Measurement of Pi dissociation from actin filaments following ATP hydrolysis using a linked enzyme assay

Using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase as a linked enzyme assay for determination of free inorganic phosphate, as described by Trentham et al. (1972, Biochem. J. 126, 635-644) we have been able to monitor the time course of Pi release from F-actin following ATP hydrolysis that accompanies ATP-actin polymerization. The rate constant for Pi dissociation from Mg-F-actin is 0.006 s-1 at 25 degrees C and pH 7.8, both in the presence of 1 mM Mg and 0.1 M KCl + 1 mM Mg. This result confirms the existence of ADP-Pi-F-actin as a major intermediate in the polymerization of ATP-actin (Carlier and Pantaloni, 1986, Biochemistry 25, 7789-7792). The method is potentially useful for other enzymes hydrolyzing triphosphate nucleotides, provided that the rate of Pi release is appreciably lower than 0.1 s-1.     

Binding of phosphate to F-ADP-actin and role of F-ADP-Pi-actin in ATP-actin polymerization

Our previous work (Carlier, M.-F., and Pantaloni, D. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 7789-7792) had shown that F-ADP-Pi-actin is a major intermediate in ATP-actin polymerization, due to the slow rate of Pi release following ATP cleavage on filaments. To understand the mechanism of ATP-actin polymerization, we have prepared F-ADP-Pi-actin and characterized its kinetic parameters. 32Pi binds to F-ADP-actin with a stoichiometry of 1 mol/mol of F-actin subunit and an equilibrium dissociation constant Kpi of 1.5 mM at pH 7.0 Kpi increases with pH, indicating that the H2PO-4 species binds to F-actin. ADP-Pi-actin subunits dissociate much more slowly from filament ends than ADP-actin subunits; therefore, the stability of filaments in ATP is due to terminal ADP-Pi subunits. The slow rate of dissociation of ADP-Pi-actin also explains the decrease in critical concentration of ADP-actin in the presence of Pi reported by Rickard and Sheterline (Richard, J. E., and Sheterline, P. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 191, 273-280). The effect of Pi on the rate of actin dissociation from filaments is much more pronounced at the barbed end than at the pointed end. Using gelsolin to block the barbed end, we have shown that the two ends are energetically different in the presence of ATP and saturating Pi, but less different than in the absence of Pi. The results are interpreted within a new model for actin polymerization. It is possible that phosphate binding to F-actin can regulate motile events in muscle and nonmuscle cells.     

Polymerization of ADP-actin and ATP-actin under sonication and characteristics of the ATP-actin equilibrium polymer

Polymerization under sonication has been developed as a new method to study the rapid polymerization of actin with a large number of elongating sites. The theory proposed assumes that filaments under sonication are maintained at a constant length by the constant input of energy. The data obtained for the reversible polymerization of ADP-actin under sonication have been successfully analyzed according to the proposed model and, therefore, validate the model. The results obtained for the polymerization of ATP-actin under sonication demonstrate the involvement of ATP hydrolysis in the polymerization process. At high actin concentration, polymerization was fast enough, as compared to ATP hydrolysis on the F-actin, to obtain completion of the reversible polymerization of ATP-actin before significant hydrolysis of ATP occurred. A critical concentration of 3 microM was determined as the ratio of the dissociation and association rate constants for the interaction of ATP-actin with the ATP filament ends in 1 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM ATP. The plot of the rate of elongation of filaments versus actin monomer concentration exhibited an upward deviation at high actin concentration that is consistent with this result. The fact that F-actin at steady state is more stable than the ATP-F-actin polymer at equilibrium suggests that the interaction between ADP-actin and ATP-actin subunits at the end of the ATP-capped filament is much stronger than the interaction between two ATP-actin subunits.     

Kinetic analysis of the polymerization process of actin.

