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.     

Characterization of stable beryllium fluoride, aluminum fluoride, and vanadate containing myosin subfragment 1-nucleotide complexes.

Beryllium and aluminum fluorides are good phosphate analogues. These compounds, like orthovanadate, form stable complexes with myosin subfragment 1 (S1) in the presence of MgADP. The formation of the stable S1-nucleotide complexes is characterized by the loss of ATPase activity. For the complete loss of ATPase activity there was necessary a higher concentration of aluminum than of beryllium or vanadate. In the presence of MgATP the onset of the inhibition is delayed, which indicates that stable complexes cannot form when a specific site is occupied by the gamma-phosphate of ATP or by P(i) derived from the gamma-phosphate. The half-lives of the S1-MgADP-(BeF3-), S1-MgADP-(AlF4-), and S1-MgADP-Vi complexes at 0 degrees C are 7, 2, and 4 days, respectively. In the presence of actin the rate of decomposition of all of the complexes is significantly enhanced; however, the order of decomposition is reversed, the fastest rate being observed with beryllium and the slowest with aluminum. The formation of the S1-MgADP-(BeF3-) and S1-MgADP-(AlF4-) complexes is accompanied by an increase in tryptophan fluorescence similar to that observed upon addition of MgATP to S1. The fluorescence increase develops rather slowly, by suggesting that the rate-limiting step in the formation of the stable complex is an isomerization. The rate of the fluorescence change accompanying the formation of the Be complex is faster than that for the Al complex. Addition of vanadate to S1 causes a static quenching of the tryptophan fluorescence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

pH and magnesium dependence of ATP binding to sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase. Evidence that the catalytic ATP-binding site consists of two domains

Nucleotide binding to sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles was investigated in the absence of calcium using both filtration and fluorescence measurements. Filtration assays of binding of radioactive nucleotides at concentrations up to 0.1 mM gave a stoichiometry of one ATP-binding site/sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase molecule. When measured in the presence of calcium under otherwise similar conditions, ATPase velocity rose 4-8-fold (depending on pH and magnesium concentration) when the ATP concentration was increased from 1 microM to 0.1 mM. Binding of ATP and ADP enhanced the intrinsic fluorescence of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase, but AMP and adenosine did not affect it. Both filtration and fluorescence measurements showed that binding of metal-free ATP is independent of pH (Kd = 20-25 microM) but that the presence of magnesium induces pH dependence of the binding of the Mg.ATP complex (Kd = 10 microM at pH 6.0 and 1.5 microM at pH 8.0). Binding of metal-free ADP was pH-dependent but was not affected by magnesium. High magnesium concentrations inhibited nucleotide binding. These results suggest that ATP interacts with two different domains of Ca-ATPase that form the catalytic site. The first domain may bind the adenine moiety of the substrate, and the pH dependence of ADP binding suggests the participation of His683 in this region. The second domain of the catalytic site may bind the gamma-phosphate and the magnesium ion of the Mg.ATP complex and constitute the locus of the electrostatic interactions between the substrate and the enzyme.     

An unusual transduction pathway in human tonic smooth muscle myosin

The motor protein myosin binds actin and ATP, producing work by causing relative translation of the proteins while transducing ATP free energy. Smooth muscle myosin has one of four heavy chains encoded by the MYH11 gene that differ at the C-terminus and in the active site for ATPase due to alternate splicing. A seven-amino-acid active site insert in phasic muscle myosin is absent from the tonic isoform. Fluorescence increase in the nucleotide sensitive tryptophan (NST) accompanies nucleotide binding and hydrolysis in several myosin isoforms implying it results from a common origin within the motor. A wild-type tonic myosin (smA) construct of the enzymatic head domain (subfragment 1 or S1) has seven tryptophan residues and nucleotide-induced fluorescence enhancement like other myosins. Three smA mutants probe the molecular basis for the fluorescence enhancement. W506+ contains one tryptophan at position 506 homologous to the NST in other myosins. W506F has the native tryptophans except phenylalanine replaces W506, and W506+(Y499F) is W506+ with phenylalanine replacing Y499. W506+ lacks nucleotide-induced fluorescence enhancement probably eliminating W506 as the NST. W506F has impaired ATPase activity but retains nucleotide-induced fluorescence enhancement. Y499F replacement in W506+ partially rescues nucleotide sensitivity demonstrating the role of Y499 as an NST facilitator. The exceptional response of W506 to active site conformation opens the possibility that phasic and tonic isoforms differ in how influences from active site ATPase propagate through the protein network.     

