Shark skeletal muscle tropomyosin is a phosphoprotein

Further Investigation into the Biochemical Effects of Phosphorylation of Tropomyosin Tpm1.1(α). Serine-283 Is in Communication with the Midregion

The phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of tropomyosin Tpm1.1(α) are prepared from adult rabbit heart and compared biochemically. Electrophoresis confirms the high level of enrichment of the chromatography fractions and is consistent with a single site of phosphorylation. Covalently bound phosphate groups at position 283 of Tpm1.1(α) increase the rate of digestion at Leu-169, suggestive of a conformational rearrangement that extends to the midregion. Such a rearrangement, which is supported by ellipticity measurements between 25 and 42 °C, is consistent with a phosphorylation-mediated tightening of the interaction between various myofilament components. In a nonradioactive, co-sedimentation assay [30 mM KCl, 1 mM Mg(II), and 4 °C], phosphorylated Tpm1.1(α) displays a higher affinity for F-actin compared to that of the unphosphorylated control (K_d, 0.16 μM vs 0.26 μM). Phosphorylation decreases the concentration of thin filaments (pCa 4 plus ATP) required to attain a half-maximal rate of release of product from a pre-power stroke complex [myosin-S1-2-deoxy-3-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)ADP-P_i], as investigated by double-mixing stopped-flow fluorescence, suggestive of a change in the proportion of active (turned on) and inactive (turned off) conformers, but similar maximum rates of product release are observed with either type of reconstituted thin filament. Phosphorylated thin filaments (pCa 4 and 8) display a higher affinity for myosin-S1(ADP) versus the control scenario without affecting isotherm steepness. Specific activities of ATP and Tpm1.1(α) are determined during an in vitro incubation of rat cardiac tissue [12 day-old, 50% phosphorylated Tpm1.1(α)] with [³²P]orthophosphate. The incorporation of an isotope into tropomyosin lags behind that of ATP by a factor of approximately 10, indicating that transfer is a comparatively slow process.

Allergenicity of vertebrate tropomyosins: Challenging an immunological dogma

With the exception of tilapia tropomyosin, other anecdotic reports of tropomyosin recognition of vertebrate origin are generally not accompanied by clinical significance and a dogmatic idea is generally accepted about the inexistence of allergenicity of vertebrate tropomyosins, based mainly on sequence similarity evaluations with human tropomyosins. Recently, a specific work-up of a tropomyosin sensitised patient with seafood allergy, demonstrated that the IgE-recognition of tropomyosin from different fish species can be clinically relevant. We hypothesise that some vertebrate tropomyosins could be relevant allergens. The hypothesis is based on the molecular evolution of the proteins and it was tested by in silico methods. Fish, which are primitive vertebrates, could have tropomyosins similar to those of invertebrates. If the hypothesis is confirmed, tropomyosin should be included in different allergy diagnosis tools to improve the medical protocols and management of patients with digestive or cutaneous symptoms after fish intake.

Mutation update and genotype-phenotype correlations of novel and previously described mutations in TPM2 and TPM3 causing congenital myopathies

Mutations affecting skeletal muscle isoforms of the tropomyosin genes may cause nemaline myopathy, cap myopathy, core-rod myopathy, congenital fiber-type disproportion, distal arthrogryposes, and Escobar syndrome. We correlate the clinical picture of these diseases with novel (19) and previously reported (31) mutations of the TPM2 and TPM3 genes. Included are altogether 93 families: 53 with TPM2 mutations and 40 with TPM3 mutations. Thirty distinct pathogenic variants of TPM2 and 20 of TPM3 have been published or listed in the Leiden Open Variant Database (http://www.dmd.nl/). Most are heterozygous changes associated with autosomal-dominant disease. Patients with TPM2 mutations tended to present with milder symptoms than those with TPM3 mutations, DA being present only in the TPM2 group. Previous studies have shown that five of the mutations in TPM2 and one in TPM3 cause increased Ca(2+) sensitivity resulting in a hypercontractile molecular phenotype. Patients with hypercontractile phenotype more often had contractures of the limb joints (18/19) and jaw (6/19) than those with nonhypercontractile ones (2/22 and 1/22), whereas patients with the non-hypercontractile molecular phenotype more often (19/22) had axial contractures than the hypercontractile group (7/19). Our in silico predictions show that most mutations affect tropomyosin-actin association or tropomyosin head-to-tail binding.

