Restriction of the lateral motion of band 3 in the erythrocyte membrane by the cytoskeletal network: dependence on spectrin association state

The effects of incubation of erythrocyte ghosts under various conditions (ionic strength or addition of ankyrin, diamines, or ATP) on the lateral motion of band 3 in the membranes were studied by using the fluorescence photobleaching recovery technique. Incubation of ghosts with exogenous ankyrin increased the immobile fraction of band 3, from 0.6 in intact ghosts to 0.8-0.9 when an average of 0.2 mol of extra ankyrin was bound per mole of band 3. Ankyrin-free band 3 proteins were mobile, but their mobility was governed by the spectrin association state in the cytoskeletal network. The diffusion constant was 5.3 X 10(-11) cm2 s-1 at a spectrin tetramer mole fraction of 0.3-0.4 in 10 mM NaCl/5 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.8, and decreased 1 order of magnitude when the tetramer fraction increased to 0.5 in higher NaCl concentration (150 mM NaCl). A similar decrease was observed when the spectrin tetramer fraction was increased by 0.2 mM spermine in 10 mM NaCl/10 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane hydrochloride, pH 7.6. On the other hand, the rotational motion of band 3 in the membranes was not affected by the spectrin association state. Trypsin treatment of ghosts cleaved off the cytoplasmic domain of band 3 and caused a marked (8-fold) increase in the lateral mobility, D = 4.0 X 10(-10) cm2 s-1. These results indicate that the lateral mobility of ankyrin-free band 3 protein is restricted by interactions of their cytoplasmic domain with the cytoskeletal network. A model is presented that band 3 can pass the network when spectrins are in dissociated dimers and cannot pass when they are tetramers. The lateral diffusion constant is thus determined by the spectrin dimer population in the network.     

Biochemical characterization of complex formation by human erythrocyte spectrin, protein 4.1, and actin

Ternary complex formation between the major human erythrocyte membrane skeletal proteins spectrin, protein 4.1, and actin was quantified by measuring cosedimentation of spectrin and band 4.1 with F-actin. Complex formation was dependent upon the concentration of spectrin and band 4.1, each of which promoted the binding of the other to F-actin. Simultaneous measurement of the concentrations of spectrin and band 4.1 in the sedimentable complex showed that a single molecule of band 4.1 was sufficient to promote the binding of a spectrin dimer to F-actin. However, the molar ratio of band 4.1/spectrin in the complex was not fixed, ranging from approximately 0.6 to 2.2 as the relative concentration of added spectrin to band 4.1 was decreased. A mole ratio of 0.6 band 4.1/spectrin suggests that a single molecule of band 4.1 can promote the binding of more than one spectrin dimer to an actin filament. Saturation binding studies showed that in the presence of band 4.1 every actin monomer in a filament could bind at least one molecule of spectrin, yielding ternary complexes with spectrin/actin mole ratios as high as 1.4. Electron microscopy of such complexes showed them to consist of actin filaments heavily decorated with spectrin dimers. Ternary complex formation was not affected by alteration in Mg2+ or Ca2+ concentration but was markedly inhibited by KCl above 100 mM and nearly abolished by 10 mM 2,3-diphosphoglycerate or 10 mM adenosine 5'-triphosphate. Our data are used to refine the molecular model of the red cell membrane skeleton.     

Isolation and properties of actin, myosin, and a new actinbinding protein in rabbit alveolar macrophages.

