Interaction of troponin components with F-actin and F-actin-tropomyosin complex.

1. Both TN-T and TN-I components of troponin interact with F-actin, causing its precipitation at 0.1 M KC1 and neutral pH in a form of highly ordered paracrystals, although the ability of TN-I component to precipitate of F-actin is much weaker. 2. F-actin paracrystals obtained in the presence of both TN-T and TN-I components consist of parallel arrays of F-actin filaments, although the fine structure is in each case different. 3.In the presence of tropomyosin in the proportion equal to that in muscle, less TN-T or TN-I component is needed to obtain full precipitation of F-actin. 4. Paracrystals of F-actin-tropomyosin-TN-T component and F-actin-tropomyosin-TN-I component show regular transverse striation spaced at about 380 A intervals. 5. The TN-C component of troponin solubilizes all precipitates of F-actin with TN-T or TN-I components, regardless of the presence of tropomyosin. 6. The results show that both TN-T or TN-I components can bind independently to F-actin-tropomyosin complex with the same periodicity, similar to that of the whole troponin in the living muscle.     

Calcium-induced conformational changes and mutual interactions of troponin components as studied by spin labeling.

The three troponin components, TN-C, TN-I, and TN-T, were spin-labeled with two different derivatives of the nitroxide radical, a maleimide and an imidazole reagent. The ESR spectra of various combinations of labeled and unlabeled components were measured both in the presence and absence of calcium. Conformational changes due to the binding of the components and also due to the binding of calcium were sensitively detected in many combinations as large changes in the spectrum. The conformation of TN-C was modified by both TN-T and TN-I. The effects were larger in the presence of calcium than in its absence. In the presence of calcium, TN-T and TN-I both showed large effects with the maleimide label, while TN-I showed a larger effect than TN-T with the imidazole label. In the absence of calcium, the effect of TN-I was larger than that of TN-T. The senstivitiy of TN-C to calcium was magnified by component binding, since the conformation of TN-C itself was not greatly affected by calcium. The conformation of TN-I was greatly altered only in the presence of both TN-C and calcium. This indicates that the calcium-induced conformational change in TN-C is transmitted to the adjacent TN-I. In reconstituted troponin, the conformation of TN-C was more influenced by TN-I in the presence of calcium and by TN-T in its absence as indicated by the imidazole label. With the maleimide label, TN-I was more influential in the absence of calcium. The effect of calcium on the troponin complex was to make the local environment of the label more rigid. The half-maximal effect was observed at 2 X 10(-6)M calcium with TN-I in various complexes, while it was 10(-5)M with TN-C in the complexes. In any case the calcium effects became discernible at 10(-6)M and saturated at 10(-4)M.     

Inhibition of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase activity by traponin comporent, TN-I

One of the troponin components, TN-I, strongly inhibits the ATPase activity of AS-particles obtained from mitochondria, while troponin and the other components, TN-C and TN-T, do not. The inhibition of the ATPase activity by Component TN-I is effective only in the presence of Mg²⁺ and ATP. Component TN-I digested with trypsin completely loses the inhibitory action of the ATPase activity. Adding tropomyosin does not affect the inhibitory effect of Component TN-I on the ATPase activity.     

Separation and characterization of the troponin components from bovine cardiac muscle.

The three major components of bovine cardiac troponin were separated by successive chromatography on sulfopropyl-Sephadex and DEAE-Sephadex columns in the presence of 6 M urea. All three of the bovine cardiac troponin subunits were necessary to restore full troponin activity in both skeletal and cardiac actomyosin ATPase assay systems. The 38,000-dalton subunit bound tropomyosin, and the 20,000-dalton subunit bound calcium, like skeletal TN-T and TN-C, respectively. The 28,000 component, although presumably analogous to skeletal TN-I, gave very little inhibition of actomyosin ATPase activity. Differences between cardiac and skeletal troponin subunits were also found in the elution patterns from ion exchange columns and in amino acid composition, thus demonstrating a significant muscle-type specificity.     

