Temperature induced analog reaction of adenylyl imidodiphosphate to an intermediate step of heavy meromyosin adenosine triphosphatase.

The UV absorption difference spectrum of heavy meromyosin induced by adenylyl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) was found to be changed by temperature. At higher temperatures, the shape of the difference spectrum resembled the ATP-form of difference spectrum induced by ATP. At lower temperatures, a different shape was observed, resembling that induced by ADP. This temperature transition was found in the presence of both MgCl2 and MnCl2. The transition temperatures, were 21 degrees and 9 degrees in the presence of MnCl2 and MgCl2, respectively. A similar temperature dependence was observed with the difference spectrum induced by ATP at the steady state. The transition temperatures in this case were 11 degrees and 4.5 degrees in the presence of MnCl2 and MgCl2, respectively. The similarity of the effects of the two kinds of divalent cation on both transitions indicates that the temperature induced transition between two species of heavy meromyosin-AMP-PNP complex mimics the step in APTase [EC 3.6.1.3] reaction in which the intermediate complex showing the ATP-form of difference spectrum changes to that showing the ADP-form. The equilibrium constant of the decay step of the ATP-form of difference spectrum to the ADP-form in ATPase is, therefore, thought to be highly temperature dependent. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated for the transition between the two species of heavy meromyosin AMP-PNP complex. Large decreases in enthalpy and entropy were observed, while the standard free energy change was small. The results suggest that the intermediate showing the ATP-form of difference spectrum hardly changes to the forward direction in the ATPase reaction at higher temperature. The complex appears to be so stable in the steady state that almost all the myosin is present as this complex. The decay step in ATPase of the difference spectrum from the ATP-form to to the ADP-form may be coupled to muscular contraction. The temperature induced transition of heavy meromyosin AMP-PNP complex may, therefore, provide information concerning the state of myosin in active muscles.     

Temperature-dependent transitions of the myosin-product intermediate at 10 degrees during Mn(II)-ATP hydrolysis by myosin from rabbit psoas muscle.

The initial burst of Pi liberation during the hydrolysis of Mn(II)-ATP by heavy meromyosin from rabbit psoas muscle was investigated. Below 10 degrees, the initial burst of Pi liberation was inhibited by the pre-addition of ADP without any change in the steady-state activity, but it was not inhibited above 10 degrees. The burst size was about one mole per mole of heavy meromyosin. The initial burst of Pi liberation in Mg-ATP hydrolysis at 8 degrees, however, was not inhibited by the pre-addition of ADP. These results, obtained with psoas muscle heavy meromyosin, were almost the same as those obtained with heavy meromyosin from rabbit leg and back muscles (Hozumi and Tawada (1975) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 376, 1-12) and, therefore, indicate that in Mn-ATP above 10 degrees there is at the burst site a predominant myosin -product complex generated by ATP hydrolysis. Similarly, below 10 degrees there is a myosin-product complex identical with the one generated by adding ADP (and Pi) to myosin.     

Kinetics of steady state ATPase activity and rigor complex formation of acto-heavy meromyosin

1. Actin and heavy meromyosin, initially mixed in a Mg-ATP solution, began to form the rigor complex slowly after ATP in the solution had been completely hydrolyzed.

2. This was because the heavy meromyosin-product complex formed via ATP hydrolysis was almost completely dissociated from actin even in the absence of ATP and as soon as this heavy meromyosin-product complex was decomposed, the heavy meromyosin combined with actin forming the rigor complex.

3. Linear plots were obtained when the reciprocal of the excess rate of the actin-accelerated rigor complex formation was plotted against the reciprocal of the added actin concentration as similar with those made on the steady acto-heavy meromyosin ATPase.

4. The V of the rigor complex formation process was about 1/5 of that of the steady acto-heavy meromyosin ATPase activity, showing that the actomyosin ATPase activity could not be explained merely by the actin-accelerated decomposition of the heavy meromyosin-product complex.

5. The same analyses were carried out on myosin subfragment 1.

6. Our results could be explained by considering the two non-identical active sites of myosin, and we propose the following scheme for the actomyosin ATPase.

