Molecular structure of collagen in solution: comparison of types I,II, III and V

Physical properties of pepsin-solubilized types I, II, III and V collagen have been measured in acid solution at 10°C. Our results indicate that types I, II and III collagen molecules undergo a monomer-aggregate equilibrium in solution whereas type V molecules appear to attract each other but do not undergo a similar monomer-aggregate equilibrium. Interstitial collagen monomers (I, II and III) have molecular weights between $\text{280 × 10}{}^3\text{and 289 × 10}{}^3$, translational diffusion coefficients between $\text{0.820 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?7}}\text{and 0.845 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?7}}\text{cm}{}^2\text{s}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and particle scattering factors at an angle of 175.5° and wavelength of 633 nm between 0.430 and 0.460. Type V collagen molecules after pepsin digestion were found to have a higher molecular weight ($\text{307 × 10}{}^3$), similar translational diffusion coefficient ($\text{0.860 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?7}}\text{cm}{}^2\text{s}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$) and similar particle scattering factor at 175.5° (0.440) to the interstitial collagens. Theoretical bead models are discussed and suggest that changes in the translational diffusion coefficient were less sensitive to bending motions than were changes in the particle scattering factor at 175.5°C. Bend angles of 50° were shown to increase the particle scattering factor by 5% whereas a bend angle of greater than 125° was required to increase the translational diffusion coefficient by 5%. Models developed from idealized shapes seen by electron microscopy of rotary shadowed collagen molecules agreed best with experimental laser light scattering measurements when the bend angles were less than 90°.     

Temperature dependence of N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine binding in egg lecithin vesicles

The temperature dependence of the binding of PhNapNH₂ ($\text{N-}\text{phenyl-1-naphthylamine}$) to vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine has been determined. The Arrhenius plot of the association constant exhibits a discontinuity at 20.9 °C, some 30 °C above the broad phase transition region of the phospholipid. In the temperature range above 20 °C, $\text{ΔH}{}^0\text{= ?6100}\text{cal·mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and $\text{ΔS}{}^0\text{= 9.7}\text{e. u.}$; in the temperature range below 20 °C, $\text{ΔH}{}^0\text{= 0}\text{cal · mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and $\text{ΔS}{}^0\text{= 30.4}\text{e. u.}$ These values are consistent with the view that there are well ordered lipid-lipid bonds below 20 °C which are significantly less important above this temperature. The order in the temperature range of 5 to 20 °C, though significantly greater than that above 20 °C, is still significantly less than that in the crystalline state.     

Infinite cis influx of cyclic AMP into human erythrocyte ghosts

Infinite cis uptake of cyclic AMP into red blood cell ghosts has been measured. The $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>i</mtext><mtext>c</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>oi</mtext>}}$ is calculated from two different integrated rate equations that are applicable when the substrate concentration is unsufficient to cause volume changes. Values of 0.69 mM and 0.66 mM are obtained for the infinite cis$\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ at 30°C using these procedures. These values are only slightly higher than that predicted from zero trans net flux experiments.Lowering the temperature reduces $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>i</mtext><mtext>c</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>oi</mtext>}}$ from 0.69 mM at 30°C to 0.478 mM at 20°C, 0.108 mM at 10°C and 0.072 mM at 4°C ($\text{Q}{}_{10}\text{= 2.4}$). The $\text{Q}{}_{10}$ for activation of influx permeability of 10^?5 M cyclic AMP is 1.55.     

Delineation of the intimate details of the backbone conformation of pyridine nucleotide coenzymes in aqueous solution.

The noise free 300 MHz ¹H NMR spectra of β-DPN⁺, recorded in the Fourier mode at 12° and 68°C have been completely analysed by extensive computer simulation. It is shown, whether the coenzyme exists as an equilibrium mixture of folded ? extended forms (12°C) or in overwhelminghly extended forms (68°C), the backbone of both the nicotinamide and adenine fragments preferentially exist in ${}^2\text{E-gg-g′g′}$ conformation. This orientation is significantly different from those reported in the solid state for the extended species in contact with the enzyme where ${}^2\text{E-tg-g′g′}$ and ${}^3\text{E-tg-g′g′}$ orientations have been observed. It is suggested that specific interactions of the backbone with the various amino acid residues in the enzyme induces conformational aberrations in the backbone. Intimate details of the backbone conformation of the extended forms of AcPy-DPN⁺ and β-TPN⁺ are also presented.     

