Effect of actin, ATP, phosphates, and pH on vanadate-induced photocleavage of myosin subfragment 1.

Near-UV irradiation in the presence of vanadate cleaves the heavy chain of myosin subfragment 1 at three specific sites located at 23, 31, and 74 kDa from the N-terminus. Increasing the pH from 6.0 to 8.5, gradually, reduces the efficiency of the cleavage and completely eliminates the 31-kDa cut. Actin specifically inhibits the photocleavage at the sites located 31 and 74 kDa from the N-terminus. ATP strongly protects from cleavage at the 23- and 31-kDa sites and less strongly from the cut at the 74-kDa site. ADP and pyrophosphate have similar, but less pronounced, effects as ATP. Orthophosphate inhibits the photocleavage at the 23- and 74-kDa sites with a similar efficiency. In the ternary actin-S-1-ATP complex, the photocleavage is inhibited at all sites, and the effects of actin and ATP are additive. Photocleavages affect the K+(EDTA)-, Ca2(+)-, and actin-activated ATPase activity of subfragment 1. Loss of all three ATPases is caused by cleavage at the 23-kDa site, while the cut at the 74-kDa site only leads to the loss of actin-activated ATPase activity. It is concluded that subfragment 1 contains at least two distinct phosphate binding sites, the first being part of the "consensus" ATP binding site wherein the 23-kDa photocleavage site is located. This site is responsible for the binding and hydrolysis of ATP. It is possible that the 31-kDa cleavage site is also associated with the "consensus" site through a loop. The 74-kDa cleavage site is a part of another phosphate binding site which may play a role in the regulation of the myosin-actin interaction.     

Effects of ions on vanadate-induced photocleavage of myosin subfragment 1

Myosin subfragment 1 (S1) is cleaved by near-ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of vanadate at three sites located at 23, 31 and 74 kDa from the N-terminus. Since vanadate is considered to be a good structural analogue of phosphate, it is assumed that the cleavage sites participate in forming the phosphate-binding site(s) of S1. In this work, the effect of various ions on the vanadate-induced photocleavage of S1 was studied. Monovalent anions were found to inhibit photocleavage in the 50-200 mM range. The inhibition is more expressed at a site 74 kDa from the N-terminus than at the 23-kDa and 31-kDa sites. The inhibitory effect of the monovalent anions increases in the order acetate = F- less than Cl- less than Br- less than I- = SCN-. The order of the inhibitory effect is identical to the protein-structure-damaging effect of monovalent anions in the von Hippel series [von Hipel, P. H. & Wong, K. Y. (1964) Science 145, 577-581]. Therefore, it is assumed that decreased photocleavage is due to local perturbations of structure, especially at the 74-kDa site, in addition to increased ionic strength. Divalent anions, sulfate and thiosulfate, strongly inhibit photocleavage at 2 mM. The inhibition is very pronounced at the 23-kDa and 31-kDa sites, while the 74-kDa site is hardly affected. Since photocleavage at the 23-kDa and 31-kDa sites is regulated jointly and independently from cleavage at the 74-kDa site, it is assumed that S1 has two distinct phosphate-binding sites: the regions of the 23-kDa and 31-kDa cleavage sites, which are proximal to each other in the spatial structure, participate in forming the first phosphate-binding site, while the 74-kDa site is part of the second binding site. Sulfate was also found to inhibit the trapping of vanadate and to facilitate its release from the S1-MgADP-Vi (Vi, inorganic vanadate) complex. Photocleavage of S1 takes place at all three sites, both in the presence or absence of divalent cations, indicating that these, including Mg2+, are not essential for cleavage.     