Actin, myosin, and a high molecular weight actin-binding protein were extracted from rabbit alveolar macrophages with low ionic strength sucrose solutions containing ATP, EDTA, and dithiothreitol, pH 7.0. Addition of KCl, 75 to 100 mM, to sucrose extracts of macrophages stirred at 25 degrees caused actin to polymerize and bind to a protein of high molecualr weight. The complex precipitated and sedimented at low centrifugal forces. Macrophage actin was dissociated from the binding protein with 0.6 M KCl, and purified by repetitive depolymerization and polymerization. Purified macrophage actin migrated as a polypeptide of molecular weight 45,000 on polyacrylamide gels with dodecyl sulfate, formed extended filaments in 0.1 M KCl, bound rabbit skeletal muscle myosin in the absence of Mg-2+ATP and activated its Mg-2+ATPase activity. Macrophage myosin was bound to actin remaining in the macrophage extracts after removal of the actin precipitated with the high molecular weight protein by KCl. The myosin-actin complex and other proteins were collected by ultracentrifugation. Macrophage myosin was purified from this complex or from a 20 to 50% saturated ammonium sulfate fraction of macrophage extracts by gel filtration on agarose columns in 0.6 M Kl and 0.6 M Kl solutions. Purified macrophage myosin had high specific K-+- and EDTA- and K-+- and Ca-2+ATPase activities and low specific Mg-2+ATPase activity. It had subunits of 200,000, 20,000, and 15,000 molecular weight, and formed bipolar filaments in 0.1 M KCl, both in the presence and absence of divalent cations. The high molecular weight protein that precipitated with actin in the sucrose extracts of macrophages was purified by gel filtration in 0.6 M Kl-0.6 M KCl solutions. It was designated a macrophage actin-binding protein, because of its association with actin at physiological pH and ionic strength. On polyacrylamide gels in dodecyl sulfate, the purified high molecular weight protein contained one band which co-migrated with the lighter polypeptide (molecular weight 220,000) of the doublet comprising purified rabbit erythrocyte spectrin. The macrophage protein, like rabbit erythrocyte spectrin, was soluble in 2 mM EDTA and 80% ethanol as well as in 0.6 M KCl solutions, and precipitated in 2 mM CaCl2 or 0.075 to 0.1 M KCl solutions. The macrophage actin-binding protein and rabbit erythrocyte spectrin eluted from agarose columns with a KAV of 0.24 and in the excluded volumes. The protein did not form filaments in 0.1 M KCl and had no detectable ATPase activity under the conditions tested.     

The role of band 4.1 in the association of actin with erythrocyte membranes

Spectrin stimulates the association of F-actin with erythrocyte inside-out vesicles. Although inside-out vesicles are nearly devoid of two of the three major cytoskeletal proteins, spectrin and actin, they retain nearly all of the cytoskeletal protein designated band 4.1. Inside-out vesicles which have been substantially depleted of band 4.1 by extraction in 1 M KCl, 0.4 M urea and then reconstituted with spectrin show a markedly diminished ability to bind actin by comparison with vesicles containing normal amounts of band 4.1. This diminution is not due to an impaired ability of the vesicles to bind spectrin. Addition of purified band 4.1 to vesicles either before or after they have been reconstituted with spectrin restores their actin binding capacity to near normal levels as does addition of a spectrin-band 4.1 complex prepared by sucrose gradient centrifugation. Band 4.1 bound to vesicles in the absence of added spectrin has no effect on actin binding. Our results suggest that a spectrin band 4.1 complex is responsible for binding actin to erythrocyte membranes.     

Interactions among red cell membrane proteins

Interactions between human red band 2.1 with spectrin and depleted inside-out vesicles were studied by fluorescence resonance energy transfer and batch microcalorimetry. The band 2.1-spectrin binding isotherm is consistent with a one to one mole ratio. The association constant of 1.4 X 10(8) M-1 corresponds to the association free energy of -11.1 kcal/mol. Under our experimental conditions, the enthalpy of interaction of band 2.1-spectrin was found to be -10.8 kcal/mol and is independent of the protein mole ratio. The calculated entropic factor (-T delta S = 0.3 kcal/mol) strongly suggests a predominantly enthalpic character of the reaction. In addition, we investigated the role of band 2.1 on the binding of band 4.1 to spectrin [Podgorski, A., & Elbaum, D. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 7871-7876] and concluded that only small, if any, alterations of binding of band 4.1 to spectrin have taken place in the presence or absence of band 2.1. This suggests thermodynamic independence of the binding sites. Although the attachment of the cytoskeletal network to the membrane takes place through, at least, two different interactions, band 2.1-band 3 and 4.1-glycophorin, the relative enthalpy values suggest that band 2.1 contributes significantly more than band 4.1 to the energy of the interaction. In addition, we observed that polymerization of actin is modulated by the cytoskeletons as judged by their effect on the rate of actin polymerization.     