7. Actin accelerates the rate-limiting bond hydrolysis in the ATPase occurring at one active site of myosin, as well as the rate-limiting decomposition of the heavy meromyosin-product complex formed at another site.     

Change in the ultraviolet absorption of an adenosine triphosphate analog, beta-napht-yl triphosphate, during its hydrolysis by heavy meromyosin.

It was found that the absorption spectrum of beta-naphthyl triphosphate is different from that of beta-naphthyl diphosphate in the range 290-335 nm. Thus, beta-naphthyl triphosphate hydrolysis by heavy meromyosin can be recorded continuously as a function of time by means of a spectrophotometer. By analyzing the time course, the apparent kinetic parameters were easily and rapidly obtained. If necessary, the true kinetic parameters, including the product dissociation constants, can be estimated spectrophotometrically. Beta-Naphthyl triphosphate hydrolysis was inhibited competitively by ATP. By analyzing the time course, it was, therefore, possible to estimate the kinetic parameters of ATP hydrolysis indirectly, and resonable values were obtained. Beta-Naphthyl triphosphate hydrolysis by heavy meromyosin was performed under various conditions. Unlike that of ATP, the hydrolysis of beta-naphthyl triphosphate was inhibited monotonously by treatment of heavy meromyosin with p-hydroxymercuribenzoate.     

Circular dichroism of the adenine and 6-mercaptopurine nucleotide complexes of heavy meromyosin

Circular dichroic CD spectra recorded below 250 nm indicate that myosin, heavy meromyosin (HMM), and subfragment-1 (S-1) contain 72, 58, and 32% α-helix. These percentages are consistent with the contention that heavy meromyosin and S-1 production is simply the result of partial and complete removal from myosin of its 95–100% helical tail. Further evidence that the globular heads are similar in the three proteins is the presence of four positive (near 299, 272, 265, and 259 nm) and two negative (near 290 and 283 nm) bands in the CD spectrum of all three. Complex formation of adenylyl imidodiphosphate and ADP with heavy meromyosin results in small changes in the 280- to 260-nm region of the circular dichroic spectrum. Production of the ATP hydrolysis steady state causes 50–60% increases in the ellipticities of the 259- and 283-nm bands, and a 50% decrease in the 272-nm band. Similar experiments using 6-thioinosine triphosphate show that the ellipticity of the nucleotide in the steady state is more than twice as large as that of the diphosphate complex. Since rotatory strength most commonly arises from the coupling of electronic transitions of neighboring chromophores, the results suggest that an aromatic residue (probably tryptophan) moves near the purine of the nucleotide upon hydrolysis to HMM1ADP·P (the steady-state complex) and then moves away during conversion to HMM·ADP·P (the post-steady-state complex). This relative movement between an amino acid side chain and the nucleotide may be part of an early stage of the mechanism by which hydrolytic energy is transduced to relative movement between the filaments of the myofibril.     

The mechanism of the skeletal muscle myosin ATPase. I. Identity of the myosin active sites.

In the present study, the question of whether the two myosin active sites are identical with respect to ATP binding and hydrolysis was reinvestigated. The stoichiometry of ATP binding to myosin, heavy meromyosin, and subfragment-1 was determined by measuring the fluorescence enhancement caused by the binding of MgATP. The amount of irreversible ATP binding and the magnitude of the initial ATP hydrolysis (initial Pi burst) was determined by measuring [gamma-32P]ATP hydrolysis with and without a cold ATP chase in a three-syringe quenched flow apparatus. The results show that, under a wide variety of experimental conditions: 1) the stoichiometry of ATP binding ranges from 0.8 to 1 mol of ATP/myosin active site for myosin, heavy meromyosin, and subfragment-1, 2) 80 to 100% of this ATP binding is irreversible, 3) 70 to 90% of the irreversibly bound ATP is hydrolyzed in the initial Pi burst, 4) the first order rate constant for the rate-limiting step in ATP hydrolysis by heavy meromyosin is equal to the steady state heavy meromyosin ATPase rate only if the latter is calculated on the basis of two active sites per heavy meromyosin molecule. It is concluded that the two active sites of myosin are identical with respect to ATP binding and hydrolysis.     

