Comparative studies of detergent effects on the calcium adenosine triphosphatase of sarcoplasmic reticulum: protein isolation, lipid exchange and enzyme transport function.

The detergent effects of lysolecithin, Triton X-100, and cholate were compared in the calcium transport ATPase system of sarcoplasmic reticulum. Lysolecithin was found to act as a detergent in releasing the ATPase for subsequent purification, but did not strongly promote exchange of membrane lipid classes. Both Triton and cholate promoted exchange of membrane phospholipid. Higher concentrations of Triton and cholate inhibited the ATPase activity, but the enzyme could be reactivated by addition of phospholipid or fatty acid directly to the mixture. Under these conditions, reactivation depended on the presence of lipid acyl chains, rather than specific head groups. It was also found that Triton could be readily removed from the mixture by passing the enzyme through a hydrophobic bead column. Calcium transport was reactivated in the resulting membranes.     

Studies on the activation of rat liver pyruvate dehydrogenase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase by adrenaline and glucagon. Role of increases in intramitochondrial Ca2+ concentration.

The association of different phospholipids with a lipid-depleted oligomycin-sensitive ATPase from bovine cardiac mitochondria [Serrano, Kanner & Racker (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 2453-2461] has been examined using three approaches. First, reconstitution of the ATPase with different synthetic diacyl phospholipids resulted in a 2-10-fold stimulation of ATPase specific activity depending upon the particular phospholipid employed. The phospholipid headgroup region displayed the following order of ATPase reactivation potential: dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol greater than dioleoylphosphatidic acid greater than dioleoylphosphatidylcholine. Furthermore, the ATPase showed higher levels of specific activity when reconstituted with dioleoyl phospholipid derivatives compared with dimyristoyl derivatives. Second, examination of the phospholipid remaining associated with the lipid-depleted ATPase upon purification showed that phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and diphosphatidylglycerol were present. No relative enrichment of any of these phospholipids (compared with their distribution in submitochondrial particles) was noted. Therefore, no preferential association between the ATPase and any one phospholipid could be found in the mitochondrial ATPase. Third, the sodium cholate-mediated phospholipid exchange procedure was employed for studying the phospholipid requirements of the ATPase. Replacement of about 50% of the mitochondrial phospholipid remaining with the lipid-depleted ATPase could be achieved utilizing either synthetic phosphatidic acid or phosphatidylcholine. Examination of the displaced mitochondrial phospholipid showed that phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and diphosphatidylglycerol were replaced with equal facility.     

Differential effects of lipid depletion on membrane sodium-plus-potassium ion-dependent adenosine triphosphatase and potassium ion-dependent phosphatase.

The phospholipid-dependence of the (Na-++K-+)-dependent ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) (EC 3.6.1.3) and associated K-+-dependent phosphatase activity (EC 3.6.1.7) have been compared. Unlike the (Na-++K-+)-dependent ATPase activities, the K-+-dependent phosphatase activities of a number of different preparations were not closely correlated with their total phospholipid contents. After partial lipid depletion with a single extraction in Lubrol W the residual ATPase and phosphatase activities were correlated, but their magnitudes were quite different: on average only about 5% of the former remained compared with 50% of the latter. A similar differential effect on these activities was found after extraction with deoxycholate. In contrast with the ATPase, consistent restoration of the phosphatase activity of Lubrol-extracted enzymes by added exogenous phospholipids was not observed. We conclude that, although the K-+-dependent phosphatase may be lipid-dependent, the lipid requirement must be different from that of the complete ATPase system, and this difference should help investigations of their relationship.     

