Tryptic digestion of rabbit skeletal myofibrils: an enzymatic probe of myosin cross-bridges

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate ameliorates oxidative damage to the TGase-catalyzed gelation of actomyosins

The present study attempted to investigate the interactive roles of protein oxidation (0-20 mM H₂O₂) and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) on the crosslinking efficiency of actomyosin mediated by transglutaminase (TGase). Oxidation at 0-20 mM H₂O₂ was not conducive to TGase-mediated crosslinking as indicated by the relative reduction of free amine consumption from 35.3% to 11.7%, and caused the principle crosslinking sites to progressively convert from myosin subfragment-1 (S1) to subfragment-1 (S2) as evidenced by electrophoresis. However, the binding of TSPP to myosin alleviated oxidation suppression to TGase-catalyzed crosslinking in varying degrees and retarded the migration of crosslinking site from S1 to S2. Moreover, oxidation (especially 20 mM H₂O₂) decreased the final (90 °C) elasticity index (EI) and water holding capacity of TGase-treated actomyosin gel, while TSPP intensified those of TGase-catalyzed actomyosin gel, indicating that TSPP had a positive effect on ameliorating the oxidative stress to TGase-catalyzed gelation of actomyosin.

Thick and thin filament gene mutations in striated muscle diseases

The sarcomere is the fundamental unit of cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction. During the last ten years, there has been growing awareness of the etiology of skeletal and cardiac muscle diseases originating in the sarcomere, an important evolving field. Many sarcomeric diseases affect newborn children, i. e. are congenital myopathies. The discovery and characterization of several myopathies caused by mutations in myosin heavy chain genes, coding for the major component of skeletal muscle thick filaments, has led to the introduction of a new entity in the field of neuromuscular disorders: myosin myopathies. Recently, mutations in genes coding for skeletal muscle thin filaments, associated with various clinical features, have been identified. These mutations evoke distinct structural changes within the sarcomeric thin filament. Current knowledge regarding contractile protein dysfunction as it relates to disease pathogenesis has failed to decipher the mechanistic links between mutations identified in sarcomeric proteins and skeletal myopathies, which will no doubt require an integrated physiological approach. The discovery of additional genes associated with myopathies and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis will lead to improved and more accurate diagnosis, including prenatally, and to enhanced potential for prognosis, genetic counseling and developing possible treatments for these diseases. The goal of this review is to present recent progress in the identification of gene mutations from each of the major structural components of the sarcomere, the thick and thin filaments, related to skeletal muscle disease. The genetics and clinical manifestations of these disorders will be discussed.

Muscle cross-bridges bound to actin are disordered in the presence of 2,3-butanedione monoxime

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to monitor the orientation of muscle cross-bridges attached to actin in a low force and high stiffness state that may occur before force generation in the actomyosin cycle of interactions. 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) has been shown to act as an uncompetitive inhibitor of the myosin ATPase that stabilizes a myosin.ADP.P(i) complex. Such a complex is thought to attach to actin at the beginning of the powerstroke. Addition of 25 mM BDM decreases tension by 90%, although stiffness remains high, 40-50% of control, showing that cross-bridges are attached to actin but generate little or no force. Active cross-bridge orientation was monitored via electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of a maleimide spin probe rigidly attached to cys-707 (SH-1) on the myosin head. A new labeling procedure was used that showed improved specificity of labeling. In 25 mM BDM, the probes have an almost isotropic angular distribution, indicating that cross-bridges are highly disordered. We conclude that in the pre-powerstroke state stabilized by BDM, cross-bridges are attached to actin, generating little force, with a large portion of the catalytic domain of the myosin heads disordered.

