Accelerating effect of ATP on calcium binding to sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

The rise of intrinsic fluorescence due to calcium binding to sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase occurs with a kobs of approximately 2 s-1 at pH 6.0, which is much lower than that observed at neutral pH. This is consistent with a H+-Ca2+ competition for the high-affinity sites. An accelerating effect of ATP on the calcium-induced transition can be clearly demonstrated at that pH. Nonhydrolyzable nucleotides, such as AMP-PNP, do not elicit the same response. Acetylphosphate also accelerates the calcium-induced fluorescence rise, demonstrating that this effect is limited to substrates that are able to form the phosphorylated enzyme intermediate. This effect, which is attributed to occupancy of the phosphorylation domain of the catalytic site, is distinct from the known secondary activation of enzyme turnover which is produced by ATP and by inactive nucleotide analogs, but not by acetylphosphate.     

Steady state kinetics of ATP synthesis and hydrolysis coupled calcium transport catalyzed by the reconstituted sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

The steady state kinetics of calcium transport driven by ATP hydrolysis and ATP synthesis catalyzed by purified, reconstituted calcium ATPase has been investigated as a function of the transmembrane calcium gradient. Purified calcium ATPase was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles enabling control of the transmembrane calcium gradient. Calcium transport was monitored spectrophotometrically by the calcium indicator, Arsenazo III. Thus, only the enzymatic activity of coupled transport was measured. It was shown under conditions of low external calcium that ATP hydrolysis and synthesis follow simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics and that Michaelis constants obtained for both processes appear independent of the calcium gradient. The maximum velocities for both hydrolysis and synthesis strongly depend on the transmembrane calcium gradient. Based on these results, a mechanism is proposed in which a random addition of substrates for ATP synthesis is followed by random release of ATP and calcium. By measuring the ATP hydrolysis and synthesis under identical conditions, determination of the equilibrium constant for ATP hydrolysis as a function of the transmembrane calcium gradient was possible. Our results indicate that the thermodynamics of the catalytic cycle can be totally accounted for by the energetics of transport of 2.2 +/- 0.3 calciums and the hydrolysis of 1 ATP. An equilibrium constant for ATP hydrolysis in the absence of a calcium gradient was determined to be 4.0 X 10(4).     

Kinetic and thermodynamic control of ATP synthesis by sarcoplasmic reticulum adenosinetriphosphatase

Several experimental parameters, critical to the analysis of ATP synthesis by sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase, were determined experimentally. 1) The phosphorylated enzyme intermediate obtained with acetylphosphate in the presence of a Ca2+ gradient was shown to be entirely ADP sensitive but quite stable in the absence of added ADP. On the contrary, the phosphoenzyme obtained with ATP is unstable due to the ADP formed during the phosphoryl transfer reaction. For this reason, addition of ADP to [32P]phosphoenzyme obtained with [32P]acetylphosphate provides the simplest conditions for kinetic studies on [gamma-32P]ATP synthesis. 2) The dissociation rate constant of newly synthesized ATP (in the reverse direction of the ATPase cycle) was measured experimentally and found to be 16 s-1. This value agrees well with the dissociation rate constant determined for adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate bound to this enzyme. 3) ATP synthesis observed in the absence of a Ca2+ gradient was shown to be a kinetic overshoot due to ligand-induced perturbation of a limited number of partial reactions and occurring before equilibration of the entire system. Most of the ATP formed under these conditions was subsequently hydrolyzed as the overall equilibrium was reached. 4) Based on these and other (previously characterized) parameters, satisfactory simulations of single and multiple cycle ATP synthesis, in the presence and in the absence of a Ca2+ gradient, were obtained.     

