Proteolysis and binding of myosin subfragment 1 to actin

Rates of proteolytic cleavage of myosin subfragment 1 were measured in the absence and presence of different amounts of actin. The rates of tryptic digestion at the 50K/20K junction and papain digestion at the 25K/50K junction of the myosin head were progressively inhibited with increasing substoichiometric molar ratios of actin to myosin subfragment 1. The percentage inhibitions of digestion reactions corresponded precisely to the molar compositions of actin-subfragment 1 solutions and demonstrated that equimolar complexes of these proteins were responsible for the observed changes in the proteolysis of myosin heads.     

Bovine cardiac myosin subfragment 1. Transient kinetics of ATP hydrolysis

The kinetics of binding and hydrolysis of ATP by bovine cardiac myosin subfragment 1 has been reinvestigated. More than 90% of the total fluorescence amplitude associated with ATP hydrolysis occurs with an apparent second-order rate constant of 8.1 X 10(5) M-1 S-1 and a limiting rate constant of approximately 140 S-1 (100 mM KCl, 50 mM 1,3-bis-[tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamino]-propane, 10 mM MgCl2, pH 7.0, 20 degrees C); the remaining 10% occurs more slowly (approximately 1 S-1). The observed rate constants are independent of subfragment 1 concentration under pseudo first-order conditions for ATP with respect to protein. The fraction of protein which hydrolyzes ATP rapidly is not a function of the nucleotide or protein concentration and appears to be constant irrespective of ionic strength or temperature within the range studied (50-100 mM KCl, pH 7.0, 15-20 degrees C). These data are compared to that obtained previously using subfragment 1 prepared by a different method which showed ATP-dependent aggregation of two protein species.     

Cross-linking myosin subfragment 1 Cys-697 and Cys-707 modifies ATP and actin binding site interactions.

Skeletal muscle myosin is an enzyme that interacts allosterically with MgATP and actin to transduce the chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis into work. By modifying myosin structure, one can change this allosteric interaction and gain insight into its mechanism. Chemical cross-linking with N,N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide (pPDM) of Cys-697 to Cys-707 of the myosin-ADP complex eliminates activity and produces a species that resembles myosin with ATP bound (Burke et al., 1976). Nucleotide-free pPDM-modified myosin subfragment 1 (S1) was prepared, and its structural and allosteric properties were investigated by comparing the nucleotide and actin interactions of S1 to those of pPDM-S1. The structural properties of the nucleotide-free pPDM-S1 are different from those of S1 in several respects. pPDM-S1 intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence intensity is reduced 28%, indicating a large increase of an internal quenching reaction (the fluorescence intensity of the related vanadate complex of S1, S1-MgADP-Vi, is reduced by a similar degree). Tryptophan fluorescence anisotropy increases from 0.168 for S1 to 0.192 for pPDM-S1, indicating that the unquenched tryptophan population in pPDM-S1 has reduced local freedom of motion. The actin affinity of pPDM-S1 is over 6,000-fold lower than that of S1, and the absolute value of the product of the net effective electric charges at the acto-S1 interface is reduced from 8.1 esu2 for S1 to 1.6 esu2 for pPDM-S1. In spite of these changes, the structural response of pPDM-S1 to nucleotide and the allosteric communication between its ATP and actin sites remain intact.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Interactions of the actin and nucleotide binding sites on myosin subfragment 1.

The effects of selected nucleotides (N) on the binding of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) and pure F-actin (A) were measured by time-resolved fluorescence depolarization for 0.15 M KCl, pH 7.0 at 4 degrees. The association constants K'A, KN, and K'N in the scheme (see article), were determined for the magnesium salts of ADP, adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate AMP-P(NH)P, and PPi. The nucleotide binding site on S-1 was "mapped" with respect to its interaction on the actin binding site. The subsites were the beta- and gamma-phosphoryl groups of ATP bind had the largest effects. A quantitative measure of the interaction, the interaction free energy, was defined as -RT ln (KA/K'A). For ADP, K'A was 2.7 X 10(5) M-1 and the interaction free energy was -4.67 kJ M-1. For AMP-P(NH)P and PPi it was much larger. A ternary complex was shown to exist for ADP, S-1, and actin in the presence of Mg2+ and evidence from AMP-P(NH)P and PPi measurements indicated that ATP also likely forms a ternary complex. The mechanism of (S-1)-actin dissociation is discussed in light of these results.     