Rotational dynamics of actin-bound intermediates of the myosin adenosine triphosphatase cycle in myofibrils

We have used saturation transfer electron paramagnetic resonance (ST-EPR) to measure the microsecond rotational motion of actin-bound myosin heads in spin-labeled myofibrils in the presence of the ATP analogs AMPPNP (5'-adenylylimido-diphosphate) and ATP gamma S (adenosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate)). AMPPNP and ATP gamma S are believed to trap myosin in two major conformational intermediates of the actomyosin ATPase cycle, respectively known as the weakly bound and strongly bound states. Previous ST-EPR experiments with solutions of acto-S1 have demonstrated that actin-bound myosin heads are rotationally mobile on the microsecond time scale in the presence of ATP gamma S, but not in the presence of AMPPNP. However, it is not clear that results obtained with acto-S1 in solution can be extended to actomyosin constrained within the myofibrillar lattice. Therefore, ST-EPR spectra of spin-labeled myofibrils were analyzed explicitly in terms of the actin-bound component of myosin heads in the presence of AMPPNP and ATP gamma S. The fraction of actin-attached myosin heads was determined biochemically in the spin-labeled myofibrils, using the proteolytic rates actomyosin binding assay. At physiological ionic strength (mu = 165 mM), actin-bound myosin heads were found to be rotationally mobile on the microsecond time scale (tau r = 24 +/- 8 microseconds) in the presence of ATP gamma S, but not AMPPNP. Similar results were obtained at low ionic strength, confirming the acto-S1 solution studies. The microsecond rotational motions of actin-attached myosin heads in the presence of ATP gamma S are similar to those observed for spin-labeled myosin heads during the steady-state cycling of the actomyosin ATPase, both in solution and in an active isometric muscle fiber. These results indicate that weakly bound myosin heads, in the pre-force phase of the ATPase cycle, are rotationally mobile, while strongly bound heads, in the force-generating phase, are rotationally immobile. We propose that force generation involves a transition from a dynamically disordered crossbridge to a rigid and stereospecific one.

Effect of ADP on the orientation of spin-labeled myosin heads in muscle fibers: a high-resolution study with deuterated spin labels

We have used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to determine the effects of ADP on the orientational distribution of nitroxide spin labels attached to myosin heads in skinned rabbit psoas muscle fibers. To maximize the specificity of labeling, we spin-labeled isolated myosin heads (subfragment 1) on a single reactive thiol (SH1) and diffused them into unlabeled muscle fibers. To maximize spectral and orientational resolution, we used perdeuterated spin labels, 2H-MSL and 2H-IASL, eliminating superhyperfine broadening and thus narrowing the line widths. Two different spin labels were used, with different orientation relative to the myosin head, to ensure that the results are not affected by unfavorable probe orientation. In rigor, a very narrow three-line spectrum was observed for both spin labels, indicating a narrow orientational distribution, as reported previously (Thomas & Cooke, 1980). ADP induced very slight changes in the spectrum, corresponding to very slight (but significant) changes in the orientational distribution. These changes were quantified by a digital analysis of the spectra, using a two-step simplex fitting procedure (Fajer et al., 1990). First, the magnetic tensor values and line widths were determined by fitting the spectrum of a randomly oriented sample. Then the spectrum of oriented fibers was fit to a model by assuming a Gaussian distribution of the tilt angle (theta) and twist angle (phi) of the nitroxide principal axes relative to the fiber axis. A single-Gaussian distribution resulted in inadequate fits, but a two-component model gave excellent results. ADP induces a small (less than 5 degrees) rotation of the major components for both spin labels, along with a similarly small increase of disorder about the average positions.

Energetics of the actomyosin bond in the filament array of muscle fibers

The interaction between actin and myosin in the filament array of glycerinated muscle fibers has been monitored using paramagnetic probes and mechanical measurements. Both fiber stiffness and the spectra of probes bound to a reactive sulfydral on the myosin head were measured as the actomyosin bond was weakened by addition of magnesium pyrophosphate (MgPPi) and glycerol. In the absence of MgPPi, all myosin heads are attached to actin with oriented probes. When fibers were incubated in buffers containing MgPPi, a fraction of the probes became disordered, and this effect was greater in the presence of glycerol. To determine whether the heads with disordered probes were detached from actin, spin-labeled myosin subfragment-1 (MSL-S1) was diffused into unlabeled fibers, and the fractions bound to actin and free in the medium were correlated with the oriented and disordered spectral components. These experiments showed that the label was oriented when MSL-S1 was attached to actin in a ternary complex with the ligand and that all heads with disordered probes were detached from actin. Thus the fraction of oriented labels could be used to determine the fraction of heads attached to actin in a fiber in the presence of ligand. The fraction of myosin heads attached to actin decreased with increasing [MgPPi], and in the absence of glycerol approximately 50% of the myosin heads were dissociated at 3.3 mM ligand with little change in fiber stiffness. In the presence of 37% glycerol plus ligand, up to 80% of the heads could be detached with a 50% decrease in fiber stiffness. The data indicate that there are two populations of myosin heads in the fiber. All the data could be fit with a model in which one population of myosin heads (comprising approximately 50% of the total) sees an apparent actin concentration of 0.1 mM and can be released from actin with little change in fiber stiffness. A second population of myosin heads (approximately 50%) sees a higher actin concentration (5 mM) and is only released in the presence of both glycerol and ligand.