Local measurement of lateral motion in erythrocyte membranes by photobleaching technique

The lateral diffusion coefficients ($\text{D}$) of the molecular fluorescence probe 3,3′-dioctadecylindocarbocyanine iodide (DII) in the membrane of discoid erythrocyte ghosts has been measured with the photobleaching technique between 7°C and 40°C. A fluorescence microscope which allows bleaching experiments within small local fields (approx. 1 μm²) at high magnification (X1600) has been used for these measurements. The diffusion coefficient increases from $\text{D = 9 · 10}{}^{\mathrm{?10}}\text{cm}{}^2\text{/s}$ to $\text{D = 7.5 · 10}{}^{\mathrm{?9}}\text{cm}{}^2\text{/s}$ from 7 to 40°C. An increase in membrane fluidity between 12°C and 17°C indicates a conformational change of the lipid bilayer moiety in this temperature region. The diffusion coefficient measured in the regions between the spicules of echinocytes is appreciably smaller than in the untransformed discoid ghosts. In the myelin tubes originating from cells, the lateral diffusion is somewhat larger (about a factor of 2) than in the non-transformed ghosts. With the fluorescence probe technique the rate of growth of myelin tubes of 0.3 μm diameter has been estimated.     

An investigation of the structure of Alfalfa mosaic virus by small-angle neutron scattering

Small-angle neutron scattering experiments have been performed on the tubular bottom component of Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and the “30 S” particle (a quasispherical reassembled AMV coat protein particle) with the aim of determining the internal structure of the virus. Scattering curves were obtained out to a resolution of $\text{1}\text{50}\text{A}\text{?}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ at a number of H₂O/²H₂O ratios and were analysed using a model fitting technique. This involves calculating the scattering intensity due to a parameterised distribution of scattering density representing the particle and comparing this to the experimental data after taking into account the effect of instrumental smearing. The use of the contrast variation method enables the internal consistency of the model to be well tested.Three models are used in an attempt to explain the scattering curve of the 30 S particle. A single homogeneous shell is shown to be inadequate and two other models introducing the presumed T = 1 icosahedral symmetry of the particle are presented and discussed. The most satisfactory of these consists of 60 spherical monomers of radius 19 Å symmetrically placed in pairs about the 2-fold icosahedral positions.The analysis of the bottom component data has yielded a low resolution model for the virus, which is shown to be consistent with its composition as given by earlier physico-chemical measurements. In the model the RNA is uniformly packed throughout the interior of the capsid (which is cylindrical with hemispherical ends) out to a radius of about 65 Å and with a packing fraction of 20%. Within the limitations of an homogeneous shell model, the protein capsid has an outer radius of 94 Å and thickness of 23 Å, but arguments are presented based on the marked lattice structure of the cylindrical capsid and the analysis of the scattering data of the 30 S particle, that this model underestimates the thickness of the protein shell and that it in fact makes contact with the RNA at about 65 Å.     

Release of low density lipoprotein receptors from human fibroblasts or HeLa cells by tryptic digestion.

Trypsin treatment of cultured normal human skin fibroblasts or Hela cells releases material which is retained on a low density lipoprotein (LDL)-Sepharose affinity column, may be eluted from it with 2.5 M KI and, after dialysis, agglutinates LDL or apo-B-coated formocells. Such agglutination is prevented by preincubation of the receptor with LDL in solution or with arginine-rich protamine. Trypsin treatment of “receptor defective” or “receptor negative” mutant fibroblasts releases material which is retained on LDL-Sepharose column but fails to agglutinate LDL-coated formocells. The receptor may be labeled with $\text{6-[}{}^3\text{H]-glucosamine·HCl}$ and [${}^3\text{H}$]-leucine, it is inactivated by heating at 80°C for 10 min and may be obtained from normal fibroblasts or Hela cells, whether they were cultured in presence or in absence of lipoprotein-containing fetal calf serum.     