Studies on the amino groups of myosin ATPase. IV. Effects of ATP and its analogs on the spectral properties of trinitrophenylated myosin and its active fragments.

A considerable blue shift was observed in the absorption spectrum of the trinitrophenyl moiety attached to a functional epsilon-lysyl amino group of subfragment-1, heavy meromyosin and myosin on addition of ATP or ATP analogs. The resulting difference spectra showed a maximum at 320 and a minimum at 365 nm. The greatest spectral change was observed with a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog, adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imino)triphosphate and it decreased in the order adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imino)triphosphate, ATP and ADP. The ATP-induced difference spectrum changed to that of ADP upon the hydrolysis of ATP. The observed spectra were depended on temperature and ionic strength. Difference spectra were produced also by ITP, IDP and pyrophosphate while AMP was practically ineffective. Mg2+ also caused small spectral changes which are not identical with those induced by ATP analogs. On the basis of measurements carried out on a model compound, it is assumed that as a consequence of the reaction of ATP with a myosin head, the environment of the functional lysyl residue becomes less polar, i.e. it becomes buried in the hydrophobic core of the molecule. Changes on addition of ATP or its analogs were observed also in the circular dichroic (CD) spectrum of trinitrophenylated subfragment-1, which also points to conformational changes in the vicinity of the functional lysyl residue.     

Preparation and properties of 2′(or 3′)-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) adenosine 5′-triphosphate, an analog of adenosine triphosphate

An analog of adenosine triphosphate, 2′(or 3′)-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)adenosine 5′-triphosphate (TNP-ATP), was synthesized as a reporter-labeled substrate of heavy meromyosin ATPase. TNP-ATP was hydrolyzed by heavy meromyosin in the presence of CaCl₂ MgCl₂ or EDTA.TNP-ATP had absorption maxima at 259 nm, 408 nm and 470 nm at neutral pH. When bound to heavy meromyosin, TNP-ATP underwent the characteristic spectral shift. The difference spectrum resulting from the binding of TNP-ATP to heavy meromyosin at pH 8.0 had positive peaks at 415 nm and 518 nm, and a negative trough at 458 nm.The difference spectrum due to the binding of 2′(or 3′)-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)adenosine (TNP-adenosine) to heavy meromyosin had small positive peaks at 420 nm and 495 nm. This difference spectrum was similar to that of TNP-ATP or TNP-adenosine produced by 20% (v/v) ethyleneglycol perturbation. The positive peak at 495 nm in the difference spectrum due to the binding of TNP-adenosine to heavy meromyosin shifted toward 505 nm, when pyrophosphate or ATP was added to the reaction mixture.These results suggest that the difference spectrum of TNP-ATP due to the interaction with heavy meromyosin arises not only from the binding of the chromophoric portion of the TNP-ATP molecule but also from that of the phosphate portion.     

Electron spin resonance of myosin spin labeled at the S1 thiol groups during hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate

On the addition of Mg²⁺ and ATP the electron spin-resonance spectrum of the spin label, N-(1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinyl)-iodoacetamide, selectively bound to the S₁ thiol groups of myosin changes from the one characteristic of strong immobilization to one indicating weaker immobilization. The latter spectrum persists during the steady state of hydrolysis of ATP; when hydrolysis is complete it changes to a spectrum identical with that produced by ADP. This third spectrum indicates a mobility between that of the label on myosin in the absence of ATP and that found during the steady state. The same results are obtained with heavy meromyosin or subfragment-1. The appearance of the spectrum typical of the steady state requires the presence of a divalent cation; either Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ is effective. It also seems to require hydrolysis of ATP since it is not observed in the absence of activating cations, when hydrolysis has been inhibited with N-ethylmaleimide, or when nonhydrolyzable analogs of ATP are used. One of these, β,γ-imino-adenosinetriphosphate, produces the same spectral change as ADP. These different spectra have been interpreted in terms of the kinetic scheme developed by Lymn and Taylor for native myosin in which the rate-limiting step follows the rapid hydrolysis of the terminal phosphate of ATP. Ourpresent observation of an “initial burst” of P_iliberation with S₁-labeled myosin justifies the application of this scheme. According to this scheme the intermediate responsible for the steady-state spectrum contains the products of ATP hydrolysis but its spectrum is distinct from the complex formed by adding products. This suggests the presence of two spectrally distinct myosin-product complexes. The changes in esr spectra probably reflect localized conformational changes in the head of the myosin molecule. Reducing the pH, temperature, or salt concentration substantially reduces the mobility of the spin labels during the hydrolysis of ATP, suggesting that the conformation of myosin during the steady state may depend on the temperature, pH, and concentration of salt. Alternatively, the spectral changes may be brought about by a change in the relative concentrations of two or more spectrally distinct steady-state intermediates. Changes in these parameters have little or no effect on spectra recorded in the absence of substrate.     

A study of the dynamic properties of actomyosin systems by quasi-elastic light scattering.

A laser light source and a digital autocorrelator were employed in the study of the molecular dyanmics of acto-heavy meromyosin during the splitting of ATP. Low protein concentrations were used, so that molecular and not gel properties were evident. The addition of Mg2+ to acto-heavy meromyosin solutions in the presence of ATP caused a marked widening of the spectrum at high scattering angles. No such change was observed when chemically inactivated heavy meromyosin was used when actin was cross-linked or when the proteins were in a high ionic strength solution. The data can be interpreted in terms of pronounced change in flexibility of acto-heavy meromyosin induced by active mechanochemical coupling.     

Further studies on the interaction of actin with heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1 in the presence of ATP.

It has been postulated that, during the hydrolysis of ATP, both normal and SH1-blocked heavy meromyosin undergo a rate-limiting transition from a refractory state which cannot bind to actin to a nonrefractory state which can bind to actin. This model leads to several predictions which were studied in the present work. First, the fraction of heavy meromysin or subfragment 1 which remains unbound to actin when the ATPase equals Vmax should have the same properties as the original protein. In the present study it was determined that the unbound protein has normal ATPase activity which suggests that it is unbound to actin for a kinetic reason rather than because it is a permanently altered form of the myosin. Second, if the heavy meromyosin heads act independently half as much subfragment 1 as heavy meromyosin should bind to actin. Experiments in the ultracentrifuge demonstrate that about half as much subfragment 1 as heavy meromyosin sediments with the actin at Vmax. Third, the ATP turnover rate per actin monomer at infinite heavy meromyosin concentration should be much higher than the ATP turnover rate per heavy meromyosin head at infinite actin concentration. This was found to be the case for SH1-blocked heavy meromyosin since, even at very high concentrations of SH1-blocked heavy meromyosin, in the presence of a fixed actin concentration, the actin-activated ATPase rate remained proportional to the SH1-blocked heavy meromyosin concentration. All of these results tend to confirm the refractory state model for both SH1-blocked heavy meromyosin and unmodified heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1. However, the nature of the small amount of heavy meromyosin which does bind to actin in the presence of ATP at high actin concentration remains unclear.     

Some characteristics of beta-naphthyl triphosphate as a substrate of heavy meromyosin. F-actin-inactivated hydrolysis showing initial burst.

The initial burst of Pi liberation was found in the hydrolysis of beta-naphthyl triphosphate (beta-NapP3) by heavy meromyosin (HMM) in the presence of Mg ions as well as in the hydrolysis of ATP. However, unlike that of ATP, the steady-state hydrolysis of beta-NapP3 by HMM was inhibited by the addition of F-actin to the reaction solution. Although the possession of an initial burst-like property during interaction of a substrate and myosin is believed by many investigators to be a key factor in F-actin activation of substrate hydrolysis in vitro and in the molecular mechanism of muscle contraction, the above results suggest that this is not generally true. beta-NaP3 did not induce superprecipitation of actomyosin solution and suppressed ATP-induced superprecipitation.     