Proteolysis and binding of myosin subfragment 1 to actin

Rates of proteolytic cleavage of myosin subfragment 1 were measured in the absence and presence of different amounts of actin. The rates of tryptic digestion at the 50K/20K junction and papain digestion at the 25K/50K junction of the myosin head were progressively inhibited with increasing substoichiometric molar ratios of actin to myosin subfragment 1. The percentage inhibitions of digestion reactions corresponded precisely to the molar compositions of actin-subfragment 1 solutions and demonstrated that equimolar complexes of these proteins were responsible for the observed changes in the proteolysis of myosin heads.

Crosslinking of trypsin digested acto-heavy meromyosin as a probe of the affinity of the two myosin heads to actin

The interaction of the two heads of the myosin molecule with actin was studied by tryptic digestion of HMM in the presence of actin, followed by crosslinking the two nicked heavy chains with Nbs2 at the S2 region. In view of the protection by actin of the 50/60 kDa junction against proteolysis, the percentage of the heads interacting with actin was estimated from the proportion of the 110 kDa to the 60 kDa digestion product. Under conditions such that about 50% of HMM heads were protected by actin (at an actin to HMM head molar ratio of 1:1 in the absence of nucleotide, or 3:1 in the presence of 5 mM ADP), the crosslinking of the digestion products yielded a 230 kDa (110 + 110 kDa), 125 kDa (60 + 60 kDa) and 175 kDa (60 + 110 kDa) species. Since the latter should be the only crosslinking product when only one head of HMM molecule is protected by actin, it is concluded that there is no preferential binding of one of the two HMM heads to actin in the presence of ADP or at equimolar actin to myosin heads ratio.

A theoretical analysis of binding to the Ca2+-specific sites on troponin incorporated into thin filaments

Recent data on the binding of Ca2+ to the specific sites on troponin, alone, in regulated actin, and in regulated actomyosin, as well as data on the Ca2+ activation of the actomyosin ATPase (Grabarek, Z., J. Grabarek, P.C. Leavis, and J. Gergely, 1983, J. Biol. Chem., 258:14098-14102.), are analyzed on the basis of a model used previously for qualitative theoretical studies of the Ca2+ activation of muscle contraction (Shiner and Solaro, 1982). The data allow and require an extension of the model to consider the effects of tropomyosin explicitly. Three major results of the analysis are at variance with previous investigations. A repulsive interaction between tropomyosins; and an attractive interaction between actins (or myosin heads attached to actin) are found, whereas others have found or assumed an attractive tropomyosin-tropomyosin interaction and no actin-actin interaction. The parameter values found here predict hysteresis under the conditions of the ATPase experiments; no other existing model for the interactions manifest in the Ca2+ activation of contraction can predict hysteresis. The prediction is of increased interest in light of experimental reports of hysteresis in the Ca2+ activation of isometric force (Ridgeway, E. B., A. M. Gordon, and D. A. Martyn, 1983, Science (Wash. DC), 219:1075-1077; Gordon, A. M., E. B. Ridgeway, and D. A. Martyn, 1984, Plenum Publishing Corp., New York, 553-563; Brandt, P. W., B. Gluck, M. Mini, and C. Cerri, 1985, J. Mus. Res. Cell Motil. 6:197-205.).