A novel magnesium-dependent mechanism for the activation of transducin by fluoride

Activation of transducin-GDP by NaF is mainly mediated by aluminofluorde or beryllofluoride complexes acting as GTP gamma-phosphate analogs. In millimolar magnesium, NaF at concentrations above 3 mM is active even in the absence of aluminium or beryllium. This activation has a Hill coefficient of 3 with respect to F-, and its rate is linear with respect to Mg2+ concentrations above 2 mM. Upon fluoride dilution, inactivation rate is hundreds of times faster than for aluminofluoride-activated T alpha GDP. We propose that at high NaF concentrations, 3 hydrogen-bonded fluorides in the gamma-phosphate site of T alpha GDP entrap a magnesium counterion and this induces the transconformation to the T alpha GTP form.     

Fluoride is a slow, tight-binding inhibitor of the calcium ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Addition of sodium fluoride in the millimolar concentration range to a solution containing the sarcoplasmic reticulum CaATPase undergoing turnover in its vesicular or nonionic detergent-solubilized forms produced a slow (time range of minutes) complete loss of enzymatic activity. In the presence of magnesium and the absence of calcium, similar results were obtained under nonturnover conditions. Time courses were adequately fit by a function corresponding to a monophasic transformation with a pseudo first order rate constant kobs. In the absence of Mg2+ (EDTA present) no inhibition developed; kobs depended hyperbolically on the Mg2+ concentration with the half maximal effect occurring near 4 mM. The fluoride concentration dependence of kobs showed no evidence of approaching saturation (highest [F-] used was 40 mM) and corresponded to a rate law which was approximately second-order with respect to fluoride. A number of ligands known to bind to the CaATPase were found to decrease kobs. Calcium prevented onset of fluoride inhibition with a midpoint in the micromolar range, implying an effect due to binding at the high affinity transport sites. ATP also protected with a midpoint in the micromolar range, consistent with an effect caused by active site binding of the nucleotide; protection was only partial, suggesting the ATPase can bind fluoride and ATP simultaneously. Prevention of fluoride inhibition by Pi occurred with a [Pi]1/2 of 12 mM at pH 6.5, a concentration similar to that which produces active site phosphorylation. Finally, protection by orthovanadate was found to be competitive and have a midpoint of 5 microM. These results point to an effect exerted at or near the phosphorylation site. The value of kobs increased from essentially zero above pH 8 to a plateau below pH 6; the transition had a midpoint near pH 7.2. Inhibition persisted after removal (with EGTA present) of unbound fluoride by dialysis. Reversal of fluoride inhibition was very slow, with a t1/2 of 16 h at 37 degrees C. These results suggest that fluoride behaves like a slow, tight-binding inhibitor of the ATPase and that the resulting complex is a stable transition (or intermediate) state analog. Plausible molecular bases for our results are that fluoride acts at the phosphorylation site as an analog of Pi or of hydroxide, which may be considered a substrate in the normal hydrolysis of the phosphorylated enzyme. A role for aluminum was ruled out after finding that the addition of EGTA to 10 mM or aluminum sulfate to 0.2 mM or deferoxamine to 0.5 mM produced no significant change in kobs.     

Distinct structures of ATP and GTP complexes in the myosin ATPase

The active site of the myosin subfragment-1 ATPase was affinity-labeled with ribose-modified fluorescent analogs of ADP, dADP, CDP, UDP, IDP, and GDP in combination with vanadate, forming a stable myosin-nucleoside diphosphate-vanadate complex that is analogous to the normal myosin-ADP-Pi intermediate [Hiratsuka, T. (1984) J. Biochem. 96, 147-154]. Labeled enzyme was isolated free of unbound analog and vanadate, and fluorescent properties of the fluorophore at the active site were examined. Fluorescence emission and acrylamide quenching studies revealed that the hydrophobicity of environment around the fluorophore and the degree of its burial in the protein vary with the base structure of NDP. It was found that the fluorophore of ADP analog is most buried into the protein, while that of the GDP analog is least buried. The results suggest that the deep burial of ATP into the myosin active site is essential for muscle contraction.     