Iron(III)-mediated photolysis of outer arm dynein ATPase from sea urchin sperm flagella

Irradiation of outer arm dynein ATPase from sea urchin sperm tail flagella at 365-410 nm in the presence of Fe(III)-gluconate complex and ATP produces photolytic cleavage at two distinct sites on the beta heavy chain, located approximately 250 and approximately 230 kDa from its amino terminus. The former cut is close to or identical with the V1 site of the vanadate-mediated photocleavage (Gibbons, I.R., Lee-Eiford, A., Mocz, G., Phillipson, C. A., Tang, W.-J.Y., and Gibbons, B.H. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2780-2786. The rate of photolysis shows a hyperbolic dependence on Fe(III)-gluconate concentration with half-maximal rate occurring at 23 microM at pH 6.3. In the presence of 0.1-0.5 mM Fe(III)-gluconate-ATP, approximately 58% of the beta chain becomes cleaved with a half-time of about 34 s; the remainder of the beta chain and almost all of the alpha chain are resistant to cleavage. This photolytic cleavage of the beta chain is accompanied by an approximately parallel loss of the dynein latent ATPase activity, whereas the Triton-activated ATPase is lost to a somewhat greater extent. Mg2+ concentrations above approximately 3 mM inhibit photolysis. Substitution of ADP for ATP changes the pattern of cleavage so that both the alpha and beta heavy chain undergo scission but at the 250-kDa site only. AMP, adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate and Fe(II) do not support cleavage at either site. Trivalent rhodium-ATP complexes, as models of MgATP, can also catalyze photolysis of the beta chain at the 250-kDa site. These results suggest that photolysis results from the activation of an Fe(III)-ATP complex bound to the hydrolytic ATP binding site of the beta chain and that both Fe(III) cleavage sites are located close to the nucleotide binding site in the tertiary folding of the beta heavy chain. The cleavage reaction possibly involves initial photoreduction of Fe(III) bound at the Mg2+ binding site in the dynein.Fe.ATP complex, followed by covalent modification of an amino acid side chain that leads to eventual peptide scission.     

A new, smaller actin-activatable myosin subfragment 1 which lacks the 20-kDa, SH1 and SH2 peptide

The actin-dependent ATPase activity of myosin is retained in the separated heads (S1) which contain the NH2-terminal 95-kDa heavy chain fragment and one or two light chains. The S1 heavy chain can be degraded further by limited trypsin treatment into characteristic 25-, 50-, and 20-kDa peptides, in this order from the NH2-terminal end. The 20-kDa peptide contains an actin-binding site and SH1 and SH2, two thiols whose modification dramatically affects ATPase activity. By treating myosin filaments with trypsin at 4 degrees C in the presence of 2 mM MgCl2, we have now obtained preferential cleavage at the 50-20-kDa heavy chain site without any cleavage at the head-rod junction and hinge region in the rod. Incubation of these trypsinized filaments at 37 degrees C in the presence of MgATP released a new S1 fraction which lacked the COOH-terminal 20-kDa heavy chain peptide region. This fraction, termed S1'(75K), has more than 50% of the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity of S1 and the characteristic Ca2+-ATPase and K+-EDTA ATPase activities of myosin. These results show that SH1 and SH2 are not essential for ATPase activity and that binding of actin to the 20-kDa region is not essential for the enhancement of the Mg2+-ATPase activity.     

Effects of proteolysis on the adenosinetriphosphatase activities of thymus myosin