The polymerization process of actin was examined by measuring the amount of flow birefringence and by analyzing release of labeled inorganic phosphate from the bound [gamma-32P]ATP upon polymerization of G-actin to F-actin. Comparison of the above experimental results with the electron microscopic data of Kawamura and Maruyama (J. Biochem., 67, 437-457, 1970) suggested that growth and redistribution steps occurred simultaneously during polymerization. Attempt was made to simulate the polymerization process of actin by calculating the kinetic equations numerically. The results of simulation suggested that it was necessary to take into consideration the association and dissociation between F-actin particles as well as the association and dissociation between F-actin and G-actin.     

Demonstration and quantitation of catalytic and noncatalytic bound ATP in submitochondrial particles during oxidative phosphorylation.

Techniques are described for studying the labeling of ADP and ATP bound to the ATP synthase complex of beef heart submitochondrial particles catalyzing oxidative phosphorylation. These suffice for measurements of bound nucleotides during the time required for a single turnover, during steady state net ATP synthesis, or under quasiequilibrium conditions of ATP formation and hydrolysis. Results show that the "tightly bound" ATP associated with isolated submitochondrial particles does not become labeled by medium [32P]Pi rapidly enough to qualify as an intermediate in ATP synthesis. In contrast to chloroplast preparations, little or no bound [32P]Pi committed to ATP formation is present on particles during steady state synthesis. Also, highly active particles synthesizing ATP from [32P]Pi and filtered after EDTA addition have no detectable bound [32P]ATP even though several ATPs have been made per synthase complex. However, under quasiequilibrium conditions membrane-bound ADP and ATP are present whose labeling characteristics qualify them as intermediates in ATP synthesis. In addition, a hexokinase-accessibility approach shows the presence of a steady level of bound ATP. Lack of detection of bound intermediates under other conditions is regarded as reflecting the ready reversibility of oxidative phosphorylation, with consequent facile cleavage of bound ATP and release of bound Pi.     

Evidence that F-actin can hydrolyze ATP independent of monomer-polymer end interactions

The rate of ATP hydrolysis in solutions of F-actin at steady state in 50 mM KC1, 0.1 mM CaC12 was inhibited by AMP and ADP. The inhibition was competitive with ATP (Km of about 600 microM) with Ki values of 9 microM for AMP and 44 microM for ADP. ATP hydrolysis was inhibited greater than 95% by 1 mM AMP. AMP had no effect on the time course of actin polymerization, ATP hydrolysis during polymerization, or the critical actin concentration. Simultaneous measurements of G-actin/F-actin subunit exchange and nucleotide exchange showed that nucleotide exchange occurred much more rapidly than subunit exchange; during the experiment over 50% of the F-actin-bound nucleotide was replaced when less than 1% of the F-actin subunits had exchanged. When AMP was present it was incorporated into the polymer, preventing incorporation of ADP from ATP in solution. F-actin with bound Mg2+ was much less sensitive to AMP than F-actin with bound Ca2+. These data provide evidence for an ATP hydrolysis cycle associated with direct exchange of F-actin-bound ADP for ATP free in solution independent of monomer-polymer end interactions. This exchange and hydrolysis of nucleotide may be enhanced when Ca2+ is bound to the F-actin protomers.     

Source of rapidly labeled ATP tightly to non-catalytic sites on the chloroplast ATP synthetase

Bound [32P]ATP is found on deenergized, washed chloroplast thylakoids which were illuminated in the presence of ADP and [32P]Pi. Tight binding of [32P]ATP occurred both during and after energization. Different classes of bound [32P]ATP were distinguished on the basis of their rates of formation, susceptibility to hexokinase and displacement by unlabeled ATP. 1. The rates of formation and discharge of the rapidly labeled tightly bound ATP class were much lower than that of ATP formation. The level of this bound ATP saturates at lower concentrations of substrates than does the rate of phosphorylation. Unlabeled ATP, present in the reaction medium, displaces the rapidly labeled tightly bound ATP without affecting the rate of phosphorylation. 2. We therefore conclude that the rapidly labeled bound ATP class does not fulfill the requirements expected for a catalytic intermediate and that the nucleotide tight binding site(s) on the ATP synthetase differ from the catalytic site(s) for ATP formation. 3. Since the rapidly labeled tightly bound [32P]ATP is not abolished by high concentrations of hexokinase, but is nevertheless displaced by exogenous ATP, we propose that tight binding of ATP to non-catalytic sites occurs via a free species of newly synthesized ATP which diffuses slowly to the medium from a space accessible to ATP but not to hexokinase.     