Structures of the Ca2+-ATPase complexes with ATP, AMPPCP and AMPPNP. An FTIR study

We studied binding of ATP and of the ATP analogs adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-methylene)triphosphate (AMPCP) and beta,gamma-imidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate (AMPPNP) to the Ca(2+)-ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane (SERCA1a) with time-resolved infrared spectroscopy. In our experiments, ATP reacted with ATPase which had AMPPCP or AMPPNP bound. These experiments monitored exchange of ATP analog by ATP and phosphorylation to the first phosphoenzyme intermediate Ca(2)E1P. These reactions were triggered by the release of ATP from caged ATP. Only small differences in infrared absorption were observed between the ATP complex and the complexes with AMPPCP and AMPPNP indicating that overall the interactions between nucleotide and ATPase are similar and that all complexes adopt a closed conformation. The spectral differences between ATP and AMPPCP complex were more pronounced at high Ca(2+) concentration (10 mM). They are likely due to a different position of the gamma-phosphate which affects the beta-sheet in the P domain.     

Interaction between stretch of residues 633-642 (actin binding site) and nucleotide binding site on skeletal myosin subfragment 1 heavy chain

Using a complementary sequence or antipeptide to selectively neutralize the stretch of residues 633-642 of skeletal myosin heavy chain, we recently demonstrated that this segment is an actin binding site operating in the absence as in the presence of nucleotide and that this stretch 633-642 is not part of the nucleotide binding site [Chaussepied & Morales (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85, 7471-7475]. In the present study, we determined that the covalent cross-linking of the antipeptide to the stretch 633-642 [induced by 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide] does not alter the overall polypeptide conformation since no changes were observed on the far-ultraviolet CD spectra and thiol reactivity measurements. The presence of the antipeptide did not influence significantly the enhancement of tryptophan fluorescence induced by ATP.Mg2+ or ADP.Mg2+ binding to the myosin head (S1) nor did it on the ATP.Mg2+-induced tryptic proteolysis of S1 heavy chain. Moreover, fluorescence quenching studies, using acrylamide and the analogue, 1,N6-ethenoadenosine 5'-triphosphate, indicated that the nucleotide bound to antipeptide-S1 complex has an accessibility to the solute quencher close to that observed when it is bound to native S1. Additionally, neutralization of the stretch 633-642 of the S1 heavy chain by the antipeptide did not influence the stabilization of the Mg2+.ADP.sodium vanadate-S1 complex. On the other hand, experiments using antipeptide-induced protection against the cleavage of the S1 heavy chain by Arg-C protease demonstrated that the presence of Mg2+.ADP.sodium vanadate in the S1 nucleotide site did not affect the interaction of the antipeptide with the stretch of residues 633-642.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Aluminum fluoride interactions with troponin C.

The increasing interest in the metal ion aluminum fluoride and beryllium fluoride complexes as phosphate analogs in the myosin ATPase reaction and in muscle fiber studies prompted the examination of their interactions with the regulatory system of troponin and tropomyosin. In this work, the effects of these metal ion analogs on the spectral properties of the Ca(2+)-binding subunit of troponin, troponin C (TnC), were examined. In contrast to beryllium fluoride which did not change the spectral properties of TnC, aluminum fluoride binding induced an increase in both the alpha-helicity and the tyrosine fluorescence of TnC and exposed a hydrophobic region on this protein for fluorescent probe binding. Aluminum fluoride also reduced the Ca2+ and/or Mg(2+)-induced changes on TnC. These results indicate a direct interaction of aluminum fluoride with TnC and merit consideration in designing muscle fiber experiments with this phosphate analog.     

Interaction of adenosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) with Ca2+,Mg2+-adenosine triphosphatase of sarcoplasmic reticulum

Interaction of adenosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (ATP gamma S) with Ca2+,Mg2+-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum was studied. The nucleotide was slowly hydrolyzed by the ATPase at 30 degrees C at a rate of about 0.5% that of ATP hydrolysis. Whereas at 0 degrees C, ATP gamma S showed only a limited reactivity toward the ATPase in that a thiophosphorylated intermediate was formed and ADP was released, but hydrolysis of the intermediate to complete the catalytic cycle did not occur. A fairly stable analog of the E-P intermediate could thus be obtained. Presence of the thiophosphorylated intermediate was indicated by the [3H]ADP in equilibrium ATP gamma S exchange reaction and also by using [35S]ATP gamma S. When the ATPase was reacted with ATP gamma S at 0 degrees C in the presence of ferricyanide, EP-forming activity was rapidly lost. Free Ca2+ ions were required for this inactivation. Disulfide bond formation between a cysteinyl residue located near the substrate binding site and the enzyme-bound ATP gamma S or the thiophosphorylated intermediate was suggested by the fact that 2-mercaptoethanol reversed the inactivation. The reaction may prove to be a useful tool for affinity labeling of the active site of the ATPase.     