Acid dissociation of cyclohexaamylose and cycloheptaamylose

Acid dissociation constants of aqueous cyclohexaamylose (6-Cy) and cycloheptaamylose (7-Cy) have been determined at 10–47 and 25–55°C, respectively, by pH potentiometry. Standard enthalpies and entropies of dissociation derived from the temperature dependences of these pK_a's are ΔH⁰ = 8.4 ± 0.3 kcal mol^?1, $\text{Δ}\text{S}{}^0\text{= ?28. ± 1}\text{cal mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}{}^0\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ for 6-Cy and ΔH⁰ = 10.0 ± 0.1 kcal mol^?1, $\text{Δ}\text{S}{}^0\text{= ?22.4 ±0.3}\text{cal mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}{}^0\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ for 7-Cy. Intrinsic ¹³C nmr resonance displacements of anionic 6- and 7-Cy were measured at 30°C in 5% D₂O ($\text{v}\text{v}$). These results indicate that the dissociation of 6- and 7-Cy involves both C2 and C3 2⁰-hydroxyl groups. The thermodynamic and nmr parameters are discussed in terms of interglucosyl hydrogen bonding.     

Membrane lipid dynamics and enzymic activity in bovine adrenal cortex microsomes

The lipid dynamics of the adrenocortical microsomal membranes was studied by monitoring the fluorescence anisotropy and excited state lifetime of a set of anthroyloxy fatty acid probes (2-, 7-, 9- and 12-(9-anthroyloxy)-stearic acid (AP) and 16-(9-anthroyloxy)palmitic acid (AS). It was found that a decreasing polarity gradient from the aqueous membrane interface to the membrane interior, was present. This gradient was not modified by the proteins, as evidenced by comparison of complete membranes and derived liposomes, suggesting that the anthroyloxy probes were not in close contact with the proteins. An important change of the value of the mean rotational relaxation time as a function of the position of the anthroyl ring along the acyl chain was evidenced. In the complete membranes, a relatively more fluid medium was evidenced in the C₁₆ as compared to the C₂ region, while the rotational motion appeared to be the most hindered at the C₇–C₉ level. In the derived liposomes, a similar trend was observed but the mobility was higher at all levels. The decrease of the mean rotational relaxation time was more important for 12-AS and 16-AP. Temperature dependence of the mean rotational relaxation time of 2-AS, 12-AS and 16-AP in the complete membranes revealed the existence of a lipid reorganization occurring around 27°C and concerning mainly the C₁₆ region. The extent to which the acyl chain reacted to this perturbation at the C₁₂ level depended on pH. The presence of proteins increased the apparent magnitude of this reorganization and also modified the critical temperature from approx. 23°C in the derived liposomes to approx. 27°C in the complete membranes. Thermal dependence of the maximum velocity of the $\text{3-}\text{oxosteroid}\text{Δ}{}^5\text{?Δ}{}^4\text{-}\text{isomerase}$, the second enzyme in the enzymatic sequence, responsible for the biosynthesis of the $\text{3-}\text{oxo}\text{-Δ}{}^4\text{-}\text{steroids}$ in the adrenal cortex microsomes, was studied. The activation energy of the catalyzed reaction was found to be low and constant ($\text{2–5}\text{kcal}\text{·}\text{mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$) in the temperature range 16–40°C at pH 7.5, 8.5 and 9, corresponding to the minimum, intermediate and maximum rate, respectively. A drastic increase of the activation energy ($\text{20}\text{kcal}\text{·}\text{mol}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$) was observed at temperature below 16°C at pH 7.5. A correlated change of the $\text{p}\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>ES</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>app</mtext>}}$ as function of temperature was detected; at 36°C $\text{p}\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>ES</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>app</mtext>}}\text{= 8.3}$ while at 13°C the value shifted to 8.7. The pH range of the group ionization was narrower at 13°C. In contrast with the behaviour of the $\text{3β-}\text{hydroxy}\text{-Δ}{}^5\text{-}\text{steroid dehydrogenase}$, the $\text{3-}\text{oxosteroid}\text{Δ}{}^5\text{?Δ}{}^4\text{-}\text{isomerase}$ was apparently unaffected by the lipid reorganization at 27°C. It is suggested that this enzyme possesses a different and more fluid lipid environment than the bulk lipids.     

Association-dependent active folding of alpha and beta subunits of lutropin (luteinizing hormone).