Limited proteolysis was used to identify regions on the heavy chains of calf thymus myosin which may be involved in ATP and actin binding. Assignments of the various proteolytic fragments to different parts of the myosin heavy chain were based on solubility, gel filtration, electron microscopy, and binding of 32P-labeled regulatory light chains. Chymotrypsin rapidly cleaved within the head of thymus myosin to give a 70,000-dalton N-terminal fragment and a 140,000-dalton C-terminal fragment. These two fragments did not dissociate under nondenaturing conditions. Cleavage within the myosin tail to give heavy meromyosin occurred more slowly. Cleavage at the site 70,000 daltons from the N-terminus of the heavy chain caused about a 30-fold decrease in the actin concentration required to achieve half-maximal stimulation of the magnesium-adenosinetriphosphatase (Mg-ATPase) activity of unphosphorylated thymus myosin. The actin-activated ATPase activity of this digested myosin was only slightly affected by light chain phosphorylation. Actin inhibited the cleavage at this site by chymotrypsin. In the presence of ATP, chymotrypsin rapidly cleaved the thymus myosin heavy chain at an additional site about 4000 daltons from the N-terminus. Cleavage at this site caused a 2-fold increase in the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-ATPase activity and 3-fold decreases in the Ca2+- and Mg-ATPase activities of thymus myosin. Thus, cleavage at the N-terminus of thymus myosin was affected by ATP, and this cleavage altered ATPase activity. Papain cleaved the thymus myosin heavy chain about 94,000 daltons from the N-terminus to give subfragment 1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Proteolysis of smooth muscle myosin by Staphylococcus aureus protease: preparation of heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1 with intact 20 000-dalton light chains

The proteolysis of gizzard myosin by Staphylococcus aureus protease produces both heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1 in which the 20 000-dalton light chains are intact, and conditions are suggested for the preparation of each. Cleavage of the myosin heavy chain to produce subfragment 1 is dependent on the myosin conformation. Proteolysis of myosin in the 10S conformation yields predominantly heavy meromyosin, and myosin in the 6S conformation yields mostly subfragment 1 and some heavy meromyosin. Two sites are influenced by myosin conformation, and these are located at approximately 68 000 and 94 000 daltons from the N-terminus of the myosin heavy chain. The latter site is thought to be located at the subfragment 1-subfragment 2 junction, and cleavage at this site results in the production of subfragment 1. The time courses of phosphorylation of both heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1 can be fit by a single exponential. The actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity of heavy meromyosin is markedly activated by phosphorylation of the 20 000-dalton light chains. From the actin dependence of Mg2+-ATPase activity the following values are obtained: for phosphorylated heavy meromyosin, Vmax approximately 5.6 s-1 and Ka (the apparent dissociation constant for actin) approximately 2 mg/mL; for dephosphorylated heavy meromyosin, Vmax approximately 0.2 s-1 and Ka approximately 7 mg/mL. The actin-activated ATPase activity of subfragment 1 is not influenced by phosphorylation, and Vmax and Ka for both the phosphorylated and dephosphorylated forms are 0.4 s-1 and 5 mg/mL, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Photocleavage of myosin subfragment 1 by vanadate

The heavy chain of myosin's subfragment 1 (S1) was cleaved at two distinct sites (termed V1 and V2) after irradiation with UV light in the presence of millimolar concentrations of vanadate and in the absence of nucleotides or divalent metals. The V1 site cleavage appeared to be identical with the previously described active site cleavage at serine-180, which is effected by irradiation of a photomodified form of the S1-MgADP-Vi complex [Cremo, C. R., Grammer, J. C., & Yount, R. G. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 6608-6011]. The V2 site was cleaved specifically, without cleavage at the V1 site, first by formation of the light-stable S1-Co2+ADP-Vi complex at the active site [Grammer, J. C., Cremo, C. R., & Yount, R. G. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 8408-8415] and then by irradiation in the presence of millimolar vanadate. By gel electrophoresis, the V2 site was localized to a region about 20 kDa from the COOH terminus of the S1 heavy chain. From the results of tryptic digestion experiments, the COOH-terminal V2 cleavage peptide appeared to contain lysine-636 in the linker region between the 50- and 20-kDa tryptic peptides of the heavy chain. This site appeared to be the same site cleaved by irradiation of S1 (not complexed with Co2+ADP-Vi) in the presence of millimolar vanadate as previously described [Mocz, G. (1989) Eur. J. Biochem. 179, 373-378]. Cleavage at the V2 site was inhibited by Co2+ but was not significantly affected by the presence of nucleotides or Mg2+ ions. Tris buffer significantly inhibited V2 cleavage. From the results of UV-visible absorption, 51V NMR, and frozen-solution EPR spectral experiments, it was concluded that irradiation with UV light reduced vanadate +5 to the +4 oxidation state, which was then protected from rapid reoxidation by O2 by complexation with the Tris buffer. The relatively stable reduced form or forms of vanadium were not competent to cleave S1 at either the V1 or the V2 site. 51V NMR titration experiments indicated that a tetrameric species of vanadium preferentially bound to S1 and to the S1-MgADP-Vi complex, whereas no binding of either the monomeric or dimeric species could be detected. These results suggest that the vanadate tetramer was responsible for the photocleavage of S1 which occurred at both the V1 and V2 sites in the absence of nucleotides or divalent metals.     

