Thermal stability of myosin subfragment-1 decreases upon tryptic digestion in the presence of nucleotides

Myosin subfragment-1 (S-1), digested with trypsin in the presence of ATP, rapidly loses its ATPase activity upon mild heat treatment even if ATP or ADP is present. The heat-treated molecule is very sensitive to further tryptic digestion. Undigested S-1 and S-1 digested in the absence of ATP are protected by nucleotides. The loss of the protective effect of nucleotides correlates with the tryptic splitting of the 25 kDa amino-terminal fragment between Arg 23 and Ile 24.