Phospholipid and detergent effects on (Ca2+ + Mg2+)ATPase purified from human erythrocytes

(Ca2+ + Mg2+)ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) was solubilized from human erythrocyte membranes by detergent extraction with Triton N-101 (0.5 mg/mg membrane protein) and purified by calmodulin affinity chromatography. ATPase activity was assayed in mixtures of Triton N-101 and phospholipid, without reconstitution into bilayer vesicles. At low levels of phospholipid (5 micrograms/ml), the ATPase activity was highly sensitive to the detergent concentration, with maximal activity occurring at or near the critical micelle concentration of the detergent. With increased amounts of phospholipid (50 micrograms/ml), detergent concentrations greater than the critical micelle concentration were required for maximal activity. Detergent alone did not support ATPase activity. Sonicated phospholipid in the form of vesicles was equally ineffective. Activity seemed to be dependent on the presence of detergent/phospholipid mixed micelles. The acidic phospholipids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol, as well as the commercial phospholipid preparation, Asolectin, gave activities five to eight times greater than the same amount of phosphatidylcholine. Mixtures of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine produced intermediate ATPase activities, with the maximal value dependent on the phosphatidylserine concentration. Addition of phosphatidylcholine to fixed concentrations of phosphatidylserine caused a rise in activity that was independent of the ratio of the two phospholipids or the total phospholipid concentration. Phosphatidylcholine may therefore be irreplaceable for some aspect of ATPase function. The number of phospholipid molecules present in mixed micelles at maximal ATPase activity was calculated to be near 50. This value implied that the hydrophobic surface of the ATPase molecule must be completely coated by a single layer of phospholipid molecules for maximum activity to occur.     

Simulation of lipid environment of Ca-dependent ATPase from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscles by non-ionic detergents

To determine the conditions under which the Ca-ATPase from rabbit skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum can be restored to full activity, a systematic study of reactivation of lipid-depleted enzyme by various non-ionic detergents and surfactants has been carried out. All the non-ionic detergents used were able to reactivate the enzyme. The reactivation potencies of the detergents are closely related to a relative size of their polar head group and hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains. The so-called HLB (hydrophyle/lipophyle balance) numbers were used to estimate the relative hydrophobicities of the detergents studied. A striking correlation between the reactivation potency and the HLB number of any detergent was observed; the inverse correlation coefficient for small samples if equal to -0.95 +/- 0.09. The proper orientation of the ATPase protein in two different phases (lipophyle and hydrophyle) seems to be restored during reactivation. In many cases the protein-bound detergent simulates the lipid environment in the membrane sufficiently well to support the continued activity of the Ca-ATPase.     

Characterization of a glycoprotein fusogen isolated from Sendai virus

After isolation from Sendai virus, the glycoproteins HN and F retained their ability to induce hemagglutination and both heterologous and homologous cell-cell fusion. Both methods for demonstrating cell fusion indicated that the isolated HN and F glycoproteins compared favorably with whole Sendai virus as a fusogen. Conditions affecting the degree of fusion were examined and optimized. Whole virus and isolated glycoprotein preparations were characterized by electron microscopy and by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Lipid analysis of the glycoprotein preparations by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry indicated that they were partially lipid-depleted during the isolation protocol and the ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid was higher than in the whole virus. A complete fatty acid analysis was performed on lipid extracts from whole virus and from glycoprotein preparations. Detergent was removed from the glycoproteins by dialysis and by incubation with Amberlite XAD-2 resin. The detergent content of the glycoprotein preparations was monitored by gas chromatography and with [3H]Triton X-100. Both methods showed that virtually all (greater than or equal to 99.8%) of the originally added detergent was removed. Electron microscopy of the negatively-stained HN and F preparations showed primarily spherical particles 120 +/- 20 A in diameter (range 80-250 A). Since no organization reminiscent of envelopes could be demonstrated, we conclude that the fusogenic activity of Sendai virus resides in the glycoproteins per se rather than in bilayer integrated lipid-protein complexes.     