The effect of actin and phosphorylation on the tryptic cleavage pattern of Acanthamoeba myosin IA

The Mg2+-ATPase activity of Acanthamoeba myosin IA is activated by F-actin only when the myosin heavy chain is phosphorylated at a single residue. In order to gain insight into the conformational changes that may be responsible for the effects of F-actin and phosphorylation on myosin I ATPase, we have studied their effects on the proteolysis of the myosin IA heavy chain by trypsin. Trypsin initially cleaves the unphosphorylated, 140-kDa heavy chain of Acanthamoeba myosin IA at sites 38 and 112 kDa from its NH2 terminus and secondarily at sites 64 and 91 kDa from the NH2 terminus. F-actin has no effect on tryptic cleavage at the 91- and 112-kDa sites, but does protect the 38-kDa site and the 64-kDa site. Phosphorylation (which occurs very near the 38-kDa site) has no detectable effect on the tryptic cleavage pattern in the absence of F-actin or on F-actin protection of the 64-kDa site, but significantly enhances F-actin protection of the 38-kDa site. Protection of the 64-kDa site is probably due to direct steric blocking because F-actin binds to this region of the heavy chain. The protection of the 38-kDa site by F-actin may be the result of conformational changes in this region of the heavy chain induced by F-actin binding near the 64-kDa site and by phosphorylation. The conformational changes in the heavy chain of myosin IA that are detected by alterations in its susceptibility to proteolysis are likely to be related to the conformational changes that are involved in the phosphorylation-regulated actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activities of Acanthamoeba myosins IA and IB.     

Effect of skeletal muscle myosin light chain 2 on the Ca2+-sensitive interaction of myosin and heavy meromyosin with regulated actin

A low-speed centrifugation assay has been used to examine the binding of myosin filaments to F-action and to regulated actin in the presence of MgATP. While the cross-linking of F-actin by myosin was Ca2+ insensitive, much less regulated actin was cross-linked by myosin in the absence of Ca2+ than in its presence. Removal of the 19000-dalton, phosphorylatable light chain from myosin resulted in the loss of this Ca2+ sensitivity. Readdition of this light chain partially restored the Ca2+-sensitive cross-linking of regulated actin by myosin. Urea gel electrophoresis has been used to distinguish that fraction of heavy meromyosin which contains intact phosphorylatable light chain from that which contains a 17000-dalton fragment of this light chain. In the absence of Ca2+, heavy meromyosin which contained digested light chain bound to regulated actin in MgATP about 10-fold more tightly than did heavy meromyosin which contained intact light chain. The regulated actin-activated ATPases of heavy meromyosin also showed that cleavage of this light chain causes a substantial increase in the affinity of heavy meromyosin for regulated actin in the absence of Ca2+. Thus, the binding of both myosin and heavy meromyosin to regulated actin is Ca2+ sensitive, and this sensitivity is dependent on the phosphorylatable light chain.     