A study of the dynamic properties of actomyosin systems by quasi-elastic light scattering

A laser light source and a digital autocorrelator were employed in the study of the molecular dynamics of acto-heavy meromyosin during the splitting of ATP. Low protein concentrations were used, so that molecular and not gel properties were evident. The addition of Mg²⁺ to acto-heavy meromyosin solutions in the presence of ATP caused a marked widening of the spectrum at high scattering angles. No such change was observed when chemically inactivated heavy meromyosin was used, when actin was cross-linked or when the proteins were in a high ionic strength solution. The data can be interpreted in terms of pronounced change in flexibility of acto-heavy meromyosin induced by active mechanochemical coupling.     

Fluorometric method for estimating the kinetic parameters of beta-naphthyl triphosphate and ATP hydrolysis by acto-heavy meromyosin

We have established a method to estimate the values of various kinetic parameters of acto-heavy meromyosin (acto-HMM) ATPase, using a fluorescent ATP analog, beta-naphthyl triphosphate (beta-NapP3); from the fluorescence intensity change accompanying beta-NapP3 hydrolysis, the various kinetic parameters of beta-NapP3 hydrolysis, including its product inhibition, were obtained. beta-NapPd3 hydrolysis is inhibited competitively by ATP, resulting in different time courses of fluorescence intensity change in the presence and absence of ATP. From this difference, the values of kinetic parameters of ATP hydrolysis, including its product inhibition, can be estimated. By extending this method to the acto-HMM system, seventeen parameters in a reaction scheme for the concurrent hydrolysis of ATP and beta-NapP3, including association constants between F-actin and substrate-free or substrate-bound HMM, were obtained. The kinetic-parameters estimated for ATP hjydrolsis were in good agreement with those in the literature.     

The enzymic properties of a modified ox heart myosin adenosine triphosphatase on covalent binding to an insoluble cellulose matrix

The preparation of ox heart myosin and its partial digestion with cellulose-bound papain is described. A procedure is outlined by which heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 can be covalently bound to a cellulose ion-exchange matrix. Attachment of heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 to the insoluble matrix results in a change in the ion specificity towards ATP hydrolysis. Unlike the soluble enzyme the bound form is activated by both Ca(2+) and Mg(2+). Maximal activation by Ca(2+) occurred at a lower concentration for the bound enzyme. Mg(2+) activates at a concentration which causes near-maximal inhibition of the Ca(2+)-activated adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) of the non-bound enzyme. The Mg(2+)-activated ATPase of the bound enzyme was in turn inhibited by the presence of Ca(2+). The activation by Mg(2+) resembles the characteristic enzymic action of the actin-subfragment 1 complex.     

The effects of actin on the electron spin resonance of spin-labeled myosin

Myosin and heavy meromyosin have been spin labeled at either the S₁ or S₂ thiol groups, and their interaction with F-actin has been studied by electron spin resonance, both in the absence of substrate and during the hydrolysis of ATP. The spectrum of myosin labeled at either group indicates strong immobilization of the label. In the absence of substrate, actin added to S₁-labeled myosin slightly increases the separation of the outer spectral peaks, indicating a decrease in the mobility of the spin label. Actin also reduces the microwave power required to saturate the esr signal of S₁-labeled myosin or heavy meromyosin. The latter phenomenon is a more sensitive measure of the actin-myosin interaction than the spectral change seen in the absence of saturation. This suggests that saturation measurements may provide a more sensitive method of detecting changes in the environment of slowly tumbling nitroxide radicals than spectral measurements carried out in the absence of saturation. The decrease in the amplitude of the spectrum on adding actin at saturating microwave power was used to determine the stoichiometry of the interaction between actin and heavy meromyosin. This decrease is maximal when 2 moles of actin monomer are added per mole of heavy meromyosin and is reversed when actin and myosin are dissociated by ATP. During the steady state hydrolysis of ATP, actin had no detectable effect on the spectrum of S₁-labeled myosin. It can be concluded that spin labels bound to the S₁ groups are in a region of the myosin molecule that is affected by the interaction with actin. Actin does not affect the rate at which the bound spin label is reduced by dithiothreitol nor does the spin labeling of S₁ groups affect the activation by actin of the ATPase activity of myosin. These findings suggest that the most likely mechanism by which actin alters the mobility of labels on S₁ groups involves a change in the conformation of myosin. If a spin label is bound to the S₂ thiol groups rather than the S₁ groups, then actin has no detectable effect on the spectrum either in the presence or absence of ATP.     