Membrane solubilization by detergent: use of brominated phospholipids to evaluate the detergent-induced changes in Ca2+-ATPase/lipid interaction

The solubilization and delipidation of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase by different nonionic detergents were measured from changes in turbidity and recovery of intrinsic fluorescence of reconstituted ATPase in which tryptophan residues had been quenched by replacement of endogenous phospholipids with brominated phospholipids. It was found that incorporation of C12E8 or dodecyl maltoside (DM) at low concentrations in the membrane, resulting in membrane "perturbation" without solubilization, displaced a few of the phospholipids in contact with the protein; perturbation was evidenced by a parallel drop in ATPase activity. As a result of further detergent addition leading to solubilization, the tendency toward delipidation of the immediate environment of the protein was stopped, and recovery of enzyme activity was observed, suggesting reorganization of phospholipid and detergent molecules in the solubilized ternary complex, as compared to the perturbed membrane. After further additions of C12E8 or DM to the already solubilized membrane, the protein again experienced progressive delipidation which was only completed at a detergent concentration about 100-fold higher than that necessary for solubilization. Delipidation was correlated with a decrease in enzyme activity toward a level similar to that observed during perturbation. On the other hand, Tween 80, Tween 20, and Lubrol WX failed to solubilize SR membranes and to induce further ATPase delipidation when added after preliminary SR solubilization by C12E8 or dodecyl maltoside. For Tween 80, this can be related to an inability to solubilize pure lipid membrane; in contrast, Tween 20 and Lubrol WX were able to solubilize liposomes but not efficiently to solubilize SR membranes. In all three cases, insertion of the detergent in SR membranes is, however, demonstrated by perturbation of enzyme activity. Correlation between detergent structure and ability to solubilize and delipidate the ATPase suggests that one parameter impeding ATPase solubilization might be the presence of a bulky detergent polar headgroup, which could not fit close to the protein surface. We also conclude that in the active protein/detergent/lipid ternary complexes, solubilized by C12E8 or dodecyl maltoside, most phospholipids remain closely associated with the ATPase hydrophobic surface as in the membranous form. Binding of only a few detergent molecules on this hydrophobic surface may be sufficient for inhibition of ATPase activity observed at high ATP concentration, both during perturbation and in the completely delipidated, solubilized protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

The role of residual phospholipids and copurified proteins in the reconstitution of bovine heart mitochondrial ATPase complex

The reactivation of mitochondrial ATPase by acidic and isoelectric phospholipids was studied comparatively with two purified enzyme preparations exhibiting different gel electrophoretic patterns: the preparation of Serrano et al. (1976, J. Biol. Chem. 251, 2453-2461) and the complex V of Galante et al. (1979, J. Biol. Chem. 254, 12372-12379). Isoelectric phosphatidylcholine liposomes showed marked differences in affinity for the two ATPase complexes and produced different maximal reactivations, whereas no significant differences were found with negatively charged liposomes. Analysis of residual phospholipids associated with the two ATPase preparations revealed a greater relative cardiolipin content in complex V. It is proposed that the different patterns of reactivation of the two ATPase preparations by isoelectric phospholipids result from different contents in residual cardiolipin and adenine nucleotide carrier.     

Interactions between sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium adenosintriphosphatase and nonionic detergents

The interaction of Triton X-100 and other nonionic detergents with a delipidated preparation of the Ca2+ ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum has been studied. Binding of radiolabeled Triton X-100 was determined by column chromatography at 6 degrees C, and two classes of binding sites were observed. Below the critical micelle concentration (cmc), binding of Triton occurred at 35-40 equivalent sites on the delipidated ATPase with a binding constant of 2.7 X 10(4) M-1. Near the cmc cooperative binding of an additional 70 molecules of the detergent was observed. The binding of monomeric Triton X-100 below the cmc was associated with a parallel activation of over half of the ATPase activity, and the remainder of the activity was recovered after the detergent concentration was increased to the cmc. The ability to reactivate ATPase activity was more dependent on the polar poly(oxyethylene) portion of nonionic detergents than on the hydrocarbon portion. Generalizing for all amphiphiles, these results suggest that there are discrete binding sites on the Ca2+ ATPase for phospholipid molecules in the native membrane and that the polar head groups of phospholipids interact more strongly with the protein than the hydrophobic acyl chains. Perturbations in micelle structure were observed for several nonionic detergents by measurement of cis-parinaric acid fluorescence and differential scanning calorimetry, and discontinuities in Arrhenius plots occurred at the transition temperature of the detergent used for reactivation of ATPase activity. It is concluded that both the physiol state of teh micelle and the intrinsic behavior of the ATPase polypeptide affect the temperature dependence of ATPase activity.     