Troponin I: Inhibitor or facilitator

TN-I occurs as a homologous group of proteins which form part of the regulatory system of vertebrate and invertebrate striated muscle. These proteins are present in vertebrate muscle as isoforms, Mr 21000-24000, that are specific for the muscle type and under individual genetic control. TN-I occupies a central position in the chain of events starting with the binding of calcium to troponin C and ending with activation of the Ca2+ stimulated MgATPase of the actomyosin filament in muscle. The ability of TN-I to inhibit the MgATPase of actomyosin in a manner that is accentuated by tropomyosin is fundamental to its role but the molecular mechanism involved is not yet completely understood. For the actomyosin ATPase to be regulated the interaction of TN-I with actin, TN-C and TN-T must undergo changes as the calcium concentration in the muscle cell rises, which result in the loss of its inhibitory activity. A variety of techniques have enabled the sites of interaction to be defined in terms of regions of the polypeptide chain that must be intact to preserve the biological properties of TN-I. There is also evidence for conformational changes that occur when the complex with TN-C binds calcium. Nevertheless a detailed high resolution structure of the troponin complex and its relation to actin/tropomyosin is not yet available. TN-I induces changes in those proteins with which it interacts, that are essential for their function. In the special case of cardiac TN-I its effect on the calcium binding properties of TN-C is modulated by phosphorylation. It has yet to be determined whether TN-I acts directly as an inhibitor or indirectly by interacting with associated proteins to facilitate their role in the regulatory system.     

Similarities and differences of the alpha and beta components of tropomyosin.

Rabbit skeletal tropomyosin was separated into two components, alpha and beta, by CM cellulose column chromatography in the presence of urea. The two components are apparently different from TN-T, since, 1) upon addition of the components to F-actin solutions, they increase the degree of flow birefringence delta n, while TN-T does not, 2) the reduced mean residue elipticities [theta] at 220 nm are about 2.5-fold higher than for TN-T, and they contain no proline. These features are similar to those of intact tropomyosin, but the two components are not identical for the following reasons; 1) leucine is the C-terminus of the beta component and isoleucine is the C-terminus of the alpha component, 2) the beta component has a lower helicity and a somewhate lower capacity to increase delta n of F-actin solutions than the alpha component, and 3) the beta component has a higher content of glutamic acid and methionine than the alpha component. The two components can be crystallized into paracrystals in the presence of magnesium. Electron micrographs of the paracrystals of both components show a band pattern with 400 A periodicity. Bovine cardiac tropomyosin migrates on SDS gels as two poorly resolved bands, which could be separated by CM cellulose column chromatography. The C-terminus of the slower moving component was leucine, and that of the faster moving component was isoleucine, corresponding to the beta and alpha components of skeletal tropomyosin.     

Distribution of troponin components in the thin filament studied by immunoelectron microscopy.

1. The localization of specific antiboidies against troponin components, i.e., troponin T(TN-T), troponin I(TN-I, and troponin C(TN-C), was studied by the use of an electrom microscope. 2. Every antibody was distributed along the thin filament with a period of 38 nm. 3. Staining with anti-TN-I or anti-TN-C formed narrow striations. The location of the first striation was 26 nm from the free end of the thin filament. 4. The width of individual striations formed by anti-TN-T was 14--20nm The H-band-side end of each striation coincided with the location of anti-TN-I or anti-TN-C.     

Troponin and its components from ascidian smooth muscle

Troponin was isolated from the thin filaments of ascidian smooth muscle and separated into three components by ion-exchange chromatography, the molecular weights of which were 33,000, 24,000, and 18,000, respectively. The three components were designated as troponin t (TN-T), troponin I (TN-I), and troponin C (TN-C) in order of molecular weight, since each component had properties similar to those of the respective components of vertebrate skeletal-muscle troponin. The ascidian troponin or the mixture of the three components conferred Ca2+-sensitivity on reconstituted rabbit actomyosin in the presence of tropomyosin. One of the characteristics of the ascidian troponin was Ca2+-dependent activation of actin-myosin interaction in collaboration with tropomyosin, whereas its inhibitory action on the actomyosin ATPase in the absence of Ca2+ was less remarkable. From this, it is concluded that in the ascidian smooth muscle actin-myosin interaction is regulated by an actin-linked troponin-tropomyosin system, but the ascidian troponin acts as a Ca2+-dependent activator of an actomyosin system.     