Photosensitized cleavage of dynein heavy chains. Cleavage at the "V1 site" by irradiation at 365 nm in the presence of ATP and vanadate

Irradiation of soluble dynein 1 from sea urchin sperm flagella at 365 nm in the presence of MgATP and 0.05-50 microM vanadate (Vi) cleaves the alpha and beta heavy chains (Mr 428,000) at their V1 sites to give peptides of Mr 228,000 and 200,000, without the nonspecific side effects produced by irradiation at 254 nm as described earlier (Lee-Eiford, A., Ow, R. A., and Gibbons, I. R. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 2337-2342). The decrease in intact heavy chain material is biphasic; in 10 microM Vi, approximately 80% occurs with a half-time of 7 min and the remainder with a half-time of about 90 min, and the yield of cleavage peptides is better than 90%. Loss of dynein ATPase activity appears to be a direct result of the cleavage process and is not significantly affected by the presence of up to 0.1 M cysteamine (CA, 60-23-1) or 2-aminoethyl carbamimidothioic acid dihydrobromide (CA, 56-10-0) as free radical trapping agents. The concentration of Vi required for 50% maximal initial cleavage rate is 4.5 microM, while that for 50% ATPase inhibition is 0.8 microM, both in a 0.6 M NaCl medium. In the presence of 20 microM Vi, CTP and UTP support cleavage at about half the rate of ATP, whereas GTP and ITP support cleavage only if the Vi concentration is raised to about 200 microM. Substitution of any of the transition metal cations Cr2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, or Co2+ for the usual Mg2+ suppresses the photocleavage, presumably by quenching the excited chromophore prior to scission of the heavy chain. The photocleaved dynein 1 binds to dynein-depleted flagella similarly to intact dynein 1, but upon reactivation of the flagella with 1 mM ATP their motility is partially inhibited, rather than being augmented as with intact dynein. These results indicate that Vi acts as a photosensitizing catalyst and suggest that the cleavage proceeds through excitation of Vi bound to dynein at the hydrolytic ATP binding site on each heavy chain, probably in a dynein X MgADP X Vi complex. The exquisite specificity of Vi-sensitized photocleavage will aid the peptide mapping of dynein heavy chains and may be of broader use in studies of protein structure.     

Study of properties of the actomyosin complex using photo-cleavage of proteins by vanadates]

Study of myosin and actomyosin preparations photocleavage conditioned by polyvanadates confirmed the data on V1 and V2 centre cleavage independence of bivalent cations. Actin does not change sufficiently the reaction in V1 centre and considerably slows down the reaction in V2 centre. These actin properties do not depend on bivalent cation (Mg2+), nor on preliminary incubation with vanadate. It was also discovered that preincubation with vanadate in EDTA medium results in myosin molecule cleavage with producing light (M 18 kD) fragments in both cases: with myosin and actomyosin preparations. Besides vanadate-dependent photocleavage of myosin peptide bonds, there were discovered photocrosslinkings of polypeptide chains in myosin and actomyosin preparations also depending on the presence of vanadate. In actomyosin preparations they probably lead to crosslinking of heavy minor proteins to heavy myosin chains.     

Inhibition of conformational change in smooth muscle myosin by a monoclonal antibody against the 17-kDa light chain

Monoclonal antibodies against gizzard smooth muscle myosin were generated and characterized. One of these antibodies, designated MM-2, recognized the 17-kDa light chain and modulated the ATPase activities and hydrodynamic properties of smooth muscle myosin. Rotary shadowing electron microscopy showed that MM-2 binds 51 (+/- 25) A from the head-rod junction. The depression of Ca2+- and Mg2+-ATPase activities of myosin and Ca2+-ATPase activity of heavy meromyosin at low KCl concentration were abolished by MM-2. Viscosity measurement indicated that MM-2 inhibits the transition of 6 S myosin to 10 S myosin. While the rate of the production of subfragment-1 by papain proteolysis of 6 S myosin was inhibited by MM-2, the rate of proteolysis of the heavy chain of 10 S myosin was enhanced by MM-2 and reached the same rate as that of 6 S myosin plus MM-2. These results suggest that MM-2 inhibits the formation of 10 S myosin by binding to the 17-kDa light chain which is localized at the head-neck region of the myosin molecule. MM-2 increased the Vmax of actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activities of both dephosphorylated myosin and dephosphorylated heavy meromyosin about 10- and 20-fold, respectively. MM-2 also activated the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity of phosphorylated myosin at a low MgCl2 concentration and thus abolished the Mg2+-dependence of acto phosphorylated myosin ATPase activity. These results suggest that MM-2 inhibits the formation of 10 S myosin, and this results in the activation of actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity even in the absence of phosphorylation.     

