Actin-Troponin-Tropomyosin Complex (Muscle Relaxation/Cooperativity/Regulated Actin) Lois E
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Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 77, No. 5, pp. 2616-2620, May 1980 Biochemistry Cooperative binding of myosin subfragment-1 to the actin-troponin-tropomyosin complex (muscle relaxation/cooperativity/regulated actin) Lois E. GREENE AND EVAN EISENBERG Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205 Communicated by Terrell L. Hill, February 22, 1980 ABSTRACT The binding of myosin subfragment-1 (S-i) to of a few S-1 molecules, free of ATP, to the actin filament and the F-actin-troponin-tropomyosin complex (regulated F-actin). pushing the tropomyosin away from its inhibitory position, thus was examined in the presence of ADP (ionic strength, 0.23 M; preventing inhibition of the ATPase activity even in the absence 220C) by using the ultracentrifuge and S-1 blocked at SHI with iodo["4C]acetamide. S-1ADP binds with positive cooperativity of Ca2+. Cooperative responses have also been observed in the to regulated F-actin, both in the presence and absence of cal- presence of Ca2+. Weber and coworkers (6) found that at high cium; it binds independently to unregulated actin. With and S-1 concentration the ATPase activity of regulated acto-S-1 can without CaO+ at very low levels of occupancy of the regulated be potentiated so that it is higher than the ATPase activity of actin by S-19ADP, S-1*ADP binds to the regulated actin with acto*S-1 in the absence of troponin-tropomyosin. <1% of the strength that it binds to unregulated actin, whereas The cooperative responses observed with regulated actin are at high levels of occupancy of the regulated actin by S-1-ADP, S-1ADP binds about 3-fold more strongly to the regulated actin fundamental to our understanding of the biochemical basis of than it does to unregulated actin. The major difference between regulation. Up to the present time, there have not been any the results obtained in the presence and absence of Ca2+ with studies on the binding of S-1 to regulated actin in the absence regulated actin is that, in the absence of Ca2+, the binding of of ATP. Equilibrium binding studies are generally easier to S-1'ADP remains weak until a higher free S-1ADP concentra- interpret than steady-state ATPase studies. Therefore, in the tion is reached and the transition to strong binding is much more present study, using a method previously used in our studies on cooperative. These results are consistent with a model that is basically similar to the cooperative binding model of Hill [Hill, the binding of S-1-nucleotide complexes to unregulated T. L. (1952)1. Chem. Phys. 20,1259-12731 and of Monod et al. F-actin (7), we investigated the binding of S-1-ADP to regulated [Monod, J., Wyman, . & Changeux, J. (1965)1. Mol. Biol. 12, F-actin both in the presence and in the absence of Ca2+. 88-118]: The regulated actin filament can exist in two forms, At ionic strength = 0.23 M at 220C, although S-1-ADP binds a weak-binding and a strong-binding form; and Ca2+ and independently to unregulated actin, it binds with positive co- S-1.ADP, acting as allosteric effectors, shift the equilibrium operativity to regulated F-actin, both in the presence and ab- between the two forms. sence of Ca2+. With and without Ca2+ at very low levels of It is now generally accepted that muscle contraction is caused occupancy of the regulated actin by S-1-ADP, S-1-ADP binds by myosin and actin filaments sliding past each other as ATP to the regulated actin with <1% of the strength that it binds to is hydrolyzed. In skeletal muscle the regulation of muscle unregulated actin, whereas at high levels of occupancy of the contraction appears to be controlled by the troponin-tro- regulated actin by S-1-ADP, S-1-ADP binds about 3-fold more pomyosin complex which binds to the actin filament to form strongly to the regulated actin than it does to unregulated actin. regulated F-actin. The most widely accepted mechanism of Our results are consistent with a typical cooperative binding troponin-tropomyosin action is the steric blocking model (1-3) model (8-10) in which the regulated actin filament can exist which suggests that the position of the tropomyosin molecule in two forms, a weak-binding and a strong-binding form. Ca2+ on the actin filament controls the actin-myosin interaction. This and S-1-ADP, acting as allosteric effectors, shift the equilibrium model proposes that, in the absence of Ca2+, tropomyosin takes toward the strong form. a position where it blocks the binding of myosin to the thin MATERIALS