Serine-324 of myosin's heavy chain is photoaffinity-labeled by 3'(2')-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)adenosine triphosphate

A portion of the active site of rabbit skeletal myosin near the ribose ring of ATP can be labeled by the photoaffinity analogue 3'(2')-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)adenosine triphosphate (Bz2ATP). The specificity of the photolabeling was assured by first trapping [14C]Bz2ATP at the active site by use of thiol cross-linking agents [Mahmood, R., Cremo, C., Nakamaye, K., & Yount, R. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 14479-14486]. Five radioactive peptides were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography after extensive trypsin and subtilisin digestion of photolabeled myosin subfragment 1. Four of these peptides were sequenced by Edman techniques, and all originated from a region with the sequence Gly-Glu-Ile-Thr-Val-Pro-Ser-Ile-Asp-Asp-Gln, which corresponds to rabbit myosin heavy chain residues 318-328. The fifth labeled peptide had an amino acid composition appropriate for residues 312-328. Amino acid composition, radiochemical analysis, and sequence data indicate that Ser-324 is the major amino acid residue photolabeled by Bz2ATP. Spectrophotometric evidence indicates that the benzophenone carbonyl group has inserted into a C-H bond from either the alpha- or beta-carbon of serine. These results place Ser-324 at a distance of 6-7 A from the 3'(2') ribose oxygens of ATP bound at the active site of myosin.     

Photochemical probes of the active site of myosin. Irradiation of trapped 3'-O-(4-benzoyl)benzoyladenosine 5'-triphosphate labels the 50-kilodalton heavy chain tryptic peptide

3'-O-(4-Benzoyl)benzoyl-ATP (Bz2ATP), an analog of ATP containing a photoreactive benzophenone moiety, was used as a probe of the ATP binding site of myosin subfragment 1 (SF1). The inactivation of SF1 NH+4-EDTA ATPase by the bifunctional thiol crosslinking system cobalt(II)/cobalt(III) phenanthroline complexes was enhanced by Bz2ATP to the same degree as by ATP. This treatment resulted in the stable trapping of Bz2ATP at the active site in nearly stoichiometric amounts in a manner exactly analogous to ATP (Wells, J.A., and Yount, R.G. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 4966-4970). Irradiation of SF1 containing trapped [3H]Bz2ATP gave approximately 50% covalent incorporation of the trapped nucleotide into the enzyme. Analysis of photolabeled SF1 by gel electrophoresis showed that all of the [3H]Bz2ATP was attached to the 95-kDa heavy chain fragment. No label was found in the light chains. Similar analysis of the same protein after limited trypsin treatment demonstrated that approximately 75% of the [3H]Bz2ATP was bound to the central 50-kDa peptide and its 75-kDa precursor from the heavy chain. The N-terminal 25-kDa tryptic peptide, shown to be photolabeled by other ATP analogs (Szilagyi, L., Balint, M., Sreter, F.A., and Gergely, J. (1979) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 87, 936-945; Okamoto, Y., and Yount, R.G. (1983) Biophys. J. 41, 298a), was not labeled (less than 1%) by Bz2ATP. These results demonstrate that portions of the 50 kDa-peptide of the heavy chain are within 6-7 A of the ATP binding site on SF1 and possibly contribute to nucleotide binding.     

Photolabeling of the 6 and 10 S conformations of gizzard myosin with 3'(2')-O-(4-Benzoyl)benzoyl-ATP. Proline 324 is near the active site

