The influence of phenothiazines on the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase from skeletal and cardiac muscles

Phenothiazines--trifluoperazine, chloropromazine and ethmozine-- inhibit the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase from skeletal and cardiac muscles of the rabbit. The inhibition constants for both preparations are of the same order of magnitude. The experimental data suggest that the effect of phenothiazine on the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase is not mediated by CaM, but is directed toward the enzyme molecule.     

Change in the molecular properties of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase during modification of the membranes with cholesterol

The thiol reagent NBD-chloride (4-chloro-7-nitro-benzo-2-oxo-1,3-diazole) was used to determine the amount and reactivity of SH-groups of Ca-ATPase of rat skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum during hypercholesterolemia. Modification of membranes with cholesterol brought about a decrease in the total amount and reactivity of SH-groups at the cost of reduction of rapid SH-groups and decrease of the modification constant of these SH-groups. The masking effect of high concentrations of ATP on the reactivity of SH-groups in hypercholesterolemia was noticed. It is inferred that the reduced efficacy of Ca-pump work found under the same experimental conditions before is a consequence of the modification of sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes with cholesterol and change in the molecular conformation of Ca-ATPase.     

Altered property of sarcoplasmic Ca-ATPase from vitamin E-deficient dystrophic rabbit is associated with the protein and not the lipid component

The effects of temperature on reconstituted sarcoplasmic Ca-ATPase preparations from vitamin E-deficient dystrophic and control rabbits were studied. Delipidated Ca-ATPase from vitamin E-deficient sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) reconstituted with lipid of control SR exhibited properties similar to preparations reconstituted with lipid of vitamin E-deficient SR, namely low Ca-ATPase activity and a linear Arrhenius plot of enzyme activity. On the other hand, delipidated control SR Ca-ATPase reconstituted with lipid of vitamin E-deficient SR showed a reduction in activity but retained the discontinuity in the Arrhenius plot. These results indicated that the altered property of sarcoplasmic Ca-ATPase from vitamin E-deficient dystrophic rabbit was associated with the protein and not the lipid component.     

Ascorbic acid-Fe2+ treatment mimics effect of vitamin E deficiency on sarcoplasmic Ca-ATPase of rabbit muscle

After 90 min treatment with ascorbic acid and FeSO4 at 4 degrees C, the activity of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase was reduced to 22% and the Arrhenius plot of enzyme activity showed an absence of a discontinuity. The presence of vitamin E restored enzyme activity (60%) and the discontinuity in the Arrhenius plot. Ca-ATPase reconstituted with delipidated protein from ascorbic acid-Fe-treated preparation and normal lipid exhibited properties similar to the intact treated enzyme, whereas that reconstituted with delipidated normal protein and lipid from treated preparation exhibited reduced activity but retained the Arrhenius discontinuity. These properties are similar to those observed for sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase from the vitamin E-deficient muscular dystrophic rabbit.     

Light microscopical demonstration of non-specific alkaline phosphatase activity with an incubation medium containing cerium and two calcium as the capturing agents. The cerium/calcium-hydrogen peroxide-P-phenylenediamine/pyrocatechol (Ce/Ca-H2O2-PPD/PC) double capture technique.

A new method for the light microscopical demonstration of alPase activity in cryotome sections by using simultaneously cerium and calcium as capturing agents (double capture technique) is described. This method has an increased sensitivity compared with the single cerium-based and the Gomori based-cerium (single calcium and cerium converted) with techniques described previously. Presuming that the enzymatic activity during incubation of sections in the presence of a defined capturing agent is constant, the increased sensitivity after employment of the double capture method could be attributed to a decrease of enzyme inhibition by cerium through the presence of calcium. Based on model experiments it is assumed that calcium phosphate and cerium phosphate are the primary reaction products, the former converting into cerium phosphate already during incubation. The remaining calcium phosphate is converted completely by treatment with cerium citrate solution (conversion reaction). After oxidation with H2O2 the cerium perhydroxyphosphate was visualized in a paraphenylenediamine/pyrocatechol (Hanker-Yates reagent) solution without H2O2 to give a black reaction product. This visualization procedure is superior to the DAB or DAB-Ni mode as published earlier. Some results concerning the mode of inhibition of the pseudoperoxidase activity of the hemoglobin are presented.     

