Dissection of the functional domains of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase by site-directed mutagenesis

The results of site-directed mutagenesis studies of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase are reviewed. More than 250 different point mutants have been expressed in cell culture and analysed by a panel of functional assays. Thereby, 40–50 important amino acid residues have been pinpointed, and the mutants have been assigned to functional classes: the Ca²⁺-affinity mutants, the phosphorylation-negative mutants, the ATP-affinity mutants, the E₁P mutants, the E₂P mutants, and the uncoupled mutants. Moreover, regions important to the specific inhibition by thapsigargin have been identified by analysis of Ca²⁺-ATPase/Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase chimeric constructs.