Interaction of troponin-I with troponin-T and its fragment.

The interaction of troponin-I (TN-I) and troponin-T (TN-T) was examined using immobilized TN-2 as an affinity adsorbent. TN-T dissolved in 0.4 M NaCl bound strongly to immobilized TN-I and required the application of 5 M urea for its elution. A chymotryptic fragment of TN-T (Ohtsuki, 1978), perhaps the C-terminal fragment, retained the ability of the original TN-T to bind to immobilized TN-I.     

The isolation and characterization of the tropomyosin binding component (TN-T) of bovine cardiac troponin.

The tropomyosin binding component (TN-T) of troponin was purified from bovine cardiac muscle using a combination of ion exchange chromatographies in the presence of urea. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments suggest a molecular weight for cardiac TN-T of 36 300 +/- 2 000, consistent with a value of 37 000 +/- 1 000 determining by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Calculations based upon circular dichroism spectra indicate an apparent alpha-helical content of 43 +/- 3% for TN-T. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the effects of the calcium binding component (TN-C) upon the solubility of TN-T suggest that the two cardiac troponin components can interact with each other. Cosedimentation analysis of solutions containing cardiac tropomyosin and TN-T provide evidence for complex formation involving these two proteins. The data presented on the physical and chemical properties of TN-T, as well as the interaction studies indicate that the cardiac muscle regulatory system operates in a manner similar to that proposed for skeletal muscle.     

A fluorescence stopped-flow study on troponin labeled with N-ethyl maleimide and N-(p-(2-benzimidazolyl)phenyl) maleimide

The kinetics of the conformational change of the troponin-C (TN-C) subunit in N-(p-(2-benzimidazolyl)phenyl) maleimide (BIPM)-N-ethyl maleimide (NEM)-labeled troponin induced by calcium binding or removal were studied with the fluorescence stopped-flow method. The kinetic process of the conformational change was biphasic, the rate constants of the two phases were determined as a function of the free calcium ion concentration of the protein solution. The kinetic behaviour of the conformational change of TN-C in BIPM-NEM-labeled troponin was explained by a simple molecular kinetic mechanism: (Formula: see text) This molecular kinetic mechanism is different from that of the isolated TN-C which we found in the previous work (1). That is, formation of a complex of TN-C with troponin-I (TN-I) and troponin-T (TN-T) modifies the molecular kinetic mechanism of the conformational change of TN-C.     

Circularly polarized emission of terbium(III) substituted bovine cardiac troponin-C.

Upon substitution of Tb(III) for the most easily replaced Ca(II) from bovine cardiac TN-C, irradiation at 280 nm produces an emission at 545 nm from Tb(III) that is partially circularly polarized. Characteristics of these emission spectra produced by energy transfer from a tyrosyl side chain to a juxtaposed Tb(III) are virtually identical to those found in rabbit skeletal muscle TN-C and carp parvalbumin. A single homologous tyrosyl residue occurs in the two troponins and is in turn homologous to a phenylalanyl residue in parvalbumins. Addition of the other troponin subunits, TN-I and TN-T, to Tb(III)-TN-C weakens the total emission and completely quenches the circularly polarized emission.     

Phosphorylation of cardiac troponin by cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase.

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the phosphorylation of bovine cardiac troponin by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. The purified troponin-tropomyosin complex from beef heart contained 0.78 +/- 0.15 mol of phosphate per mol of protein. Analysis of the isolated protein components indicated that the endogenous phosphate was predominately in the inhibitory subunit (TN-I) and the tropomyosin-binding subunit (TN-T) of troponin. When cardiac troponin or the troponin-tropomyosin complex was incubated with cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP, the rate of phosphorylation was stimulated by cyclic AMP and inhibited by the heat-stable protein inhibitor of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. The 32P was incorporated specifically into the TN-I subunit with a maximal incorporation of 1 mol of phosphate per mol of protein. The maximal amount of phosphate incorporated did not vary significantly between troponin preparations that contained low or high amounts of endogenous phosphate. The Vmax of the initial rates of phosphorylation with troponin or troponin-tropomyosin as substrates was 3.5-fold greater than the value obtained with unfractionated histones. The rate or extent of phosphorylation was not altered by actin in the presence or absence of Ca2+. The maximal rate of phosphorylation occurred between pH 8.5 and 9.0. At pH 6.0 and 7.0 the maximal rates of phosphorylation were 13 and 45% of that observed at pH 8.5, respectively. These results indicate that cyclic AMP formation in cardiac muscle may be associated with the rapid and specific phosphorylation of the TN-I subunit of troponin. The presence of endogenous phosphate in TN-T and TN-I suggests that kinases other than cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase may also phosphorylate troponin in vivo.     

