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The budding yeast contains two type I myosins, Myo3p and Myo5p, with redundant functions. Deletion of both myosins results in growth defects, loss of actin polarity and polarized cell surface growth, and accumulation of intracellular membranes. Expression of myc-tagged Myo5p in myo3Delta myo5Delta cells fully restores wild-type characteristics. Myo5p is localized as punctate, cortical structures enriched at sites of polarized cell growth. We find that latrunculin-A-induced depolymerization of F-actin results in loss of Myo5p patches. Moreover, incubation of yeast cells at 37 degrees C results in transient depolarization of both Myo5p patches and the actin cytoskeleton. Mutant Myo5 proteins with deletions in nonmotor domains were expressed in myo3Delta myo5Delta cells and the resulting strains were analyzed for Myo5p function. Deletion of the tail homology 2 (TH2) domain, previously implicated in ATP-insensitive actin binding, has no detectable effect on Myo5p function. In contrast, myo3Delta myo5Delta cells expressing mutant Myo5 proteins with deletions of the src homology domain 3 (SH3) or both TH2 and SH3 domains display defects including Myo5p patch depolarization, actin disorganization, and phenotypes associated with actin dysfunction. These findings support a role for the SH3 domain in Myo5p localization and function in budding yeast. The proline-rich protein verprolin (Vrp1p) binds to the SH3 domain of Myo3p or Myo5p in two-hybrid tests, coimmunoprecipitates with Myo5p, and colocalizes with Myo5p. Immunolocalization of the myc-tagged SH3 domain of Myo5p reveals diffuse cytoplasmic staining. Thus, the SH3 domain of Myo5p contributes to but is not sufficient for localization of Myo5p either to patches or to sites of polarized cell growth. Consistent with this, Myo5p patches assemble but do not localize to sites of polarized cell surface growth in a VRP1 deletion mutant. Our studies support a multistep model for Myo5p targeting in yeast. The first step, assembly of Myo5p patches, is dependent upon F-actin, and the second step, polarization of actin patches, requiresVrp1p and the SH3 domain of Myo5p.

The ATPase activity of acto-myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) was measured in the presence of smooth and skeletal muscle tropomyosins over a wide range of ionic strengths (20-120 mM). In contrast to the 60% inhibitory effect caused by skeletal muscle tropomyosin at all ionic strengths, the effect of smooth muscle tropomyosin was found to be dependent on ionic strength. At low ionic strength (20 mM), smooth muscle tropomyosin inhibits the ATPase activity by 60%, while at high ionic strength (120 mM), it potentiates the ATPase activity 3-fold. All of these ATPase activities were measured at very low ratios of S-1 to actin, under conditions at which a 4-fold increase in S-1 concentration did not change the specific activity of the tropomyosin-acto.S-1 ATPase. Therefore, the potentiation of the ATPase activity by smooth muscle tropomyosin at high ionic strength cannot be explained by bound S-1 heads cooperatively turning on the tropomyosin-actin complex. To determine whether the fully potentiated rates are different in the presence of smooth muscle and skeletal muscle tropomyosins, S-1 which was extensively modified by N-ethylmaleimide was added to the ATPase assay to attain high ratios of S-1 to actin. The results showed that, under all conditions, the fully potentiated rates are the same for both tropomyosins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In vitro at low ionic strength (mu = 0.02 M) and 5 degrees C, myosin subfragment-1 shows significant binding to regulated actin in the presence of ATP, independent of the concentration of free Ca2+. Under the same conditions, single skinned rabbit psoas muscle fibers develop force only in the presence of Ca2+ and are relaxed in its absence. However, the stiffness, measured with very rapid stretches (0.5% of muscle length in 0.1 ms), is high even when the fibers are relaxed. This "rapid stiffness" of the resting muscle is sensitive to ionic strength, becoming small at normal ionic strength (mu = 0.17 M). At low ionic strength, the rapid stiffness is approximately proportional to the overlap between the actin and myosin filaments. At zero overlap (sarcomere length = 3.8 microns), the stiffness is less than 20% of the value measured at full overlap. This remaining 20% is relatively insensitive to ionic strength, like the passive resting tension, and it may in fact be due to the structures responsible for the resting tension. Thus, both in vitro binding and the effect of overlap on rapid stiffness measurements in fibers suggest that cross-bridges are attached to actin in relaxed muscle at low ionic strength.

