Cardiac myosin from pig heart ventricle. Purification and enzymatic properties.

A method is described for the preparation of high purity myosin from the left ventricle of pig heart. The purified myosin was free from nucleic acid, actin, tropomyosin, troponin, the 150,000 molecular weight protein and other contaminants. Analyses of subunits in the purified myosin were carried out on 3.5% acrylamide gel with 0.1% SDS. Of the total protein present in myosin, 11.3% was in the light chains; light chain 1 (LC1), 5.9% and light chain 2 (LC2), 5.4%. Urea gel electrophoresis of the purified myosin showed three closely spaced bands corresponding to the 20,000 dalton, the charge-modified 20,000 dalton and the phosphorylated 20,000 dalton components. The properties of the Ca2+-activated and K+-activated ATPases [EC 3.6.1.3] of the purified myosin were also studied. The Km values were 27 and 55 muM and the Vmax values were 0.263 and 0.317 mumole P1/mg/min for the Ca2+-activated and K+-activated ATPases, respectively. The pH-activity profiles and the effects of SH modification were of the skeletal myosin type except that the activities were lower.     

Purification of cardiac myosin. Application to hypertrophied myocardium.

A method is described for the preparation of high purity myosin from small amounts of cardiac muscle. The method employs homogenization and prolonged extraction of the cardiac tissue. Purification is achieved through three successive precipitation-dissolution cycles and without the use of column chromatographic techniques. Purity of the myosin preparation is assessed at various stages of the purification procedure by sodium dodecylsulfate-acrylamide gel electrophoresis and by measurement of RNA and nucleoprotein content. With 1.5-2.0 g of rabbit right ventricle as the starting tissue, this method yields 4-6 mg myosin per g wet tissue. The method is also shown to give similar results with rabbit right ventricles hypertrophied by pulmonary stenosis.     

Myosin light-chain phosphatase.

1. A method for the isolation of a new enzyme, myosin light-chain phosphatase, from rabbit white skeletal muscle by using a Sepharose-phosphorylated myosin light-chain affinity column is described. 2. The enzyme migrated as a single component on electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel at pH7.0, with apparent mol.wt. 70000. 3. The enzyme was highly specific for the phosphorylated P-light chain of myosin, had pH optima at 6.5 and 8.0 and was not inhibited by NaF. 4. A Ca2+-sensitive 'ATPase' (adenosine triphosphatase) system consisting of myosin light-chain kinase, myosin light-chain phosphatase and the P-light chain is described. 5. Evidence is presented for a phosphoryl exchange between Pi, phosphorylated P-light chain and myosin light-chain phosphatase. 6. Heavy meromyosin prepared by chymotryptic digestion can be phosphorylated by myosin light-chain kinase. 7. The ATPase activities of myosin and heavy meromyosin, in the presence and absence of F-actin, were not significantly changed (+/- 10%) by phosphorylation of the P-light chain.     

Electrophoretic analysis of multiple forms of myosin in fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles of the chick.

1. A method is described for the electrophoretic analysis of intact myosin in polyacrylamide gel in a buffer system containing 0.02 M-pyrophosphate and 10% (v/v) glycerol, pH 8.8. 2. In this system chicken skeletal-muscle myosins reveal five distinct electrophoretic components, three components from the fast-twitch posterior latissimus dorsi muscle and two slower-migrating components from the slow-twitch anterior latissimus dorsi muscle. 3. The Ca2+-activated ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) activity of myosin components was measured by densitometric scanning of the gel for the Ca3(PO4)2 precipitate formed during the ATPase reaction and subsequently for stained protein. Each component from the same muscle appears to have identical ATPase activity, but components from the fast-twitch muscle had an activity 2.2 times higher than those from the slow-twitch muscle. 4. On re-electrophoresis in the same buffer system, individual fractions of fast-twitch myosin did not reproduce the three-band pattern of the original myosin, but migrated at rates consistent with their original mobility. 5. Analysis of the mobility of the three fast-twitch myosin components in gels of different concentrations suggests that they are not stable oligomers of each other. 6. It is suggested that these components of fast-twitch myosin and slow-twitch myosin are isoenzymes of myosin.     