The physical mechanism of calcium pump regulation in the heart.

The Ca-ATPase in the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane is regulated by an amphipathic transmembrane protein, phospholamban. We have used time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy to detect the microsecond rotational dynamics, and thereby the self-association, of the Ca-ATPase as a function of phospholamban phosphorylation and physiologically relevant calcium levels. The phosphorylation of phospholamban increases the rotational mobility of the Ca-ATPase in the sarcoplasmic reticulum bilayer, due to a decrease in large-scale protein association, with a [Ca2+] dependence parallel to that of enzyme activation. These results support a model in which phospholamban phosphorylation or calcium free the enzyme from a kinetically unfavorable associated state.     

Spectral and catalytical properties of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase labeled with N-cyclohexyl-N'-(4-dimethylamino-1-naphthyl)-carbodiimide

N-Cyclohexyl-N'-(dimethylamino)-carbodiimide (NCD-4) labels three sites in the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase which can be resolved by their spectral properties and by their effects on the catalytical activity of the enzyme. One site is not protectable by Ca2+ ions or by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and is not essential for catalytical activity. Two Ca2+-protectable sites, whose modification leads to a biphasic inhibition of Ca-ATPase activity, have fluorescence emission maxima at 407 nm and 425 nm. The Ca-ATPase modified by NCD-4 hydrolyses ATP but does not translocate Ca2+ nor does it undergo the conformational changes associated with Ca2+ binding in the native enzyme. High concentrations of Ca2+ induce slow biphasic fluorescence quenching in the Ca-ATPase labeled selectively at the 407-nm site but the signals are largely abolished by modification of the 425-nm site. Both vanadate ions and ATP reverse this Ca2+-induced fluorescence quenching. It is proposed that NCD-4 labels the two high-affinity Ca2+-binding sites of the Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase and that the conformational changes in the modified enzyme may reflect interactions between the two sites.     

Thapsigargin inhibits the sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase family of calcium pumps.

The role of ATP-dependent calcium uptake into intracellular storage compartments is an essential feature of hormonally induced calcium signaling. Thapsigargin, a non-phorboid tumor promoter, increasingly is being used to manipulate calcium stores because it induces a hormone-like elevation of cytosolic calcium. It has been suggested that thapsigargin acts through inhibition of the endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. We have directly tested the specificity of thapsigargin on all of the known intracellular-type calcium pumps (referred to as the sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase family (SERCA]. Full-length cDNA clones encoding SERCA1, SERCA2a, SERCA2b, and SERCA3 enzymes were expressed in COS cells, and both calcium uptake and calcium-dependent ATPase activity were assayed in microsomes isolated from them. Thapsigargin inhibited all of the SERCA isozymes with equal potency. Furthermore, similar doses of thapsigargin abolished the calcium uptake and ATPase activity of sarcoplasmic reticulum isolated from fast twitch and cardiac muscle but had no influence on either the plasma membrane Ca-ATPase or Na,K-ATPase. The interaction of thapsigargin with the SERCA isoforms is rapid, stoichiometric, and essentially irreversible. These properties demonstrate that thapsigargin interacts with a recognition site found in, and only in, all members of the endoplasmic and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump family.     

NOTES ON ULTRASTRUCTURE AND SOME PROPERTIES OF TRANSPORT WITHIN THE LIVING MITOTIC SPINDLE

The sites of lead phosphate precipitation in mouse bladder smooth muscle incubated with adenosine triphosphate and lead nitrate were studied by electron microscopy. The media constituents and incubating conditions were independently varied so that we could determine optimal conditions for histochemical demonstration of ATPase activity in agranular endoplasmic reticulum. Specimens of glutaraldehyde-fixed bladder muscle, frozen, cut into 10–40-µ sections, and incubated for 1 hr at 25°C in medium containing 0.025 M ATP, 0.0025 M lead nitrate, 0.05 M magnesium chloride, and 0.09 M sodium acetate buffer at pH 6.2, exhibited microcrystalline deposits in agranular endoplasmic reticulum and pinocytotic vesicles. Lead salt deposition was also noted in terminal cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum in skeletal muscle similarly treated, suggesting that the organelle systems in the two types of muscle cells subserve a common function.     