The kinetics of the structural transition of ovine lutropin (luteinizing hormone) from a dissociated and partially unfolded state to a biologically active, folded and associated state were studied from pH 1.8 to 6.5 by difference spectroscopy, circular dichroism, light scattering and ultracentrifugation under various conditions of temperature and ionic strength. Between pH 2.8 and 5.3 there is a thermodynamically reversible equilibrium between the two states of the hormone with a half-transition pH of 4.3 ± 0.1 at 26 °C. The interconversion of native folding to dissociated state is strictly first-order, and most of the kinetic results can be described in terms of two exponential decays with lifetimes of 20 and 100 seconds at pH 2 and 26 °C with one intermediate. A second intermediate with a short lifetime (1.5 s) is detected with stopped-flow experiments; its spectroscopic contribution is small. Refolding from the dissociated state is always second-order in the concentration range studied (12 to 110 μm lutropin), with rates at 26 °C, 1.4 m⁻¹ s⁻¹ at pH 4.3 and 2.2 m⁻¹ s⁻¹ at pH 5.3. The temperature dependence of the rate constant of active folding at pH 5.3 corresponds to activation parameters $\text{ΔH}{}^1\text{= +23.5}\text{kcal mol}{}^{\mathrm{-1}}\text{and}\text{ΔS}{}^1\text{= +21.6}\text{cal deg}{}^{\mathrm{-1}}$ mol⁻¹.From these data and computer-simulation studies, a simplest possible mechanism is proposed that involves the formation of a loose complex between the α and β subunits of the hormone, followed by a slow step of formation of the active, folded state. In the pituitary gland this would be a necessary pathway towards the active form. The storage of the hormone in the gland would offer enough time for this activation step to proceed.     

Induction of a relatively fast transbilayer movement of phosphatidylcholine in vesicles. A 13C NMR study

[$\text{N-}{}^{13}\text{CH}{}_3$] Phosphatidylcholines are introduced into the outer monolayer of phosphatidylcholine vesicles with the phosphatidylcholine exchange protein from bovine liver. The transbilayer distribution of the [$\text{N-}{}^{13}\text{CH}{}_3$] phosphatidylcholine is measured with ¹³C NMR. The transbilayer movements of $\text{[N-}{}^{13}\text{CH}{}_3\text{]-}\text{dioleoyl}$ phosphatidylcholine and [$\text{N-}{}^{13}\text{CH}{}_3$] dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine at 30°C in vesicles composed of these phosphatidylcholines are extremely slow processes with estimated half-times of days. [$\text{N-}{}^{13}\text{CH}{}_3$] Dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine introduced into dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles migrates from the outer to the inner monolayer with a half-time of less than 12 h. The data suggest that differential changes in the lateral packing of the two monolayers might be a driving force for transbilayer transport of phospholipids.     

The redox potential of cytochrome c-552 from Euglena gracillis: a thermodynamic study.

The redox potentials for cytochrome c-552 at different ionic strengths, pH 7, have been determined, together with the thermodynamic parameters of the redox reaction. The effects of the electrostatic media on the redox potential of cytochrome c-552 do not depend on the nature of the ions employed. At 25 °C and pH 7 the observed potentials depend on the ionic strength, I, according to the equation: $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{obs}}{}^{\mathrm{o}}\text{= 0.280 + .525 (I}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{(I + I}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{))}$. The significance of the ionic strength dependence of the redox potentials and their derived thermodynamic parameters are discussed and compared to those of mammalian cytochrome c. It is concluded that the redox potentials for ionic strength approaching zero are not affected by the overall net charge of the proteins; at finite ionic strengths, the protein charges play a very important role in determining the observed redox potentials.     

Evidence for essential disulfide bonds in the β-subunit of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase

$\text{(Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ from dog kidney lost its activity when heated at 55°C in the presence of 0.3 M 2-mercaptoethanol. Either heat treatment alone or addition of reducing agent at around 25°C caused little inactivation. One disulfide bond per protomer (mol. wt. 146000) was reduced in the inactivated sample but in active samples no reduction occurred. Neither K⁺-dependent phosphatase activity nor phosphoenzyme formation in the presence of Na⁺ was detected in the inactivated sample, suggesting that the disulfide bond was essential for the catalytic cycle of $\text{(Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$. This essential disulfide bond belonged to the β-subunit, the glycoprotein component of the enzyme, indicating that the β-subunit may be an integral component of the $\text{(Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ system.     