A simple and rapid method to remove light chain phosphatase from chicken gizzard myosin

A simple and rapid method to remove myosin light chain phosphatase from gizzard myosin using hydroxyapatite chromatography was developed. Stable phosphorylated myosin without light chain phosphatase and kinase was also prepared by the same procedure. A convenient method using the urea gel system to detect minor contamination by phosphatase of myosin is also described.     

Neural regulation of mammalian fast and slow muscle myosins: an electrophoretic analysis.

Mammalian nerves to fast and slow muscles have the remarkable property of changing the speed of contraction of muscles following cross-reinnervation. The biochemical basis of speed transformation is the change in myosin in ATPase activity. This paper provides electrophoretic evidence for structural changes in myosin from cross-reinnervated muscles. A method is described for the separation of intact fast and slow muscle myosins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This method utilizes the fact that ATP and its analogs prevent the formation of myosin polymers in low ionic strength buffers. In this system, normal fast muscle myosin has a higher electrophoretic mobility than slow muscle myosin. Normal rat soleus myosin has a major slow and a minor fast component due to two populations of muscle fibers. The same muscle cross-reinnervated by a fast muscle nerve shows only the fast component, The normal, homogeneous fast extensor digitorum longus muscle has only the electrophoretically fast myosin, but following cross-reinnervation it shows both fast and slow components. These results suggest that mammalian motor nerves can induce or suppress the expression of genes that code for fast and slow skeletal muscle myosins.     

Affinity chromatography of myosin, heavy meromyosin, and heavy meromyosin subfragment one on F-actin columns stabilized by phalloidin.

A method of affinity chromatography based on the trapping of actin filaments within agarose gel beads is described. This method can be used for the purification of myosin and its active proteolytic subfragments, as well as for studies on the interaction between actin and these proteins. Actin columns stabilized by phalloidin bind myosin, heavy meromyosin (HMM), and heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 (HMM-S1) specifically and reversibly. The effect of pyrophosphate and KCl on the dissociation of actomyosin, acto-HMM, or acto-HMM-S1 complex is reported. We also describe the single-step purification of myosin from a crude rabbit psoas muscle extract.     

Canine cardiac myosin with special referrence to pressure overload cardiac hypertrophy. I. Subunit composition.

In studies of myosin from left and right ventricles of normal hearts and hypertrophic hearts at 5 weeks and 13 weeks after aortic banding, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows intermediate molecular weight components which derive from heavy chains fragmented in the presence of dodecyl sulfate. The proportion of degraded heavy chains is greater in myosin from hypertrophic hearts than normal hearts, with comparable degradation in left and right ventricle myosin. The observed fragmentation of myosin results from proteolysis due to contaminant proteases or a thermally activated, heat-stable nonenzymatic process, or both. The susceptibility of heavy chains to crude myofibrillar proteases differs in normal and hypertrophic cardiac myosin; however, the kinetics of tryptic digestion are identical for both myosins. With precautions to minimize proteolytic artifacts on dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, preparations of myosin from left and right ventricles of normal and hypertrophic hearts exhibit comparable subunit composition, with approximately molar ratios of heavy chains, light chain L1, and light chain L2. Comparable stoichiometry for the light chain fraction is determined by high speed sedimentation equilibrium at pH 11 and direct fractionation of the different cardiac myosins. We do not confirm reports (e.g. Wikman-Coffelt, J., Fenner, C., Smith, A., and Mason, D. T. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 1257-1262) of different proportions of light chains in left and right ventricle myosin of normal and hypertrophic canine hearts. The light chains display microheterogeneity, with L1 generating two isoelectric variants and L2 generating two major and two minor variants, but identical mobilities and isoelectric values are obtained in the different myosin preparations.     