The binding of heat-treated myosin subfragment 1 to actin and substructure considerations

Heat treatment of myosin subfragment 1 at 35 degrees C caused about 95% inactivation of the catalytic function but did not block its binding to actin. Heat-treated subfragment 1 showed specific, strong, and close to stoichiometric binding to actin. MgATP but not MgADP dissociated these complexes. However, in contrast to intact subfragment 1, the heat-treated protein did not polymerize G-actin and was not protected from trypsin by the binding to actin. Tryptic degradation of the 50K fragment abolished, or reduced greatly, the binding of heat-treated subfragment 1 to actin in solution but not on nitrocellulose overlays. These results are discussed in the context of subfragment 1 substructure.     

Effect of mild heat treatment on actin and nucleotide binding of myosin subfragment 1

Chymotryptic subfragment 1 (S-1) prepared from rabbit skeletal myosin has lost its ATPase activity upon incubation at 35 degrees C for 3 h. The loss in ATPase activity was accompanied by the perturbation of the structure of the 50K domain as indicated by a dramatic increase in the tryptic susceptibility of this domain without any change in the susceptibility of the other domains of S-1. The perturbation starts at the C-terminal region of the domain as suggested by the appearance of a 29K intermediate protein band in the tryptic peptide pattern of the heat-treated S-1. The heat-treated molecule essentially retained its actin and polyphosphate binding ability, and the actin binding was still sensitive to the presence of ATP or pyrophosphate. However, as opposed to native S-1, in heat-treated S-1 the addition of ATP does not induce an increase in tryptophan fluorescence, and, in the case of the treated species, the fluorescence of 1,N6-ethenoadenosine 5'-diphosphate added to the mixture is quenchable by acrylamide. This latter observation suggests that the binding of the adenine ring of the nucleotide has been altered following the heat treatment. The results indicate that the actin and polyphosphate binding sites of S-1 are distinct and that they are relatively independent of the adenine ring binding site.     

Inhibitory effect of ATP analogs and actin on the modification of myosin subfragment 1 with 9-anthroylnitrile

The fluorescent probe, 9-anthroylnitrile (ANN), can selectively attach to Ser-180 at the ATP-binding site of subfragment 1 (S1) of skeletal muscle myosin [J. Biol. Chem. 278 (2003) 31891]. We have found that MgATP, MgATPgammaS, MgADP.AlF(4) or MgPP(i), but not MgADP, inhibit the incorporation of ANN into S1. The inhibitory effect of the nucleotide gamma-phosphate group (or its analog) on the modification of S1 with ANN can be explained by the contribution of Ser-180 to the binding of the nucleotide gamma-phosphate at the active site of S1. We have also observed that the incorporation of ANN into S1.MgADP complex is inhibited by actin. These experimental data strongly support the existence of nucleotide-promoted conformational changes revealed by crystal structures of S1 complexes with various nucleotide analogs. They also convincingly show an effect of actin on the environment of Ser-180 at the nucleotide binding site of S1.     

