Effect of muscle and non-muscle tropomyosins in reconstituted skeletal muscle actomyosin

Hybrid and non-hybrid actomyosins reconstituted with actin, myosin and tropomyosin from skeletal and catch muscles

In this study, we investigated hybrid and non-hybrid actomyosin models including key contractile proteins: actin, myosin, and tropomyosin. These proteins were isolated from the rabbit skeletal muscle and the catch muscle of the mussel Crenomytilus grayanus. Our results confirmed literature data on an unusual ability of bivalve's tropomyosin to inhibit Mg-ATPase activity of skeletal muscle actomyosin. We have shown that the degree of inhibition depends on the environmental conditions and may vary within a wide range. The inhibitory effect of mussel tropomyosin was not detected in non-hybrid model (mussel myosin + mussel actin + mussel tropomyosin). This effect was revealed only in hybrid models containing mussel tropomyosin + rabbit (or mussel) actin + rabbit myosin. We assume that mussel and rabbit myosins have mismatched binding sites for actin. In addition, mussel tropomyosin interacting with actin is able to close the binding sites of rabbit myosin with actin, which leads to inhibition of Mg-ATPase activity.

Molluscan smooth catch muscle contains calponin but not caldesmon

We isolated Ca(2+)-regulated thin filaments from the smooth muscle of the mussel Crenomytilus grayanus and studied the protein composition of different preparations from this muscle: whole muscle, heat-stable extract, fractions from heat-stable extract, thin filaments and intermediate stages of thin filaments purification. Among the protein components of the above-listed preparations, we did not find caldesmon (CaD), although two isoforms of a calponin-like (CaP-like) protein, which along with CaD is characteristic of vertebrate smooth muscle, were present in thin filaments. Thus, CaD is not Ca(2+)-regulator of thin filaments of this muscle. On the other hand, the mussel CaP-like protein is also not such Ca(2+)-regulator since we have shown that this protein can be selectively removed from isolated mussel thin filaments without loss of their Ca(2+)-sensitivity. We suggest that thin filaments in the smooth catch muscle possess other type of Ca(2+)-regulation, different from that in vertebrate smooth muscles.

Angiogenic effects of stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1/CXCL12) variants in vitro and the in vivo expressions of CXCL12 variants and CXCR4 in human critical leg ischemia

PURPOSE

Critical leg ischemia (CLI) is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Therapeutic angiogenesis is still being investigated as a possible alternative treatment option for CLI. CXCL12, a chemokine, is known to have two spliced variants, CXCL12alpha and CXCL12beta, but the significance remains unknown. The study investigated the angiogenic effects of CXCL12, protein expressions of CXCL12, and the receptor CXCR4 in human CLI.

METHODS

In vitro, human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) were used. Cell proliferation was assessed using methylene blue assay and cell count method. Apoptosis was determined by counting the pyknotic nuclei after 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining and confirmed by caspase-3 assay. We employed matrigel as capillary tube formation assay. The activity of signaling pathways was measured using Western blotting. In vivo, gastrocnemius biopsies were obtained from the lower limbs of patients with CLI and controls (n = 12 each). Immunohistochemistry, double immunofluorescence labeling, and Western blotting were then performed.

RESULTS

CXCL12 attenuated HMEC-1 apoptosis (P < .01), stimulated cell proliferation (P < .05) and capillary tube formation (P < .01). Compared with CXCL12alpha, CXCL12beta has a greater effect on apoptosis and cell proliferation (P < .01). Treatment with both variants resulted in time-dependent activation of PI3K/Akt and p44/42 but not p38 MAP kinase. In CLI, CXCL12alpha was expressed by skeletal muscle fibers with minimal expression of CXCL12beta. CXCR4 was extensively expressed and colocalized to microvessels. A significant 2.6-fold increase in CXCL12alpha and CXCR4 expressions (P < .01) were noted in CLI but not for CXCL12beta (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The study showed that CXCL12beta had more potent angiogenic properties but was not elevated in human CLI biopsies. This provided an interesting finding on the role of CXCL12 variants in pathophysiologic angiogenic response in CLI.

Human tropomyosin isoforms in the regulation of cytoskeleton functions

Over the past two decades, extensive molecular studies have identified multiple tropomyosin isoforms existing in all mammalian cells and tissues. In humans, tropomyosins are encoded by TPM1 (alpha-Tm, 15q22.1), TPM2 (beta-Tm, 9p13.2-p13.1), TPM3 (gamma-Tm, 1q21.2) and TPM4 (delta-Tm, 19p13.1) genes. Through the use of different promoters, alternatively spliced exons and different sites of poly(A) addition signals, at least 22 different tropomyosin cDNAs with full-length open reading frame have been cloned. Compelling evidence suggests that these isoforms play important determinants for actin cytoskeleton functions, such as intracellular vesicle movement, cell migration, cytokinesis, cell proliferation and apoptosis. In vitro biochemical studies and in vivo localization studies suggest that different tropomyosin isoforms have differences in their actin-binding properties and their effects on other actin-binding protein functions and thus, in their specification ofactin microfilaments. In this chapter, we will review what has been learned from experimental studies on human tropomyosin isoforms about the mechanisms for differential localization and functions of tropomyosin. First, we summarize current information concerning human tropomyosin isoforms and relate this to the functions of structural homologues in rodents. We will discuss general strategies for differential localization oftropomyosin isoforms, particularly focusing on differential protein turnover and differential isoform effects on other actin binding protein functions. We will then review tropomyosin functions in regulating cell motility and in modulating the anti-angiogenic activity of cleaved high molecular weight kininogen (HKa) and discuss future directions in this area.