Effects of actin and calcium ion on chymotryptic digestion of skeletal myosin and their implications to the function of light chains

Experiments have been carried out to assess the involvement of the myosin light chains [obtained by treatment of myosin with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (Nbs2)] in the control of cross-bridge movement and actomyosin interactions. Chymotryptic digestions of myosin, actomyosin, and myofibrils do not detect any Ca2+-induced change in the subfragment 2 region of myosin. Actin, like Ca2+, protects the in situ Nbs2 light chains from proteolysis and causes a partial switch in the digestion product of myosin from subfragment 1 to heavy meromyosin. This effect is independent of the state of aggregation of myosin, and it persists in acto heavy meromyosin and in actinomyosin in 0.6 M NaCl. Digestions and sedimentation studies indicate that there is no direct acto light chain interaction. Proteolysis of myosin shows a gradual transition from production of heavy meromyosin to subfragment 1 with lowering of the salt level. In the presence of Ca2+ heavy meromyosin is generated both in digestions of polymeric and of monomeric myosin. These results are explained in terms of localized changes within the Nbs2 light chains and subfragment 1. Subunit interactions in the myosin head lead to a Ca2+-induced reduction in the affinity of heavy meromyosin for actin in the presence of MgATP. The resulting Ca2+ inhibition of the actin-activated ATPase of myosin can be detected at high salt concentrations(75 mM KCl).     

Limited tryptic digestion of Acanthamoeba myosin IA abolishes regulation of actin-activated ATPase activity by heavy chain phosphorylation

Acanthamoeba myosin IA is a globular protein composed of a 140-kDa heavy chain and a 17-kDa light chain. It expresses high actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity when one serine on the heavy chain is phosphorylated. We previously showed that chymotrypsin cleaves the heavy chain into a COOH-terminal 27-kDa peptide that can bind to F-actin but has no ATPase activity and a complex containing the NH2-terminal 112-kDa peptide and the light chain. The complex also binds F-actin and has full actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity when the regulatory site is phosphorylated. We have now localized the ATP binding site to within 27 kDa of the NH2 terminus and the regulatory phosphorylatable serine to a 20-kDa region between 38 and 58 kDa of the NH2 terminus. Under controlled conditions, trypsin cleaves the heavy chain at two sites, 38 and 112 kDa from the NH2 terminus, producing a COOH-terminal 27-kDa peptide similar to that produced by chymotrypsin and a complex consisting of an NH2-terminal kDa peptide, a central 74-kDa peptide, and the light chain. This complex is similar to the chymotryptic complex but for the cleavage which separates the 38- and 74-kDa peptides. The tryptic complex has full (K+, EDTA)-ATPase activity (the catalytic site is functional) and normal ATP-sensitive actin-binding properties. However, the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity and the F-actin-binding characteristics of the tryptic complex are no longer sensitive to phosphorylation of the regulatory serine. Therefore, cleavage between the phosphorylation site and the ATP-binding site inhibits the effects of phosphorylation on actin binding and actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity without abolishing the interactions between the ATP- and actin-binding sites.     