Evidence for an ATP cap at the ends of actin filaments and its regulation of the F-actin steady state

The correlation between the time courses of actin polymerization under continuous sonication and the associated ATP hydrolysis has been studied. ATP hydrolysis was not mechanistically coupled to polymerization, i.e. not necessary for polymerization, but occurred on F-actin in a subsequent monomolecular reaction. Under sonication, polymerization was complete in 10 s while hydrolysis of ATP on the polymer required 200 s. A value of 0.023 s-1 was found for the first order rate constant of ATP hydrolysis on the polymer at 25 degrees C, pH 7.8, in the presence of 0.2 mM ATP, 0.1 mM CaCl2, and 1 mM MgCl2, independent of the F-actin concentration. The conversion of ATP X F-actin to ADP X F-actin was accompanied by an increase in fluorescence of a pyrenyl probe covalently attached to actin, consistent with a 2-fold greater fluorescence for ADP X F-actin than for ATP X F-actin, with a rate constant of 0.022 s-1. In contrast, the fluorescence of F-actin labeled with 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzeno-2-oxa-1,3-diazole did not change significantly when ATP or ADP was bound. The direct consequence of the uncoupling between polymerization and ATP hydrolysis is the formation of an ATP cap at the ends of the filaments, which maintains the stability of the polymer, while most of the filament contains bound ADP. The heterogeneity of the filament with respect to ATP and ADP results in a nonlinear relationship between the rate of elongation and the concentration of G-actin with a discontinuity at the critical concentration, where the rate of growth is zero. In this respect, F-actin in ATP behaves similarly to microtubules in GTP.     

The role of bound thiamine pyrophosphate in the synthesis of thiamine triphosphate in rat liver.

Thiamine pyrophosphate-ATP phosphoryltransferase, the enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of thiamine triphosphate, has been found in the supernatant fraction of rat liver. The substrate for the enzyme is endogenous, bound thiamine pyrophosphate, since the addition of exogenous thiamine pyrophosphate had no effect. Thus, when a rat liver supernatant was incubated with gamma-labelled [32P]ATP, thiamine [32P]triphosphate was formed whereas the incubation of thiamine [32P]pyrophosphate with ATP did not produce thiamine [32P]triphosphate. The endogenous thiamine pyrophosphate was found to be bound to a high molecular weight protein which comes out in the void volume of Sephadex G-75, and is not dialyzable. The activity that catalyzes the formation of thiamine triphosphate has an optimum pH between 6 and 6.5, a linear time course of thiamine triphosphate synthesis up to 30 min, and is not affected by Ca2+, cyclic GMP and sulfhydryl reagents.     

Is there a relationship between phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate and F-actin polymerization in human neutrophils?

Stimulation of human neutrophils with the chemoattractant N-formyl peptide caused rapid polymerization of F-actin as detected by right angle light scatter and 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol (NBD)-phallacidin staining of F-actin. After labeling neutrophils with 32P, exposure to N-formyl peptide induced a fast decrease of phosphatidylinositol 4-bisphosphate (PIP)2, a slow increase of phosphatidic acid, and a rapid rise of phosphatidylinositol 4-trisphosphate (PIP3). Formation of PIP3 as well as actin polymerization was near maximal at 10 s after stimulation. Half-maximal response and PIP3 formation at early time points resulted from stimulation of neutrophils with 0.01 nM N-formyl peptide or occupation of about 200 receptors. Sustained elevation of PIP3, prolonged right angle light scatter response, and F-actin formation required higher concentrations of N-formyl peptide, occupation of thousands of receptors, and high binding rates. When ligand binding was interrupted with an antagonist, F-actin rapidly depolymerized, transient light scatter response recovered immediately, and elevated [32P]PIP3 levels decayed toward initial values. However, recovery of [32P]PIP2 was not influenced by the antagonist. Based on the parallel time courses and dose response of [32P] PIP3, the right angle light scatter response, and F-actin polymerization, PIP3 is more likely than PIP2 to be involved in modulation of actin polymerization and depolymerization in vivo.     