Effect of Caldesmon on the Position and Myosin-induced Movement of Smooth Muscle Tropomyosin Bound to Actin

It is known that the actin-binding protein caldesmon inhibits actomyosin ATPase activity and might in this way take part in the thin filament regulation of smooth muscle contraction. Although the molecular mechanism of this inhibition is unknown, it is clear that the presence of actin-bound tropomyosin is necessary for full inhibition. Recent evidence also suggests that the myosin-induced movement of tropomyosin plays a key role in regulation. In this work, fluorescence studies provide evidence to show that caldesmon interacts with and alters the position of tropomyosin in a reconstituted actin thin filament and thereby limits the ability of myosin heads to move tropomyosin. Caldesmon interacts with the Cys-190 region in the COOH-terminal half of tropomyosin, resulting in the movement of this part of tropomyosin to a new position on actin. Additionally, this constrains the myosin-induced movement of this region of tropomyosin. On the other hand, caldesmon does not appear to interact with the Cys-36 region in the NH2-terminal half of tropomyosin and neither alters the position of nor significantly constrains the myosin-induced movement of this part of tropomyosin. The ability of caldesmon to limit the myosin-induced movement of tropomyosin provides a possible molecular basis for the inhibitory function of caldesmon. The different movements of the two halves of tropomyosin indicate that actin-bound tropomyosin moves as a flexible molecule and not as a rigid rod. Interestingly, caldesmon, which inhibits tropomyosin's potentiation of actomyosin ATPase activity, moves tropomyosin in one direction, whereas myosin heads, which enhance potentiation, move tropomyosin in the opposite direction.

Tuning smooth muscle contraction by molecular motors

As in striated muscle, smooth muscle cells (SMC) contract by Ca2+ activated cyclic interaction between actin and type II myosin. However, smooth muscle maintains tone at basal activating Ca2+ and low energetic cost during sustained activation. This review analyzes the regulation of phasic and tonic contraction of SMC on the molecular level. Type II myosin is the molecular motor also of smooth muscle contraction. Six myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoenzymes (four smooth muscle, two nonmuscle) and five myosin light chain (MLC) isoforms (two 17 kDa, two 20 kDa, one 23 kDa) are expressed in SMC. These myosin subunits could be generated by alternative splicing or by differential gene expression. Thus different myosin isoenzymes are generated which may be modified posttranslationally by phosphorylation, affecting the contractile state of the SMC. Furthermore, they may be part of distinct contractile systems which are targeted by different second messenger cascades and are recruited differentially during activation, electromechanical, and pharmacomechanical coupling. Low energy consumption, shortening velocity, and MLC20 phosphorylation at low Ca2+ activation levels during tone maintenance ("latch") could be explained by a switch from smooth muscle myosin to nonmuscle myosin activation upon prolonged activation.

The ends of tropomyosin are major determinants of actin affinity and myosin subfragment 1-induced binding to F-actin in the open state

Tropomyosin (TM) is thought to exist in equilibrium between two states on F-actin, closed and open [Geeves, M. A., and Lehrer, S. S. (1994) Biophys. J. 67, 273-282]. Myosin shifts the equilibrium to the open state in which myosin binds strongly and develops force. Tropomyosin isoforms, that primarily differ in their N- and C-terminal sequences, have different equilibria between the closed and open states. The aim of the research is to understand how the alternate ends of TM affect cooperative actin binding and the relationship between actin affinity and the cooperativity with which myosin S1 promotes binding of TM to actin in the open state. A series of rat alpha-tropomyosin variants was expressed in Escherichia coli that are identical except for the ends, which are encoded by exons 1a or 1b and exons 9a, 9c or 9d. Both the N- and C-terminal sequences, and the particular combination within a TM molecule, determine actin affinity. Compared to tropomyosins with an exon 1a-encoded N-terminus, found in long isoforms, the exon 1b-encoded sequence, expressed in 247-residue nonmuscle tropomyosins, increases actin affinity in tropomyosins expressing 9a or 9d but has little effect with 9c, a brain-specific exon. The relative actin affinities, in decreasing order, are 1b9d > 1b9a > acetylated 1a9a > 1a9d >> 1a9a > or = 1a9c congruent with 1b9c. Myosin S1 greatly increases the affinity of all tropomyosin variants for actin. In this, the actin affinity is the primary factor in the cooperativity with which myosin S1 induces TM binding to actin in the open state; generally, the higher the actin affinity, the lower the occupancy by myosin required to saturate the actin with tropomyosin: 1b9d >1a9d> 1b9a > or = acetylated 1a9a > 1a9a > 1a9c congruent with 1b9c.