Two chymotrypsin-susceptible sites of myosin rod from chicken gizzard

The rod prepared from chicken gizzard myosin has been found to have two sites sensitive to limited digestion with chymotrypsin; these sites were located at a subfragment 2/light meromyosin junction (site 1), and at a site 10 kDa remote from either C-terminal or N-terminal of light meromyosin (site 2). The site 1 was more sensitive to the digestion than the site 2. The cleavage at site 2 of the light meromyosin yielded a 74-kDa fragment that was soluble in a low ionic strength solution, contrary to the insolubility of the parent light meromyosin in the same solution. Studies on the effects of MgCl2, ATP and pH on the susceptibilities of these sites to chymotrypsin have given following results. (a) Millimolar concentrations of MgCl2 protected site 1 and site 2 from the chymotryptic cleavage. (b) The cleavage at site 1 of myosin rod in the low salt solution free of Mg2+ at pH 7.0 and pH 8.5, was not affected by the presence of 5 mM ATP. However, MgCl2-induced protection of site 1 was relieved by addition of ATP. On the other hand, the cleavage at site 2 was stimulated by addition of ATP, irrespective of the presence or absence of MgCl2. (c) The alkaline condition of pH 8.5 was more favorable for the chymotryptic cleavages at both site 1 and site 2 than the neutral condition of pH 7.0. These results suggest that myosin rod contains two flexible regions, the structures of which are influenced by such an ambient factor as MgCl2, ATP or pH.     

Localization of the actin-binding sites of Acanthamoeba myosin IB and effect of limited proteolysis on its actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity

Acanthamoeba myosin IB contains a 125-kDa heavy chain that has high actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity when 1 serine residue is phosphorylated. The heavy chain contains two F-actin-binding sites, one associated with the catalytic site and a second which allows myosin IB to cross-link actin filaments but has no direct effect on catalytic activity. Tryptic digestion of the heavy chain initially produces an NH2-terminal 62-kDa peptide that contains the ATP-binding site and the regulatory phosphorylation site, and a COOH-terminal 68-kDa peptide. F-actin, in the absence of ATP, protects this site and tryptic cleavage then produces an NH2-terminal 80-kDa peptide. Both the 62- and the 80-kDa peptides retain the (NH+4,EDTA)-ATPase activity of native myosin IB and both bind to F-actin in an ATP-sensitive manner. However, only the 80-kDa peptide retains a major portion of the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase activity. This activity requires phosphorylation of the 80-kDa peptide by myosin I heavy chain kinase but, in contrast to the activity of intact myosin IB, it has a simple, hyperbolic dependence on the concentration of F-actin. Also unlike myosin IB, the 80-kDa peptide cannot cross-link F-actin filaments indicating the presence of only a single actin-binding site. These results allow the assignment of the actin-binding site involved in catalytic activity to the region near, and possibly on both sides of, the tryptic cleavage site 62 kDa from the NH2 terminus, and the second actin-binding site to the COOH-terminal 45-kDa domain. Thus, the NH2-terminal 80 kDa of the myosin IB heavy chain is functionally similar to the 93-kDa subfragment 1 of muscle myosin and most likely has a similar organization of functional domains.     

Effect of vanadate on force and myosin light chain phosphorylation in skinned aortic smooth muscle.

The effects of vanadate were examined on Ca2+-activated force and phosphorylation of 20-kDa myosin light chain in membrane-permeabilized rabbit aortic smooth muscle strips. Addition of vanadate during maximum contraction reduced the force in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibited it almost completely at 1 mM. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analyses revealed that vanadate also reduced the phosphorylation of 20- kDa myosin light chain in a dose-dependent manner from approximately 50% in the absence of vanadate to approximately 20% in the presence of 1 mM vanadate. The effects of 1 mM vanadate on purified myosin light chain kinase and phosphatase were then examined using purified myosin as substrate, and it was found that vanadate neither inhibited myosin light chain kinase nor activated myosin light chain phosphatase. These results indicate that the reduction in the 20-kDa myosin light chain phosphorylation level by vanadate may be effected through its inhibition of the force generation in skinned smooth muscle strip, as evidenced by the finding that vanadate eliminated the enhancement of myosin light chain kinase activity brought about by the interaction between purified myosin and actin.     

