Fluorescence studies of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump.

Intrinsic Tryptophan fluorescence has been used to reveal conformational changes of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium pump. It is shown that upon binding of calcium ions the fluorescence is enhanced. The effect being reversed after removal of dependence calcium ions by EGTA. The calcium concentration dependence of this fluorescence change and the effect of inhibitors is compared with the activation of calcium dependent ATPase. We conclude that calcium ions induces a conformational change of the calcium pump and that this change is responsible for the activation of the ATPase activity.     

Mechanism of an active transport of calcium. Ethoxyformylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles.

Ethoxyformylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles is performed to study a possible role of histidine residues in the calcium translocation process. The influence of the chemical modification is evaluated on the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity, and on the Ca2+ uptake parameters: VCa (initial rate of calcium uptake) and CCa (amount of cation accumulated at the steady state). The substitution of the amino acids is monitored by three different techniques: (a) by amino acid analysis of the ethoxyformylated material further submitted to modification by diazonium-1-H-tetrazole, or by sulfhydryl titration using 5-5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid); (b) by 14C labeling followed by the removing of labels after NH2OH or imidazole treatment at pH 7; (c) by spectrophotometric measurements at 230 nm. The ethoxyformylation reaction is not specific for histidine at pH 6.1 and 10 degrees. About 1 lysyl group/mol of ATPase is first modified. Then 1 (with a pseudo-first order rate constant of 240 (+/- 20) 10(-3) min-1) or 2 histidines are modified. No substitution of tyrosine or sulfhydryl groups can be detected under our experimental conditions. A decrease of the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity correlated with the inhibition of both VCa and Cca corresponds to the chemical substitution of the histidine. No direct correlation between the decrease of the activities and the modification of the lysine can be found. After removing the ethoxyformyl group from the histidine, only the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity is restored to its initial value. No protection is found when the reaction is performed in the presence of ATP or p-nitrophenylphosphate. These results can be explained if one assumes that the ethoxyformylation of the histidine residue(s) induces a conformational change modifying the affinity of the membrane for nucleotides.     

Low-temperature studies of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. Mechanisms of calcium binding

The mechanism of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase was investigated at low temperatures (0 to -12 degrees C). Transient states of the enzyme were studied by two complementary techniques: intrinsic protein fluorescence and rapid filtration on Millipore filters. Intrinsic fluorescence was used to distinguish conformational states of the protein and to evaluate the rate of conversion between these states. Filtrations were used to measure the evolution of the active sites during the transition; the time resolution was 2-5 s. At sub-zero temperatures this time is shorter than the lifetime of most of the enzymatic states which have been detected. In this paper the mechanism of Ca2+ binding to the protein is investigated in the absence of nucleotides. Two basic experiments are described; (1) Kinetics of calcium binding and dissociation over a wide range of calcium concentration. (2) Kinetics of calcium exchange (45Ca2+ in equilibrium 40Ca2+) at constant concentration. The results obtained in the first series of experiments are consistent with a sequential binding to two interacting Ca2+ binding sites. Calcium ions have very fast access to a site with low apparent affinity (Kd approximately 25 microM). Occupation of this site induces a slow conformational change which increased its apparent affinity and reveals a second site of high apparent affinity. At equilibrium the two sites are not equivalent in terms of rate of exchange. Two different rates were detected k fast greater than 0.2 s-1, k slow approximately 0.015 s-1 at -10 degrees C. Removal of Ca2+ from the fast exchanging site by addition of EGTA accelerates the rate of release of the slow exchanging one. A model is proposed with two interacting Ca2+-binding sites. A set of parameters has been obtained which produces correctly the Ca2+-binding curve and the fluorescence level at equilibrium as well as the rate constants of the calcium-induced fluorescence changes over a very wide range of Ca2+ concentrations (0.02 to 150 microM). The non-equivalence of the two classes of site and the meaning of the initial low-affinity binding are discussed.     

Role of phospholamban in regulating cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump

Cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum plays a critical role in the excitation-contraction cycle and hormonal regulation of heart cells. Catecholamines exert their ionotropic action through the regulation of calcium transport into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Cyclic 3'-5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) causes the cAMP-dependent protein kinase to phosphorylate the regulatory protein phospholamban, which results in the stimulation of calcium transport. Calmodulin also phosphorylates phospholamban by a calcium-dependent mechanism. We have reported the isolation and purification of phospholamban with low deoxycholate (DOC) concentrations (5 X 10(-6) M). We have also reported the isolation and purification of Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase with a similar procedure. Both phospholamban and Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase retained their native properties associated with sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. Further, we have shown that the removal of phospholamban from membranes of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles uncouples Ca2+-uptake from ATPase without any effect on Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase activity or Ca2+ efflux. Phospholamban appears to be the substrate for both the Ca2+-calmodulin system and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase system. It is found that the phosphorylation of phospholamban by the Ca2+-calmodulin system is required for the normal basal level of Ca2+ transport, and that the phosphorylation of phospholamban at another site by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase system causes the stimulation of Ca2+-transport above the basal level. The functional effects of the phosphorylation of phospholamban by cAMP-dependent protein kinase system are expressed only after the phosphorylation of phospholamban with Ca2+-calmodulin system. We propose a model for the cardiac Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase, whereby the enzyme is normally uncoupled from Ca2+ uptake. The enzyme becomes coupled to Ca2+ transport after the first site of phospholamban is phosphorylated with the Ca2+-calmodulin system. When the second site of phospholamban is phosphorylated with cAMP-dependent protein kinase both Ca2+ transport and ATPase are stimulated and phospholamban becomes inaccessible to DOC solubilization and trypsin.     

Evidence for an endogenous protein inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump in heart muscle

A cytosolic protein fraction, termed CPF-I, derived by (NH₄)₂ SO₄ fractionation of rabbit heart cytosol caused marked inhibition (up to 95%) of ATP-dependent Ca²⁺ uptake by cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. The inhibitory effect of CPF-I was concentration-dependent (50% inhibition with ～ 80–100 μg CPF-I) and heat labile. The inhibitor reduced the velocity of Ca²⁺ uptake without altering the apparent affinity of the transport system for Ca²⁺. Concomitant with the inhibition of Ca²⁺ uptake, Ca²⁺-sensitive ATP hydrolysis was also inhibited by CPF-I. The inhibitor did not cause release of Ca²⁺ from Ca²⁺-preloaded membrane vesicles. The inhibitor activity of CPF-I could be adsorbed to a DEAE cellulose column and could be eluted with a linear gradient of KCl. These results demonstrate the presence of a soluble protein inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump in cardiac muscle and raises the intriguing possibility of its participation in the regulation of calcium pump $\text{in}\text{vivo}$.     

Defective calcium pump in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of the hypertrophied rabbit heart.

To evaluate Ca²⁺-uptake in sarcoplasmic reticulum in the hypertrophied rabbit heart, microsomes were prepared from myocardium of rabbits with experimentally induced aortic stenosis. A significant reduction of microsomal Ca²⁺-uptake was observed in hypertrophied left ventricle, 195±10 compared to 280±18 nmol/mg found in control animals. A similar pattern was observed for the Ca²⁺-stimulated ATPase (30±9 and 59±10 nmol/min/mg resp.). A minimal activity difference of the microsomal marker enzyme rotenone-insensitive NADPH cyt. $\text{c}$ reductase was found (7.77±0.05 and 8.17±0.11 nmol/min/mg resp.). The specific activity of the latter enzyme was 5–6 fold increased in microsomes compared to homogenates in both animal groups, which excludes the possibility of increased amounts of contaminant or nonfunctional protein in sarcoplasmic reticulum prepared from hypertrophied myocardium. In addition the yield of microsomal protein did not differ significantly. Maximal phosphorylation by exogenous cyclic AMP and protein kinase increased Ca²⁺-uptake in both microsomal preparations (to 287±27 and 375±26 nmol/mg resp. for hypertrophied and control hearts), but Ca²⁺-transport rate found in pathological hearts remained lower than in controls. These findings indicate that impairment of Ca²⁺-metabolism in the hypertrophied heart is based on a defective Ca²⁺-pump.     

Organization of calcium pump protein dimers in the isolated sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane.

The arrangement of the calcium pump protein in the isolated sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane was examined by optical diffraction of freeze-fracture electron micrographs. Several states of protein particle organization were observed: random, hexagonal and tetragonal packing, and a mixture of hexagonal and tetragonal packing. This suggests that the time-averaged positions of protein particles in the plane of the SR membrane are weakly defined. In addition, there appears to be a greater degree of local or short-range order compared to long-range order within the field of freeze-fracture particles. We utilized measurements from tetragonally or hexagonally packed arrays to determine a unit cell area occupied by each freeze-fracture particle and its associated lipid matrix. When these unit cell areas and the stereologically determined area per freeze-fracture particle were compared to the cross-sectional area occupied by a single calcium pump protein and its associated lipid, obtained by x-ray and neutron diffraction methods, we concluded that each freeze-fracture particle probably represents a dimer of pump protein molecules in the plane of the SR membrane.     