Enzymatically active Ca2+ ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes, solubilized by nonionic detergents. Role of lipid for aggregation of the protein.

The present study provides data on the properties of Ca2+-dependent Atpase of sarcoplasmic reticulum in states intermediary between the fully detergent-solubilized and vesicular form. After solubilization of ATPase vesicles by dodecyloctaoxyethylene glycol monoether (C12E8), the protein is mainly present as a monomer exhibiting enzymatic activity. Gel chromatography in presence or absence of Tween 80 gives rise to formation of oligomers of various size and smaller amounts of monomeric ATPase. Only the oligomeric species retain enzymatic activity (half-life, 3 to 4 days), while the gel chromatographic monomer is enzymatically inactive. Teteramers or trimers of ATPase, containing approximately 22 mol of phospholipid/mol of ATPase, are the smallest enzymatically active units after gel chromatography. Formation of larger sized particles and vesicles of ATPase appears to depend on the presence of sufficient lipid to make a cohesion between the tetrameric or trimeric units. The protein appears to be partially deaggregated by a relatively high Tween 80 concentration in the eluant (0.5 mg/ml) and under these conditions, phospholipid binding is reduced to a low level (approximately 11 mol/mol of protein). The data indicate that any bonds between ATPase polypeptide chains are easily disrupted by detergent and that lipid also may play a role in mediating contact between individual polypeptide chains in the tetrameric or trimeric units. Phospholipid analysis and exchange experiments indicate that the phospholipid left on ATPase after solubilization has a similar composition to that of the whole membrane. The binding of Tween 80 by soluble ATPase above the critical micellar concentration is 0.23 to 0.29 g/g of protein. The inactive monomer of ATPase binds phospholipid and Tween 80 to about the same extent, but has a slightly different circular dichroism spectrum, than oligomeric ATPase.     

Diphosphatidylglycerol-induced changes in the organization of mitochondrial ATPase

1. On submitochondrial particles from bovine heart, diphosphatidylglycerol produced a selective solubilization of ATPase. The solubilized enzyme was purified further by ammonium sulfate fractionation and shown to have the same reconstitutive activity as coupling factor F₁ (Pullman, M.E., Penefsky, H. S., Datta, A. and Racker, E. (1960) J. Biol. Chem. 235, 3322–3329).

2. Diphosphatidylglycerol-treated submitochondrial particles retained large amounts of the phospholipid and showed a decreased ATPase activity. Once the excess of phospholipid was removed, soluble ATPase could be again reincorporated in an oligomycin-sensitive complex.

3. On Mg-ATP particles the solubilization of ATPase induced by diphosphatidylglycerol was preceded by a stimulation of oligomycin-sensitive ATPase which indicated a dissociation of F₁ from the ATPase inhibitor (Pullman, M. E. and Monroy, G. C. (1963) J. Biol. Chem. 238, 3762–3769). Magnesium was required to obtain the oligomycin-sensitive stimulation whereas in the absence of magnesium the solubilization of ATPase was prevalent.

4. It is concluded that the decreased association of F₁ with the ATPase inhibitor produced by diphosphatidylglycerol, causes a labilization of ATPase-membrane interaction. Under particular conditions, e.g. a high amount of phospholipid and a low concentration of magnesium, this is followed by the detachment of ATPase.     

Unsaturated aminophospholipids are preferentially retained by the fast skeletal muscle CaATPase during detergent solubilization. Evidence for a specific association between aminophospholipids and the calcium pump protein.