Changes in myosin isozymes during development of chicken breast muscle

The patterns of myosin isozymes in embryonic and adult chicken pectoralis muscle were examined by electrophoresis in a non-denaturing gel system (pyrophosphate acrylamide gel electrophoresis), and both light chains and heavy chains of embryonic and adult myosin isozymes were compared. In pyrophosphate acrylamide gel electrophoresis, the predominant isozyme component in embryonic pectoralis myosin could be clearly distinguished from adult myosin isozymes. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the light chain composition of embryonic myosin was also different from that of adult myosin. The pattern of peptide fragments produced by myosin digestion with a-chymotrypsin differed significantly between embryonic and adult skeletal myosin. These results suggest that myosin in the embryonic pectoralis muscle is different in both light and heavy chain composition from myosin in the same adult tissue.     

The identification of myosin in rabbit hepatocytes.

A myosin-like protein was identified in isolated rabbit liver cells. It was extracted with high-ionic-strength buffer containing ATP, and purified by gel filtration in the presence of iodide. The myosin polypeptide was indistinguishable in size from the heavy chain of muscle myosin as determined by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels and gel filtration in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The hepatic myosin had an amino acid composition similar to that of muscle myosin, but lacked 3-methylhistidine. The Mg2+ -ATPase of the myosin was not activated by muscle actin. At low ionic strength, in the presence of Mg2+, the protein aggregated to form bipolar filaments 0.3 mum in length. A protein which resembled muscle actin in size and amino acid composition was extracted along with the myosin. Based on scans of stained sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels, the myosin content was estimated as 0.3% to 0.4% of the cell protein. The actin-like component was present in approximately ten-fold excess by weight. This ratio suggests that the organization and function of myosin in the hepatocyte is very different from that in the muscle cell.     

Myosin from molluscan abalone, Haliotis discus. Isolation and enzymatic properties.

Actomyosin was extracted from smooth muscle of molluscan abalone with 0.1 M PPit pH 6.4. Myosin was separated from the actomyosin by centrifugation at 100,000 X g in the presence of 5 mM ATP and 10 mM MgCl2. Myosin in the supernatant was further purified by gel filtration on a Sepharose 4B column. Paramyosin contamination of the actomyosin preparation interfered with the isolation of myosin and complete removal of actin and paramyosin from the myosin has not been accomplished. The myosin appeared to consist of a single f-chain and a single g-chain, as examined by SDS-disc electrophoresis in 8 or 13.7% acrylamide gel. The ATPase [EC 3.6.1.3] activity of this myosin in 0.5 M KCL at neutral pH and at 0 degrees was rather unstable and decreased by 10-20% per day. The effects of rho-chloromercuribenzoate and EDTA on the ATPase activity were similar to those observed with other smooth muscle myosin but the dependence upon pH or KCL concentration was different.     

Isolation and properties of platelet myosin light chain kinase.

A protein kinase which phosphorylates the 20 000-dalton light chain of platelet myosin has been isolated from human blood platelets and purified approximately 600-fold. Elution of a 7.5% polyacrylamide gel following electrophoresis of the partially purified enzyme yielded a single peak of kinase activity which could be aligned with a protein band on a stained gel. Assuming a globular shape, a native molecular weight of 83 000 (+/- 10%) was determined by gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-200. The kinase requires Mg2+ for activity and is not sensitive to the removal of trace Ca2+. The enzyme purified from human platelets phosphorylates the 20 000-dalton light chain of mouse fibroblast and chicken gizzard myosin, but does not phosphorylate human skeletal and cardiac myosin.     

Comparative analysis of chicken atrial and ventricular myosins.