In this paper we introduce an alternate model for the equilibrium binding of S-l-N (S-l, subfragment l of myosin; N, nucleotide) on the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex, including the influence of Ca2+ on this binding. In our previous model [Hill, T. L., Eisenberg, E. & Greene, L. E. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 3186-3190], we assumed that each tropomyosin unit, including one troponin-tropomyosin molecule and seven actin sites on the actin filament, could exist in two conformational states which presumably differed in the position of the tropomyosin on the actin. The binding of S-l-N or Ca2+ to the tropomyosin unit shifted the equilibrium between the two states but did not affect the intrinsic conformation of each state. In contrast, in the present model, we assume that tropomyosin can in principle occupy a continuum of positions on the actin filament. However, in any particular circumstance (N, Ca2+, salt, temperature), the tropomyosin occupies only a single position rather than existing in a dynamic equilibrium between two positions as in our earlier model. The binding of S-l-N or Ca2+ changes the position of tropomyosin on the actin filament and the exact position that the tropomyosin occupies depends on the nucleotide bound to S-l.

Myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) can be fractionated into two isozymes, (A1)S-1 containing alkali light chain 1 and (A2)S-1 containing alkali light chain 2. The predominant difference in the behavior of the two isozymes of S-1 is that, at low ionic strength, the actin concentration required for half-maximal ATPase activity is considerably lower for (A1)S-1 than for (A2)S-1; that is, the apparent binding constant KATPase for (A1)S-1 is greater than KATPase for (A2)S-1 [Weeds, A.G., & Taylor, R.S. (1975) Nature (London) 257, 54-56]. This difference disappears at high ionic strength [Wagner, P. D., Slater, C. S., Pope, B., & Weeds, A.G. (1979) Eur. J. Biochem. 99, 385-394]. In the present study we investigated whether the difference in the KATPase values of (A1)S-1 and (A2)S-1 is due to a difference in the actual affinity of these S-1 isozymes for actin. Binding was measured in the presence of ATP and AMP-PNP and in the absence of nucleotide at varied ionic strengths. We found that at low ionic strength where KATPase is several times stronger for (A1)S-1 than for (A2)S-1, the binding of (A1)S-1 to actin is correspondingly stronger than that of (A2)S-1 irrespective of the nucleotide present. Furthermore, as the ionic strength is increased, just as the difference between the KATPase values for (A1)S-1 and (A2)S-1 disappears so too does the difference in the affinity of the two isozymes for actin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chalovich and Eisenberg [Chalovich, J. M., & Eisenberg, E. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 2432-2437] have suggested that at low ionic strength, troponin-tropomyosin regulates the actomyosin ATPase activity by inhibiting a kinetic step in the actomyosin ATPase cycle rather than by blocking the binding of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) to actin. This leads to the prediction that troponin-tropomyosin should inhibit the ATPase activity of the complex of actin and S-1 (acto . S-1) even when S-1 is cross-linked to actin. We now find that the ATPase activity of cross-linked actin . S-1 prepared under milder conditions than those used by Mornet et al. [Mornet, D., Bertrand, R., Pantel, P., Audemard, E., & Kassab, R. (1981) Nature (London) 292, 301-306] is inhibited 90% by troponin-tropomyosin in the absence of Ca2+. At mu = 18 mM, 25 degrees C, the ATPase activity of this cross-linked preparation is only about 2-fold greater than the maximal actin-activated ATPase activity of S-1 obtained with regulated actin in the absence of Ca2+. At physiological ionic strength, the ATPase activity of this cross-linked actin . S-1 preparation is inhibited about 95% by troponin-tropomyosin. Since cross-linked S-1 behaves kinetically like S-1 in the presence of infinite actin concentration, it is very unlikely that inhibition of the ATPase activity of cross-linked actin . S-1 is due to blocking of the binding of S-1 to actin. Therefore, these results are in agreement with the suggestion that troponin-tropomyosin regulates primarily by inhibiting a kinetic step in the ATPase cycle.