Enzymatic activity of dystrophic chicken sarcoplasmic reticulum

We have isolated sarcoplasmic reticulum from normal and dystrophic chicken muscle, using an improved isolation procedure. Dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum has a reduced level of calcium-sensitive ATPase activity, phosphoenzyme formation, and steady-state calcium transport. Anion-stimulated calcium transport by dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum is also reduced when measured under the proper conditions, and dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum shows no alteration in calcium efflux rate. Active calcium phosphate loading of the normal and dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum preparations indicates that a reduced percentage jof the dystrophic vesicles are capable of active calcium transport. The loaded dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles exhibit the same relative reductions in enzymatic activity as the starting sarcoplasmic reticulum preparations. However, the enzyme activities of normal and dystrophic sarcoplasmic reticulum are similar in the presence of detergent and exogenous phospholipid. On the basis of these results, we suggest that the lipid microenvironment of the dystrophic enzyme is altered.     

Modification of the functional properties of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase in hypercholesterolemia

Using alamethicin, permitting the measurement of genuine catalytic enzyme activity, hypercholesterolemia was shown to cause a 10-30% reduction of specific Ca-ATPase activity registered at 37 degrees C and the shift of Arrhenius plot in 20-30 degrees C temperature range. Reconstruction of delipidated Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes by egg lecithin in animals with hypercholesterolemia does not lead to the recovery of Arrhenius plot. The data obtained demonstrate that modification of temperature-dependent Ca-ATPase activity in hypercholesterolemia is associated with the changes in the polypeptide with a catalytic function and is not induced by the changes in phospholipid enzyme surroundings.     

Two populations of phospholipids exist in sarcoplasmic reticulum and in recombined membranes containing Ca-ATPase

Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes from rabbit muscle and of recombined membranes containing the calcium-dependent adenosinetriphosphatase (Ca-ATPase) of sarcoplasmic reticulum reveal two distinguishable, overlapping resonances. One resonance resembles a normal phospholipid bilayer resonance, and the other is much broader. The broader component is not seen in protein-free phospholipid vesicles. In recombined membranes of the Ca-ATPase, the intensity found in the broad component was proportional to the concentration of protein in the vesicles. The two-component spectra are interpreted to arise from at least two different domains of phospholipids, one of which is motionally restricted by the Ca-ATPase. Phospholipids exchange between these two domains at a rate less than 10(3) s-1. A model for protein-lipid interactions in membranes containing the Ca-ATPase is proposed in which some of the phospholipid head groups of the membrane interact directly with the protein.     

Self-association accompanies inhibition of Ca-ATPase by thapsigargin.

Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between the activity of the Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum and its state of self-association. In the present study, the effects of thapsigargin (TG), a toxin that specifically inhibits the Ca-ATPase of rabbit skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, were studied by detecting the time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA) decay of the Ca-ATPase that had been labeled with the phosphorescent probe erythrosin-isothiocyanate (ErITC). Anisotropy decays were fit to a function that consisted of three exponential decays plus a constant background, as well as to a function describing explicitly the uniaxial rotation of proteins in a membrane. In the absence of TG, the anisotropy was best-fit by a model representing the rotation of three populations, corresponding to different-sized oligomeric species in the membrane. The addition of stoichiometric amounts of TG to the Ca-ATPase promptly decreased the overall apparent rate of decay, indicating decreased rotational mobility. A detailed analysis showed that the principal change was not in the rates of rotation but rather in the population distribution of the Ca-ATPase molecules among the different-sized oligomers. TG decreased the proportion of small oligomers and increased the proportion of large ones. Preincubation of the ErITC-SR in 1 mM Ca2+, which stabilizes the E1 conformation relative to E2, was found to protect partially against the changes in the TPA associated with the presence of the inhibitor. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that TG inhibits the Ca-ATPase by stabilizing it in an E2-like conformation, which promotes the formation of larger aggregates of the enzyme.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Comparable levels of Ca-ATPase inhibition by phospholamban in slow-twitch skeletal and cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum

Alterations in expression levels of phospholamban (PLB) relative to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca-ATPase have been suggested to underlie defects of calcium regulation in the failing heart and other cardiac pathologies. To understand how variation in PLB expression relative to that of the Ca-ATPase can modulate calcium transport, we have investigated the inhibition of the Ca-ATPase by PLB in native SR membranes from slow-twitch skeletal and cardiac muscle and in reconstituted proteoliposomes. Quantitative immunoblotting in combination with affinity-purified protein standards was used to measure protein concentrations of PLB and of the Ca-ATPase. Functional inhibition of the Ca-ATPase was determined from both the calcium concentrations for half-maximal activation (Ca(1/2)) and the shift in the calcium concentrations following release of PLB inhibition (i.e., (Delta)Ca(1/2)) by incubation with monoclonal antibodies against PLB, which are equivalent to phosphorylation of PLB by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. We report that equivalent levels of PLB inhibition and antibody-induced activation ((Delta)Ca(1/2) = 0.25 +/- 0.02 microM) are observed in SR membranes from slow-twitch skeletal and cardiac muscle, where molar stoichiometries of PLB expressed per Ca-ATPase vary, respectively, from 0.9 +/- 0.1 to 4.1 +/- 0.8. Similar levels of inhibition to those observed in isolated SR vesicles were observed using reconstituted proteoliposomes following co-reconstitution of affinity-purified Ca-ATPase with PLB. These results indicate that total expression levels of one PLB per Ca-ATPase result in full inhibition of the Ca-ATPase and, based on the measured K(D) (140 +/- 30 microM), suggests one PLB complexed with two Ca-ATPase molecules is sufficient for full inhibition of activity. Therefore, the excess PLB expressed in the heart over that required for inhibition suggests a capability for graded responses of the Ca-ATPase activity to endogenous kinases and phosphatases that modulate the level of phosphorylation necessary to relieve inhibition of the Ca-ATPase by PLB.     

Comparative biochemical study of sarcolemma and sarcoplasmic reticulum fractions isolated from mouse skeletal and cardiac muscles

1. Ca-ATPase activity, calcium-binding proteins and Concanavalin-A-bound glycoproteins of sarcolemma and sarcoplasmic reticulum were compared in mouse cardiac and skeletal muscles. 2. Ca-ATPase activity and calsequestrin were quite reduced in cardiac muscle, and the quantity of calcium bound to these two proteins was practically negligible, contrary to what was observed with skeletal muscle. In addition, the quantity of lipid bound calcium was not greater in cardiac muscle than in skeletal muscle. 3. Certain proteins seemed exclusively specific for skeletal muscle, including a 30,000 mol. wt glycoprotein which was totally absent in cardiac muscle sarcolemma.     

THE APPEARANCE OF ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE IN THE MYOTOME OF THE EMBRYONIC RABBIT : An Electron Microscope Cytochemical and Biochemical Study

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity has been studied in the myoblast of skeletal muscle of the 9–13 day fetal rabbit. Cytochemical activity is present in the nuclear envelope and the endoplasmic reticulum, including its derivatives the subsurface reticulum and the sarcoplasmic reticulum. End product is also found in the Golgi complex of the more differentiated myoblasts. The formation of reticulum-bound acetylcholinesterase in the myoblast appears to be independent of nerve-muscle contact, since the enzyme is present before the outgrowth of the spinal nerve. The nerve lacks cytochemical end product until the myoblast is well differentiated. Possible mechanisms of spontaneous muscle contraction have been discussed. A second type of myotomal cell, which exhibits a poorly localized end product of AChE activity, has been described. The ready solubility of the enzyme or diffusibility of its end product suggests that the enzyme may be a lyoesterase. This cell may be the precursor of the morphologically undifferentiated cell which is closely apposed to the myotubes in later stages of skeletal muscle development. Biochemical studies show a significant increase in AChE activity in the dermomyotome by day 12, when many of the myoblasts are well differentiated and the second type of myotomal cell is prominent. Cytochemical studies have indicated that many of the cells in the sample lack reaction product of enzymic activity, whereas others are very active. Biochemical values, therefore, reflect the amount of enzyme in the dermomyotome as a whole, but give little information on the enzymic content of individual cells.     