Temperature-induced transitions in the conformation of intermediates in the hydrolytic cycle of myosin.

The conformations of the transitory intermediates of the myosin ATPase occurring during the hydrolytic cycle, enzyme without ligand, enzyme-substrate complex and two different forms of enzyme-product complex, have been characterized in terms of numbers and classes of reactive thiol groups based on incorporation of radioactively labeled alkylation reagent. The techniques employed allowed this to be done under steady-state conditions in the presence of high ligand concentrations on intact myosin from rabbit fast skeletal muscles at low ionic strength where the protein is in the gel state as it is in muscle. The binding of a divalent cation (Mg2+ or Ca2+) nucleotide complex exposes thiol-1 as well as thiol-2 groups. The long-lived ATPase intermediate occurring at temperatures above 10 degrees C adopts the same conformation with Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions. This intermediate does not protect the thiol-1 and thiol-2 groups but exposes a number of thiol-3 groups which seem to be located distant from the active site. The conformation of the intermediate prevailing in the presence of ATP changes with lowering temperature below 10 degrees C and is identical with that found in the presence of ADP at 0 degree C indicating a change in the rate-limiting step of the hydrolytic cycle. In the absence of divalent cations no such temperature-dependent change in conformation was observed. Evaluation of the activation entropies shows that the structure of the long-lived intermediate occurring above 10 degrees C in the presence of Mg2+ ions goes through a transformation from low to high order at around 20 degrees C. In the case of the monovalent-cation-stimulated ATPase a constant activation energy of around 70 kJ/mol, typical of many enzyme reactions, was found over the entire temperature range from 0--35 degrees C.     

Binding of magnesium to myosin subfragment-1 ATPase

Tyr 180 of chicken breast muscle alkali light chain A1 was nitrated with tetranitromethane. The nitroA1 was incorporated into chicken breast muscle subfragment-1 (S-1) by exchange with the intrinsic alkali light chain. In the presence of adenylylimidodiphosphate (AMPPNP) or ADP, the S-1 containing nitroA1 showed a difference visible absorption spectrum by Mg2+ or Ca2+. The difference spectrum has a trough around 435 nm, indicating a blue shift of the absorption spectrum due to the nitrophenol chromophore of the modified A1. The plot of delta A at 435 nm versus concentration of free Mg2+ fitted a single binding curve, independent of the total concentration of AMPPNP. These results reveal that free Mg2+ binds to the active site of S-1 ATPase, but not as Mg-AMPPNP complex. The dissociation constants of magnesium from S-1 complex were different with the two nucleotides and were 1.25 X 10(-8) M and 1.24 X 10(-7) with AMPPNP and ADP, respectively. The difference spectrum was also obtained in the presence of ATP. The delta epsilon value after adding ATP changed with the ATPase reaction. The steady state rate of S-1 ATPase was measured at various concentrations of free Mg2+. The dissociation constant of magnesium from the steady state complex, EPADP(a), was estimated as 6 X 10(-8) M. These results suggest that the affinity of magnesium at the active site of ATPase changes with the intermediate states of ATPase reaction. The affinity of calcium was lower than that of magnesium.     

Reaction of cardiac myosin with a purine disulfide analog of adenosine triphosphate. I. Kinetics of inactivation and binding of adenylyl imidodiphosphate.