Nucleotide-induced states of myosin subfragment 1 cross-linked to actin

Actomyosin interactions and the properties of weakly bound states in carbodiimide-cross-linked complexes of actin and myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) were probed in tryptic digestion, fluorescence, and thiol modification experiments. Limited proteolysis showed that the 50/20K junction on S-1 was protected in cross-linked acto-S-1 from trypsin even under high-salt conditions in the presence of MgADP, MgAMPPNP, and MgPPi (mu = 0.5 M). The same junction was exposed to trypsin by MgATP and MgATP gamma S but mainly on S-1 cross-linked via its 50K fragment to actin. p-Phenylenedimaleimide-bridged S-1, when cross-linked to actin, yielded similar tryptic cleavage patterns to those of cross-linked S-1 in the presence of MgATP. By using p-nitrophenylenemaleimide, it was found that the essential thiols of cross-linked S-1 were exposed to labeling in the presence of MgATP and MgATP gamma S in a state-specific manner. In contrast to this, the reactive thiols were protected from modification in the presence of MgADP, MgAMPPNP, and MgPPi at mu = 0.5 M. These modifications were compared with similar reactions on isolated S-1. Experiments with pyrene-actin cross-linked to S-1 showed enhancement of fluorescence intensity upon additions of MgATP and MgATP gamma S, indicating the release of the pyrene probe on actin from the sphere of S-1 influence. The results of this study contrast the "open" structure of weakly bound actomyosin states to the "tight" conformation of rigor complexes.     

Binding manner of actin to the lysine-rich sequence of myosin subfragment 1 in the presence and absence of ATP

Actin was cross-linked to myosin subfragment 1 with a water-soluble carbodiimide both in the presence and in the absence of ATP, and the cross-linking of the N-terminal acidic sequence of actin to the lysine-rich sequence (--KKGGKKK--) at the junction between the 50K and the 20K fragments of lysines in the lysine-rich sequence were compared between the resulting acto-22K fragment and the uncross-linked 22K fragment by using a protein sequencer. It was found that, in the presence of ATP, a very small amount of cross-linked product was produced and, in the product, only one lysine residue which lies closest to the 50K fragment mainly decreased in its amount as compared to the corresponding lysine residue in un-cross-linked 22K. In the absence of ATP, on the other hand, the amounts of all five lysine residues in acto-22K were about 60% those of the corresponding residues in 22K. The results suggest that, in the so-called weakly binding state, the N-terminal acidic sequence of actin interacts infrequently and only at restricted sites of the lysine-rich sequence but it interacts fully over the whole length in the rigor state.     

Subtilisin-cleaved actin: polymerization and interaction with myosin subfragment 1

Homogeneous preparations of actin cleaved into two fragments, the N-terminal 9- and C-terminal 36-kDa peptides, were achieved by proteolysis of G-actin with subtilisin at 23 degrees C at a 1:1000 (w/w) ratio of enzyme to actin. The subtilisin cleavage site was identified by sequence analysis to be between Met-47 and Gly-48. Although under nondenaturing conditions the two fragments remained associated to one another, the cleavage affected macromolecular interactions of actin. The rates of cleaved actin polymerization by MgCl2, KCl, and myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) were slower and the critical concentrations for this process were higher than in intact protein. Intact and cleaved actin formed morphologically indistinguishable filaments and copolymerized in the presence of MgCl2. The affinity of actin for S-1 was decreased by about 10-fold due to subtilisin cleavage, but the S-1 ATPase activity was activated to the same Vmax value by both intact and cleaved actins. DNase I inhibition measurements revealed lower affinity of cleaved actin for DNase I than that of intact protein. These results are discussed in terms of actin's structure.     

Reaction heats and heat capacity changes for intermediate steps of the ATP hydrolysis catalyzed by myosin subfragment 1