Regulation of ATP synthesis catalyzed by the calcium pump of sarcoplasmic reticulum

The role of pH, KCl, ATP, water activity, and temperature in ATP synthesis from ADP and Pi was investigated in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. In totally aqueous medium, the synthesis of ATP was inhibited by ATP, KCl, and pH values above 6.5. When the water activity of the medium was decreased by the addition of 30% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide, the synthesis of ATP was no longer inhibited by ATP; it was activated by KCl and the optimum pH changed from 6.5 to 7.5. In totally aqueous medium, the concentration of MgCl2 needed for half-maximal synthesis of ATP was found to vary with the temperature of the assay medium; at 35 degrees C it was 1 mM and increased to a value higher than 10 mM when the temperature was decreased to 15 degrees C. In the presence of 30% dimethyl sulfoxide, maximal synthesis of ATP was attained in presence of 0.05 mM MgCl2 at both 15 and 35 degrees C. The hypothesis is raised that in the living cell water structure may play a role in regulating the synthesis of ATP observed during the reversal of the Ca2+ pump of the sarcoplasmic reticulum.     

Inactivation of detergent-solubilized sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

Inactivation of sarcoplasmic ATPase in the solubilized state was studied in the absence and presence of Ca2+, Mg2+ and glycerol. The effects of the detergents octa(ethyleneglycol) mono-n-dodecyl ether (C12E8), 1-O-tetradecylpropanediol-(1,3)-3-phosphorylcholine and myristoylglycerophosphocholine were compared. All three detergents caused a rapid decline of the dinitrophenyl phosphatase activity of the unprotected enzyme. The stabilizing effect of Ca2+ ions was kinetically analysed. It was found that the stability of the solubilized enzyme depends on the Ca2+ concentration in a manner which is best explained by assuming rapid inactivation of Ca2+-free enzyme accompanied by slow inactivation of a calcium-enzyme complex (E1Ca). The apparent affinity constants obtained are in the order of 10(6)M-1, suggesting that high-affinity Ca2+ binding must be involved. No indications of a contribution were found, either of low-affinity Ca2+-binding sites of the conformational state E2 or of the high-affinity calcium complex E1Ca2. If Ca2+ was replaced by Mg2+, which exerts a weaker protection, the apparent affinity constants for Mg2+ are in the range of 1 mM-1. The stoichiometry of the effect of Mg2+ depends on the detergent.     

Rate of calcium release and ATP synthesis in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles

Sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles can catalyze the synthesis of ATP coupled to the efflux of calcium. The rate of this reaction is much faster when the vesicles are loaded in a medium containing phosphate than when oxalate is the precipitating agent. Two components of ATP synthesis can be observed when vesicles loaded with calcium phosphate are used. In the millisecond range and when the loaded vesicles are phosphorylated by Pi, the addition of ADP leads to an initial burst of ATP synthesis and after 50 ms approximately 3.0 nmol of ATP/mg protein are synthesized. This burst is not inhibited by ATP and is enhanced by physiological concentrations of KCl. The slow component of ATP synthesis is inhibited by both ATP and 100 mM KCl. In the physiological pH range, betaine, a trimethylamine present in different tissues, increases the level of phosphoenzyme formed by Pi and enhances the amount of ATP synthesized during the first turn of the reversal of the calcium pump.     

Phosphoenzymes formed from Mg.ATP and Ca.ATP during pre-steady state kinetics of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

We have investigated here the pre-steady state kinetics of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase incubated under conditions where significant amounts of Mg.ATP and Ca.ATP coexist, both of them being substrates for the ATPase. We confirmed that these two substrates are independently hydrolyzed by the ATPase, which thus apparently catalyzes Pi production by two simultaneous and separate pathways. External calcium (or the Ca2+/Mg2+ ratio) determines the extent to which Ca2+ or Mg2+ is bound at the phosphorylation site, while internal calcium controls the rate of processing of both the slow, calcium-containing and the fast, magnesium-containing phosphoenzyme. Time-dependent binding of calcium at the catalytic site is correlated with the observed burst of Pi liberation, which therefore results from reequilibration during pre-steady state of magnesium- and calcium-containing phosphoenzyme pools. Independently of direct exchange of metal at the catalytic site, ADP produced by the hydrolysis reaction contributes to reequilibration of these pools through reversal of phosphorylation by the ATP-ADP exchange pathway.     