The binding of heavy meromyosin (HMM) to F-actin was examined at varying ionic strengths and temperatures and in the presence of ADP and AMPPNP and then compared to the binding of subfragment 1 (S-1) under identical conditions. In the absence of nucleotide (mu = 0.12-0.43 M, 22 degrees C), HMM binds 100-1000-fold more strongly to F-actin than does S-1. This indicates that, in the absence of nucleotide, both heads of HMM bind to F-actin, with the second head making a significant contribution to the free energy of binding. On the other hand, in the presence of ADP (mu = 0.43 M, 22 degrees C) or AMPPNP (mu = 0.12 M, degrees C), the binding of HMM to F-actin is quite similar to the binding of S-1, indicating that here the second head of HMM does not make a strong contribution to the free energy of binding. In fact, in the presence of AMPPNP, HMM appears to bind to F-actin primarily with one head, while the detached head may be interfering with the binding of another HMM molecule at an adjacent actin site. With all of the different agents tested (ionic strength, temperature, and nucleotide), the effect of the agent on the binding of HMM to F-actin is approximately the square of its effect on the binding of S-1 to F-actin, results consistent with these various agents affecting the binding of each of the two HMM heads to the same extent as they affect the binding of an S-1 head.

Binding studies of myosin subfragment one (S-1) to regulated actin in the presence and absence of Ca2+ indicate that, as S-1 binds to regulated actin, tropomyosin-actin units undergo a cooperative transition from a weak to a strong S-1-binding form. Trybus and Taylor (Trybus, K.M., and Taylor, E.W. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 77, 7209-7213) suggested that this transition could be measured by the change in fluorescence of troponin I modified with 4-(N-iodoacetoxyethyl-N-methyl)-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (IANBD). In the present study, this was tested by determining whether the change in fluorescence was proportional to the fraction of tropomyosin-actin units in the strong S-1-binding form as predicted by our model on the cooperative binding of S-1 to regulated actin (Hill, T.L., Eisenberg, E., and Greene, L.E. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 3186-3190). Experiments were performed both in the presence and absence of Ca2+ by using troponin I modified with either IANBD or 5'-iodoacetamidofluorescein. In the presence of Ca2+, it was found, in agreement with the suggestion of Trybus and Taylor, that the change in fluorescence induced by S-1 was proportional to the fraction of tropomyosin-actin units shifting into the strong S-1 binding form, rather than to the fraction of actin sites having bound S-1. In the absence of Ca2+, the change in fluorescence induced by S-1 also did not reflect the binding of S-1 to regulated actin. However, in contrast to the results in the presence of Ca2+, the change in fluorescence induced by S-1 binding in the absence of Ca2+ was not in agreement with the fraction of tropomyosin-actin units calculated to be in the strong S-1 binding form by the model of Hill et al. Although a more complex model than that of Hill et al. may account for the observed fluorescence changes, it seems equally likely that at least in the absence of Ca2+, the change in fluorescence may be reflecting a more complex behavior than only the transition of tropomyosin-actin units between the weak and strong S-1-binding forms.

To elucidate the structure of the cross-bridge intermediates in the actomyosin ATPase cycle, several laboratories have added both ethylene glycol and AMP-PNP to muscle fibers. These studies suggested that ethylene glycol shifts the structure of myosin.AMP-PNP toward the weak-binding conformation, i.e., toward the structure of myosin.ATP. Since only the weak-binding conformation of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) binds with no apparent cooperativity to the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex (regulated actin), we used this as a probe to examine the conformation of various S-1.nucleotide complexes in ethylene glycol. Our results show that ethylene glycol markedly weakens the binding strength of S-1, S-1.ADP, and S-1.AMP-PNP to actin but has almost no effect on the binding strength of S-1.ATP. As in muscle fibers, at 40% ethylene glycol, the binding strength of S-1.AMP-PNP to actin becomes very similar to the binding strength of S-1.ATP. In the presence of troponin-tropomyosin, the binding of S-1.AMP-PNP to actin shows no apparent cooperativity in 40% ethylene glycol. Therefore, our results confirm that ethylene glycol shifts the structure of the myosin.AMP-PNP toward the weak-binding conformation. However, our results also suggest that ethylene glycol has a direct effect on the regulated actin complex. This is shown by the fact that ethylene glycol markedly increases the cooperative binding of S-1.ADP to regulated actin both in the presence and in the absence of Ca2+.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The binding of myosin subfragment-1 (S-1) to the F-actin-troponin-tropomyosin complex (regulated F-actin) was examined in the presence of ADP (ionic strength, 0.23 M; 22 degrees C) by using the ultracentrifuge and S-1 blocked at SH1 with iodo[14C]acetamide. S-1 . ADP binds with positive cooperativity to regulated F-actin, both in the presence and absence of calcium; it binds independently to unregulated actin. With and without Ca2+ at very low levels of occupancy of the regulated actin by S-1 . ADP, S-1 . ADP binds to the regulated actin with less than 1% of the strength that it binds to unregulated actin, whereas at high levels of occupancy of the regulated actin by S-1 . ADP, S-1 . ADP binds about 3-fold more strongly to the regulated actin than it does to unregulated actin. The major difference between the results obtained in the presence and absence of Ca2+ with regulated actin is that, in the absence of Ca2+, the binding of S-1 . ADP remains weak until a higher free S-1 . ADP concentration is reached and the transition to strong binding is much more cooperative. These results are consistent with a model that is basically similar to the cooperative binding model of Hill[Hill, T.L. (1952) J. Chem. Phys. 20, 1259-1273] and of Monod et al. [Monod, J., Wyman, J. & Changeux, J. (1965) J. Mol. Biol. 12, 88-118]: The regulated actin filament can exist in two forms, a weak-binding and a strong-binding form; and Ca2+ and S-1 . ADP, acting as allosteric effectors, shift the equilibrium between the two forms.