3'(2')-O-(4-Benzoyl)benzoyl-ATP (Bz2ATP) was used as a photoaffinity label of the ATP binding site of unphosphorylated chicken gizzard myosin. Specific photolabeling of the active site of 6 S myosin was assured by forming a stable myosin.Co(II)Bz2ADP.orthovanadate complex (termed trapping) prior to irradiation. Co2+ was used in place of Mg2+ to prevent the known photoreaction of vanadate with myosin which destabilizes the trapped complex. [3H] Bz2ADP.Pi was also stably trapped on gizzard myosin by forming the 10 S folded conformation of the protein in the presence of [3H]Bz2ATP and Mg2+. Irradiation of 6 S myosin containing orthovanadate trapped [3H] Bz2ADP or 10 S trapped [3H]Bz2ADP.Pi gave 32 and 30% covalent incorporation, respectively. The 50-kDa and precursor 68-kDa tryptic peptides of the subfragment-1 heavy chain derived from both forms of myosin were found to contain essentially all of the covalently attached [3H]Bz2ADP. Parallel experiments with untrapped [3H]Bz2ADP showed extensive nonspecific labeling of all of the major tryptic peptides and the light chains. Eight labeled peptides, isolated from 6 and 10 S photolabeled myosin, contained the sequence G319-H-V-P-I-X-A-Q326, where X corresponds to labeled proline 324. [14C]Bz2ADP was previously shown to label serine 324 in skeletal subfragment-1 (Mahmood, R., Elzinga, M., and Yount, R. G. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 3989-3995), which corresponds to alanine 325 in the gizzard sequence. Thus, this region of the 50-kDa tryptic fragment, near the nucleotide binding site, in both skeletal and smooth muscle myosins, must fold in essentially the same manner.     

Direct photoaffinity labeling of gizzard myosin with vanadate-trapped adenosine diphosphate

The active-site topology of smooth muscle myosin has been investigated by direct photoaffinity-labeling studies with [3H]ADP. Addition of vanadate (Vi) and Co2+ enabled [3H]ADP to be stably trapped at the active site (t1/2 greater than 5 days at 0 degrees C). The extraordinary stability of the myosin.Co2+.[3H]ADP.Vi complex allowed it to be purified free of excess [3H]ADP before irradiation began and ensured that only active-site residues became labeled. Following UV irradiation, approximately 10% of the trapped [3H]ADP became covalently attached at the active site. All of the [3H]ADP incorporated into the 200-kDa heavy chain, confirming earlier results using untrapped [alpha-32P]ATP [Maruta, H., & Korn, E. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 499-502]. After extensive trypsin digestion of labeled subfragment 1, HPLC separation methods combined with alkaline phosphatase treatment allowed two labeled peptides to be isolated. Sequence analysis of both labeled peptides indicated that Glu-185 was the labeled residue. Since Glu-185 has been previously identified as a residue at the active site of smooth myosin using [3H]UDP as a photolabel [Garabedian, T. E., & Yount, R. G. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 22547-22553], these results provide further evidence that Glu-185, located immediately adjacent to the glycine-rich loop, is located in the purine binding pocket of the active site of smooth muscle myosin.     

Direct photoaffinity labeling of gizzard myosin with [3H]uridine diphosphate places Glu185 of the heavy chain at the active site

The active site of chicken gizzard myosin was labeled by direct photoaffinity labeling with [3H]UDP. [3H] UDP was stably trapped at the active site by addition of vanadate (Vi) and Co2+. The extraordinary stability of the myosin.Co2+.[3H]UDP.Vi complex (t1/2 greater than 5 days at 0 degrees C) allowed it to be purified free of extraneous [3H]UDP before irradiation began. Upon UV irradiation, greater than 60% of the trapped [3H]UDP was photoincorporated into the active site. Only the 200-kDa heavy chain was labeled, confirming earlier results (Maruta, H., and Korn, E. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 499-502) using [3H]UTP. Extensive tryptic digestion of photolabeled myosin subfragment 1 followed by high performance liquid chromatography separations and removal of nucleotide phosphates by treatment with alkaline phosphatase allowed two labeled peptides to be isolated. Sequencing of the labeled peptides and radioactive counting showed that Glu185 was the residue labeled. Since UDP is a "zero-length" cross-linker, Glu185 is located at the purine-binding pocket of the active site of smooth myosin and adjacent to the glycine-rich loop which binds the polyphosphate portion of ATP. This Glu residue is conserved in smooth and nonmuscle myosins and is the same residue identified previously by [3H]UTP photolabeling in Acanthamoeba myosin II (Atkinson, M. A., Robinson, E. A., Appella, E., and Korn, E. D. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 1844-1848).     

Sequence of the sites phosphorylated by protein kinase C in the smooth muscle myosin light chain

We have determined the sequence of the sites phosphorylated by protein kinase C in the turkey gizzard smooth muscle myosin light chain. In contrast to previous work (Nishikawa, M., Hidaka, H., and Adelstein, R. S. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 14069-14072), two-dimensional tryptic peptide maps of both heavy meromyosin and the isolated myosin light chain showed two major phosphopeptides, one containing phosphoserine and the other phosphothreonine. We have purified the succinylated tryptic phosphopeptides using reverse phase and DEAE high pressure liquid chromatography. The serine-containing peptide, residues 1-4 (Ac-SSKR), is the NH2-terminal peptide. The phosphorylated serine residue may be either serine 1 or serine 2. The threonine-containing peptide, residues 5-16, yielded the sequence AKAKTTKKRPQR. Analysis of the yields and radioactivity of the products from automated Edman degradation showed that threonine 9 is the phosphorylation site.     