A simple procedure for resolution of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme from core polymerase.

The association constant, K_A, for myosin subfragment-1 binding to actin was measured as a function of ionic strength [KCl, LiCl, and tetramethylammonium chloride (TMAC)]and temperature by the method of time-resolved fluorescence depolarization. The following thermodynamic values were obtained from solutions of 0.20 × 10^?6m S-1, 1.00 × 10^?6m actin in 0.15 m KCl, pH 7.0, at 25 °C: ΔG ° = ?39 ± 1 kJ M^?1, ΔH⁰ = 44 ± 2 kJ M^?1 and $\text{ΔS}{}^0\text{= 0.28 ± 0.01 kJ}\text{M}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}{}^0\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$. For measurements in KCl (0.05 to 0.60 m), In $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{a}}\text{= ?8.36 (KCl)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. Thus, the binding is endothermic and strongly inhibited by high ionic strength. When KCl was replaced by LiCl or TMAC the ionic effects on the binding were cation specific. The nature of actin-(S-1) binding in the rigor state is discussed in terms of these results.     

The repetitive sequence structure of component alpha DNA and its relationship to the nucleosomes of the African green monkey.

An analysis of the repeat structure of the highly repetitive sequence, component α DNA of the African green monkey, shows that the DNA contains restriction sites for EcoRI, $\text{Eco}\text{RI}{}^1$, HindIII and HaeIII. All four restriction enzyme activities indicate a basic repeat length of 176 ± 4 base-pairs. In addition to primary $\text{Eco}\text{RI}{}^1$ and HindIII sites, about 59% of the repeat sequences contain secondary $\text{Eco}\text{RI}{}^1$ sites and about 36% of the repeat sequences contain secondary HindIII sites. The secondary sites are located less than 176 base-pairs from the primary sites and their cleavage yields several complex series of minor, intermediate segments in gels of the partial $\text{Eco}\text{RI}{}^1$ or HindIII digests. Cleavage at the secondary sites yields segments shorter than the unit monomer in the limit digests. The sites for EcoRI, $\text{Eco}\text{RI}{}^1$, HindIII and HaeIII have been mapped within the repeat unit.Treatment of the monkey nuclei with micrococcal nuclease at 2 °C and in the presence of 80 mm-NaCl reveals two distinct populations of nucleosomes. One population contains bulk DNA sequences, and after cleavage with micrococcal nuclease this population yields heterogeneous segments of DNA spanning 180 to 200 base-pairs in length. The other population contains component α sequences and after cleavage with micrococcal nuclease yields homogeneous segments of component α DNA that are exact multiples of the basic sequence repeat unit of 176 base-pairs. Thus, the cleavage by micrococcal nuclease of nucleosomal arrays containing component α sequences is as regular and precise as the cleavage of the purified DNA by the restriction enzymes. The resolution of the two distinct subsets of nucleosomes in the monkey nuclei is dependent upon the conditions of ionic strength and temperature employed during the nuclear isolation and the micrococcal nuclease digestion.These observations are consistent with a phase relation between the component α repeat sequences and the associated nucleosomal proteins (Musich et al., 1977b). They are also in accord with the hypothesis that the subunit structure of constitutive heterochromatin modulates or determines the repeat sequence structure and hence, the evolution of many highly repetitive mammalian DNAs (Maio et al., 1977).     

Comparison of red cell and kidney (Na+ + K+)-ATPase at 0°C

Human red cell and guinea pig kidney $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-}\text{ATPase}$ were phosphorylated at 0°C. Using concentrations of ATP ranging from 10^?6 to 10^?8 M, ATP-dependent regulation of reactivity is observed with red cell but not kidney $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-}\text{ATPase}$ at 0°C. In particular, with the red cell enzyme only, the following are observed: (i) the ratio of enzyme-bound ATP (E·ATP, measured by the pulse-chase method of Post, R.L., Kume, S., Tobin, T., Orcutt, B. and Sen, A.K. (1969) J. Gen. Physiol. 54, 306s-326s) to steady-state level of total phosphoenzyme (EP) decreases with decrease in ATP concentration and (ii) the apparent turnover of phosphoenzyme (ratio of Na⁺-stimulated ATP hydrolysis to level of total EP at steady state) also varies as a function of ATP concentration. In addition, when EP is formed at very low ATP (0.02 μM), and then EDTA is added, rapid disappearance of a fraction of EP occurs, presumably due to ATP resynthesis, only with the red cell enzyme. These differences in behaviour of the red cell and kidney enzymes are explained on the basis of the observed predominance of K⁺-insensitive EP in red cell, but K⁺-sensitive EP in kidney $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-}\text{ATPase}$ at 0°C.     