Bovine cardiac myosin ATPase activity was rapidly inactivated by the purine disulfide analog of ATP,6,6'-dithiobis(inosinyl imidodiphosphate). Kinetic investigations showed that this analog acted as a site-specific reagent at 0 degrees with a Ki of 130 muM and a half-life of 8.2 min at saturating inhibitor concentrations. Concentrations (50 to 500 muM) of ATP, adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), or ADP that saturated the active site caused an enhancement in the rate of inactivation, indicating the purine disulfide analog was not reacting at the active site. Under these conditions saturation kinetic data were still observed with Ki values remaining unchanged (120 muM) but with the half-life of inactivation decreasing to 6.0 min (ATP) and 4.6 min (AMP-PNP) at saturating inhibitor concentrations. At concentrations greater than 0.5 mM ATP, AMP-PNP, or ADP there was a decrease in the rate of inactivation, implying protection by these nucleotides. However, saturation kinetics of inactivation could no longer be demonstrated, implying a change in the mechanism of inactivation. A comparison of the inactivation of the Mg2+, Ca2+, and EDTA-ATPase activities of cardiac myosin after modification by the purine disulfide analog showed that the Mg2+- and Ca2+ATPase activities plateaued at approximately 60% and 40%, respectively, while the EDTA-ATPase activity continued to decrease to below 10%. This evidence supports the suggestion that the purine disulfide analog was not reacting at the active site. Equilibrium dialysis experiments were used to measure the binding of [8-3H]AMP-PNP to native cardiac myosin, the thiopurine nucleotide-modified myosin, and the derivative formed by displacing the thiopurine nucleotide by cyanide (thiocyanato-myosin). Native myosin bound a total of 2.1 mol of AMP-PNP with a binding constant of 6.0 X 10(6) M-1. There was a 15 to 40% decrease in the number of AMP-PNP binding sites in the enzyme derivatives, but the active sites appeared not to be blocked since the association constants remained essentially unchanged (KA=3.9 X 10(6) M-1 for thiopurine nucleotide-myosin and 12.0 X 10(6) M-1 for thiocyanato-myosin). The kinetic studies and the binding experiments indicate that the purine disulfide analog reacts at a specific site other than the active site but do not offer support to earlier suggestions from skeletal myosin studies that this site is a possible ATP control site.     

Concerted conformational effects of Ca2+ and ATP are required for activation of sequential reactions in the Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) catalytic cycle

We relate solution behavior to the crystal structure of the Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA). We find that nucleotide binding occurs with high affinity through interaction of the adenosine moiety with the N domain, even in the absence of Ca2+ and Mg2+, or to the closed conformation stabilized by thapsigargin (TG). Why then is Ca2+ crucial for ATP utilization? The influence of adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-methylene) triphosphate (AMPPCP), Ca2+, and Mg2+ on proteolytic digestion patterns, interpreted in the light of known crystal structures, indicates that a Ca2+-dependent conformation of the ATPase headpiece is required for a further transition induced by nucleotide binding. This includes opening of the headpiece, which in turn allows inclination of the "A" domain and bending of the "P" domain. Thereby, the phosphate chain of bound ATP acquires an extended configuration allowing the gamma-phosphate to reach Asp351 to form a complex including Mg2+. We demonstrate by Asp351 mutation that this "productive" conformation of the substrate-enzyme complex is unstable because of electrostatic repulsion at the phosphorylation site. However, this conformation is subsequently stabilized by covalent engagement of the -phosphate yielding the phosphoenzyme intermediate. We also demonstrate that the ADP product remains bound with high affinity to the transition state complex but dissociates with lower affinity as the phosphoenzyme undergoes a further conformational change (i.e., E1-P to E2-P transition). Finally, we measured low-affinity ATP binding to stable phosphoenzyme analogues, demonstrating that the E1-P to E2-P transition and the enzyme turnover are accelerated by ATP binding to the phosphoenzyme in exchange for ADP.     

Affinity labeling of the myosin ATPase with ribose-modified fluorescent nucleotides and vanadate