Effect of muscle tropomyosin on the kinetics of polymerization of muscle actin

At saturating concentrations, tropomyosin inhibited the rate of spontaneous polymerization of ATP-actin and also inhibited by 40% the rates of association and dissociation of actin monomers to and from filaments. However, tropomyosin had no effect on the critical concentrations of ATP-actin or ADP-actin. The tropomyosin-troponin complex, with or without Ca2+, had a similar effect as tropomyosin alone on the rate of polymerization of ATP-actin. Although tropomyosin binds to F-actin and not to G-actin, the absence of an effect on the actin critical concentration is probably explicable in terms of the highly cooperative nature of the binding of tropomyosin to F-actin and its very low affinity for a single F-actin subunit relative to the affinity of one actin subunit for another in F-actin.     

Studies on the turnovers in vivo of adenosine di- and triphosphates in a coupling factor of Escherichia coli.

The metabolic stabilities of bound adenine nucleotides in a membrane-bound ATPase (EF1) [EC 3.6.1.3] of Escherichia coli were studied by estimating their rates of turnover in vivo. Two-thirds of the bound ATP prelabelled with 32Pi in EF1 molecules was retained after 3 h in a chase medium. The bound ADP was chased rapidly with a half time of decrease of less than 1 h, the rate similar to that of cytoplasmic free nucleotides. These results suggest that bound ATP in the EF1 is not a direct intermediate in oxidative phosphorylation.     

Enzymatic synthesis of radiolabeled phosphonoacetaldehyde

Phosphonoacetaldehyde (Pald) is formed in a variety of biosynthetic pathways leading to natural phosphonates and is an intermediate in the degradation pathway of the natural product 2-aminoethylphosphonate. To facilitate the investigation of the enzymes catalyzing these pathways, a method for the synthesis of radiolabeled Pald was developed. The enzyme pyruvate phosphate dikinase was used to prepare phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) from pyruvate, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and orthophosphate. Then PEP was converted to phosphonopyruvate (Ppyr) with PEP mutase and then to Pald with Ppyr decarboxylase. By using [beta-32P]ATP or [2-14C]pyruvate as precursor, [32P]Pald or [1-14C]Pald was obtained, respectively. The utilization of the synthetic, radiolabeled Pald as a probe of enzyme mechanism was demonstrated with the enzyme phosphonoacetaldehyde hydrolase (trivial name phosphonatase). The single turnover time course for the formation and consumption of radiolabeled covalent enzyme species evidenced a kinetically competent covalent intermediate.     

A novel adenylylation process in liver plasma membrane-bound proteins

Rat liver plasma membrane contains five distinct polypeptides of apparent molecular mass of 130, 120, 110, 100, and 86 kDa which are labeled upon incubation with [alpha-32P]ATP as well as with [gamma-32P]ATP. Covalently bound adenosine 5'-monophosphate to some of the polypeptides was identified using nonhydrolyzable analogues of ATP. Chase experiments of alpha-32P-nucleotide-labeled polypeptides with different nonradiolabeled phosphocompounds and sensitivity to different inhibitors demonstrate that the 86-kDa polypeptide is a phosphoesterase, forming a catalytic intermediate. On the other hand, the comparative slow rate of turnover of the polypeptides of higher molecular mass (130, 120, 110, and 100 kDa) suggests that the bound AMP could play a regulatory rather than a catalytic role. Using the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue [alpha, beta-methylene]ATP and dilution experiments with Triton X-100-solubilized membranes, it has been possible to identify the 130-kDa adenylylated polypeptide as a possible target of an adenylylating system. These polypeptides, except the 86-kDa phosphoesterase, are affected in their electrophoretic mobility in the absence of beta-mercaptoethanol. An intercatenary disulfide bond(s) appear(s) to link the polypeptide(s) of 120 kDa and/or 110 kDa in a dimeric structure of apparent molecular mass of 240 kDa. All five polypeptides labeled with [alpha-32P]ATP are glycoproteins bound to the cell plasma membrane.     