Phosphorylation of the 20,000-dalton light chain of smooth muscle myosin by the calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase. Phosphorylation sites and effects of phosphorylation

Smooth muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM) is phosphorylated by the Ca2+-activated phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, i.e. protein kinase C, at three sites on each 20,000-dalton light chain. Phosphorylation of three sites also is observed with isolated 20,000-dalton light chain and HMM subfragment 1. The phosphorylation sites are serine 1, serine 2, and threonine 9. Threonine is phosphorylated most rapidly followed by either serine 1 or 2. Phosphorylation of the third site occurs only on prolonged incubation. Phosphorylation is a random process. HMM phosphorylated at two sites per light chain by protein kinase C can be dephosphorylated, as shown using two phosphatase preparations. Increasing levels of phosphorylation of HMM by protein kinase C causes a progressive inhibition of the subsequent rate of phosphorylation of serine 19 by myosin light chain kinase and causes a progressive inhibition of actin-activated ATPase activity of HMM, prephosphorylated by myosin light chain kinase. Inhibition of ATPase activity is due to a decreased affinity of HMM for actin rather than a change in Vmax. Previous results with HMM and protein kinase C (Nishikawa, M., Sellers, J. R., Adelstein, R. S., and Hidaka, H. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 8808-8814) examined effects induced by phosphorylation of the threonine residues. Our results confirm these and consider also the influence of higher levels of phosphorylation by protein kinase C.     

Kinetics of ATP and inorganic phosphate release during hydrolysis of ATP by rabbit skeletal actomyosin subfragment 1. Oxygen exchange between water and ATP or phosphate

We have used the technique of phosphate: water oxygen exchange to measure the rate of ATP and Pi release and Pi binding to myosin subfragment 1 and actomyosin subfragment 1 from rabbit skeletal muscle. The oxygen exchange distributions for ATP and Pi release fit a simple kinetic model with a single set of rate constants for each step. For actomyosin subfragment 1 (20 degrees C, pH 7.0, I = 50 mM), the rate constant governing ATP release is approximately 8 s-1, Pi release is at approximately 60 s-1 and Pi rebinds to an ADP state at greater than 120 M-1 s-1. These rate constants are similar to those that may occur for undistorted cross-bridges within glycerinated rabbit psoas fibers (Bowater, R., Webb, M. R., and Ferenczi, M. A. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 7193-7201.     

Effect of caldesmon on the ATPase activity and the binding of smooth and skeletal myosin subfragments to actin

We have previously shown that inhibition of the ATPase activity of skeletal muscle myosin subfragment 1 (S1) by caldesmon is correlated with the inhibition of S1 binding in the presence of ATP or pyrophosphate (Chalovich, J., Cornelius, P., and Benson, C. (1987) J. Biol Chem. 262, 5711-5716). In contrast, Lash et al. (Lash, J., Sellers, J., and Hathaway, D. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 16155-16160) have shown that the inhibition of ATPase activity of smooth muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM) by caldesmon is correlated with an increase in the binding of HMM to actin in the presence of ATP. We now show, in agreement, that caldesmon does increase the binding of smooth muscle HMM to actin-tropomyosin while decreasing the ATPase activity. The effect of caldesmon on the binding of smooth HMM is reversed by Ca2+-calmodulin. Caldesmon strengthens the binding of smooth S1.ATP and skeletal HMM.ATP to actin-tropomyosin but to a lesser extent than smooth HMM.ATP. Furthermore, this increase in binding of smooth S1.ATP and skeletal HMM.ATP does not parallel the inhibition of ATPase activity. In contrast, in the absence of ATP, all smooth and skeletal myosin subfragments compete with caldesmon for binding to actin. Thus, the effect that caldesmon has on the binding of myosin subfragments to actin-tropomyosin depends on the source of myosin, the type of subfragment, and the nucleotide present. The inhibition of actin-activated ATP hydrolysis by caldesmon, however, is not greatly different for different smooth and skeletal myosin subfragments. Evidence is presented that caldesmon inhibits actin-activated ATP hydrolysis by attenuating the productive interaction between myosin and actin that normally accelerates ATP hydrolysis. The increased binding seen by some myosin subfragments, in the presence of ATP, may be due to binding of these subfragments to a nonproductive site on actin-caldesmon. The subfragments which show an increase in binding in the presence of ATP and caldesmon appear to bind directly to caldesmon as demonstrated by affinity chromatography.     