The formation of the ternary complex composed of actin, 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate [AMP-P(NH)P], and myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) was studied using the analytical ultracentrifuge with UV optics, which enabled the direct determination of the extent of dissociation of actin.S-1 (acto.S-1) by AMP-P(NH)P. In contrast to the reaction with ATP, at saturating levels of AMP-P(NH)P (1.5 mM), extensive formation of the ternary acto.S-1.AMP-P(NH)P complex occurs at 22 degrees . With 40 muM actin present, AMP-P(NH)P causes almost no dissociation of the acto.S-1 complex at 0.04 M ionic strength, while even at 0.22 M ionic strength one-third of the S-1 remains associated with actin and AMP-P(NH)P in a ternary complex. A detailed study of the binding of S-1.AMP-P(NH)P to actin using the Scatchard plot analysis shows that, at saturation, 1 mol of S-1.AMP-P(NH)P binds per mol of actin monomer. There appears to be no cooperativity occurring as the S-1.AMP-P(NH)P binds along the actin filament, with the possible exception of a slight positive cooperativity when most of the sites on the actin filament are saturated. The turbidity of the ternary complex is identical to the turbidity of acto.S-1 alone. Preliminary experiments with the two-headed subfragment of myosin, heavy meromyosin (HMM), show that the binding of HMM.[AMP-P(NH)P](2) to actin is only about twice as strong as the binding of S-1.AMP-P(NH)P to actin, indicating that the second head contributes very little to the free energy of binding.

The ability of adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), ADP, and PPi to dissociate the actin.myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) complex was studied using an analytical ultracentrifuge with UV optics, which enabled the direct determination of the dissociated S-1. At mu = 0.22 M, pH 7.0, 22 degrees C, with saturating nucleotide present, ADP weakens the binding of S-1 to actin about 40-fold (K congruent to 10(5) M-1), while both AMP-PNP and PPi weakens the binding about 400-fold (K congruent to 10(4) M-1). This 10-fold stronger dissociating effect of AMP-PNP and PPi compared to ADP correlates with our data showing that the binding of AMP-PNP and PPi to S-1 is about 10-fold stronger than the binding of ADP. In contrast, the binding constants of ADP, AMP-PNP, and PPi to acto.S-1 are nearly identical (K congruent to 5 x 10(3) M-1). At 4 degrees C, AMP-PNP has only a 3-fold stronger dissociating effect than ADP and, similarly, our data suggest that the binding of AMP-PNP and ADP to S-1 is quite similar at 4 degrees C. AMP-PNP and PPi are, therefore, somewhat better dissociating agents than ADP, but the difference among these three ligands is quite small. These data also show that actin and nucleotide bind to separate but interacting sites on S-1 and that the S-1 molecules bind independently along the F-actin filament with a binding constant of about 1 x 10(7) M-1 at 22 degrees C and physiological ionic strength.