Ribose-modified fluorescent nucleotide analogs, 3'-O-anthraniloyl and 3'-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl) derivatives of AT(D)P, dAT(D)P, CT(D)P, UT(D)P, IT(D)P, and GT(D)P, were synthesized for use as substrates and affinity labels for the myosin ATPase [Hiratsuka, T. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 742, 496-508]. None of the fluorescent nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) analogs was significantly different from the corresponding natural NTP in its ability to support superprecipitation of actomyosin. When fluorescent and natural NTPs were used as substrates for the myosin subfragment-1(S-1) ATPase in the presence of 1mM vanadate ion (V1), a slight initial inhibition of the S-1 NTPase was followed by progressive inhibition to more than 60% over a period of 1 h. The apparent second-order rate constants were 0.14-0.44M-1 . s-1, suggesting the formation of the inactive fluorescent NDP-labeled S-1. After incubation of S-1 with the nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) analog in the presence of Vi, the resultant fluorescent NDP-labeled S-1 was isolated free of unbound Vi and the analog by gel filtration. The isolated complexes had stoichiometries of 0.6-1.1 NDP analog per S-1 active site. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed conveniently that the NDP analog is associated with S-1 as indicated by two intense fluorescent bands corresponding to S-1 isozymes. On dissociating gels, the analog was released from S-1, suggesting that the labeled S-1 is held together by strong secondary forces rather than covalent bonds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of inhibitors on luminal opening of Ca2+ binding sites in an E2P-like complex of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca22+-ATPase with Be22+-fluoride

We document here the intrinsic fluorescence and 45Ca2+ binding properties of putative "E2P-related" complexes of Ca2+-free ATPase with fluoride, formed in the presence of magnesium, aluminum, or beryllium. Intrinsic fluorescence measurements suggest that in the absence of inhibitors, the ATPase complex with beryllium fluoride (but not those with magnesium or aluminum fluoride) does constitute an appropriate analog of the "ADP-insensitive" phosphorylated form of Ca2+-ATPase, the so-called "E2P" state. 45Ca2+ binding measurements, performed in the presence of 100 mm KCl, 5 mm Mg2+, and 20% Me2SO at pH 8, demonstrate that this ATPase complex with beryllium fluoride (but again not those with magnesium or aluminum fluoride) has its Ca2+ binding sites accessible for rapid, low affinity (submillimolar) binding of Ca2+ from the luminal side of SR. In addition, we specifically demonstrate that in this E2P-like form of ATPase, the presence of thapsigargin, 2,5-di-tert-butyl-1,4-dihydroxybenzene, or cyclopiazonic acid prevents 45Ca2+ binding (i.e. presumably prevents opening of the 45Ca2+ binding sites on the SR luminal side). Since crystals of E2P-related forms of ATPase have up to now been described in the presence of thapsigargin only, these results suggest that crystallizing an inhibitor-free E2P-like form of ATPase (like its complex with beryllium fluoride) would be highly desirable, to unambiguously confirm previous predictions about the exit pathway from the ATPase transmembrane Ca2+ binding sites to the SR luminal medium.     

Mechanism of blebbistatin inhibition of myosin II

Blebbistatin is a recently discovered small molecule inhibitor showing high affinity and selectivity toward myosin II. Here we report a detailed investigation of its mechanism of inhibition. Blebbistatin does not compete with nucleotide binding to the skeletal muscle myosin subfragment-1. The inhibitor preferentially binds to the ATPase intermediate with ADP and phosphate bound at the active site, and it slows down phosphate release. Blebbistatin interferes neither with binding of myosin to actin nor with ATP-induced actomyosin dissociation. Instead, it blocks the myosin heads in a products complex with low actin affinity. Blind docking molecular simulations indicate that the productive blebbistatin-binding site of the myosin head is within the aqueous cavity between the nucleotide pocket and the cleft of the actin-binding interface. The property that blebbistatin blocks myosin II in an actin-detached state makes the compound useful both in muscle physiology and in exploring the cellular function of cytoplasmic myosin II isoforms, whereas the stabilization of a specific myosin intermediate confers a great potential in structural studies.     

Metal cation controls myosin and actomyosin kinetics

We have perturbed myosin nucleotide binding site with magnesium‐, manganese‐, or calcium‐nucleotide complexes, using metal cation as a probe to examine the pathways of myosin ATPase in the presence of actin. We have used transient time‐resolved FRET, myosin intrinsic fluorescence, fluorescence of pyrene labeled actin, combined with the steady state myosin ATPase activity measurements of previously characterized D.discoideum myosin construct A639C:K498C. We found that actin activation of myosin ATPase does not depend on metal cation, regardless of the cation‐specific kinetics of nucleotide binding and dissociation. The rate limiting step of myosin ATPase depends on the metal cation. The rate of the recovery stroke and the reverse recovery stroke is directly proportional to the ionic radius of the cation. The rate of nucleotide release from myosin and actomyosin, and ATP binding to actomyosin depends on the cation coordination number.