1. Structural and enzymic properties of myosins from atrial and ventricular cardiac muscle of the chicken were investigated and compared with myosins from the fast skeletal pectoralis and the slow skeletal anterior latissimus dorsi muscle. 2. The Ca2+-ATPase activity, both in function of pH and [K+], of atrial myosin closely resembled that of the fast pectoralis myosin, whereas the enzymic properties of ventricular myosin were similar to those of slow skeletal myosin. 3. By sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on gradient gel and two-dimensional electrophoresis, involving isoelectric focusing in the first dimension and SDS gel electrophoresis in the second dimension, no difference could be demonstrated in the light-chain pattern of atrial and ventricular myosin. Complete identity was also found between anterior latissimus dorsi and cardiac light chains. 4. Electrophoretic analysis of soluble peptides released by tryptic digestion of myosin and electron microscopic study of light meromyosin paracrystals showed significant differences between the heavy chains of atrial and ventricular myosins, as well as between the heavy chains of cardiac and skeletal myosins. 5. The results confirm previous immunochemical findings and provide direct biochemical evidence for the existence of a new, unique type of myosin in the chicken atrial tissue.     

The myosin filament. VI. Myosin content.

There has been some disagreement about the number of myosin molecules in vertebrate skeletal myosin filaments calculated from the myosin to actin weight ratio determined by quantitative sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Tregear &; Squire, 1973; Potter, 1974; Morimoto &; Harrington, 1974). In this work it was found that (1) thoroughly washed fibrils are required to obtain the true value for the myosin to actin weight ratio. (2) Neither actin nor myosin is extracted preferentially during the required washing procedure. (3) There are four myosin molecules per 14.3 nm interval along the myosin filament or about 400 myosin molecules per filament.From published estimates of the number of molecules of C-protein per myosin filament (Offer et al., 1973; Morimoto &; Harrington, 1974) and the findings in this work, we conclude that there are four molecules of C-protein at each of the 14 C-protein binding positions along the filament, i.e. one C-protein molecule for each of the four myosin molecules contributing to the cross-bridges at each position.     

Characterization of chicken skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase. Evidence for muscle-specific isozymes

Myosin light chain kinase purified from chicken white skeletal muscle (Mr = 150,000) was significantly larger than both rabbit skeletal (Mr = 87,000) and chicken gizzard smooth (Mr = 130,000) muscle myosin light chain kinases, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Km and Vmax values with rabbit or chicken skeletal, bovine cardiac, and chicken gizzard smooth muscle myosin P-light chains were very similar for the chicken and rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinases. In contrast, comparable Km and Vmax data for the chicken gizzard smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase showed that this enzyme was catalytically very different from the two skeletal muscle kinases. Affinity-purified antibodies to rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase cross-reacted with chicken skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase, but the titer of cross-reacting antibodies was approximately 20-fold less than the anti-rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase titer. There was no detectable antibody cross-reactivity against chicken gizzard myosin light chain kinase. Proteolytic digestion followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or high performance liquid chromatography showed that these enzymes are structurally very different with few, if any, overlapping peptides. These data suggest that, although chicken skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase is catalytically very similar to rabbit skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase, the two enzymes have different primary sequences. The two skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinases appear to be more similar to each other than either is to chicken gizzard smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase.     

Studies on the subunits of myosin from muscle layer of Ascaris lumbricoides suum.

1. A purified preparation of Ascaris myosin was obtained from the muscle layer of Ascaris lumbricoides suum, using gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. 2. Ascaris myosin whether purified or unpurified, had almost the same ability for ATP-splitting and superprecipitation. 3. Ascaris myosin and rabbit skeletal myosin were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A significant difference in the number of light chains between both myosins was found. Ascaris myosin was found to have one heavy chain and two distinct light chain components (LC1-A and LC2-A), having molecular weights of 18000 and 16000, respectively. These light chains correspond in molecular weight to the light chain 2 (LC2-S) and light chain 3 (LC3-S) in rabbit skeletal myosin. 4. LC1-A could be liberated from the Ascaris myosin molecule reacted with 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nirobenzoic acid( Nbs2) with recovery of ATPase activity by addition of dithiothreitol. These properties are equivalent to those of the LC2-S in rabbit skeletal myosin, although Ascaris myosin when treated with Nbs2-urea lost its ATPase activity.     