We previously determined the binding constants of ADP, adenylyl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), and inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) to acto . myosin subfragment 1 (acto X S-1) by measuring the dissociation of acto X S-1 as a function of ATP analog concentration (Greene, L.E., and Eisenberg, E. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 543-548). In the present study, we reinvestigated this question by measuring the extent to which these ATP analogs inhibit the acto X S-1 ATPase activity using both cross-linked actin X S-1 and non-cross-linked proteins. No significant difference was found between the cross-linked and non-cross-linked acto X S-1 complexes in their affinity for either ADP or AMP-PNP. The binding constant of ADP to acto X S-1 determined by the inhibition method was in excellent agreement with that obtained previously by the dissociation method, both techniques giving values of about 7 X 10(3) M-1. However, this was not the case for AMP-PNP and PPi, with the inhibition method giving about 10-fold weaker binding constants than those determined previously by the dissociation method. Upon redoing our dissociation experiments over a wider range of actin concentrations than we used previously, we now find that the dissociation method gives much weaker values for the binding constants of PPi and AMP-PNP to acto X S-1, i.e. values on the order of 4 X 10(2) M-1. The very weak binding of these ATP analogs to acto X S-1 makes it difficult to obtain these values with great accuracy. Nevertheless, they seem to be in good agreement with the binding constants determined by the inhibition method. The weak binding of AMP-PNP and PPi to acto X S-1 is consistent with the recent fiber studies of Pate and Cooke (Pate, E., and Cooke, R. (1985) Biophys. J. 47, 773-780) and Schoenberg and Eisenberg (Schoenberg, M., and Eisenberg, E. (1986) Biophys. J. 48, 863-872).

In our previous study [Chalovich, J. M., Greene, L. E., & Eisenberg, E. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 4909-4913], myosin subfragment 1 that was modified by having its two reactive thiol groups cross-linked by N,N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide (pPDM) was found to resemble the myosin subfragment 1-adenosine 5'-triphosphate (S-1.ATP) complex in its interaction with actin. In the present study, we examined the effect of actin on adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) trapped at the active site of pPDM.S-1. Our results indicate first that, in the presence of actin, ADP is no longer trapped at the active site but exchanges rapidly with free nucleotide. Different pPDM.S-1.nucleotide complexes were then formed by exchanging nucleotide into the active site of pPDM.S-1 in the presence of actin. The binding of pPDM.S-1.ATP or pPDM.S-1.PPi to actin is virtually identical with that of unmodified S-1 in the presence of ATP. Specifically, at mu = 18 mM, 25 degrees C, pPDM.S-1.ATP or pPDM.S-1.PPi binds to unregulated actin with the same affinity as does S-1.ATP, and this binding does not appear to be affected by troponin-tropomyosin. On the other hand, pPDM.S-1.ADP and pPDM.S-1 with no bound nucleotide both show a small, but significant, difference between their binding to actin and the binding of S-1.ATP; pPDM.S-1 and pPDM.S-1.ADP both bind about 2- to 3-fold more strongly to unregulated actin than does S-1.ATP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The protein complex, troponin-tropomyosin, which is bound to the thin actin filament, regulates muscle contraction and relaxation. In the absence of Ca2+ the troponin-tropomyosin complex causes muscle to relax, whereas in the presence of Ca2+, contraction occurs. Biochemical studies have shown that the troponin-tropomyosin complex has a dual effect on the interaction of the myosin crossbridge with actin. In the presence of ATP, troponin-tropomyosin strongly inhibits the actomyosin ATPase activity, whereas in the absence of ATP, troponin-tropomyosin confers positive cooperativity on the binding of myosin to actin. We have proposed a simple model [Hill, T. L., Greene, L. E., and Eisenberg, E. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 3186-3190] that accounts for these biochemical observations by postulating that the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex (regulated actin) can occur in two forms, a turned-on form and a turned-off form. This model defines several cooperativity parameters that describe the behavior of regulated actin. In previous studies we have determined the values of these parameters by studying the cooperative binding of myosin to regulated actin in the absence of ATP. In the present study we also used ATPase and fluorescence measurements to determine these cooperativity parameters. Assuming that the fluorescence change occurs only when two adjacent tropomyosin units shift into the turned-on form, our results show that all three methods give the same values for the cooperativity parameters. These results confirm the prediction of our model that a regulated actin unit that is turned off not only binds S-1 weakly but is also unable to activate the actomyosin ATPase activity.