Tropomyosin Ser-283 pseudo-phosphorylation slows myofibril relaxation

Tropomyosin (Tm) is a central protein in the Ca(2+) regulation of striated muscle. The αTm isoform undergoes phosphorylation at serine residue 283. While the biochemical and steady-state muscle function of muscle purified Tm phosphorylation have been explored, the effects of Tm phosphorylation on the dynamic properties of muscle contraction and relaxation are unknown. To investigate the kinetic regulatory role of αTm phosphorylation we expressed and purified native N-terminal acetylated Ser-283 wild-type, S283A phosphorylation null and S283D pseudo-phosphorylation Tm mutants in insect cells. Purified Tm's regulate thin filaments similar to that reported for muscle purified Tm. Steady-state Ca(2+) binding to troponin C (TnC) in reconstituted thin filaments did not differ between the 3 Tm's, however disassociation of Ca(2+) from filaments containing pseudo-phosphorylated Tm was slowed compared to wild-type Tm. Replacement of pseudo-phosphorylated Tm into myofibrils similarly prolonged the slow phase of relaxation and decreased the rate of the fast phase without altering activation kinetics. These data demonstrate that Tm pseudo-phosphorylation slows deactivation of the thin filament and muscle force relaxation dynamics in the absence of dynamic and steady-state effects on muscle activation. This supports a role for Tm as a key protein in the regulation of muscle relaxation dynamics.

The role of tropomyosin isoforms and phosphorylation in force generation in thin-filament reconstituted bovine cardiac muscle fibres

The thin filament extraction and reconstitution protocol was used to investigate the functional roles of tropomyosin (Tm) isoforms and phosphorylation in bovine myocardium. The thin filament was extracted by gelsolin, reconstituted with G-actin, and further reconstituted with cardiac troponin together with one of three Tm varieties: phosphorylated alphaTm (alphaTm.P), dephosphorylated alphaTm (alphaTm.deP), and dephosphorylated betaTm (betaTm.deP). The effects of Ca, phosphate, MgATP and MgADP concentrations were examined in the reconstituted fibres at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C. Our data show that Ca(2+) sensitivity (pCa(50): half saturation point) was increased by 0.19 +/- 0.07 units when betaTm.deP was used instead of alphaTm.deP (P < 0.05), and by 0.27 +/- 0.06 units when phosphorylated alphaTm was used (P < 0.005). The cooperativity (Hill factor) decreased (but insignificantly) from 3.2 +/- 0.3 (5) to 2.8 +/- 0.2 (7) with phosphorylation. The cooperativity decreased significantly from 3.2 +/- 0.3 (5) to 2.1 +/- 0.2 (9) with isoform change from alphaTm.deP to betaTm.deP. There was no significant difference in isometric tension or stiffness between alphaTm.P, alphaTm.deP, and betaTm.deP muscle fibres at saturating [Ca(2+)] or after rigor induction. Based on the six-state cross-bridge model, sinusoidal analysis indicated that the equilibrium constants of elementary steps differed up to 1.7x between alphaTm.deP and betaTm.deP, and up to 2.0x between alphaTm.deP and alphaTm.P. The rate constants differed up to 1.5x between alphaTm.deP and betaTm.deP, and up to 2.4x between alphaTm.deP and alphaTm.P. We conclude that tension and stiffness per cross-bridge are not significantly different among the three muscle models.

Phosphorylation dependence of hsp27 multimeric size and molecular chaperone function

The molecular chaperone Hsp27 exists as a distribution of large oligomers that are disassembled by phosphorylation at Ser-15, -78, and -82. It is controversial whether the unphosphorylated Hsp27 or the widely used triple Ser-to-Asp phospho-mimic mutant is the more active molecular chaperone in vitro. This question was investigated here by correlating chaperone activity, as measured by the aggregation of reduced insulin or alpha-lactalbumin, with Hsp27 self-association as monitored by analytical ultracentrifugation. Furthermore, because the phospho-mimic is generally assumed to reproduce the phosphorylated molecule, the size and chaperone activity of phosphorylated Hsp27 were compared with that of the phospho-mimic. Hsp27 was triply phosphorylated by MAPKAP-2 kinase, and phosphorylation was tracked by urea-PAGE. An increasing degree of suppression of insulin or alpha-lactalbumin aggregation correlated with a decreasing Hsp27 self-association, which was the least for phosphorylated Hsp27 followed by the mimic followed by the unphosphorylated protein. It was also found that Hsp27 added to pre-aggregated insulin did not reverse aggregation but did inhibit these aggregates from assembling into even larger aggregates. This chaperone activity appears to be independent of Hsp27 phosphorylation. In conclusion, the most active chaperone of insulin and alpha-lactalbumin was the Hsp27 (elongated) dimer, the smallest Hsp27 subunit observed under physiological conditions. Next, the Hsp27 phospho-mimic is only a partial mimic of phosphorylated Hsp27, both in self-association and in chaperone function. Finally, the efficient inhibition of insulin aggregation by Hsp27 dimer led to the proposal of two models for this chaperone activity.