Proteolytic activation of the canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump

Mild trypsin treatment of canine cardiac microsomes consisting largely of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles produced a severalfold activation of oxalate-facilitated calcium uptake. The increase in calcium uptake was associated with an increase in ATP hydrolysis. Proteases other than trypsin were also effective although to a lesser degree. Trypsin produced a shift of the Ca2+ concentration dependency curve for calcium uptake toward lower Ca2+ concentrations, which was almost identical with that produced by phosphorylation of microsomes by cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase when the trypsin and the protein kinase were present at maximally activating concentrations. The Hill numbers (+/- SD) of the Ca2+ dependency after treatment of microsomes with trypsin (1.5 +/- 0.1) or protein kinase (1.7 +/- 0.1) were similar and were not significantly different from those for untreated control microsomes (1.6 +/- 0.1 and 1.8 +/- 0.1, respectively). Autoradiograms of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoretic gels indicate that 32P incorporation into phospholamban (Mr 27.3K) or its presumed monomeric subunit (Mr 5.5K) was markedly reduced when trypsin-treated microsomes were incubated in the presence of cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP compared to control microsomes incubated similarly but pretreated with trypsin inhibitor inactivated trypsin. The activation of calcium uptake by increasing concentrations of trypsin was paralleled by the reduction of phosphorylation of phospholamban. Trypsin treatment of microsomes previously thiophosphorylated in the presence of cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase and [gamma-35S]thio-ATP did not result in a loss of 35S label from phospholamban, which suggests that phosphorylation of phospholamban protects against trypsin attack.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The interaction of magnesium ions with the calcium pump of sarcoplasmic reticulum.

1. In the presence of Ca2+, ATP phosphorylates the Ca2+ pump of sarcoplasmic reticulum at the same site and to the same extent regardless of whether Mg2+ is added or not to the incubation media, the main effect of added Mg2+ being to increase the rate of phosphorylation. 2. When phosphoenzyme is made in Mg2+-containing media it dephosphorylates about 30-times faster than when it is made in the absence of added Mg2+. Addition of Mg2+ after phosphorylation is uneffective in accelerating the hydrolysis of phosphoenzyme even in solubilized enzyme, suggesting that phosphorylation of the Ca2+ pump results in occlusion of the site at which Mg2+ combines to accelerate the release of phosphate. 3. Occlusion of the site for Mg2+ can be partially reversed by trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexonetetraacetic acid (CDTA). Use was made of this property to demonstrate that for the rapid release of phosphate to occur Mg2+ has to be bound to the enzyme. 4. Results seem to indicate that Mg2+ combines with the Ca2+ pump prior to phosphorylation.     

Rational design of peptide inhibitors of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump

The sequence of phospholamban (PLB) is practically invariant among mammalian species. The hydrophobic transmembrane domain has 10 leucine and 8 isoleucine residues. Two roles have been proposed for the leucines; one subset stabilizes PLB oligomers, while a second subset physically interacts with SERCA. On the basis of the sequence of the PLB transmembrane domain, we chemically synthesized a series of peptides and tested their ability to regulate SERCA in reconstituted membranes. In all, eight peptides were studied: a peptide corresponding to the null-cysteine transmembrane domain of PLB (TM-Ala-PLB), two polyleucine peptides (Leu18 and Leu24), polyalanine peptides containing 4, 7, and 12 leucine residues (Leu4, Leu7, and Leu12, respectively), and a polyalanine peptide containing the 9 leucine residues present in the transmembrane domain of PLB with and without the essential Asn34 residue (Asn1Leu9 and Leu9, respectively). With the exception of Leu18, co-reconstitution of the peptides revealed effects on the apparent calcium affinity of SERCA. The TM-Ala-PLB peptide possessed approximately 70% of the inhibitory function of wild-type PLB. The remaining peptides exhibited significant inhibitory activity decreasing in the following order: Leu12, Leu9, Leu24, Leu7, and Leu4. Replacing Asn34 of PLB in the Leu9 peptide resulted in superinhibition of SERCA. On the basis of these observations, we conclude that a partial requirement for SERCA inhibition is met by a simple hydrophobic surface on a transmembrane alpha-helix. In addition, the superinhibition observed for the Asn34-containing peptide suggests that the model peptides mimic the inhibitory properties of PLB. A model is presented in which surface complementarity around key amino acid positions is enhanced in the interaction with SERCA.     