Electron microscopy studies have shown that the structure of the complex of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) cross-linked to actin with 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethyl-amino) propyl] carbodiimide is very different in the presence and absence of ATP (Craig, R., Greene, L. E., and Eisenberg, E. (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 82, 3247-3251). More recent studies have found that the structure of the cross-linked complex between S-1 modified extensively with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM.S-1) and actin resembles that of the rigor complex both in the presence and absence of ATP, whereas the structure of the cross-linked complex between S-1 modified with N',N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide (pPDM.S-1) and actin resembles that of the cross-linked actin.S-1 complex in the presence of ATP. In the present study, we have obtained biochemical evidence supporting these results. The conformation of the different cross-linked actin.S-1 complexes was determined by studying their effect on the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex (regulated actin). The basis of this probe for conformation is that S-1.ATP, which is in the weak-binding conformation, interacts very differently with regulated actin than S-1 or S-1.ADP, which are in the strong-binding conformation. We find that both in the presence and absence of ATP, cross-linked NEM.S-1 appears to be in the strong-binding conformation, whereas cross-linked pPDM.S-1 appears to be shifted toward the weak-binding conformation. In contrast, cross-linked unmodified S-1 appears to be in the strong-binding conformation in the presence of ADP and the weak-binding conformation in the presence of ATP. Therefore, in agreement with electron microscopy studies, the cross-linked actin.S-1 complex appears to be able to alternate between the weak-binding and strong-binding conformation during the cross-bridge cycle.

Mornet et al. ( Mornet , D., Bertrand , R., Pantel , P., Audemard , E., Kassab , R. (1981) Nature (Lond.) 292, 301-306) have shown that myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) can be covalently linked to F-actin by the zero-length cross-linker 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)-propyl]carbodiimide. Their results indicated that the stoichiometry of the cross-linked complex is one S-1 to two actin monomers. However, Sutoh ( Sutoh , K. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 1579-1585) reported that S-1 is cross-linked to only one actin monomer. In both of these measurements, the stoichiometry was determined by separating the cross-linked complex from free actin on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels and then determining the concentration of actin and S-1 in the complex. In this study, a new approach was used to determine the stoichiometry of actin to S-1 in the cross-linked complex. The cross-linked actin X S-1 preparation, which was composed of [14C]iodoacetamide-modified S-1 and [3H]N-ethylmaleimide-modified actin, was passed through several cycles of actin depolymerization and centrifugation. This had no effect on the ATPase activity of the cross-linked S-1, but it preferentially removed noncross-linked actin which in turn increased the ratio of S-1 to total actin from 1:5 to 1:2 in the recycled cross-linked preparation. The stoichiometry of the cross-linked complex could then be determined by measuring the amount of free actin in the 42-kDa band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The amount of free actin in the 42-kDa band was equal to the amount of cross-linked S-1. This establishes that the stoichiometry of the cross-linked complex is one S-1/one F-actin monomer, in agreement with the results of Sutoh .

Relaxation of both smooth and skeletal muscles appears to be caused primarily by inhibition of the step associated with Pi release in the actomyosin ATPase cycle, rather than by a block in the binding of the myosin X ATP and myosin X ADP X Pi complexes to actin. In skeletal muscle, troponin-tropomyosin not only causes marked inhibition of Pi release, but it also markedly inhibits the binding of myosin subfragment-1 X ADP to actin, raising the possibility that the two phenomena are coupled in some way. In the present study we determined whether phosphorylation of smooth muscle heavy meromyosin (HMM) also affects both the binding of HMM X ADP to actin and the Pi release step. This was done by having phosphorylated and unphosphorylated HMM X ADP compete for sites on F-actin. At mu = 30 mM, phosphorylation increased the affinity of the HMM molecule for actin about 12-fold and at mu = 170 mM, there was less than a 3-fold increase in the affinity of HMM. If phosphorylation affects the binding of each head of HMM to the same extent, then phosphorylation caused about a 4- and 2-fold increase in the affinity of each head of HMM for actin at mu = 30 and 170 mM, respectively. In contrast, at both ionic strengths, phosphorylation caused more than 100-fold actin activation of the ATPase activity of smooth muscle HMM. Therefore, the marked activation of Pi release in the acto X HMM ATPase cycle upon phosphorylation of HMM is not accompanied by a comparable increase in the affinity of HMM X ADP for actin. We have also found that phosphorylation increases by only 4-fold the rate of Pi release from HMM alone. These results suggest that in smooth muscle, phosphorylation accelerates the step associated with the release of Pi both in the forward and the reverse direction without correspondingly affecting the binding of myosin X ADP to actin.