Factors affecting the inhibition of yeast plasma membrane ATPase by vanadate

Inhibition of yeast plasma membrane ATPase by vanadate occurs only if either Mg2+ or MgATP2- is bound to the enzyme. The dissociation constant of the complex of vanadate and inhibitory sites is 0.14-0.20 microM in the presence of optimal concentrations of Mg2+ and of the order of 1 microM if the enzyme is saturated with MgATP2-. The dissociation constants of Mg2+ and MgATP2- for the sites involved are 0.4 and 0.62-0.73 mM, respectively, at pH 7. KCl does not increase the affinity of vanadate to the inhibitory sites as was found with (Na+ + K+)-ATPase. On the other hand, the effect of Mg2+ upon vanadate binding is similar to that upon (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, and the corresponding affinity constants of Mg2+ and vanadate for the two enzymes are of the same order of magnitude.     

Cleavage of a smooth muscle myosin heavy chain near its C terminus by alpha-chymotrypsin. Effect on the properties of myosin.

Limited proteolysis of gizzard myosin by alpha-chymotrypsin converted the heavy chain doublet pattern, seen by gel electrophoresis, to a single band. Light chain degradation was not observed and only minor cleavage occurred at other heavy chain sites. Using a polyclonal antibody raised against a unique sequence from the slower-migrating heavy chain (SM1) it was shown that this conversion was due to the loss of a peptide approximately 4000 daltons from the C terminus of SM1. The peptide was isolated and sequenced, and the cleavage site was identified between phenylalanine 1943 and alanine 1944. Addition of antibody before protease protected SM1 from cleavage. The following changes were observed (a) the Mg2(+)-dependence of actin-activated ATPase of digested phosphorylated myosin was altered and activity was relatively high at low Mg2+ levels, i.e. similar to phosphorylated heavy meromyosin; (b) the KCl dependence of Mg2(+)-ATPase of the digested myosin, particularly the phosphorylated form, showed an altered pattern consistent with the stabilization of the 6 S conformation; (c) the tendency for aggregation was increased by proteolysis of phosphorylated myosin. These results show that the C-terminal region of a gizzard myosin heavy chain can modify some of the properties of myosin. It is suggested that the observed modifications reflect an enhanced tendency of the digested myosin to aggregate.     

Characterization of the catalytic subunit of an anion pump

The ArsA protein, the 63-kDa catalytic subunit of an oxyanion-translocating ATPase, was purified by successive chromatography using Q-Sepharose, red agarose, and phenyl-Sepharose to a specific activity in excess of 1 mumol of ATP hydrolyzed per min per mg of protein. ATPase activity was dependent on the presence of the oxyanionic substrates. Inhibitors of other classes of ion-translocating ATPases had no effect on ArsA ATPase activity, including N,N'-dicyclohexyl-carbodiimide, azide, vanadate, and nitrate. The apparent Km for ATP was determined to be 0.13 mM. The optimal pH range for ATP hydrolysis was 7.5 to 7.8. ATPase activity required Mg2+ at a molar ratio of 2 ATP:1 Mg2+. Limited proteolysis by trypsin was used to study conformational changes produced upon binding of substrates to the ArsA protein. In the absence of substrates, the ArsA protein was rapidly cleaved by trypsin to a major product of 30 kDa. ATP was partially protected from trypsin digestion, while the anionic substrate antimonite alone had no effect on proteolysis. Combination of the two substrates nearly completely protected the ArsA protein from proteolysis. Proteolytic cleavage correlated with loss of anion-stimulated ATPase activity and substrate protection from cleavage correlated with retention of activity. These results demonstrate that ATP and antimonite together produce a conformational change which is different from that of the ArsA protein in the presence of either substrate alone and suggest interaction between the oxyanion and ATP binding sites.