Active calcium treatment transport via coupling between the enzymatic and the ionophoric sites of Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase

Defibrillation depresses heart sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump: a mechanism of postshock dysfunction

Presently, the only therapy for ventricular fibrillation is delivery of high-voltage shocks. Despite "successful defibrillation," patients may have poor cardiac contractility, the mechanisms of which are unknown. Intracellular Ca2+ handling by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) plays a major role in contractility. We tested the hypothesis that defibrillation shocks interfere with Ca2+ transport function of cardiac SR. Rats anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium had bilateral electrodes implanted subcutaneously for transthoracic shocks. A series of 10 shocks, 10 s apart, at 0-250 V was delivered from a trapezoidal defibrilator. The hearts were rapidly removed, SR-enriched membrane vesicles were isolated, and ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake and Ca(2+)-stimulated ATP hydrolysis were determined. There was a marked, shock-related decline in Ca2+ uptake, whereas adenosinetriphosphatase activity remained unaltered. The polypeptide compositions were similar in control and shocked SR. In Langendorff hearts, shocks also decreased contractility and slowed relaxation. These data indicate that shocks with current densities similar to defibrillation depress Ca(2+)-pumping function of cardiac SR because of uncoupling of ATP hydrolysis and Ca2+ transport. Shock-induced impairment of Ca2+ pump function may underlie postshock myocardial dysfunction.

Effects of aging on sarcoplasmic reticulum function and contraction duration in skeletal muscles of the rat

The impact of aging on the Ca2+ pump function of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was investigated using SR-enriched membrane vesicles isolated from the slow-twitch soleus muscle (SM) and the relatively fast-twitch gastrocnemius muscle (GM) isolated from adult (6-8 mo old) and aged (26-28 mo old) Fischer 344 rats. In addition, isometric twitch characteristics of SM and GM were determined in situ in adult and aged rats under anesthesia. The rates of ATP-supported Ca2+ uptake by SM SR was markedly lower ( approximately 50%) in the aged compared with adult at varying Ca2+ (0.11-8.24 microM) concentrations. Kinetic analysis of the data revealed age-associated decrease in maximum activity reached (Vmax) and increase in the concentration of Ca2+ giving half of Vmax. In contrast, no significant age-related difference was observed in ATP-supported Ca2+ uptake activity of GM SR. The Ca(2+)-stimulated adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activities and the amount of Ca(2+)-ATPase protein did not vary significantly with aging in SM or GM SR. Also, no significant age-related difference was observed in the content of the ryanodine receptor (Ca(2+)-release channel) or the Ca2+ binding protein, calsequestrin in SM and GM SR. In isometrically contracting SM, the time to peak force, half-relaxation time, and contraction duration were significantly prolonged in the aged compared with adult, whereas there was no age-related difference in maximum developed force. None of these isometric twitch parameters differed significantly with age in the GM. These results demonstrate that the effects of aging on skeletal muscle contractile properties and SR function are muscle specific. Furthermore, the data strongly suggest that impairment in SR Ca2+ pump function, apparently due to uncoupling of ATP hydrolysis from Ca2+ transport, contributes to the age-associated slowing of relaxation in the soleus muscle.

ATP-dependent calcium uptake in myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum from spontaneously hypertensive rats: effect of modification of dietary protein

Membrane fractions enriched in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) were isolated from the cardiac ventricles of 10-month-old, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) which had been maintained for nine months on one of four experimental diets: low protein (LP) (19% protein), standard (STD) (24% protein), high protein (HP) (32% protein), or high methionine (1.9% methionine) (MET). ATPase activities, as well as ATP-dependent Ca2+ binding and Ca2+-uptake activities, of the isolated SR were determined to examine the influence of diet on myocardial Ca2+-pump activity. SR from all four groups exhibited similar Mg2+-ATPase activity. However, the (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity was significantly elevated in SR from rats on the MET diet while the activity in the other groups showed no significant differences. After 15 sec of incubation, Ca2+-uptake (presence of oxalate) in SR from the LP group was significantly less than Ca2+-uptake in SR from each of the three other diet groups. Ca2+ binding (absence of oxalate) in the SR from the LP group was also significantly less than that from each of the three other diet groups. Kinetic analysis of SR Ca2+-uptake over 60 sec revealed that the Bmax of the MET group was significantly higher than Bmax of the STD diet group. In addition, the Bmax of the LP group was significantly lower than Bmax of the HP and MET groups. There was no significant difference in affinity of the SR Ca2+-uptake system among the four diet groups. These results indicate that modification of dietary protein can influence myocardial SR Ca2+-pump function.

