NMR measurements of Ca2+ and H+ transport mediated by A23187 and reconstituted plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase

NMR-based assays for measuring the fluxes of Ca²⁺, H⁺, and ATP in liposomal systems are presented. The ¹⁹F NMR Ca²⁺-chelating molecule 5,5-difluoro-1,2-bis(o-amino-phenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (5FBAPTA) was trapped inside large unilamellar vesicles and used to monitor passive and A23187-mediated Ca²⁺ transport into them. The data were analyzed using progress curves of the transport reaction. They demonstrated the general applicability of 5FBAPTA as a ¹⁹F NMR probe of active Ca²⁺ transport. ³¹P NMR time-courses were used to monitor simultaneously the ATP hydrolysing activity of the reconstituted human erythrocyte Ca²⁺-ATPase and the concomitant acidification of the reaction medium in a suspension of small unilamellar vesicles. Using an estimate of the extraliposomal buffering capacity, the H⁺/ATP coupling stoichiometry, in the presence of A23187, was estimated from the NMR-derived data at steady state; it amounted to 1.4±0.3. This result is discussed with respect to the issue of molecular `slip' in the context of a non-equilibrium thermodynamics model of the pump (accompanying paper in this issue). Importantly, NMR, in contrast to optical detection methods, can potentially register all fluxes and (electro)chemical gradients involved in the Ca²⁺-ATPase-mediated H⁺/Ca²⁺counterport, in a single experiment. Received: 19 June 1997 / Accepted: 3 December 1997