Heterogeneity in the actin activation of myosin

The soluble proteolytic fragments of myosin, heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1, were prepared with varying amounts of the proteases chymotrypsin and papain, respectively. The actin-activated ATP hydrolysis were examined with oxygen-18-labeled ATP. Each preparation of heavy meromyosin and subfragments 1 displayed two pathways of ATP hydrolysis, called respectively the high and low oxygen exchange mechanisms. The contributions of the two mechanisms were found to be sensitive to the potassium chloride concentration. With a fixed concentration of actin (300 microM), the contribution of the low-exchange mechanism decreased from a maximum of 90% of the ATP hydrolysis at 10 and 20 mM KCl to 12% at 180 mM KCl. The results suggested that the two mechanisms were competing reactions catalyzed by a single species of myosin.     

Modulation of monomer-polymer equilibrium of phosphorylated smooth muscle myosin: effects on actin activation

Actin activation of the adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) of phosphorylated gizzard myosin at low (2 mM) free Mg2+ concentration and 50 mM total ionic strength continues to increase on raising the free Ca2+ concentration near pCa 3. Similar levels of activity can be obtained by increasing the free Mg2+ concentration to a higher (in excess of 4 mM free) concentration. In the presence of micromolar concentrations of free Ca2+ and low free Mg2+ concentration, the actin-activated adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis exhibits an initial rapid rate which progressively slows to a final, lower but more linear rate. In the presence of high divalent cation concentrations, the fast rate of ATP hydrolysis is maintained during the entire ATPase assay. The ionic conditions which favor the slow rate of ATP hydrolysis are correlated with increased proportions of folded myosin monomers while higher rates of ATP hydrolysis are correlated with increased levels of aggregated myosin. Elevating the thin filament proteins to saturating concentrations does not abolish the change in ATPase rate or the final distribution of myosin aggregates and monomers; however, the stability of the myosin aggregates is enhanced by the presence of thin filament proteins in low divalent cation conditions. The nonlinear profile of the actin-activated ATP hydrolysis in low divalent cation concentrations is eliminated by utilizing nonfilamentous, phosphorylated heavy meromyosin. The data presented indicate that Ca2+ and Mg2+ alter monomer-polymer equilibrium of stably phosphorylated myosin. The alteration of monomer-polymer equilibrium by Ca2+ at low Mg2+ concentration modulates ATPase rates.     

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.     

Coupling of the enzymic activities of myosin ATPase and creatine kinase and its role in muscular contraction

During muscular contraction the regeneration of ATP, catalysed by creatine kinase (CK), keeps pace with the hydrolysis of ATP by myosin ATPase posing the question of its regulatory mechanism. In the background of F-actin activation of heavy meromyosin (HMM) ATPase activity we have investigated in vitro the role of F-actin in regulating CK's activity in the absence and presence of HMM. For the coupled enzyme system we have also looked into the roles played by the individual reactants. F-actin has been found to appreciably increase CK's activity in the absence of HMM. While HMM alone inhibited CK's activity, there was a several fold increase when F-actin was also present. By a process of elimination we conclude that none of the reactants apart from H+ could be involved in regulating CK's activity in the coupled enzyme system. As no change in the pH of reaction mixture was observed during the reaction, we further conclude that the two enzymic reactions are coupled by proton transfer along F-actin. Implications of the findings for PCr-Cr shuttle and movements of ATP and ADP in sarcomere are discussed.