When fast twitch skeletal muscle vesicles (SR) and purified calcium pump protein are stripped with the nonionic detergent C12E8 (octaethylene glycol dodecyl ether), not all the membrane phospholipids are removed from the calcium pump protein. Maximal extraction produces a remnant of 6-8 mol of phospholipid/mole of calcium ATPase (CaATPase). In contrast to native SR and the prestripped purified CaATPase, the remaining phospholipid is markedly enriched in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS) in both preparations; the remaining lipid is also enriched in phospholipid that is predominantly unsaturated. In addition, virtually all of the associated PE is plasmalogenic (96% as opposed to 63% in the native SR). The amino-specific cross-linking reagent DFDNB (1,5-difluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid) and the amino binding reagent TNBS (2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid) were utilized to identify the monolayer of the native preparation where these phospholipids reside, and to determine which phospholipids are closely associated with the calcium pump protein following detergent treatment. These studies demonstrate that PE and PS are closely associated with the pump protein, PE residing almost exclusively in the outer monolayer of SR, while PS resides in the inner monolayer. Nonspecific phospholipid exchange protein was shown to be capable of exchanging phospholipids from donor vesicles into those phospholipids associated with the CaATPase; stripping of lipid-exchanged vesicles with C12E8 exhibited the same specificity with regard to head-group species (i.e., PE is markedly enriched in the extracted protein associated fraction). The results suggest that specific protein-lipid interactions exist, favoring the association of plasmalogenic aminophospholipids with the calcium pump protein.     

The preparation of lipid-depleted bacteriorhodopsin

Bacteriorhodopsin, the protein of the purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium, was freed to the extent of 90–95% from the natural membrane lipids without loss of function. The residual lipid corresponded to less than 1 mol/mol of bacteriorhodopsin. Delipidation was achieved by treatment of the purple membrane with a mixture of the detergent dimethyldodecylamine oxide and sodium chloride. The detergent was removed by dialysis or by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Analysis of the lipids removed and those still bound to bacteriorhodopsin was facilitated by the use of purple membrane preparations labelled with ³⁵S, ³²P, or ¹⁴C. The composition of the residual lipids associated with bacteriorhodopsin was similar to that of the total lipid in the purple membrane.     

The role of phospholipid acyl chains in the activation of mitochondrial ATPase complex.

1. The role of length and unsaturation of phospholipid acyl chains in the activation of ATPase complex was studied with synthetic phosphatidylcholines and a phospholipid-dependent preparation obtained after cholate-extraction of submitochondrial particles (Kagawa, Y. and Racker, E. (1966) J. Biol. Chem. 241, 2467--2474). 2. Micelle-forming, short-chain phosphatidylcholines produced activation only at critical micellar concentration. The reactivated complex was cold-stable but the oligomycin sensitivity was low. 3. Bilayer-forming saturated phosphatidylcholines produced activation which was maximal at 9 carbon atoms in each chain but decreased sharply as the chain-length was increased and essentially disappeared at 14 carbon atoms. By contrast the oligomycin-sensitivity increased with the increase in chain length. 4. Activation of ATPase complex reappeared when bilayers were formed with long-chain unsaturated phosphatidylcholines. The activity was oligomycin sensitive. Significant inhibition of activity was observed also after incorporation of cholesterol into the bilayers. 5. By contrast the activation induced by negatively charged liposomes of diacylphosphatidylglycerol was independent on acyl-chain composition and occurred at very low amounts of phospholipid. 6. The discontinuity in the Arrhenius plot of activity of the ATPase complex reactivated with saturated phospholipids was found at temperatures close to the gel-to-liquid crystalline transition of the lipid showing that the activity of ATPase complex was sensitive to the physical state of membrane phospholipids. 7. It is concluded that (a) reactivation of ATPase complex by isoelectric phospholipids is an interfacial activation, the minimum requirement for the lipid effect being micelle formation. (b) In order to gain the properties of the native complex a stable lamellar phase is needed. Both activity and oligomycin sensitivity are regulated by the chain length and degree of unsaturation of phospholipid acyl chains.     