Methyl Mercury Stimulates Protein 32P Phospholabeling in Cerebellar Granule Cell Culture

Cultures of cerebellar granule neurons have been utilized to examine morphological and biochemical consequences of methyl mercury (MeHg). Exposure to MeHg for 24 h was found to exert toxic effects at concentrations below 1 microM characterized by neuron degeneration and neuritic varicosities. Dose-response and time course profiles for cell death were established using the 51Cr release assay, which revealed that 1 microM MeHg produced 15% cell death at 24 h, progressing to 50% at 48 h. Labeling of cultures with [32P]orthophosphate following 24-h exposure to 1 microM MeHg disclosed abnormalities in both protein and lipid phosphorylation. After 24-h exposure to 5 microM MeHg, phospholabeling of protein and lipid increased 174 and 128%, respectively, compared with controls. This stimulation of phosphorylation appeared to be neuron specific since cultures enriched in cerebellar glial cells and devoid of granule neurons displayed dose-dependent inhibition of total phosphorylation. Measurement of 32P labeling of ATP using a cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase assay in conjunction with the firefly luciferase assay for ATP indicated no significant change in either total ATP levels or [32P]ATP specific activity at 1 or 4 h as a function of [MeHg]. Studies measuring 32P-phosphoprotein turnover indicated that MeHg had no effect on intracellular protein phosphatase activity. We conclude that one of the manifestations associated with in vitro cerebellar granule cell neurotoxicity is an abnormality in protein phosphorylation that is independent of [32P]ATP specific activity and protein phosphatase activity.     

The interaction between ATP-actin and ADP-actin. A tentative model for actin polymerization

The involvement of interactions between ATP-actin and ADP-actin in actin polymerization has been studied. It has been found that ATP-actin and ADP-actin can copolymerize and that the rate of nucleation is enhanced when both ATP-actin and ADP-actin are present in solution. The fact that the heterologous interaction between ATP-actin (T) and ADP-actin (D) is stronger than either of the homologous reactions, T-T and D-D, agrees with the kinetic data in the accompanying paper (Carlier, M.-F., Pantaloni, D., and Korn, E.D. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 6565-6571) which show that filament ends having the DT conformation are more stable than those having the TT conformation. These data are incorporated into a model for actin polymerization in ATP in which the kinetic parameters for polymerization depend on the nature of the nucleotide (ADP or ATP) bound to the three terminal subunits of the actin filament.     

Activation by adenosine-5'-triphosphate of glutamic decarboxylase from a subcellular fraction of mouse brain.

Glutamate decarboxylase from a mouse brain P2 fraction undergoes a twofold activation in the presence of 0.5 mM ATP. No such stimulation by ATP occurs if the enzyme is assayed in the presence of excess pyridoxal phosphate as cofactor. The ATP-induced stimulation is almost completely eliminated if the enzyme is dialysed before its assay. [lambda-32P]ATP present during the enzyme measurement is converted to [32P]pyridoxal phosphate. These results demonstrate that the activation produced by ATP is the result of the generation of cofactor during the course of the assay. This phenomenon may be a reflection of a control mechanism of glutamate decarboxylase activity.     