Differentiation of troponin in cardiac and skeletal muscles in chicken embryos as studied by immunofluorescence microscopy

The differentiation of troponin (TN) in cardiac and skeletal muscles of chicken embryos was studied by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. Serial sections of embryos were stained with antibodies specific to TN components (TN-T, -I, and -C) from adult chicken cardiac and skeletal muscles. Cardiac muscle began to be stained with antibodies raised against cardiac TN components in embryos after stage 10 (Hamburger and Hamilton numbering, 1951, J. Morphol. 88:49-92). It reacted also with antiskeletal TN-I from stage 10 to hatching. Skeletal muscle was stained with antibodies raised against skeletal TN components after stage 14. It also reacted with anticardiac TN-T and C from stage C from stage 14 to hatching. It is concluded that, during embryonic development, cardiac muscle synthesizes TN-T and C that possess cardiac- type antigenicity and TN-I that has antigenic determinants similar to those present in cardiac as well as in skeletal muscles. Embryonic skeletal muscle synthesizes TN-I that possesses antigenicity for skeletal muscle and TN-T and C which share the antigenicities for both cardiac and skeletal muscles. Thus, in the development of cardiac and skeletal muscles, a process occurs in which the fiber changes its genomic programming: it ceases synthesis of the TN components that are immunologically indistinguishable from one another and synthesizes only tissue-type specific proteins after hatching.     

An effect of diet on the activity of phosphofructokinase in rat heart

Phosphorylation of the inhibitory subunit of cardiac troponin (TN-I) occurs $\text{in vivo}$ after catecholamine intervention through adenylcyclase, cyclic AMP and cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase system. Also, TN-I and tropomyosin binding subunit of troponin (TN-T) are specifically hydrolyzed by calcium-activated neutral protease (CANP). In this study, we compared proteolysis of a set of TNs before and after phosphorylation by cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase plus cyclic AMP, using CANP from cardiac muscle. The initial rate of peptide release from both TNs was the same. After prolonged incubation, however, unphosphorylated TN degradation retarded, while phosphorylated TN proteolysis still continued. The amount of peptide release at the latter phase was dependent on the degree of phosphorylation. These results were confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and they suggest that a conformational change occurred in the whole TN molecule after phosphorylation of TN-I.     

Correlation between the inhibition of the acto-heavy meromyosin ATPase and the binding of tropomyosin to F-actin: effects of Mg2+, KCl, troponin I, and troponin C.

When stoichiometric amounts of tropomyosin (TM) are bound to F-actin in the presence of 2 mM ATP, the MG2+-activated acto-heavy meromyosin (HMM) ATPase is inhibited by about 60% in 5 mM MgCl2-30 mM KCl. If the concentration of MgCl2 is reduced to 1 mM, the inhibition disappears because TM no longer binds to F-actin. Increasing the concentration of KCl to 100 mM restores both the binding and the inhibition. Thus, the binding of TM alone to F-actin causes significant inhibition of the ATPase provided that the HMM is saturated with ATP. (When the HMM is not saturated, TM activates the ATPase). When TM alone can bind stoichiometrically to F-actin, addition of troponin I (TN-I) increases the inhibition from 60% to about 85%, but the TM binding to F-actin is not affected. Under conditions such that TM alone neither inhibits the acto-HMM ATPase nor binds to F-actin, the inhibition caused by TN-I plus TM still approaches 100%. Direct binding studies under these conditions show that TN-I induces binding between TM and F-actin. A dual role for TN-I is proposed: first, TN-I can induce TM to bind to F-actin, causing inhibition of the ATPase; and second, TN-I can itself enhance the inhibition of the ATPase in a cooperative manner. The addition of TN-C in the absence of CA2+ has only a limited effect on the first role, but seems to be able to block completely the cooperative inhibition caused by TN-I such that the residual inhibition is a function only of the TM which remains bound.     