Centrifugation-based isolation of myosin for measurement of its synthesis rate in small muscle samples

Myosin is involved in muscle mobility which is particularly affected in many pathophysiological situations. It is composed of heavy (MHC) and light (MLC) chains and measurements of its specific fractional synthesis rate (FSR) are scarce, mostly because of difficulties in isolating this protein. Our aim was to isolate pure myosin from small rat gastrocnemius skeletal muscle samples by setting up a procedure compatible with determination of stable isotope incorporation into myosin using mass spectrometry detection, allowing calculation of its FSR. A centrifugation method was compared to a validated but time-consuming elution gel electrophoresis method. Statistical analysis by the Bland and Altman test revealed a tight relationship between both methods (r2 >0.97, p <0.0001). The purity of the myosin fractions using the two procedures was verified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition, the centrifugation procedure allowed simultaneous purification of MLC and MHC, whereas the elution gel electrophoresis technique resulted only in MHC isolation. Finally, the FSRs of myosin and MHC were found to be 0.114+/-0.026 and 0.140+/-0.029%/h, respectively (p not significant). In conclusion, the centrifugation method is a useful and reproducible procedure that results in sufficient amounts of pure myosin for reliable determinations of its own synthesis rate in vivo.     

Identification of myosin in Nitella flexilis.

A myosin B-like protein was extracted from the alga Nitella flexilis. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of myosin heavy chain and actin as the main components. At high ionic strength, its ATPase [EC 3.6.1.3] reaction was activated by EDTA or Ca2+ and inhibited by Mg2+. At low ionic strength, superprecipitation was induced by the addition of ATP. Myosin was purified from Nitella myosin B. The molecular weight of the heavy chain of Nitella myosin, estimated by SDS-gel electrophoresis, was slightly higher than that of skeletal muscle myosin. At low ionic strength, Nitella myosin aggregated to form bipolar filaments about 0.2 micron long. At high ionic strength, its ATPase reaction was activated by EDTA or Ca2+, and inhibited by Mg2+. The Mg2+-ATPase reaction of Nitella myosin was activated by skeletal muscle F-actin.     

Purification and characterization of myosin from bovine retina.

Myosin has been isolated from bovine retinae and characterised by its ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.3) activity, its mobility in sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gels and by electron microscopy. The purified myosin shows high ATPase activity in the presence of EDTA or Ca2+ and a low activity in the presence of Mg2+. The Mg2+-dependent ATPase activity is stimulated by rabbit skeletal muscle actin. The presumptive retinal myosin possesses a major component which has a mobility in sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis similar to that of the heavy chain of bovine skeletal muscle myosin. Electron microscopy showed retinal myosin to form bipolar filaments in 0.1 M KCl. It is concluded that the retina possesses a protein with enzymic and structural properties similar to those of muscle myosin.     

Changes in myosin isozymes during development of chicken gizzard muscle

The distribution of myosin isozymes in embryonic and adult chicken gizzard muscle were examined by electrophoresis in a non-denaturing gel system (pyrophosphate acrylamide gel electrophoresis), and both light and heavy chains of embryonic and adult myosin isozymes were compared. In pyrophosphate acrylamide gel electrophoresis, there were three isozyme components in embryonic gizzard myosin, but only one isozyme in adult gizzard myosin. The mobility of the fastest migrating embryonic isozyme was similar to that of the adult isozyme. The three embryonic isozymes differ from each other in the light chain distribution. Two of them contain an embryo-specific myosin light chain, which is characterized by its molecular weight and isoelectric point, whereas the other embryonic myosin isozyme contained the same light chains as the adult myosin. The pattern of peptide fragments of embryonic heavy chain produced by digestion with alpha-chymotrypsin in the presence of SDS was not distinguishable from that of adult myosin heavy chain. Thus there are myosin isozymes specific to embryonic gizzard muscle which exhibit embryo-specific light chain compositions, but are similar to adult gizzard myosin in their heavy chain structure.