Pressure-induced dissociation of solubilized sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the self-association of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase solubilized by nonionic detergent was studied in the pressure range of 1 atm up to 2 kilobars. Polarization of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence or of fluorescence of a pyrene probe covalently attached to the ATPase was measured. An increase in hydrostatic pressure promoted dissociation of the protein into monomers. For a midpoint dissociation pressure of 1.3 kilobars, the standard volume change in the dissociation reaction was delta Vop = -167 ml/mol. Full reversibility of the pressure effects was shown to occur, as seen by recovery of polarization. An increase in Ca2+ concentration from 50 microM to 5 mM and of pH from 6.9 to 8.6 were found to increase the midpoint dissociation pressure, indicating that these factors stabilize the dimeric state. The hydrolytic activity of the ATPase was measured under pressure. The activity was inhibited by pressure increase. It was found that an irreversible inactivation of the solubilized enzyme occurred during turnover and that increasing pressure added to this instability. Reversibility of the activity was critically dependent on the presence of 10 mM Ca2+ in the assay medium.     

Inhibition of mitochondrial F1 ATPase and sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase by hydrophobic molecules

The hydrophobic nature of the active site of two energy-transducing ATPases was explored by comparing interactions between Pi and each of three hydrophobic drugs in the absence and presence of organic solvents. The drugs tested were the Fe . bathophenanthroline complex and the anticalmodulin drugs, calmidazolium and trifluoperazine. All inhibit the Pi in equilibrium with ATP exchange reaction catalyzed by submitochondrial particles and the ATPase activity of both submitochondrial particles and soluble F1 ATPase. The inhibition by the three drugs is reversed by either raising the Pi concentration or by adding organic solvent (dimethylsulfoxide, ethyleneglycol or methanol) to the medium. The inhibition of the Pi in equilibrium with ATP exchange by trifluoperazine becomes more pronounced when the electrochemical proton gradient formed across the membrane of the submitochondrial particles is decreased by the addition to the medium of the proton ionophore carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone. The ATPase activity and the Ca2+ uptake by sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles are inhibited by the Fe . bathophenanthroline complex, calmidazolium and trifluoperazine. Phosphorylation of the ATPases by Pi, synthesis of ATP from ADP and Pi and the fast efflux of Ca2+ observed during reversal of the Ca2+ pump are inhibited by the three drugs. The inhibition is reversed by raising the concentration of Pi or dimethylsulfoxide. The three drugs tested appear to compete with Pi for a common binding site on the Ca2+-ATPase. The data presented are interpreted according to the proposal that the catalytic site of an enzyme involved in energy transduction undergoes a hydrophobic-hydrophilic transition during the catalytic cycle.     

Cooperative proton and calcium binding by sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase.

The classic work on binding of calcium to CaATPase is analyzed by an objective non-linear least squares procedure of 74 data points over six pH values. Binding of two calciums to the basic form of the sites occurs with an equilibrium stability constant product of log K1K2 = 13.2. Owing to competition from protons, this value drops in acidic and neutral solutions, becoming, for example, 11.9 at pH 6.8. Binding of the two calciums is so strongly cooperative that its extent is difficult to estimate reliably; there is very little of the one calcium species. Two protons are also bound cooperatively to the calcium sites. In solutions of calcium free protein, at pH less than 7.6 the predominant species holds two protons at the calcium sites, while at greater pH the dominant species bears no protons; there is very little of the intermediate one proton species. The analysis also reveals the likely presence of a small, less than statistical, amount of a ternary complex bearing one calcium and one proton.     

Transient state kinetic studies of phosphorylation by ATP and Pi of the calcium-dependent ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum is phosphorylated by ATP in the presence of Ca2+. A rapid phosphorylation was observed when the enzyme was preincubated with Ca2+ prior to the addition of 0.1 or 1 mM ATP. The rate of phosphorylation was decreased when Ca2+ was omitted from the preincubation medium and added with ATP when the reaction was started. The rate of phosphorylation by ATP was further decreased when Pi was included in the preincubation medium without Ca2+. In this case, the enzyme was phosphorylated by Pi during the preincubation. When Ca2+ and ATP were added, a burst of phosphorylation by ATP was observed in the initial 16 ms. In the subsequent incubation intervals, the phosphorylation by ATP was synchronous with the hydrolysis of the phosphoenzyme formed by Pi. The rate of hydrolysis of the phosphoenzyme formed by Pi was measured when either the Pi concentration was decreased 10 fold, or when Ca2+, ATP or ATP plus Ca2+ was added to the medium. Upon the single addition of Ca2+, the time for half-maximal decay was in the range 500--1000 ms. In all other conditions it was in the range 70--90 ms.     