Occlusion of divalent cations in the phosphorylated calcium pump of sarcoplasmic reticulum

The calcium pump of sarcoplasmic reticulum possesses high-affinity calcium-binding and ATP-binding sites. At 0 degrees C pH 6.8 and in the absence of calcium, about 3.5 nmol/mg of high-affinity ATP-binding sites are titrated with a dissociation constant, Kd, of 5 microM. In the presence of Ca2+, ATP phosphorylates the enzyme at a much lower concentration: K 1/2 = 100 nM. In the absence of ATP the calcium ions reversibly bind to the high-affinity calcium sites (6.5 nmol/mg); however the following is shown in this paper. 1. Phosphorylation of the enzyme in the presence of calcium leads to the immediate occlusion of the calcium ions bound to the high-affinity sites. 2. Two moles of calcium are occluded per mole of phosphoenzyme formed. 3. Occlusion can be reversed by ADP. 4. Transport is a slower process which occurs in the presence of Mg2+ at the same rate as the spontaneous decay of the phosphoenzyme. Experiments performed in the absence of magnesium reveal another divalent cation binding site which is probably directly involved in ATP and Pi binding. The nature of the cation bound to this site determines the stability and ADP-sensitivity of the phosphoenzyme.     

Target size of calcium pump protein from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum

The oligomeric size of calcium pump protein (CPP) in fast skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane was determined using target theory analysis of radiation inactivation data. There was a parallel decrease of Ca2+-ATPase and calcium pumping activities with increasing radiation dose. The loss of staining intensity of the CPP band, observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, also correlated directly with the loss of activity. The target size molecular weight of the CPP in the normal sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane ranged between 210,000 and 250,000, which is consistent with a dimeric structure. Essentially the same size is obtained for the non-phosphorylated CPP or for the phosphoenzyme form generated from either ATP (E1 state) or inorganic phosphate (E2 state). Hence, the oligomeric state of the pump does not appear to change during the catalytic cycle. Similar results were obtained with reconstituted sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane vesicles with different lipid to protein ratios. We conclude that the CPP is a dimer in both native and reconstituted sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes. The target size of the calcium-binding protein (calsequestrin) was found to be 50,000 daltons, approximating a monomer.     

Effect of temperature on the reversal of the calcium ion pump in sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Sarcoplasmic-reticulum vesicles were actively loaded with Ca2+ in the presence of phosphate, and the ADP-induced Ca2+ efflux and ATP synthesis were measured as a function of temperature. Arrhenius plots show break points for both processes at about 18 and 37 degrees C. Between 18 and 37 degrees C, Ca2+ efflux and ATP synthesis occur with an activation energy of 67.2-71.4 kJ/mol, whereas it is about 189-210 kJ/mol for temperatures below 18 degrees C. Above 37 degrees C, the rates of ADP-induced Ca2+ release and of ATP synthesis sharply decline until the temperature reaches about 42 degrees C. Above this temperature, the Ca2+ efflux increases again even in absence of ADP, although the synthesis of ATP is inhibited, which reflects leakiness of the vesicles. The results show that the transition temperatures for ADP-induced Ca2+ efflux and for ATP synthesis resemble those for active Ca2+ uptake, which indicates that the same coupling mechanism is involved during the inward and outward Ca2+ translocations across the membrane.     

Mechanism of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. Fluorometric study of the phosphorylated intermediates.

After removal of calcium ions bound to the high affinity sites the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump can be phosphorylated by inorganic phosphate. The intrinsic fluorescence of the protein is used to follow conformational changes of the pump and an intensity change can be observed upon addition of phosphate. This effect is activated by internal calcium ($\text{K}\text{1}\text{2}\text{= 10 mM}$) and inhibited by external calcium ($\text{K}\text{1}\text{2}\text{= 0.4 μM}$) and the apparent affinity for phosphate is high (0.2 mM). We conclude that the change observed is linked to the formation of the gradient-dependent phosphorylated intermediate. It is compared with previous results concerning the enzymatic cycle of the pump.     

Active unit of solubilized sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium adenosinetriphosphatase: an active enzyme centrifugation analysis

Sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium adenosinetriphosphatase (Ca2+-ATPase) was solubilized to monomeric form with the nonionic detergent n-dodecyl octaethylene glycol monoether (C12E8). Equilibrium ultracentrifugation analysis indicated that this preparation is initially greater than 75% monomer, the remainder being best described as a tetramer. In the presence of substrates, this preparation has ATPase activity comparable to that of leaky sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. The possibility of substrate-induced oligomerization of the monomer under ATPase activity assay conditions was tested. Active enzyme centrifugation analysis demonstrated that ATPase activity sedimented with a rate which can only be attributed to a monomeric particle. The sedimentation rate was invariant over a 6-fold concentration range comparable to that used in activity assays. The portion of the protein that sediments as an oligomer when measurements are based on the movement of protein (A280) is not seen when measurements are based on the movement of activity. The data demonstrate that the monomer represents the minimal ATPase active unit of Ca2+-ATPase.