Immunochemical quantification of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase, of calsequestrin and of parvalbumin in rabbit skeletal muscles of defined fiber composition

Antibodies directed against purified Ca-ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum, calsequestrin and parvalbumin from rabbit fast-twitch muscle were raised in sheep. The specificity of the antibodies was shown by immunoblot analysis and by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assays (ELISAs). IgG against the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase inhibited the catalytic activities of Ca-ATPase from fast-twitch (psoas, tibialis anterior) and slow-twitch (soleus) muscles to the same degree. In non-equilibrium competitive ELISAs the anti(Ca-ATPase) IgG displayed a slightly higher affinity for the Ca-ATPase from fast-twitch muscle than for that from slow-twitch muscle. This suggests a fiber-type-specific polymorphism of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase. Quantification of Ca-ATPase, calsequestrin and parvalbumin in various rabbit skeletal muscles of histochemically determined fiber composition was achieved by sandwich ELISA. Ca-ATPase was found to be 6-7 times higher in fast than in slow-twitch muscles. A slightly higher concentration was found in fast-twitch muscles with a higher percentage of IIb fibers when compared with fast-twitch muscles with a higher percentage of IIa fibers. Thus Ca-ATPase is distributed as follows, IIb greater than or equal to IIa much greater than I. Calsequestrin was uniformly distributed in fast-twitch muscles independently of their IIa/IIb fiber ratio and displayed 50% lower concentrations in slow than in fast-twitch muscles (IIb = IIa greater than I). Parvalbumin contents were 200-300-fold higher in fast than in slow-twitch muscles. Significantly lower parvalbumin concentrations were found in fast-twitch muscles with a higher percentage of IIa fibers than in fast-twitch muscles with a higher percentage of IIb fibers (IIb greater than IIa much greater than I).     

Stability and partial reactions of soluble and membrane-bound sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

The Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum was solubilized at pH 6.5 and 30 degrees C using different nonionic detergents, Triton X-100, C12E8, Lubrol PX, or Tween 20. After full solubilization by any of these detergents, the enzyme was unstable (t1/2 = 2-3 min) in the absence of Ca2+. The soluble enzyme was stable in the presence of calcium, half-maximal protection being attained in the presence of 0.2 mM Ca2+. In the absence of Ca2+, stability was restored by addition of co-solvents dimethyl sulfoxide or glycerol. In the presence of 4 mM Ca2+, the progressive addition of nonionic detergents to a medium containing leaky vesicles promoted an increase, up to 3-fold, in the rate of ATP hydrolysis. This was not observed when ITP was used as substrate. The small amount of ADP accumulated in the medium during ATP hydrolysis was sufficient to inhibit the ATPase activity of the membrane-bound enzyme but had no effect on the soluble enzyme. Increasing concentrations of detergent promoted a progressive inhibition of the ATP----Pi exchange reaction. The ATP hydrolysis/synthesis ratio of soluble enzyme was 10 times higher than that of membranous enzyme. Addition of co-solvent restored this ratio to values similar to those obtained with membrane-bound Ca-ATPase. Soluble enzyme prepared from native sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles was able to catalyze the net synthesis of ATP when phosphorylated by Pi in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide and then diluted in a medium containing 10 mM CaCl2 and 2 mM ADP. This was not observed when the soluble enzyme was prepared from purified Ca-ATPase. The results suggest that some of the partial reactions of the catalytic cycle of Ca-ATPase are dependent on the hydrophobic environment found in the native membrane. This environment can be mimicked by co-solvents.     

Thyroid hormone differentially affects mRNA levels of Ca-ATPase isozymes of sarcoplasmic reticulum in fast and slow skeletal muscle

mRNA levels for the type I and type II isoforms of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca-ATPase were determined in soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle of euthyroid (normal), hypothyroid, and hyperthyroid rats. Total Ca-ATPase mRNA content of hyperthyroid muscle was 1.5-fold (EDL) and 6-fold (SOL) higher compared to hypothyroid muscle, with corresponding increases in total SR Ca-ATPase activity. EDL contained only type II Ca-ATPase mRNA. In SOL type I mRNA was the major form in hypothyroidism (98%), but the type II mRNA content was stimulated 150-fold by T3, accounting for 50% of the Ca-ATPase mRNA in hyperthyroidism.