Reversal of the sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase cycle by substituting various cations for magnesium. Phosphorylation and ATP synthesis when Ca2+ replaces Mg2+

Reversal of the cycle of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase starts from ATPase phosphorylation by Pi, in the presence of Mg2+, and leads to ATP synthesis. We show here that ATP can also be synthesized when Ca2+ replaces Mg2+. In the absence of a calcium gradient and in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide, ATPase phosphorylation from Pi and Ca2+ led to the formation of an unstable phosphoenzyme. This instability was due to a competition between the phosphorylation reaction induced by Pi and Ca2+ and the transition induced by Ca2+ binding to the transport sites, which led to a conformation that could not be phosphorylated from Pi. Dimethyl sulfoxide and low temperature stabilized the calcium phosphoenzyme, which under appropriate conditions, subsequently reacted with ADP to synthesize ATP. Substitution of Co2+, Mn2+, Cd2+, or Ni2+ for Mg2+ induced ATPase phosphorylation from Pi, giving phosphoenzymes of various stabilities. However, substitution of Ba2+, Sr2+, or Cr3+ produced no detectable phosphoenzymes, under the same experimental conditions. Our results show that ATPase phosphorylation from Pi, like its phosphorylation from ATP, does not have a strict specificity for magnesium.     

A spectrophotometric assay of ATP synthesized by sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The problems encountered with a coupled enzyme assay for ATP using glucose, hexokinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase are discussed and a modification where fructose and glucosephosphate isomerase were substituted for glucose is described. This modified assay was used successfully to measure the ATP synthesized by reversal of the sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase. ATP synthesized by adenylate kinase contaminating the sarcoplasmic reticulum was easily corrected for by a subtraction procedure.     

Dinitrophenylation of rabbit skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase protein

The ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase (EC 3.6.1.3)) protein of rabbit skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum rapidly incorporated three mol of 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene per 10(5) g of protein with little change in the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity. When 2 additional mol of the reagent were bound the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity was inhibited. The dinitrophenyl group was located mainly in the ATPase protein and a small amount of the label was found in the proteolipid component of the ATPase preparation as judged by dissociation experiments in sodium dodecyl sulfate. Cysteine and tyrosine residues were dinitrophenylated in the modified ATPase protein. Thiolysis of the dinitrophenylated ATPase protein with 2-mercaptoethanol under various conditions did not restore the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity. Solubilization of the ATPase protein with sodium deoxycholate increased the reactivity of the reagent and the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity was inhibited to a greater extent. Dinitrophenylation of the ATPase protein was Ca2+-dependent; in the presence of high Ca2+ the incorporation increased by 50% and a large decrease in the Ca2+-ATPase activity was noted. The half-maximal changes for the incorporation of the reagent and the inhibition of the Ca2+-ATPase activity occurred at 3--4 microgram Ca2+-concentration, consistent with the binding of Ca2+ to high affinity sites on the ATPase protein. These results indicate that the ATPase protein as a Ca2+-free and a Ca2+-bound conformation. The reagent, 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene reacts differentially and thus characterizes these two conformations.     

Kinetics and regulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase.

The measurement of ATP binding to the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane reveals that the calcium pump possesses one high affinity (Kd = 2--3 muM) site. Competition with substrate analogs show the high specifity of that site. At high ATP concentration another class of site can be detected with a much higher dissociation constant (Kd approximately 500 muM). This class of sites is of low specificity and ATP is easily displaced by other polyphosphates. The steady state rate of ATP cleavage is measured in the presence of ATP analogs. It is shown that the catalysis is due to the high affinity site. The activation of the hydrolysis rate at high substrate concentration may be related to the effect of binding of ATP to the weak sites. The effect of ATP analogs for various ATP concentration supports this hypothesis.