The interaction of myosin Subfragment 1 with ATP in 0.1 M KCl containing 0.01 M MgCl2 and 0.02 M Tris/HCl (pH 8.0) was studied by microcalorimetry at temperatures of 4, 12, and 23 degrees C so that values of the heat capacity change (delta Cp) could be obtained for intermediate steps of the ATPase cycle. The delta Cp values are large compared to the value for the overall cycle, indicating that large changes in the hydrophobic effect are involved in transitions between different intermediate states. However, the heat capacity changes themselves show peculiar temperature dependences. Thus bindings of ATP and ADP to Subfragment 1, both of which are strongly exothermic processes, take place with large negative delta Cp of about -3 kJK-1 mol-1 between 4 and 12 degrees C but with very small delta Cp of 0.3-0.4 kJ K-1 mol-1 between 12 and 23 degrees C. On the contrary, the delta Cp for the endothermic hydrolysis of ATP bound to Subfragment 1 is positive (congruent to kJK-1 mol-1) in the lower temperature range but strongly negative (congruent to -4 kJK-1 mol-1) in the higher temperature range. The magnitude of delta Cp for the slow Pi dissociation process is similar but its sign is just opposite to that for the hydrolysis. These anomalous changes in the heat capacity may be due to the temperature-induced changes in a balance between large opposing effects which result from distinct, local conformation changes within the Subfragment 1 molecule.     

Evidence for the two-step binding of ATP to myosin subfragment 1 by the rapid-flow-quench method.

1. The initial steps on the myosin ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) pathway are taken to be: (formula; see text) A two-step binding for ATP is assumed, but the evidence for it is unconvincing; because of the rapidity of the process unambiguous values for K1 and K2 are not available. 2. We investigated the myosin mechanism by the chemical flow-quench technique. Reaction mixtures containing [gamma-32P]ATP plus myosin subfragment 1 were quenched in unlabelled ATP (ATP chase) or acid (Pi burst). 3. We show that the ATP-chase method can lead directly to unambiguous values for K1 and k+2. 4. The binding process was slowed down by 40% ethylene glycol. It was studied as a function of the ATP concentration. A limiting plateau resulted, showing a two-step binding for ATP, and values for K1 and k+2 were obtained. 5. K1 and k+2 are rather sensitive to the experimental conditions. Ethylene glycol and lowering of the pH decrease both constants, but an increase in KCl concentration increases them. This suggests that the binding of ATP to myosin is of an electrostatic nature. 6. The Pi-burst method can lead directly to k+3 + k-3, but under certain conditions the kinetics are governed by K1 and k+2. This uncertainty of the interpretation of Pi-burst experiments is discussed.     

Interaction of myosin subfragment 1 with forms of monomeric actin

The ability of myosin subfragment 1 to interact with monomeric actin complexed to sequestering proteins was tested by a number of different techniques such as affinity absorption, chemical cross-linking, fluorescence titration, and competition procedures. For affinity absorption, actin was attached to agarose immobilized DNase I. Both chymotryptic subfragment 1 isoforms (S1A1 and S1A2) were retained by this affinity matrix. Fluorescence titration employing pyrenyl-actin in complex with deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) or thymosin beta4 demonstrated S1 binding to these actin complexes. A K(D) of 5 x 10(-8) M for S1A1 binding to the actin-DNase I complex was determined. Fluorescence titration did not indicate binding of S1 to actin in complex with gelsolin segment 1 (G1) or vitamin D-binding protein (DBP). However, fluorescence competition experiments and analysis of tryptic cleavage patterns of S1 indicated its interaction with actin in complex with DBP or G1. Formation of the ternary DNase I-acto-S1 complex was directly demonstrated by sucrose density sedimentation. S1 binding to G-actin was found to be sensitive to ATP and an increase in ionic strength. Actin fixed in its monomeric state by DNase I was unable to significantly stimulate the Mg2+-dependent S1-ATPase activity. Both wild-type and a mutant of Dictyostelium discoideum myosin II subfragment 1 containing 12 additional lysine residues within an insertion of 20 residues into loop 2 (K12/20-Q532E) were found to also interact with actin-DNase I complex. Binding of the K12/20-Q532E mutant to the actin-DNase I complex occurred with higher affinity than wild-type S1 and was less sensitive to mono- and divalent cations.     