Spectrin-actin associations studied by electron microscopy of shadowed preparations

By shadowing specimens dried onto mica sheets we have obtained clear images of actin crosslinked by spectrin, an actin-binding protein found in erythrocytes. We conclude that spectrin dimers possess a single binding site for F actin. Tetramers formed by head-to-head association of two dimers possess two actin binding sites, one at each tail. Polymerizing G actin in the presence of spectrin tetramers or mixing preformed F actin with spectrin tetramer plus band 4.1 results in an extensively crosslinked network of actin filaments. When G actin is polymerized in the presence of spectrin at spectrin:actin mole ratios close to that present on the erythrocyte membrane, large amorphous protein networks are formed. These networks are clusters of spectrin around 25 nm diameter structures which may be actin protofilaments. These networks are similar to the cytoskeletal network seen after erythrocyte membranes are extracted with detergent, and may represent the first in vitro assembly of a cytoskeletal complex resembling that of the native cell both biochemically and structurally.     

Hereditary spherocytosis of man. Defective cytoskeletal interactions in the erythrocyte membrane.

Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is an inherited abnormality of red cell shape and results from defective interactions amongst the components of the cytoskeleton. It is known that spectrin/actin dissociates in low ionic strength media from ghosts and cytoskeletons at a rate which is slower for HS than normal preparations. Hybridization experiments have established that this behaviour is not due to a defective spectrin or actin but resides in a spectrin-binding component of the membrane [Hill, Sawyer, Howlett & Wiley (1981) Biochem. J. 201, 259-266]. In the present study erythrocyte shells have been examined in low ionic strength media and a similar difference in the rate of solubilization has been revealed. Since band 4.1 (but not band 2.1) is a common component of cytoskeletons and shells it is possible that 4.1 may be abnormal in the HS condition. The interaction of band 4.1 with spectrin/actin was examined by low shear falling ball viscometry. The addition of a mixture of band 2.1 and 4.1 to a solution of actin and spectrin tetramer increased the viscosity due to cross-linking of the cytoskeletal elements by band 4.1. When band 2.1/4.1 mixtures were derived from five HS families the viscosity was increased to a greater extent than in the normal controls. This difference was not a result of alterations in the calcium dependence of the spectrin/actin-band 4.1 interaction. The results imply that band 4.1 may be defective in the HS condition.     

Adenosine triphosphatases associated with bovine brain microtubules. II. Properties of ATPases I and II

The catalytic properties of two ATPases which had been purified from bovine brain microtubules (Tominaga, S. & Kaziro, Y. (1983) J. Biochem. 93, 1085-1092) were studied. ATPase I, which had a molecular weight of 33,000, required the presence of 1.0 microM tubulin, 0.2 mM Mg2+, and 10 mM Ca2+ for maximal activity. The activation of ATPase I by tubulin was specific to the native form of tubulin, which could not be replaced by F-actin or tubulin denatured either by heat or more mildly by dialysis in the absence of glycerol. ATPase I was not specific to ATP, and GTP, and to a lesser extent, UTP and CTP were also hydrolyzed. Km for ATP of ATPase I was about 0.04 mM. ATPase I was inhibited by 5 mM Mg2+, 0.04 M K+, 10(-3) M vanadate, 10 mM N-ethylmaleimide, or 20% (v/v) glycerol. ATPase II, which was associated with membrane vesicles, required the presence of 0.2-2.0 mM Mg2+ and 20 mM KCl for activity. Tubulin stimulated the reaction of ATPase II only partially, and the addition of Ca2+ was rather inhibitory. ATPase II was specific to ATP with a Km value of 0.14 mM. It was inhibited by 1.6 mM N-ethylmaleimide and 20% (v/v) glycerol, but was not very sensitive to vanadate. Instead, ATPase II was inhibited by trifluoperazine, chlorpromazine, and nicardipin at 10(-3) M.     