Single-headed binding of a spin-labeled-HMM-ADP complex to F-actin. Saturation transfer electron paramagnetic resonance and sedimentation studies

The interaction of actin and spin-labeled heavy meromyosin (MSL-HMM) was studied in the presence and absence of adenosine diphosphate or 5'-adenyl-yl-imidodiphosphate (AMPPNP) to determine the contributions of single and double-headed binding. The extent of single-headed binding to actin was deduced from a comparison of the fraction of immobilized heads (fi) with the fraction of bound molecules (fs) determined by saturation-transfer EPR (ST-EPR) and sedimentation, respectively. The ST-EPR measurements depend on the reduced motion of the spin label rigidly bound to the HMM heads upon the interaction of the latter with actin. During titration of acto-MSL-HMM with nucleotide, we measured changes in fi and fs brought about by dissociation of MSL-HMM from actin. On titration with ADP, fs changed very little, remaining above 0.8, while fi decreased to approximately 0.5 at 10mM ADP, a result consistent with extensive single-headed binding of MSL-HMM to actin. On titration with AMPPNP, single-headed binding was not detected; viz., fi and fs decreased in parallel. It was not necessary to postulate a nucleotide induced state of the bound heads, differing in motional properties from that of rigor heads, to account for the results.

Actin-attached and detached crossbridges in myofibrils: segregation into two populations according to their sensitivity to proteolytic digestion of myosin heavy chain

Tryptic digestion of myofibrils was used to assess the interaction of crossbridges with thin filaments in the presence of ATP analogues. The relative amounts of 200 kDa fragment produced by trypsin from myosin heavy chain when the crossbridge is attached to actin, and of 160 kDa fragment produced when the crossbridge is detached from actin, served as a measure of crossbridge-actin interaction. In rigor only the 200 kDa fragment was produced suggesting that a great majority of the crossbridges were strongly attached to actin; in the presence of MgPPi at 0 degrees C only the 160 kDa fragment was finally produced suggesting that eventually all crossbridges detached from actin. In the presence of MgPPi or MgAMPPNP at 25 degrees C both 200 and 160 kDa fragments were present for several minutes after myosin heavy chain had been completely digested, suggesting that two populations of crossbridges (attached and detached) co-existed at the same time within the myofibril. It is concluded that the addition of ATP analogues to muscle does not simply affect the chemical equilibrium of binding of myosin heads to actin but that it causes rapid dissociation of one crossbridge population without significant effect on binding to actin of the remaining crossbridge population.

Effect of the integrity of the myofibrillar structure on the tryptic accessibility of a hinge region of the myosin rod

Limited proteolysis has been used to study the influence of actin, in the absence or presence of regulatory proteins of the thin filament (tropomyosin and troponin), as well as that of the myofibrillar structure on the tryptic cleavage of the heavy meromyosin (HMM)/light meromyosin (LMM) hinge region in myosin heavy chain. Cleavage at the HMM/LMM hinge is almost absent in myofibrils, whereas this hinge is accessible to tryptic digestion in actomyosin, in native thin filaments attached to myosin and in myosin heavy chain alone. This observation indicates that it is the myofibrillar structure which profoundly affects the tryptic accessibility of this specific hinge region of myosin. This provides a good example of the manner by which a highly organized supramolecular structure might affect the chemical properties of a specific site in a macromolecule.

The mechanism of muscle contraction

Knowledge of the mechanism of contraction has been obtained from studies of the interaction of actin and myosin in solution, from an elucidation of the structure of muscle fibers, and from measurements of the mechanics and energetics of fiber contraction. Many of the states and the transition rates between them have been established for the hydrolysis of ATP by actin and myosin subfragments in solution. A major goal is to now understand how the kinetics of this interaction are altered when it occurs in the organized array of the myofibril. Early work on the structure of muscle suggested that changes in the orientation of myosin cross-bridges were responsible for the generation of force. More recently, fluorescent and paramagnetic probes attached to the cross-bridges have suggested that at least some domains of the cross-bridges do not change orientation during force generation. A number of properties of active cross-bridges have been defined by measurements of steady state contractions of fibers and by the transients which follow step changes in fiber length or tension. Taken together these studies have provided firm evidence that force is generated by a cyclic interaction in which a myosin cross-bridge attaches to actin, exerts force through a "powerstroke" of 12 nm, and is then released by the binding of ATP. The mechanism of this interaction at the molecular level remains unknown.