The covalent modification of myosin's proteolytic fragments by a purine disulfide analog of adenosine triphosphate. Reaction at a binding site other than the active site.

A purine disulfide analog of ATP, 6,6'-dithiobis(inosinyl imidodiphosphate), forms mixed disulfide bonds between the 6 thiol group on the purine ring and certain key cysteines on myosin, heavy meromyosin, and subfragment one. The EDTA ATPase activities of myosin and heavy meromyosin were completely inactivated when 4 mol of thiopurine nucleotide was bound. When similarly inactivated, subfragment one, depending on its method of preparation, incorporated either 1 or 2 mol of thiopurine nucleotide. Modification of a single cysteine on subfragment one resulted in an inhibition of both the Ca2+ and the EDTA ATPase activities, but the latter always to a greater extent. Modification of two cysteines per head of heavy meromyosin had the same effect suggesting that the active sites were not blocked by the thiopurine nucleotides. Direct evidence for this suggestion was provided by equilibrium dialysis experiments. Heavy meromyosin and subfragment one bound 1.9 and 0.8 mol of [8-3H]adenylyl imidodiphosphate per mol of enzyme, respectively, with an average dissociation constant of 5 X 10(-7) M. Heavy meromyosin with four thiopurine nucleotides bound or subfragment one with two thiopurine nucleotides bound retained 65-80% of these tight adenylyl imidodiphosphate binding sites confirming the above suggestion. Thus previous work assuming reaction of thiopurine nucleotide analogs at the active site of myosin must be reevaluated. Ultracentrifugation studies showed that heavy meromyosin which had incorporated four thiopurine nucleotides did not bind to F-actin while subfragment one with one thiopurine nucleotide bound interacted only very weakly with F-actin. Thus reaction of 6,6'-dithiobis(inosinyl imidodiphosphate) at nucleotide binding sites other than the active sites reduces the rate of ATP hydrolysis and inhibits actin binding. It is suggested that these second sites may function as regulatory sites on myosin.     

The interaction and photolabeling of myosin subfragment 1 with 3'(2')-O-(4-benzoyl)benzoyladenosine 5'-triphosphate

The photoprobe 3'(2')-O-(4-benzoyl)benzoyladenosine 5'-triphosphate (Bz2ATP) was used to characterize the nucleotide-binding site of myosin subfragment 1 (SF1). Improved synthesis and purification of Bz2ATP are reported. 1H NMR and ultraviolet spectroscopy show that Bz2ATP is a 60:40 mixture of the 3'(2')-ribose isomers and that the epsilon M261 is 41,000 M-1 cm-1. Bz2ATP is hydrolyzed by SF1 comparably to ATP in the presence of actin or K+, NH4+, or Mg2+ ions; and the product, Bz2ADP, has a single binding site on SF1 (K'a = 3.0 X 10(5) M-1). [3H]Bz2ATP was photoincorporated into SF1 with concomitant loss of K+-EDTA-ATPase activity. Analysis of photolabeled SF1 showed that the three major tryptic peptides (23, 50, and 20 kDa) of the heavy chain fragment and the alkali light chains were labeled. The presence of ATP during irradiation protected only the 50-kDa peptide, indicating that the other peptides were nonspecifically labeled. If Bz2ATP was first trapped on SF1 by cross-linking the reactive thiols, SH1 and SH2, with p-phenylenedimaleimide, only the 50-kDa tryptic peptide was labeled. These results confirm and extend previous observations that [3H]Bz2ATP trapped on SF1 by cobalt(III) phenanthroline photolabeled the same 50-kDa peptide (Mahmood, R., and Yount, R.G. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 12956-12959). Thus, the 50-kDa peptide is labeled with or without thiol cross-linking, indicating that the relative position of SH1 and SH2 does not affect the labeling pattern.     