Effects of chaetoglobosin J on the G-F transformation of actin

It was shown that substoichiometric concentrations of chaetoglobosin J, one of the fungal metabolites belonging to cytochalasins, inhibited the elongation at the barbed end of an actin filament. Stoichiometric concentrations of chaetoglobosin J decreased both the rate and the extent of actin polymerization in the presence of 75 mM KCl, 0.2 mM ATP and 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer at pH 8.0 and 25 degrees C. In contrast, stoichiometric concentrations of cytochalasin D accelerated actin polymerization. Chaetoglobosin J slowly depolymerized F-actin to G-actin until an equilibrium was reached. Analyses by a number of different methods showed the increase of monomer concentration at equilibrium to depend on chaetoglobosin J concentrations. F-actin under the influence of stoichiometric concentrations of chaetoglobosin J only slightly activated the Mg2+-enhanced ATPase activity of myosin at low ionic strength. It is suggested that when the structure of the chaetoglobosin-affected actin filaments is modified, the equilibrium is shifted to the monomer side, and the interaction with myosin is weakened.     

p-Chloromercuribenzoate-induced dissociation of cytoskeletal proteins in red blood cells of rats

Effects of p-chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB) on the cytoskeletal organization of rat red blood cells were studied. Upon incubation with 50 microM PCMB in 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.4) at 37 degrees C for 30 min, 80% of actin and 45% of spectrin were released from the ghosts, resulting in the fragmentation of ghost membranes. Addition of 2 mM Mg2+ or 0.1 M KCl, or lowering incubation temperature to 0 degree C substantially inhibited the solubilization of the cytoskeletal proteins and the fragmentation of ghost membranes, which enable to examine the effects of PCMB on the interaction between transmembrane proteins and the peripheral cytoskeletal network. Decreased recoveries of transmembrane proteins, such as band 3 and glycophorin, in Triton shell fraction were observed in the ghosts incubated with PCMB either in the presence of Mg2+ or at 0 degree C. PCMB also inhibited the in vitro association of purified spectrin with spectrin-depleted inside-out vesicles through interaction with proteins in the vesicle, such as bands 2.1 and 3. In the PCMB-treated ghosts, intramembrane particles were highly aggregated, which further supports the PCMB-induced dissociation of the transmembrane proteins from the cytoskeletal network. The decreased recovery of glycophorin in the Triton shell fraction also observed in intact red blood cells upon incubation with PCMB. These results suggest that the main action of PCMB on red cell membranes under physiological condition, at higher ionic strength and in the presence of Mg2+, is to dissociate transmembrane proteins from the peripheral cytoskeletal network, which may modify functions of these proteins.     

Membranous localization and properties of ATPase of rat liver lysosomes.

Lysosomes isolated from rat liver were found to have ATPase activity (EC No 3.6.1.3). Subfractionation of the lysosomes revealed a membranous localization of ATPase activity. The enzyme has half maximal activity at 0.2 mM ATP and is inhibited by high concentrations of ATP. The apparent Km for divalent metal is 0.2 mM, and either Ca2+ or Mg2+ give maximal activity. The ATPase activity has latency when lysosomes are isolated from rats treated with Triton WR-1339. This latency may be due to the presence of internalized sucrose because the activity of L fraction lysosomes is much less latent and Triton WR-1339 itself is not inhibitory. The latency of glucosaminidase, a marker enzyme for lysosomes, contrasts with the low latency of the ATPase and points to an ATPase with an exposed active site in intact lysosomes.     

Motor function and regulation of myosin X.