Properties of ATP tightly bound to catalytic sites of chloroplast ATP synthase

Under steady state photophosphorylating conditions, each ATP synthase complex from spinach thylakoids contains, at a catalytic site, about one tightly bound ATP molecule that is rapidly labeled from medium 32Pi. The level of this bound [32P]ATP is markedly reduced upon de-energization of the spinach thylakoids. The reduction is biphasic, a rapid phase in which the [32P] ATP/synthase complex drops about 2-fold within 10 s, followed by a slow phase, kobs = 0.01/min. A decrease in the concentration of medium 32Pi to well below its apparent Km for photophosphorylation is required to decrease the amount of tightly bound ATP/synthase found just after de-energization and before the rapid phase of bound ATP disappearance. The [32P]ATP that remains bound after the rapid phase appears to be mostly at a catalytic site as demonstrated by a continued exchange of the oxygens of the bound ATP with water oxygens. This bound [32P]ATP does not exchange with medium Pi and is not removed by the presence of unlabeled ATP. The levels of tightly bound ADP and ATP arising from medium ADP were measured by a novel method based on use of [beta-32P]ADP. After photophosphorylation and within minutes after the rapid phase of bound ATP loss, the measured ratio of bound ADP to ATP was about 1.4 and the sum of bound ADP plus ATP was about 1/synthase. This ratio is smaller than that found about 1 h after de-energization. Hence, while ATP bound at catalytic sites disappears, bound ADP appears. The results suggest that during and after de-energization the bound ATP disappears from the catalytic site by hydrolysis to bound ADP and Pi with subsequent preferential release of Pi. These and related observations can be accommodated by the binding change mechanism for ATP synthase with participation of alternating catalytic sites and are consistent with a deactivated state arising from occupancy of one catalytic site on the synthase complex by an inhibitory ADP without presence of Pi.     

Characterization of nucleotide binding sites of the isolated H(+)-ATPase from spinach chloroplasts, CF(0)F(1)

Soluble purified CF(0)F(1) from chloroplasts was either oxidized or reduced and then incubated with [alpha-(32)P]ATP in the presence or in the absence of Mg(2+). Depending on the conditions of incubation, the enzyme showed different tight-nucleotide binding sites. In the presence of EDTA, two sites bind [alpha-(32)P]ATP from the reaction medium at different rates. Both sites promote ATP hydrolysis, since equimolar amounts of [alpha-(32)P]ATP and [alpha-(32)P]ADP are bound to the enzyme. In the presence of Mg(2+), only one site appears during the first hour of incubation, with characteristics similar to those described in the absence of Mg(2+). However, after this time a third site appears also permitting binding of ATP from the reaction medium, but in this case the bound ATP is not hydrolyzed. Covalent derivatization by 2-azido-[alpha-(32)P]ATP was used to distinguish between catalytic and noncatalytic sites. In the presence of Mg(2+), there are at least three distinct nucleotide binding sites that bind nucleotide tightly from the reaction medium: two of them are catalytic and one is noncatalytic.     

Phosphorylation of ATP citrate lyase in response to glucagon.

Incubation of hepatocytes with [32P]orthophosphate resulted in the incorporation of 32P into material that is precipitated by reaction with antibodies to ATP citrate lyase. The amount of radioactivity precipitated was decreased when unlabeled, purified ATP citrate lyase was added to extracts of hepatocytes that had been incubated with [32P]orthophosphate. Addition of glucagon to hepatocytes that had been preincubated with [32P]orthophosphate resulted in a 56% increase in acid-stable 32P in the trichloroacetic acid-insoluble portion of immunoprecipitates. Catalytic phosphate bound to ATP citrate lyase reaction with ATP and Mg2+ is acid-labile; thus, glucagon-dependent phosphorylation is distinguished from the catalytic phosphate. When hepatocytes were incubated in the absence of [32P]orthophosphate and extracted in a medium containing [gamma-32P]ATP, no acid-stable 32P was present in immunoprecipitates. This indicates that the incorporation into ATP citrate lyase of acid-stable phosphate occurs prior to extraction of the enzyme. Preliminary studies, using a procedure that allows for measurement of enzyme activity starting 1 min after beginning the extraction of lyase from hepatocytes, have shown no difference in lyase activity when hepatocytes are treated with or without glucagon.