Regulation of canine heart sarcolemmal Ca2+-pumping ATPase by cyclic GMP

Cyclic nucleotide modulation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump has been recognized for some time. Little is known, however, of cyclic nucleotide effects on the sarcolemmal Ca2+-pump. In sarcolemmal vesicles prepared from ventricular muscle by a recent technique (Jones, L.R., Maddock, S.W. and Besch, H.R. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 9971-9980) we have demonstrated via Millipore filtration that 10(-8) M and 10(-9) M cyclic GMP depressed the rate of ATP- and Mg2+-dependent 45Ca2+ uptake by 34% and 52%, respectively. Only at millimolar levels did cyclic AMP have any effect and the respective 5'-nucleotides had no effect at all. Parallel measurement of the associated (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase in the presence of either cyclic or 5'-nucleotides, however, revealed no concomitant depression in ATP hydrolysis. In another series of experiments, the cyclic GMP effect on 45Ca2+ uptake was associated with a significant decrease in the pump Vmax, and at the most effective concentration of cyclic GMP increased the apparent Km for Ca2+. These results suggest that cyclic GMP may depress ventricular Ca2+ efflux by decreasing the enzyme turnover and to a limited extent, decreasing pump affinity for Ca2+. This supports a hypothesis whereby cyclic GMP might modulate both local biochemical and electrophysiological events by an effect on a discrete, regional pool of intracellular Ca2+.

Evidence that trypsin digestion exposes a channel in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane

We present evidence that proteolytic digestion of sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes with trypsin exposes an ionophore that is capable of translocating calcium across the membrane of preloaded vesicles. Net transport of calcium appears to stop when the chemical potential of the ion on both sides of the membrane is equal. The temperature coefficient of steady-state leakage suggests that the ionophore is of the channel or pore type. We suggest that tryptic digestion exposes a channel in sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes through which calcium, and perhaps other ions as well, can diffuse down concentration gradients.

Identification of hydrophobic regions of the calcium-transport ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum after photochemical labeling with adamantane diazirine

The Ca-ATPase from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum was labeled with [3H]adamantane diazirine. Adamantane diazirine is a hydrophobic photoactivated probe that partitions into the cell membrane and can be used to identify regions of proteins that are embedded within the membrane. Digestion of the labeled protein with trypsin and separation of the labeled tryptic fragments by SDS-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis indicated that all of the major tryptic fragments were labeled by the probe. The presence of glutathione in the sample buffer during photolysis did not alter the pattern of labeling, indicating that adamantane diazirine labeled the Ca-ATPase from within the lipid bilayer. These results indicate that the Ca-ATPase polypeptide must cross the membrane at least 3 times.

Ion pathways in proteins of the sarcoplasmic reticulum

In summary, we have begun to characterize three different ion pathways in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Ca2+-ionophoric activity has been traced to a 13,000-dalton CNBr fragment localized at the amino terminus of the ATPase molecule... The pathway involved in Ca2+ release can be distinguished from the pathway involved in Ca2+ uptake by its insensitivity to quercetin. An anion pathway is sensitive to DIDS and appears to be localized in the ATPase molecule

Ion-transport chain of cytochrome oxidase: the two chain-direct coupling principle of energy coupling

Cytochrome oxidase (ferrocytochrome c:oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.9.3.1) couples the aerobic oxidation of ferrocytochrome c to the cyclical transport of monovalent cations or to the active transport of monovalent and divalent cations. This transport capability is mediated by an intracomplex ion-transport chain of two protein-bound molecules of cardiolipin per molecule of cytochrome oxidase. Cardiolipin in a two-phase system shows the identical ionophoric pattern as does the cytochrome oxidase coupled system. A molecular model of the cardiolipin chain suggests the possibility of a cage-like structure through which cations can be transferred from phosphate group to phosphate group. The ion-transport chain and the electron-transport chain are anchored to the same set of subunits (I+IV); the close proximity of the two chains argues for the direct coupling of electron and cation flow. The ion-transport chain of cytochrome oxidase provides an introduction to the molecular mechanisms by which ions are moved across membranes in energy-coupling systems.