Myosin X is a member of the diverse myosin superfamily that is ubiquitously expressed in various mammalian tissues. Although its association with actin in cells has been shown, little is known about its biochemical and mechanoenzymatic function at the molecular level. We expressed bovine myosin X containing the entire head, neck, and coiled-coil domain and purified bovine myosin X in Sf9 cells. The Mg(2+)-ATPase activity of myosin X was significantly activated by actin with low K(ATP). The actin-activated ATPase activity was reduced at Ca(2+) concentrations above pCa 5 in which 1 mol of calmodulin light chain dissociates from the heavy chain. Myosin X translocates F-actin filaments with the velocity of 0.3 microm/s with the direction toward the barbed end. The actin translocating activity was inhibited at concentrations of Ca(2+) at pCa 6 in which no calmodulin dissociation takes place, suggesting that the calmodulin dissociation is not required for the inhibition of the motility. Unlike class V myosin, which shows a high affinity for F-actin in the presence of ATP, the K(actin) of the myosin X ATPase was much higher than that of myosin V. Consistently nearly all actin dissociated from myosin X in the presence of ATP. ADP did not significantly inhibit the actin-activated ATPase activity of myosin X, suggesting that the ADP release step is not rate-limiting. These results suggest that myosin X is a nonprocessive motor. Consistently myosin X failed to support the actin translocation at low density in an in vitro motility assay where myosin V, a processive motor, supports the actin filament movement.     

Purification and characterization of a type II DNA topoisomerase from bovine calf thymus

We report here the large scale purification of DNA topoisomerase II from calf thymus glands, using the unknotting of naturally knotted P4 phage DNA as an assay for enzymatic activity. Topoisomerase II was purified more than 1300-fold as compared to the whole cell homogenate, with 22% yield. Analysis of the purified enzyme by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed two bands of apparent molecular masses of 125 and 140 kDa. Tryptic maps of the two bands indicated that they derive from the same protein. Using these fragments, specific polyclonal antisera to topoisomerase II were raised in rabbits. Immunoblotting of whole cell lysates from various species indicated that topoisomerase II is well conserved among mammals and has a native subunit molecular mass of 180 kDa. Analytical sedimentation and gel filtration were used to determine a sedimentation coefficient of 9.8 S and a Stokes radius of 68 A. The calculated solution molecular mass of 277 kDa implies a dimer structure in solution. The purified topoisomerase II unknots P4 DNA in an ATP-dependent manner and is highly stimulated in its relaxation activity by ATP. A DNA-stimulated ATPase activity, as has been found with other type II topoisomerases, is associated with the purified enzyme. Approximate kinetic parameters for the ATPase reaction were determined to be: a Vmax of 0.06 nmol of ATP/(micrograms of protein) (min) and Km of 0.2 mM in the absence of DNA, and a Vmax of 0.2 nmol of ATP/(micrograms of protein) (min) and Km of 0.4 mM ATP in the presence of supercoiled plasmid DNA.     

Differential effects of arylating and oxidizing analogs of N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine on red blood cell membrane proteins

Incubation of human red blood cell membranes (white ghosts) with N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI), a toxic metabolite of acetaminophen, or with either an arylating or an oxidizing analog of NAPQI, resulted in the inhibition of membrane ion transporting systems and the modification of cytoskeletal proteins. NAPQI and 2,6-dimethyl-NAPQI, which primarily arylates protein thiols, inhibited the calmodulin-activated Ca pump ATPase activity, the basal (calmodulin-independent) Ca pump ATPase activity and the Na,K pump ATPase activity. In contrast, 3,5-dimethyl-NAPQI, which primarily oxidizes protein thiols, caused selective inhibition of the calmodulin-activated Ca pump ATPase activity. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis of red blood cell (RBC) membrane proteins revealed that NAPQI and 2,6-dimethyl-NAPQI, but not 3,5-dimethyl-NAPQI, decreased the intensity of band 3 corresponding to the anion transporter, whereas NAPQI as well as 2,6-dimethyl-NAPQI, and to a lesser extent 3,5-dimethyl-NAPQI, caused a decrease of cytoskeletal protein bands, including spectrin, actin, and bands 4.1 and 4.2. These modifications were associated with increased formation of high molecular weight protein aggregates that did not enter the gel. Treatment of 3,5-dimethyl-NAPQI-exposed ghosts with the reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT), resulted in the recovery of the affected cytoskeletal protein bands. Conversely, the modifications caused by NAPQI and 2,6-dimethyl-NAPQI were only partially reversed by DTT treatment. Taken together our results suggest that NAPQI and its two analogs modified ion transporting systems and cytoskeletal proteins by reacting with protein thiols. Both oxidation and arylation of protein thiols can alter the functional properties of important RBC membrane proteins. Of the two reactions, arylation appeared to be the less specific and more damaging event.     

