Phosphorylation of the 19,000-dalton light chain of myosin in perfused rat heart under the influence of negative and positive inotropic agents

Phosphorylation and adenosine triphosphatase activity of myofibrils from thyrotoxic rabbit hearts

Cardiac hypertrophy induced by thyrotoxic stress leads to an increase in the rate of force development, velocity of shortening, tension-dependent heat generation, and myosin ATPase activity. We did studies to see whether alterations in covalent phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins correlate with these changes. The protein preparations were isolated from control and thyrotoxic hearts of male albino rabbits freeze-clamped in situ. We measured myofibrillar ATPase, and the covalent phosphate content of ventricular myosin 19,000 (mol wt) light chain (P-light chain) and troponin I (TnI). The myofibrillar ATPase activity was increased 2-fold in the thyrotoxic preparations with no change in the level of myofibrillar phosphorylation. The covalent phosphate content of TnI was 1.21 +/- 0.09 mol P/mol TnI in control hearts and 1.14 +/- 0.04 mol P/mol TnI in thyrotoxic hearts. The covalent phosphate content of the light chain fraction was 0.41 +/- 0.06 mol P/mol P-light chain in control hearts and 0.37 +/- 0.04 mol P/mol P-light chain in thyrotoxic hearts. The dependence of the normalized myofibrillar ATPase on free calcium concentration was the same in control and thyrotoxic preparations. Thus the mechanical, thermal, and biochemical changes found in hearts from thyrotoxic animals probably occur with no change in phosphorylation of TnI or myosin light chains.

Calcium-calmodulin-dependent phosphorylations in the control of muscular contraction?

Muscular contraction is triggered by the increase in free calcium concentration and modulated by cyclic nucleotide-dependent phosphorylation. Beside a direct trigger of sarcomeric muscle contraction through binding of troponin C, calcium ions trigger or modulate contractility through calcium-calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinases, and increase the rate of relaxation through the calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of phospholamban, the activator of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump. In both cases, a concerted regulation by calcium and cyclic nucleotides is observed. Hyperactivation of the calcium pump is brought about by additional phosphorylation of phospholamban by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Similarly myofibrillar myosin light chain kinases from smooth and skeletal muscles are substrates of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The calmodulin-dependent protein kinases are probably organized into supramolecular regulatory complexes.

Phosphorylation and the binding of calcium and magnesium to skeletal myosin

It has previously been shown that the binding of calcium and magnesium ions to the isolated metal-binding light chains, i.e. those dissociable by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate), of rabbit skeletal muscle myosin is moderated by phosphorylation and is accompanied by a sizeable conformational change. As judged by circular dichroism in the region of the aromatic Cotton effects, this conformational change occurs when calcium ions bind to the light chain in situ on the myosin head. Moreover the affinity for calcium is again changed by phosphorylation. The change in chymotryptic digestion patterns, in particular the protection of the head-rod junction in insoluble myosin, by divalent cations, has been used to obtain binding profiles. The results are consistent with the presence of a single class of independent sites, showing no cooperativity. The affinity of the site for both calcium and magnesium ions is enhanced by 1-2 orders of magnitude when the light chain in incorporated in the myosin heads. The effect of phosphorylation on the affinity persists in these circumstances, being marked for calcium and small for magnesium. On phosphorylation the calcium binding constant falls from 8 x 10(6) M-1 to 4 x 10(6) M-1 at physiological ionic strength, compared with 2.5 x 10(5) M-1 and 5 x 10(4) M-1 for the isolated light chains. The sensitivity of the proteolytic cleavage sites is affected by phosphorylation. Thus in the absence of calcium ions the yield of subfragment 1 at a low chymotrypsin concentration is substantially greater in dephosphorylated than phosphorylated myosin, whereas at saturating concentrations of calcium ions attack at the light meromyosin/heavy meromyosin junction is favoured by phosphorylation. These observations may signify a structural effect of phosphorylation on the prevailing interactions within the myosin filament in physiological solvent conditions.

Protein phosphorylation: quantitative analysis in vivo and in intact cell systems

Protein phosphorylation-dephosphorylation appears to be an essential component in the regulation of many cellular processes by hormones and drugs. This concept has developed primarily from in vitro biochemical studies in which various purified proteins have been phosphorylated and dephosphorylated by distinct protein kinases and phosphoprotein phosphatases. However, the more difficult, but essential, task of demonstrating the physiological occurrence of these reactions in intact tissue or cell preparations in many cases has not been undertaken in a quantitative manner. There are 4 basic approaches for assessing the extent of protein phosphorylation in vivo and in intact cell systems, each having particular advantages and disadvantages. These are summarized in Table 2. The applicability of any one procedure will be highly dependent upon the protein under investigation. For instance, chemical measurements of total protein-bound phosphate may provide only limited information for proteins which are phosphorylated at multiple sites but could be highly useful for those proteins such as glycogen phosphorylase which are phosphorylated at single sites. The relative ease and the high sensitivity of measuring 32P incorporation into proteins will tempt many investigators to rely heavily on this approach. It is a very powerful procedure, particularly for the initial identification of phosphoproteins, but ultimately quantitative conclusions regarding 32P incorporation must be corroborated by one or more of the other procedures. There is no simple, single experimental approach that may be used under all circumstances, but by integrating these procedures firm conclusions may be drawn regarding the physiological importance of phorphorylation of specific proteins.