Characterization of two azurphil granule proteases with active-site homology to neutrophil elastase

Much of the tissue damage associated with emphysema and other inflammatory diseases has been attributed to the proteolytic activity of neutrophil elastase, a major component of the azurophil granule. Recently, two additional azurophil granule proteins with NH2-terminal sequence homology to elastase were isolated (Gabay, J. E., Scott, R. W., Campanelli, D., Griffith, J., Wilde, C., Marra, M. N., Seeger, M., and Nathan, C. F. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 5610-5614) and designated azurophil granule protein 7 (AGP7) and azurocidin. Azurocidin and AGP7 represent significant protein components of the azurophil granule, together comprising approximately 15% of the acid-extractable protein as judged by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography analysis. AGP7 migrates on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as four distinct glycoforms of molecular mass 28-34 kDa, whereas azurocidin exhibits three predominant bands with molecular mass of 28-30 kDa. Treatment of intact azurophil granules with [3H]diisopropyl fluorophosphate resulted in labeling of elastase, cathepsin G, and AGP7, whereas azurocidin was not labeled. Tryptic mapping of 3H-labeled AGP7 allowed us to identify and sequence the active-site polypeptide that has 70% identity to elastase over 20 residues. The active site peptide of azurocidin was also identified by sequence analysis of tryptic fragments and showed 65% identity to the active site of elastase. Surprisingly, the catalytic serine of azurocidin is replaced by glycine, explaining its inability to label with [3H]diisopropyl fluorophosphate. Thus, we have identified two azurophil proteins closely related to neutrophil elastase, one of which has apparently lost its proteolytic activity due to mutation of the catalytic serine.     

Stability and photochemical properties of vanadate-trapped nucleotide complexes of gizzard myosin in the 6S and 10S conformations: identification of an active-site serine.

The properties of divalent metal.ADP.vanadate (V(i)) complexes of the 6S extended and 10S folded conformations of gizzard myosin before and after UV irradiation have been studied. The half-lives of both 6S and 10S myosin.MgADP.V(i) complexes in the dark at 0 degrees C are on the order of 2 weeks. Brief irradiation with UV light, however, photomodified the enzyme as suggested by changes in the NH(4+)-, K(+)-, and Ca(2+)-ATPase activities, and destabilized the complexes. The 6S complex, when irradiated, released ADP and V(i) rapidly (t1/2 less than or equal to 1 min) as has been observed in comparable experiments with skeletal myosin subfragment 1 (S1) [Grammer et al. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 8408-8415]. The irradiated 10S complex released approximately 20% of the ADP and V(i) rapidly (t1/2 less than or equal to 1 min), but the remainder stayed trapped, possibly as the vanadyl (VO2+).ADP complex, for much longer times (t1/2 approximately 8 h). The site of photomodification was sought by reducing both photomodified 6S and 10S myosin with NaB3H4. Amino acid composition analyses identified [3H]serine as the only labeled residue(s), suggesting that the hydroxymethyl group of serine had been oxidized to an aldehyde as shown previously for photomodified skeletal myosin S1 [Cremo et al. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 6608-6611]. The 29-kDa NH2-terminal tryptic peptide from the heavy chain was found to contain essentially all of the [3H]serine. Preparations of 6S and 10S [3H]myosin were digested exhaustively with trypsin. An identical [3H]peptide was purified from each preparation and its sequence determined to be Glu169-Asp-Gln-Ser-Ile-Leu-(Cys)-Thr-Gly-[3H]Ser-Gly-Ala-Gly-Ly s183.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of phosphorylation of light chain residues threonine 18 and serine 19 on the properties and conformation of smooth muscle myosin