Actin—membrane interactions: Association of G-actin with the red cell membrane

Chemically tritiated actin from rabbit skeletal muscle was used to investigate the association of G-actin with the red cell membrane. The tritiated actin was shown to be identical to unmodified actin in its ability to polymerize and to activate heavy meromyosin ATPase. Using sealed and unsealed red cell ghosts we have shown that G-actin binds to the cytoplasmic but not the extracellular membrane surface of ghosts. Inside-out vesicles which have been stripped of endogenous actin and spectrin by low-ionic-strength incubation bind little G-actin. However, when a crude spectrin extract containing primarily spectrin, actin, and band 4.1 is added back to stripped vesicles, subsequent binding of G-actin can be increased up to 40-fold. Further, this crude spectrin extract can compete for and abolish G-actin binding to unsealed ghosts. Actin binding to ghosts increases linearly with added G-actin and requires the presence of magnesium. In addition, actin binding is inhibited by cytochalasin B and DNAase I. Negative staining reveals an abundance of actin filaments formed when G-actin is added to reconstituted inside-out vesicles but none when it is added to unreconstituted vesicles. These observations indicate that added G-actin binds to the red cell membrane via filament formation nucleated by some membrane component at the cytoplasmic surface.     

Spectrin promotes the association of F-actin with the cytoplasmic surface of the human erythrocyte membrane

We studied the binding of actin to the erythrocyte membrane by a novel application of falling ball viscometry. Our approach is based on the notion that if membranes have multiple binding sites for F-actin they will be able to cross-link and increase the viscosity of actin. Spectrin- and actin-depleted inside-out vesicles reconstituted with purified spectrin dimer or tetramer induce large increases in the viscosity of actin. Comparable concentrations of spectrin alone, inside-out vesicles alone, inside-out vesicles plus heat-denatured spectrin dimmer or tetramer induce large increases in the viscosity of actin. Comparable concentrations of spectrin alone, inside-out vesicles alone, inside-out plus heat denatured spectrin, ghosts, or ghosts plus spectrin have no effect on the viscosity of actin. Centrifugation experiments show that the amount of actin bound to the inside-out vesicles is enhanced in the presence of spectrin. The interactions detected by low-shear viscometry reflect actin interaction with membrane- bound spectrin because (a) prior removal of band 4.1 and ankyrin (band 2.1, the high- affinity membrane attachment site for spectrin) reduces both spectrin binding to the inside-out vesicles and their capacity to stimulate increase in viscosity of actin in the presence of spectrin + actin are inhibited by the addition of the water-soluble 72,000- dalton fragment of ankyrin, which is known to inhibit spectrin reassociation to the membrane. The increases in viscosity of actin induced by inside-out vesicles reconstituted with purified spectrin dimer or tetramer are not observed when samples are incubated at 0 degrees C. This temperature dependence may be related to the temperature-dependent associations we observe in solution studies with purified proteins: addition of ankyrin inhibits actin cross-linking by spectrin tetramer plus band 4.1 at 0 degrees C, and enhances it at 32 degrees C. We conclude (a) that falling ball viscometry can be used to assay actin binding to membranes and (b) that spectrin is involved in attaching actin filaments or oligomers to the cytoplasmic surface of the erythrocyte membrane.     