The structure of the complex between actin and myosin subfragment 1 (S1), designated the acto-S1 complex, in the presence of ATP was examined by electron microscopy. This was accomplished by using negative staining to study a complex of S1 covalently crosslinked to actin by the zero-length crosslinker, 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)-propyl]carbodiimide. Two levels of S1 binding were studied, with a molar ratio of crosslinked S1 to total actin of either 20% or 50%. The lower percentage was used to observe individual S1 molecules attached to actin, while the higher percentage was used to look at the overall pattern of S1 decoration of the actin filament. In the absence of ATP, the appearances of both the 20% and 50% crosslinked filaments closely resembled the rigor appearances obtained with noncrosslinked proteins. The arrowheads observed had the conventional structure, and individual S1 molecules were elongated and curved and appeared to make an angle of 45 degrees with the thin filament. Addition of ATP to the crosslinked acto-S1 complex caused a radical change in the structure of the cross-bridges. At both 20 and 170 mM ionic strengths, individual S1 molecules appeared to be attached at variable angles which, in contrast to rigor, did not center on 45 degrees. In addition, the S1 molecules often appeared shorter and fatter than in rigor. The 50% crosslinked acto-S1 preparation no longer showed the arrowhead pattern of S1 decoration but instead appeared to be disordered with little obvious polarity. Control experiments with ADP suggest that these effects were not due simply to a weakening of the binding of S1 to actin in the presence of nucleotide but most likely were ATP-specific. The crosslinked acto-S1 complex, which hydrolyzes ATP at about the same rate as the maximal actin-activated ATPase of S1 (Vmax), is composed of a mixture of states A X M X ATP and A X M X ADP X Pi (in which A = actin and M = myosin), with more than 50% of the crosslinked S-1 occurring in state A X M X ATP. Therefore, it appears that both states A X M X ATP and A X M X ADP X Pi have a very different conformation from the classic arrowhead conformation of the A X M state.

Although there is agreement that actomyosin can hydrolyze ATP without dissociation of the actin from myosin, there is still controversy about the nature of the rate-limiting step in the ATPase cycle. Two models, which differ in their rate-limiting step, can account for the kinetic data. In the four-state model, which has four states containing bound ATP or ADP . Pi, the rate-limiting step is ATP hydrolysis (A . M . ATP in equilibrium A . M . ADP . Pi). In the six-state model, which we previously proposed, the rate-limiting step is a conformational change which occurs before Pi release but after ATP hydrolysis. A difference between these models is that only the four-state model predicts that almost no acto-subfragment 1 (S-1) . ADP . Pi complex will be formed when ATP is mixed with acto . S-1. In the present study, we determined the amount of acto . S-1 . ADP . Pi formed when ATP is mixed with S-1 cross-linked to actin [Mornet, D., Bertrand, R., Pantel, P., Audemard, E., & Kassab, R. (1981) Nature (London) 292, 301-306]. The amount of acto . S-1 . ADP . Pi was determined both from intrinsic fluorescence enhancement and from direct measurement of Pi. We found that at mu = 0.013 M, the fluorescence magnitude in the presence of ATP of the cross-linked actin . S-1 preparation was about 50% of the value obtained with S-1, while at mu = 0.053 M the fluorescence magnitude was about 70% of that obtained with S-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We find that at 6 degrees C in the presence of 4 mM MgPPi, at low or moderate ionic strength, skinned rabbit psoas fibers exhibit a stiffness and an equatorial x-ray diffraction pattern similar to that of rigor fibers. As the ionic strength is increased in the absence of Ca2+, both the stiffness and the equatorial x-ray diffraction pattern approach those of the relaxed state. This suggests that, as in solution, increasing ionic strength weakens the affinity of myosin cross-bridges for actin, which results in a decrease in the number of cross-bridges attached. The effect is Ca2+-sensitive. Assuming that stiffness is a measure of the number of cross-bridge heads attached, in the absence of Ca2+, the fraction of attached cross-bridge heads varies from approximately 75% to approximately 25% over an ionic strength range where ionic strength in solution weakens the binding constant for myosin subfragment-1 binding to unregulated actin by less than a factor of 3. Therefore, this phenomenon appears similar to the cooperative Ca2+-sensitive binding of S1 to regulated actin in solution (Greene, L. E., and E. Eisenberg, 1980, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 77:2616). By comparing the binding constants in solution and in the fiber under similar conditions, we find that the "effective actin concentration," that is, the concentration that gives the same fraction of S1 molecules bound to actin in solution as cross-bridge heads are bound to actin in a fiber, is in the millimolar range. An effective actin concentration in the millimolar range suggests that the strength of actin binding to cross-bridges in fibers may be several orders of magnitude weaker than the strength of ATP binding. Previously, it has been assumed that these two quantities were equal, as this gives the minimum energy loss when ATP dissociates the cross-bridge from actin (Morales, 1980, J. Supramol. Struct., 3:105:1975; Eisenberg, E.,Hill, T. L. and Y. Chen, 1980, Biophys. J., 29:195).

