ATP-dependent calcium sequestration and calcium/ATP stoichiometry in isolated microsomes from guinea pig parotid glands

ATP-dependent calcium uptake was studied in isolated guinea pig parotid gland microsomes. The apparent Km for free Ca2+ was 0.41, microM, the apparent Km for ATP X Mg2- 0.23 mM. The pH optimum was 6.8-7.0. Subfractionation of the microsomes revealed that the highest specific uptake activity resided in a rather dense fraction of the endoplasmic reticulum. The calcium uptake/ATPase stoichiometry was determined in the absence of exogenous magnesium in the submicrosomal fractions. It ranged from 1-2. It is concluded that in vivo the stoichiometry is the same as in sarcoplasmic reticulum, namely 2.