Visualization of monoclonal antibody binding to tropomyosin on native smooth muscle thin filaments by electron microscopy

We have used three different monoclonal antibodies (LCK16, JLH2 and JLF15) to tropomyosin for the localization of tropomyosin molecules within smooth muscle thin filaments. Thin filaments were incubated with monoclonal antibodies and visualized by negative staining electron microscopy. All three monoclonal antibodies caused the aggregation of thin filaments into ordered bundles, which displayed cross-striations with a periodicity of 37 ± 1 nm. In contrast, conventional rabbit antiserum to tropomyosin distorted and aggregated the thin filaments without generating cross-striations. Therefore, monoclonal antibodies to tropomyosin allow us, for the first time, to observe directly the distribution of tropomyosin molecules along the thin filaments of smooth muscle cells. The binding sites of the antibodies to skeletal muscle tropomyosin were examined by decorating tropomyosin paracrystals with monoclonal antibodies. The LCK16 monoclonal antibody binds the narrow band of tropomyosin paracrystals, whereas the JLF15 antibody binds the wide band of tropomyosin paracrystals.     

The isolation and characterization of the ATPase inhibitory protein (TN-I) from bovine cardiac muscle.

The inhibitory component of the troponin complex (TN-I) was purified from bovine cardiac muscle, using a combination of ion exchange and molecular exclusion chromatographies in the presence of urea. It has the ability to inhibit the Mg2+-activated APTase (EC 3.6.1.3) of a synthetic cardiac actomyosin preparation and this inhibition is reversed by the addition of cardiac calcium binding component of troponin (TN-C). Conventional sedimentation equilibrium experiments suggest a molecular weight for cardiac TN-I of 22 900 +/- 500. However, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gels indicate a molecular weight of 27 000 +/- 1000. The mobility of TN-I on SDS gels may be anomalous due to the high proportion of basic amino acid residues in the protein. Cardiac TN-I and TN-C interact to form a tight complex, even in the presence of 6 M urea. The results of this study invite direct comparison with results published for rabbit skeletal TN-I.     

Reaction intermediates of H-meromyosin-ATPase and ultraviolet difference spectrum of H-meromyosin induced by ATP.

UV Difference spectra of H-meromyosin (HMM) during the steady state of the myosin-ATPase reaction [EC 3.6.1.3] were measured in 1.5 and 0.05M KC1 in the presence of 5mM MgC1(2) and 20mM Tris-HC1 at pH 8.0 and 24 degrees, using pyruvate kinase [EC 2.7.1.40] and phosphoenolpyruvate to regenerate ATP. It was found that the difference spectrum and its dependence on ATP concentration were the same in 1.5M KC1 as in 0.05M KC1. On the bases of these and other results, the nature of the intermediates of HMM ATPase in the steady-state reaction of HMM ATPase was discussed.     

Molecular and biological studies on cardiac muscle calcium-binding protein (TN-C).

TN-C was purified from bovine cardiac muscle. In the absence of Ca-2+, cardiac TN-C has an intrinsic sedimentation coefficient of 1.93 S and a molecular weight of 18 000 daltons. Cardiac TN-C reverses the inhibitory effect of skeletal TN-I on the Mg-2+-activated ATPase of a skeletal synthetic actomyosin preparation in the presence of skeletal tropomyoson. Circular dichroism (CD) studies indicate that cardiac TN-C undergoes a major conformational change upon binding Ca-2+. A similar response is elicited by Sr-2+, whereas Mg-2+ has a much less pronounced effect. The presence of Mg-2+ does not alter the net effects of either Ca-2+ or Sr-2+. Cardiac TN-C is rich in acidic amino acid residues. UV absorption, near UV CD, and fluorimetric studies show that the protein lacks tryptophan and has a relatively high phenylalanine to tyrosine ratio. The results of this study invite direct comparisons with results reported for the skeletal muscle analogue of cardiac TN-C.