The binding of myosin subfragment 1 to actin can be measured by proteolytic rates method

The initial rates of tryptic digestion at the 50/20-kDa junction in myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) were determined for free S-1, acto-S-1, and acto-S-1 in the presence of magnesium adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Mg AMP-PNP) and MgATP under ionic strength conditions ranging from 30 to 124 mM. The percentage of S-1 bound to actin in the presence of Mg AMP-PNP and MgATP was calculated from these rates for each set of digestion experiments. Parallel experiments carried out in an Airfuge centrifuge on identical acto-S-1 solutions yielded independent information on the binding of S-1 to actin. The results of binding measurements by these two methods were in excellent agreement in all cases tested, covering the range from 15 to 95% binding of S-1 to actin. Tryptic digestions of synthetic mixtures of S-1 and p-phenylenedimaleimide S-1 in the presence of actin demonstrated that a two-component system of myosin heads with different affinities for actin can be resolved into its constituents by the proteolytic rates method. The results of this work justify applications of the proteolytic rates method to actomyosin binding studies in more complex systems.     

Binding of myosin to actin in myofibrils during ATP hydrolysis

Measurements of cross-bridge attachment to actin in myofibrils during ATP hydrolysis require prior fixation of myofibrils to prevent their contraction. The optimal cross-linking of myofibrils was achieved by using 10 mM carbodiimide (EDC) under rigor conditions and at 4 degrees C. The fixed myofibrils had elevated MgATPase activity (150%) and could not contract. As judged by chymotryptic digestions and subsequent SDS gel electrophoresis analysis, less than 25% of myosin heads were cross-linked in these myofibrils. The isolated, un-cross-linked myosin heads showed pH-dependent Ca2+- and EDTA(K+)-ATPase activities similar to those of standard intact S-1. For measurements of myosin binding to actin, the modified myofibrils were digested with trypsin at a weight ratio of 1:50 under rigor, relaxed, and active-state conditions. Aliquots of tryptic digestion reactions were then cleaved with chymotrypsin to yield isolated myosin heads and their fragments. Analysis of the decay of myosin heavy-chain bands on SDS gels yielded the rates of myosin cleavage under all conditions and enabled the measurements of actomyosin binding in myofibrils in the presence of MgATP. Using this approach, we detected rigorlike binding of 25 +/- 6% of myosin heads to actin in myofibrils during ATP hydrolysis.     

Potentiated state of the tropomyosin actin filament and nucleotide-containing myosin subfragment 1

The main purpose of this study was to determine whether potentiation of acto-S-1 ATPase activity (activity higher than that obtained with tropomyosin-free actin) could be caused by nucleotide-containing acto-S-1 complexes. In addition, we wanted to know whether these complexes also have a positive cooperative effect on their own apparent binding constant under conditions where nucleotide-free acto-S-1 complexes cause potentiation of ATPase activity. Using calcium-saturated troponin-tropomyosin actin filaments, we observed potentiation of ATPase activity in the presence of 5.0 mM magnesium 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate (MgAMPPNP) and calculated that the ability of acto-S-1-AMPPNP complexes to cause potentiation must have been very similar to that of nucleotide-free acto-S-1 complexes. In extension of earlier studies, potentiated acto-S-1 ATPase activity was characterized by an increase in Vmax and, as observed before, a lowering of the apparent Km for subfragment 1 (S-1). Under conditions similar to those that produce the potentiation of acto-S-1 ATPase activity, the apparent actin binding constant of nucleotide-free S-1 was increased about 3-5 fold while the apparent binding constant of AMPPNP to actin-bound S-1 was reduced to (2.5-10) x 10(2) M-1 compared to that of about (1-5) x 10(3) M-1 for S-1 bound to tropomyosin-free actin. Under the same conditions, the apparent binding constant of S-1-AMPPNP to actin was not increased. We suggest that a potentiated state of the tropomyosin actin filament is produced by the cooperative action of acto-S-1 or acto-S-1-AMPPNP complexes. The potentiated state is characterized by an increase in the Vmax of the acto-S-1 ATPase activity, increased binding constants for S-1 and S-1-ADP, and increased binding of tropomyosin to actin.