Actin-binding peptides obtained from the C-terminal 24-kDa fragment of porcine aorta smooth muscle myosin subfragment-1 heavy chain

Skeletal muscle myosin monomer in equilibrium with filaments forms a folded conformation

Rabbit skeletal myosin forms stable filaments under physiological conditions, and only a small amount stays as a monomer in equilibrium with filaments. The myosin monomers were observed in two conformational states, as extended and folded forms upon electron microscopy and gel filtration high performance liquid chromatography. The fraction of monomers in the folded conformation increased with a decrease in the concentration of NaCl below 0.2 M, and the conformational state was affected neither by the presence of ATP nor by the phosphorylation of regulatory light chain. In most of the folded monomers, the tail bent back toward the heads at one region, 45 nm apart from the head-tail junction, and the remaining tail portion containing the C-terminal tip appeared to interact with the head-tail junction. Only a small percentage of the folded monomers was in a more compact conformation close to the 10 S conformation of vertebrate smooth muscle and non-muscle myosins. The folded monomers, however, may not trap the products of ATP hydrolysis as assessed by single turnover experiments. The percentage of monomers in the 10 S-like conformation was increased by the exchange of a regulatory light chain with the smooth muscle light chain, indicating the participation of head-tail junction, including the regulatory light chain in the formation of folded conformation. The folded conformation may be common to various myosin IIs, suggestive of common roles for the folded monomers.

Assessment of the protein quality of the smooth muscle myofibrillar and connective tissue proteins of chicken gizzard

The objective of this study was to assess the protein quality of the myofibrillar and connective tissue proteins of chicken gizzard. Protein fractions were isolated from White Leghorn chicken gizzards and quantified by detailed amino acid analysis. This quantification involved repeated extractions of ground gizzards first with Triton X-100, then with low ionic strength imidazole-buffered saline (pH 7.1), followed by either 2% SDS or by 5 M guanidine hydrochloride. The total soluble intracellular protein fraction averaged 86.3% of the total protein and the insoluble extracellular connective tissue proteins comprised the remaining 13.7%. These fractions differed significantly in their essential amino acid (EAA) profiles, with the soluble intracellular fraction having the highest percentage EAA9 (48.6 to 49.0%) and the insoluble connective tissue fraction varying from 20.8 to 23%, compared to the FAO/WHO reference pattern value of 33.9% for a 2- to 5-yr-old child. Calculated protein efficiency ratios (PER) for intracellular proteins averaged 3.02 compared with a value of 1.65 for the extracellular matrix proteins. These results provide an accurate assessment of the protein quality of smooth muscle proteins of chicken gizzard and may prove valuable for industrial control of the amount of connective tissue added to formulations of meats and poultry products.

Uncoupling of actomyosin adenosinetriphosphatase by heparin and its fragments

Heparin and its enzymatic fragments, prepared by degradation of heparin with heparinase from Flavobacterium heparinum, were capable of inhibiting the actomyosin-ATPase activity obtained from striated and smooth vascular muscles. Heparin did not inhibit the myosin-ATPase activity in absence of actin. The results show that heparin changes the step of ATP hydrolysis of the complex actomyosin-ATPase by uncoupling the conformational transition on the myosin-head induced by actin upon the nucleotide-binding site. This mechanism is cooperative and dependent on conformational states of actomyosin complex which in turn is regulated by ATP and calcium levels. It was observed that in the presence of ATP, actin does not compete with heparin for binding to myosin showing that heparin and actin have different binding sites on myosin. The binding of heparin and ATP is cooperative suggesting that the nucleotide binding leads to an exposition of a second heparin-binding site. However, in the absence of ATP, actin competes with heparin for a binding site on the myosin. These results strongly suggest that in the weakly binding state of actin to myosin, the binding of heparin is powerful and in the rigor state its binding is decreased.

Roles of light chains in the activity and conformation of smooth muscle myosin

The 20-kDa regulatory (LC20) and 17-kDa essential (LC17) light chain subunits could be removed from porcine aorta smooth muscle myosin by the use of trifluoperazine and ammonium chloride. The isolated heavy chain rebound both light chains, resulting in the restoration of native properties. Experiments on reconstitution of the isolated heavy chain with LC17 and/or LC20 showed that both light chains were required for folding into the 10 S conformation and thus for the phosphorylation-dependent filament formation of smooth muscle myosin. However, LC17 was not essential for the phosphorylation-dependent regulation of actin-activated ATPase activity and superprecipitation but was required for full regulation. LC17 and phosphorylated LC20 were found to act as activators, and dephosphorylated LC20 was found to act as a repressor of the motor activities of smooth muscle myosin.