Search

Force production by actin-myosin cross-bridges in cardiac muscle is regulated by thin-filament proteins and sarcomere length (SL) throughout the heartbeat. Prior work has shown that myosin regulatory light chain (RLC), which binds to the neck of myosin heavy chain, increases cardiac contractility when phosphorylated. We recently showed that cross-bridge kinetics slow with increasing SLs, and that RLC phosphorylation amplifies this effect, using skinned rat myocardial strips predominantly composed of the faster a-cardiac myosin heavy chain isoform. In the present study, to assess how RLC phosphorylation influences length-dependent myosin function as myosin motor speed varies, we used a propylthiouracil (PTU) diet to induce >95% expression of the slower ß-myosin heavy chain isoform in rat cardiac ventricles. We measured the effect of RLC phosphorylation on Ca2+-activated isometric contraction and myosin cross-bridge kinetics (via stochastic length perturbation analysis) in skinned rat papillary muscle strips at 1.9- and 2.2-µm SL. Maximum tension and Ca2+ sensitivity increased with SL, and RLC phosphorylation augmented this response at 2.2-µm SL. Subtle increases in viscoelastic myocardial stiffness occurred with RLC phosphorylation at 2.2-µm SL, but not at 1.9-µm SL, thereby suggesting that RLC phosphorylation increases ß-myosin heavy chain binding or stiffness at longer SLs. The cross-bridge detachment rate slowed as SL increased, providing a potential mechanism for prolonged cross-bridge attachment to augment length-dependent activation of contraction at longer SLs. Length-dependent slowing of ß-myosin heavy chain detachment rate was not affected by RLC phosphorylation. Together with our previous studies, these data suggest that both a- and ß-myosin heavy chain isoforms show a length-dependent activation response and prolonged myosin attachment as SL increases in rat myocardial strips, and that RLC phosphorylation augments length-dependent activation at longer SLs. In comparing cardiac isoforms, however, we found that ß-myosin heavy chain consistently showed greater length-dependent sensitivity than a-myosin heavy chain. Our work suggests that RLC phosphorylation is a vital contributor to the regulation of myocardial contractility in both cardiac myosin heavy chain isoforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In LeuT, a prokaryotic homolog of neurotransmitter transporters, Na+ stabilizes outward-open conformational states. We examined how each of the two LeuT Na+ binding sites contributes to Na+-dependent closure of the cytoplasmic pathway using biochemical and biophysical assays of conformation. Mutating either of two residues that contribute to the Na2 site completely prevented cytoplasmic closure in response to Na+, suggesting that Na2 is essential for this conformational change, whereas Na1 mutants retained Na+ responsiveness. However, mutation of Na1 residues also influenced the Na+-dependent conformational change in ways that varied depending on the position mutated. Computational analyses suggest those mutants influence the ability of Na1 binding to hydrate the substrate pathway and perturb an interaction network leading to the extracellular gate. Overall, the results demonstrate that occupation of Na2 stabilizes outward-facing conformations presumably through a direct interaction between Na+ and transmembrane helices 1 and 8 whereas Na+ binding at Na1 influences conformational change through a network of intermediary interactions. The results also provide evidence that N-terminus release and helix motions represent distinct steps in cytoplasmic pathway opening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]