AND METHODS filament whereas, when Ca2+ binds to troponin, the tropomy- osin is thought to move toward the central groove of the actin Rabbit skeletal myosin, S-1, and actin were prepared as de- filament, enabling the myosin to interact with actin. Because scribed by Stein et al. (11). The troponin-tropomyosin complex the tropomyosin molecule spans seven F-actin monomers (4), was prepared according to Eisenberg and Kielley (12). The the position of the tropomyosin is thought to be effective over molecular weights used for S-1, actin, and troponin-tropomy- the entire actin unit and, therefore, this model suggests that osin complex were 120,000, 42,000, and 150,000, respectively. cooperativity is an inherent part of regulation. Protein concentrations were determined by UV absorption and On a biochemical level, the removal of Ca2+ from the tro- the following extinction coefficients: 750 cm2/g at 280 nm for ponin-tropomyosin complex generally causes marked inhibition S-1, 1150 cm2/g at 280 nm for F-actin, and 380 cm2/g at 278 of the actomyosin ATPase activity. However, this is not always nm for the troponin-tropomyosin complex. The rabbit myosin the case, as was observed by Bremel and Weber (5). At low ATP was labeled with iodo['4C]acetamide, as described (13), re- concentration and high ratios of subfragment 1 of myosin (S-i) sulting in 1 + 0.1 mol of iodoacetamide incorporated per mol to actin, they found that the ATPase activity of regulated of S-1. actin-S-1 complex (acto-S-1) is no longer sensitive to Ca2+. They Binding studies were conducted in the preparative centrifuge suggested that this cooperative response was due to the binding (Beckman L2-65B). The SHI-blocked S-1 and regulated actin in a total volume of 4 ml were stirred for several minutes and The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "ad- Abbreviations: S-1, subfragment 1 of myosin; acto-S-1, complex of actin vertisement" in accordance with 18 U. S. C. §1734 solely to indicate with S-1; EGTA, ethylene glycol bis(f-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,- this fact. N',N'-tetraacetic acid. 2616 Downloaded by guest on September 28, 2021 Biochemistry: Greene and Eisenberg Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77 (1980) 2617 then allowed to remain for 30 min at 220C before centrifuga- Scatchard plot shows a marked convex curvature, indicating tion. All binding studies were conducted at ionic strength 0.2 that the binding of S-i ADP is highly cooperative in the absence M and 220C in the presence of 2.5 mM ADP to saturate both of Ca2. the S-1 and acto-S-1 with ADP. Diadenosine pentaphosphate This cooperativity is shown more clearly in Fig. lB where (3 ,M) was added to inhibit myokinase activity. The order of the fraction of actin saturated with S-I is plotted as a function addition of the proteins typically was actin, S-1, and then the of free S-1 concentration. In contrast to the situation with un- troponin-tropomyosin complex. Aliquots (3-ml) were then regulated actin, at a free S-1 concentration less than 1 ,M there centrifuged for 1 hr at 80,000 X g. An 0.5-ml aliquot removed was almost no binding of S-1iADP to regulated actin. Then, over prior to centrifugation and the supernatant after centrifugation a narrow range of S-1 concentration (1 to 1.5 MM), the fraction were assayed for radioactivity in a Beckman LS-250 liquid of regulated actin saturated with S-I increased from about 0.05 scintillation counter to determine the total and free S-1 con- to 0.5 which is about twice the level of saturation observed with centrations, respectively. In the absence of actin, >97% of the unregulated actin at 1.5 MM S-1. Finally, above a free S-1 S-1 remained in the supernatant after centrifugation. Cen- concentration of 1.5 MM, the binding of S-1 to regulated actin trifugation of the actin alone showed that >96% sedimented, no longer was cooperative but was about 3 times stronger than as determined by absorbance. The binding data were plotted the binding of S-I to unregulated actin. This can best be seen by using the Scatchard equation (14) and the value of the slope by comparing the slopes of the Scatchard plots for regulated for linear regions of the Scatchard plots was determined by and unregulated actin at 0 > 0.5 in Fig. IA. linear regression analysis. In general, for cooperative binding systems, noncooperative ADP and diadenosine pentaphosphate were from PL Bio- regions of binding occur at both very low and very high levels chemicals and iodo[14C]acetamide was from Amersham. of saturation and, therefore, binding constants can be obtained for these regions.