Thiophosphorylation of (Na + K+)-ATPase yields an ADP-sensitive phosphointermediate

(1) Treatment of $\text{(Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ from rabbit kidney outer medulla with the $\text{γ-}{}^{35}\text{S}$ labeled thio-analogue of ATP in the presence of $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ Mg}{}^{\mathrm{2+}}$ and the absence of K⁺ leads to thiophosphorylation of the enzyme. The $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ value for [γ-S]ATP is 2.2 μM and for Na⁺ 4.2 mM at 22°C. Thiophosphorylation is a sigmoidal function of the Na⁺ concentration, yielding a Hill coefficient $\text{n}\text{H}\text{= 2.6}$. (2) The thio-analogue ($\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext><mtext>\; =\; 35\; \mu M</mtext>}}$) can also support overall $\text{(Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ activity, but $\text{V}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>max</mtext>}}$ at 37°C is only $\text{1.3 γ}\text{mol}\text{· (mg protein)}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{·}$ h^?1 or 0.09% of the specific activity for ATP ($\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext><mtext>\; =\; 0.43\; mM</mtext>}}$). (3) The thiophosphoenzyme intermediate, like the natural phosphoenzyme, is sensitive to hydroxylamine, indicating that it also is an acylphosphate. However, the thiophosphoenzyme, unlike the phosphoenzyme, is acid labile at temperatures as low as 0°C. The acid-denatured thiophosphoenzyme has optimal stability at pH 5–6. (4) The thiophosphorylation capacity of the enzyme is equal to its phosphorylation capacity, indicating the same number of sites. Phosphorylation by ATP excludes thiophosphorylation, suggesting that the two substrates compete for the same phosphorylation site. (5) The (apparent) rate constants of thiophosphorylation (0.4 s^?1 vs. 180 s^?1), spontaneous dethiophosphorylation (0.04 s^?1 vs. 0.5 s^?1) and K⁺-stimulated dethiophosphorylation (0.54 s^?1 vs. 230 s^?1) are much lower than those for the corresponding reactions based on ATP. (6) In contrast to the phosphoenzyme, the thiophosphoenzyme is ADP-sensitive (with an apparent rate constant in ADP-induced dethiophosphorylation of 0.35 s^?1, $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$$\text{ADP = 48 μM at 0.1 mM ATP}$) and is relatively K⁺-insensitve. The $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}$ for K⁺ in dethiophosphorylation is 0.9 mM and in dephosphorylation 0.09 mM. The thiophosphoenzyme appears to be for 75–90% in the ADP-sensitive E₁-conformation.     

Structural changes in (Na+ + K+)-ATPase accompanying detergent inactivation

Structural changes in the purified $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ accompanying detergent inactivation were investigated by monitoring changes in light scattering, intrinsic protein fluorescence, and tryptophan to β-parinaric acid fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Two phases of inactivation were observed using the non-ionic detergents, digitonin, Lubrol WX and Triton X-100. The rapid phase involves detergent monomer insertion but little change in protein structure or little displacement of closely associated lipids as judged by intrinsic protein fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Lubrol WX and Triton X-100 also caused membrane fragmentation during the rapid phase. The slower phase of inactivation results in a completely inactive enzyme in a particle of 400 000 daltons with 20 mol/mol of associated phospholipid. Fluorescence changes during the course of the slow phase indicate some dissociation of protein-associated lipids and an accompanying protein conformational change. It is concluded that non-parallel inhibition of $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ and $\text{p-}\text{nitrophenylphosphate}$ activity by digitonin (which occurs during the rapid phase of inactivation) is unlikely to require a change in the oligomeric state of the enzyme. It is also concluded that at least 20 mol/mol of tightly associated lipid are necessary for either $\text{(}\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+ K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)-ATPase}$ or $\text{p-}\text{nitrophenylphosphatase}$ activity and that the rate-limiting step in the slow inactivation phase involves dissociation of an essential lipid.