Smooth muscle myosin can be phosphorylated by myosin light chain kinase at the serine 19 and threonine 18 residues of the two 20,000-dalton light chains (Ikebe, M., Hartshorne, D. J., and Elizinga, M. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 36-39). These studies with myosin and heavy meromyosin (HMM) compare the effects induced by phosphorylation of serine 19 (M2P and HMM2P) and serine 19 plus threonine 18 (M4P and HMM4P). Formation of M4P altered the KCl dependence of viscosity and Mg2+-ATPase and higher values were maintained at lower ionic strengths, compared to M2P or dephosphorylated myosin (Mo). This is consistent with the stabilization of the 6 S conformation. The tendency for aggregation, as judged by light scattering, followed the sequence M4P greater than M2P greater than Mo. Filaments formed with M4P were more resistant to dissociation by ATP compared to filaments of M2P. Phosphorylation of HMM2P doubled Vmax of actin-activated ATPase with little effect on the apparent affinity for actin. The Mg2+-ATPase of HMM4P exhibited a higher activity at low ionic strength compared to HMM2P and HMMo. Hydrodynamic differences were detected at low ionic strength in the presence of ATP by sedimentation velocity measurements with HMM4P, HMM2P, and HMMo. Proteolysis by papain indicated an increased susceptibility of the head-neck junction of HMM4P compared to HMM2P. These data suggest that the phosphorylation of threonine 18 in addition to serine 19 change the conformation of myosin and HMM and this is associated with altered biological properties.     

Phosphorylation of smooth muscle caldesmon by calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Identification of the phosphorylation sites

Smooth muscle caldesmon was phosphorylated by smooth muscle calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. The extent of phosphorylation obtained was 5.65 mol of phosphate/mol of caldesmon. Phosphorylated protein was subjected to the complete trypsin proteolysis and the produced phosphopeptides were purified by C-8 reverse phase chromatography. Nine phosphopeptides were isolated and by amino acid sequence analysis, eight phosphorylation sites were identified. According to the published amino acid sequence of chicken gizzard caldesmon (Bryan, J., Imai, M., Lee, R., Moore, P., Cook, R. G., and Lin, W.-G. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 13873-13879), these sites were serine 26, serine 59, serine 73, threonine 469, serine 475, serine 587, serine 620, and serine 726. The time course of phosphorylation of these sites was also measured and it was concluded that the first site was serine 73, the second site was serine 26, the third site was serine 726, and the fourth site was serine 587. The preferred phosphorylation sites were located in the amino terminus myosin binding domain whereas slower phosphorylation occurred in the carboxyl terminus actin/calmodulin domain.     

UV-induced vanadate-dependent modification and cleavage of skeletal myosin subfragment 1 heavy chain. 2. Oxidation of serine in the 23-kDa NH2-terminal tryptic peptide

Myosin subfragment 1 (S1) can be specifically photomodified at the active site without polypeptide chain cleavage by irradiating the stable MgADP-orthovanadate-S1 complex with UV light above 300 nm [Grammer, J. C., Cremo, C. R., & Yount, R. G. (1988) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. Here, the UV spectral properties of photomodified S1 were used to determine the nature and location of the photomodified residue(s) within S1. By comparison of the unusual pH dependence of the UV absorption spectrum of the photomodified S1 to that of the S1-MgADP-Vi complex as a control, the photomodified residue(s) was (were) localized to the 23-kDa NH2-terminal tryptic peptide of the heavy chain. NaBH4 reduced the photomodified S1, but not the control, to regenerate the original spectral properties and ATPase activities of the unmodified S1. Amino acid analysis of photomodified S1 reduced with NaB3H4 gave only [3H]serine, suggesting the hydroxyl group of serine had been oxidized to a "serine aldehyde". The pH dependence of the absorption spectrum of the photomodified enzyme can be explained by an equilibrium between a chromophoric enolate anion of the serine aldehyde (favored in base) and less chromophoric keto and enol forms (favored in acid). The oxidized serine(s) was (were) shown to be directly involved with the vanadate-dependent photocleavage of the S1 heavy chain previously described by Grammer et al. (1988). This serine(s) is (are) likely to be important to the binding and hydrolysis of the gamma-PO4 of ATP at the active site of S1.     

Chemical identification of serine 181 at the ATP-binding site of myosin as a residue esterified selectively by the fluorescent reagent 9-anthroylnitrile

The esterification reagent 9-anthroylnitrile (ANN) reacts with a serine residue in the NH2-terminal 23-kDa peptide segment of myosin subfragment-1 heavy chain to yield a fluorescent S1 derivative labeled by the anthroyl group (Hiratsuka, T. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 18188-18194). The labeling was highly selective and accelerated by nucleotides. In the present study, to determine the exact location of the labeled serine residue, the labeled 23-kDa peptide fragment was isolated. The subsequent extensive proteolytic digestion of the peptide fragment yielded two labeled peptides, a pentapeptide and its precursor nonapeptide. Amino acid sequence and composition analyses of both labeled peptides revealed that the anthroyl group is attached to Ser-181 involved in the phosphate binding loop for ATP (Smith, C. A., and Rayment, I. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 5404-5417). We concluded that ANN can esterify Ser-181 selectively out of over 40 serine residues in the subfragment 1 heavy chain. Thus ANN is proved to be a valuable fluorescent tool to identify peptides containing the phosphate binding loop of S1 and to detect the conformational changes around this loop.     