The kinetics and divalent cation inhibition of plasma membrane ATPase in the yeast Candida albicans

The kinetics of ATP hydrolysis and cation effects on ATPase activity in plasma membrane from Candida albicans ATCC 10261 yeast cells were investigated. The ATPase showed classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics for the hydrolysis of Mg X ATP, with Km = 4.8 mM Mg X ATP. Na+ and K+ stimulated the ATPase slightly (9% at 20 mM). Divalent cations in combination with ATP gave lower ATPase activity than Mg X ATP (Mg greater than Mn greater than Co greater than Zn greater than Ni greater than Ca). Divalent cations inhibited the Mg X ATPase (Zn greater than Ni greater than Co greater than Ca greater than Mn). Free Mg2+ inhibited Mg X ATPase weakly (20% inhibition at 10 mM). Computed analyses of substrate concentrations showed that free Zn2+ inhibited Zn X ATPase, mixed (Zn2+ + Mg2+) X ATPase, and Mg X ATPase activities. Zn X ATP showed high affinity for ATPase (Km = 1.0 mM Zn X ATP) but lower turnover (52%) relative to Mg X ATP. Inhibition of Mg X ATPase by (free) Zn2+ was noncompetitive, Ki = 90 microM Zn2+. The existence of a divalent cation inhibitory site on the plasma membrane Mg X ATPase is proposed.     

The presence of an adenosine-5'-triphosphatase dependent on 6S tubulin and calcium ions in rat brain microtubules.

An ATPase activity was found in rat brain microtubules prepared by successive cycles of polymerization and depolymerization. On phosphocellulose column chromatography, the ATPase activity was recovered in the fraction eluted with 0.6 M KCl and containing the microtubule associated proteins. The ATPase activity was markedly stimulated by the addition of purified brain 6S tubulin, and the stimulation was dependent on the presence of Ca2+ ions. Approximately 50 pmol of purified 6S tubulin was required for the maximal stimulation in the presence of 8 microgram of microtubule associated proteins. The specific activity was 8 to 13 nmol of ATP hydrolyzed per min per mg of protein at 37 degrees C, and the Km value for ATP was 3 X 10(-5) M in the presence of added tubulin.     

Calcium regulation of magnesium dependent phosphorylation of human erythrocyte ghost spectrin

Phosphorylation of human erythrocyte ghost membrane proteins was found to be affected by micromolar calcium concentrations. Increasing Ca2+ concentration to 0.2 microM decreased spectrin (band 2) phosphorylation to 30 +/- 6% of control (to which no calcium was added). Decreasing calcium concentration by adding EGTA (0.2mM) to the standard membrane preparation increased spectrin phosphorylation to 575% control. This effect of Ca2+ was more pronounced at higher temperature. At 0 degree C, Ca2+ (0.05mM) had no effect on protein phosphorylation. Sodium fluoride like EGTA caused a four to five fold increase in phosphorylation. Pyrophosphate, a phosphoprotein phosphatase inhibator, had no effect. Once spectrin was phosphorylated in the presence of [gamma-32P]ATP the addition of Ca2+ or EGTA did not decrease or increase its phosphorylation. It is suggested that calcium regulates spectrin phosphorylation either by decreasing kinase activity or by decreasing substrate availability.     

Interaction between Acanthamoeba actin and rabbit skeletal muscle tropomyosin.

The binding of 125I-labeled muscle tropomyosin to Acanthamoeba and muscle actin was studied by ultracentrifugation and by the effect of tropomyosin on the actin-activated muscle heavy meromyosin ATPase activity. Binding of muscle tropomyosin to Acanthamoeba actin was much weaker than its binding to muscle actin. For example, at 5 mM MgCl2, 2 mM ATP, and 5 micronM actin, tropomyosin bound strongly to muscle actin but not detectably to Acanthamoeba actin. When the concentration of actin was raised from 5 micronM to 24 micronM in the presence of 80 mM KCl, the binding of tropomyosin to Acanthamoeba actin approached its binding to muscle actin. As with muscle actin, the addition of muscle heavy meromyosin in the absence of ATP induced binding of tropomyosin in Acanthamoeba actin under conditions were binding would otherwise not have occurred. The most striking difference between the interactions of muscle tropomyosin with the two actins, however, was that under conditions where tropomyosin was found to both actins, its stimulated the Acanthamoeba actin-activated heavy meromyosin ATPase but inhibited the muscle actin-activated heavy meromyosin ATPase.