fragment with molecular weight of 80 000. Disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel demonstrated that the active fragments of the high and low molecular weight fractions are not homogenous. The kinetic properties of the low molecular weight fragment were investigated. It was found that at pH 8.2 the native non-activated kinase and the catalytically active fragment have identical Km values for the substrates (phosphorylase B and MgATP); however, unlike the non-activated kinase, this fragment possesses a decreased sensitivity to Ca2+ and effectors (glycogen and glucose 6-phosphate) and has no optimum of activity within the pH range of 6.0-9.0.