The binding of heavy meromyosin (HMM), a soluble two-headed fragment of myosin, to F-actin was examined at mu = 0.22 M, 22 degrees C. The actin-HMM association constant was determined by having HMM and subfragment 1 (S-1) compete for sites on F-actin. In these experiments, varying concentrations of S-1 were added to a fixed concentration of HMM and F-actin. F-actin and bound fragments (HMM and S-1) then were sedimented and the concentration of unbound fragments was determined. The data were analyzed using a set of theoretical equations proposed by Hill ((1978) Nature 274, 825-826) that provide a simple way of analyzing the relative binding of one- and two-headed ligands. Using these equations, the actin-HMM association constant was determined to be 3 x 10(9) M-1, while under the same conditions the actin-S-1 association constant is 5 x 10(6) M-1 (determined in preceding paper (Greene, L. E., and Eisenberg, E. (1980) J. Biol, Chem. 255, 543-548)). Therefore, under these conditions, HMM binds 600-fold stronger to actin than does S-1, indicating that both of the HMM heads can bind strongly to actin.

Recent experimental data on the equilibrium binding of myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) to regulated actin filaments in the presence and in the absence of Ca(2+) are analyzed by using a linear Ising model. In the model, each tropomyosin-troponin unit (including seven sites on the actin filament) can be in one of two possible states, which have different intrinsic free energies and different binding constants for S-1. Bound S-1 molecules do not interact with each other. There are nearest-neighbor (pair) interactions between these units that depend on the state of each member of the pair and on the number of Ca(2+) bound to one member of the pair. There are two sources of positive cooperativity in this system: the fact that seven actin sites change state together as part of a single unit; and the existence of attractive nearest-neighbor interactions between units. Parameters in the model are evaluated by fitting the data, both in the presence and in the absence of Ca(2+). Several extensions of this model are discussed.

Previous studies have shown that in the presence of ADP, myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) binds with positive cooperativity to the troponin-tropomyosin-actin complex (regulated actin). This binding is much more cooperative in the absence than in the presence of Ca2+. Based on these data, we proposed a model (Hill, T. L., Eisenberg, E., and Greene, L. E. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 77, 7209-7213) in which the tropomyosin-actin units in regulated actin exist in two states, a state which binds S-1 weakly and a state which binds S-1 strongly. This model predicts that the equilibrium constant between the weak and strong states of the tropomyosin-actin units is an intrinsic property of the regulated actin filament. Therefore, its value should not change when measured with different nucleotides bound to S-1. To test this prediction, the equilibrium constant was measured in the presence of S-1, S-1 . ADP, and S-1 . AMP-PNP, with and without Ca2+. The results show that, in all cases, S-1 binds with positive cooperativity to regulated actin. The observed cooperativity is consistent with the model since it was possible to fit the data obtained in the presence of different nucleotides with the same value for the equilibrium constant between the weak and strong states of the tropomyosin-actin units. However, the nucleotide bound to S-1 appears to affect the observed cooperativity by changing the affinity of S-1 for the strong and weak states.