Phospholipid specificity of bovine heart bc1 complex

Bovine heart bc1 complex was reversibly inactivated by a new simple and effective chromatographic delipidation method. Upon phospholipid replenishment, catalytic activity increased from values near zero to values 2-6-times higher than those of the original preparation. Compared to original preparations maximally activated by additional phospholipid, the degree of reactivation was up to 100%. By this delipidation method, the 6.4-kDa protein subunit was removed with the phospholipid. The loss of this protein neither diminished electron transport activity nor abolished proton translocation. Two requirements were necessary to obtain quantitative data: (a) only bc1 complexes, homogeneously dissolved before and after relipidation had to be used and (b) the phospholipid bound to the complex had to be determined. The correlation of catalytic activity to bound phospholipid was studied in the range of low phospholipid/protein ratios, which had previously been insufficiently resolved. Catalytic activity increased linearly with added phospholipid up to a molar ratio of 80-100 lipid molecules/dimeric complex. This corresponds to the number of phospholipid molecules that complete a single bilayer annulus. The activating effect of phospholipid is not merely due to a hydrophobic phase effect, since it strongly depends on the nature of the polar head group of the added phospholipid. Of the three major phospholipids bound to the bc1 complex, only phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine activated when added as sole phospholipid. Tightly bound diphosphatidylglycerol was needed for preservation of the native complex structure.     

The effect of lipid environment and retinoids on the ATPase activity of ABCR, the photoreceptor ABC transporter responsible for Stargardt macular dystrophy

ABCR is a photoreceptor-specific ATP-binding cassette transporter that has been linked to various retinal diseases, including Stargardt macular dystrophy, and implicated in retinal transport across rod outer segment (ROS) membranes. We have examined the ATPase and GTPase activity of detergent-solubilized and reconstituted ABCR. 3-[(3-Cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid-solubilized ABCR had ATPase and GTPase activity (K(m) approximately 75 micrometer V(max) approximately 200 nmol/min/mg) that was stimulated 1.5-2-fold by all-trans-retinal and dependent on phospholipid and dithiothreitol. The K(m) for ATP decreased to approximately 25 micrometer after reconstitution, whereas the V(max) was strongly dependent on the lipid used for reconstitution. ABCR reconstituted in ROS phospholipid had a V(max) for basal and retinal activated ATPase activity that was 4-6 times higher than for ABCR in soybean or brain phospholipid. This enhanced activity was mainly due to the high phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) content of ROS membranes. PE was also required for retinoid-stimulated ATPase activity. ATPase activity of ABCR was stimulated by the addition of N-retinylidene-PE but not the reduced derivative, retinyl-PE. ABCR expressed in COS-1 cells also exhibited retinal-stimulated ATPase activity similar to that of the native protein. These results support the view that ABCR is an active retinoid transporter, the nucleotidase activity of which is strongly influenced by its lipid environment.     

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.     

Reconstitution of the purified (Na+ + Mg2+)-ATPase from Acholeplasma laidlawii B membranes into lipid vesicles and a characterization of the resulting proteoliposomes

The purified (Na+ + Mg2+)-ATPase from Acholeplasma laidlawii B membranes was reconstituted with dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine using a cholate solubilization and dialysis procedure. The incorporation of this enzyme into the phospholipid bilayer is accompanied by an enhancement of its specific activity and by a restoration of its lipid phase state-dependent properties which were lost during solubilization and purification from native membranes. Moreover, reconstitution of this ATPase with phospholipid also stabilizes it against cold inactivation at low temperatures (approximately equal to 0 degrees C), oxidative degradation at room temperature, and thermal denaturation at elevated temperatures (approximately equal to 55 degrees C). The elution profile from a Sepharose 4B-CL column indicates that all of the ATPase protein is associated with the phospholipid vesicles and that the Stoke's radius of the proteoliposomes formed is smaller than that of the lipid vesicles formed in the absence of any protein. The latter conclusion is supported by sedimentation velocity measurements and by an electron microscopic examination of negatively stained preparations. The electron microscopic studies demonstrate that sealed vesicles are formed only at low protein-to-lipid ratios. These observations indicate that the Acholeplasma laidlawii B (Na+ + Mg2+)-ATPase has been structurally and functionally reconstituted into lipid vesicles and that the proteoliposomes formed are amenable to studies aimed at the clarification of its proposed role as a sodium ion pump.