Cryoenzymic studies on myosin: transient kinetic evidence for two types of head with different ATP binding properties

The two step tight binding of ATP to myosin, heavy meromyosin and myosin subfragment 1 was investigated, under cryoenzymic conditions by the unlabeled ATP chase method: M + ATP in equilibrium K1 M.ATP k2 in equilibrium k-2 M*.ATP where M is myosin. k-2 is close to zero. In multi-turnover experiments, one obtains the constants for the binding process together with the concentration of ATPase sites. Here the kinetics of the formation of M*.ATP are first order. Inversion of the reagent concentrations (i.e., single-turnover experiments) should give identical kinetics but such experiments often give biphasic curves. This biphasicity depends upon the myosin preparation used and it is directly related to the active site titration. The simplest explanation for these results is one involving 2 sites for ATP: one site hydrolyzes ATP by the Bagshaw-Trentham scheme (tight binding preceding hydrolysis) but the second site binds ATP loosely without significant hydrolysis. This heterogeneity in ATP binding may explain certain difficulties, such as questions concerning the non-identity of the myosin heads and the number of steps involved in nucleotide binding. Attempts were made to determine the cause of the head heterogeneity but these were unsuccessful. We cannot exclude the possibility that the heterogeneity is relevant to muscle contraction.     

9-Anthroylnitrile binding to serine-181 in myosin subfragment 1 as revealed by FRET spectroscopy and molecular modeling.

It has been shown that one of the 12 serine residues within the 23 kDa segment of myosin subfragment 1 can be covalently modified with a fluorescent probe 9-anthroylnitrile (ANN) [Hiratsuka, T. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264 (30), 18188-18194]. To identify the exact binding site of the probe, the distances between the bound ANN as donor and acceptors in known positions (Lys-553 or Cys-707) of the myosin head were determined by using fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Comparison of the spectroscopic results with distances obtained from the atomic model of subfragment 1 revealed that ANN binds to Ser-181. The result was in good agreement with the assumptions of Andreev and co-workers [Andreev, O. A., et al. (1995) J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 16 (4), 353-367]. This conclusion was further supported by protein modeling calculations. The results presented herein might bring ANN into the focus when the molecular mechanism and effects of the binding of ATP and its subsequent hydrolysis are studied.     

The 204-kDa smooth muscle myosin heavy chain is phosphorylated in intact cells by casein kinase II on a serine near the carboxyl terminus

The heavy chain of smooth muscle myosin was found to be phosphorylated following immunoprecipitation from cultured bovine aortic smooth muscle cells. Of a variety of serine/threonine kinases assayed, only casein kinase II and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylated the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain to a significant extent in vitro. Two-dimensional maps of tryptic peptides derived from heavy chains phosphorylated in cultured cells revealed one major and one minor phosphopeptide. Identical tryptic peptide maps were obtained from heavy chains phosphorylated in vitro with casein kinase II but not with calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Of note, the 204-kDa smooth muscle myosin heavy chain but not the 200-kDa heavy chain isoform was phosphorylated by casein kinase II. Partial sequence of the tryptic phosphopeptides generated following phosphorylation by casein kinase II yielded Val-Ile-Glu-Asn-Ala-Asp-Gly-Ser*-Glu-Glu-Glu-Val. The Ser* represents the Ser(PO4) which is in an acidic environment, as is typical for casein kinase II phosphorylation sites. By comparison with the deduced amino acid sequence for rabbit uterine smooth muscle myosin (Nagai, R., Kuro-o, M., Babij, P., and Periasamy, M. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 9734-9737), we have localized the phosphorylated serine residue to the non-helical tail of the 204-kDa isoform of the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain. The ability of the 204-kDa isoform, but not the 200-kDa isoform, to serve as a substrate for casein kinase II suggests that these two isoforms can be regulated differentially.