Tropomyosin isoforms in nonmuscle cells

Vertebrate nonmuscle cells, such as human and rat fibroblasts, express multiple isoforms of tropomyosin, which are generated from four different genes and a combination of alternative promoter activities and alternative splicing. The amino acid variability among these isoforms is primarily restricted to three alternatively spliced exon regions; an amino-terminal region, an internal exon, and a carboxyl-terminal exon. Recent evidence reveals that these variable exon regions encode amino acid sequences that may dictate isoform-specific functions. The differential expression of tropomyosin isoforms found in cell transformation and cell differentiation, as well as the differential localization of tropomyosin isoforms in some types of culture cells and developing neurons suggest a differential isoform function in vivo. Tropomyosin in striated muscle works together with the troponin complex to regulate muscle contraction in a Ca(2+)-dependent fashion. Both in vitro and in vivo evidence suggest that multiple isoforms of tropomyosin in nonmuscle cells may be required for regulating actin filament stability, intracellular granule movement, cell shape determination, and cytokinesis. Tropomyosin-binding proteins such as caldesmon, tropomodulin, and other unidentified proteins may be required for some of these functions. Strong evidence for the distinct functions carried out by different tropomyosin isoforms has been generated from genetic analysis of yeast and Drosophila tropomyosin mutants.

Structure-function relationships in smooth muscle: the missing links

Smooth muscle cells have developed a contractile machinery that allows them to exert tension on the surrounding extracellular matrix over their entire length. This has been achieved by coupling obliquely organized contractile filaments to a more-or-less longitudinal framework of cytoskeletal elements. Earlier structural data suggested that the cytoskeleton was composed primarily of intermediate filaments and played only a passive role. More recent findings highlight the segregation of actin isotypes and of actin-associated proteins between the contractile and cytoskeletal domains and raise the possibility that the cytoskeleton performs a more active function. Current efforts focus on defining the relative contributions of myosin cross-bridge cycling and actin-associated protein interactions to the maintenance of tension in smooth muscle tissue.

Functional properties of non-muscle tropomyosin isoforms

Tropomyosins are a family of actin filament binding proteins. They have been identified in many organisms, including yeast, nematodes, Drosophila, birds and mammals. In metazoans, different forms of tropomyosin are characteristic of specific cell types. Most non-muscle cells, such as fibroblasts, express five to eight isoforms of tropomyosins. The various isoforms exhibit distinct biochemical properties that appear to be required for specific cellular functions.

Differential regulation of skeletal muscle myosin-II and brush border myosin-I enzymology and mechanochemistry by bacterially produced tropomyosin isoforms

In this report, we have compared the physical properties and actin-binding characteristics of several bacterially produced nonmuscle and striated muscle tropomyosins, and we have examined the effects of these isoforms on the interactions of actin with two structurally distinct classes of myosin: striated muscle myosin-II and brush border (BB) myosin-I. All of the bacterially produced nonmuscle tropomyosins bind to F-actin with the expected stoichiometry and with affinities comparable to that of a tissue produced alpha-tropomyosin, although the striated muscle tropomyosin CTm7 has a lower affinity for F-actin than a tissue-purified striated muscle alpha tropomyosin. The bacterially produced isoforms also protect F-actin from severing by villin as effectively as tissue-purified striated muscle alpha-tropomyosin. The bacterially produced 284 amino acid striated muscle tropomyosin isoform CTm7, the 284 amino acid nonmuscle tropomyosin isoform CTm4, and two chimeric tropomyosins (CTm47 and CTm74) all inhibit the actin-activated MgATPase activity of muscle myosin S1 by approximately 70-85%, comparable to the inhibition seen with tissue-purified striated muscle alpha tropomyosin. The 248 amino acid tropomyosin XTm4 stimulated the actin-activated MgATPase activity of muscle myosin S1 approximately two- to threefold. The in vitro sliding of actin filaments translocated by muscle myosin-II (2.4 microns/sec at 19 degrees C, 5.0 microns/s at 24 degrees C) increased 25-65% in the presence of XTm4. Tropomyosins CTm4, CTm7, CTm47, and CTm74 had no detectable effect on myosin-II motility. The actin-activated MgATPase activity of BB myosin-I was inhibited 75-90% by all of the tropomyosin isoforms tested, including the 248 amino acid tropomyosin XTm4. BB myosin-I motility (50 nm/s) was completely inhibited by both the 248 and 284 amino acid tropomyosins. These results demonstrate that bacterially produced tropomyosins can differentially regulate myosin enzymology and mechanochemistry, and suggest a role for tropomyosin in the coordinated regulation of myosin isoforms in vivo.

Induction of neuron-specific tropomyosin mRNAs by nerve growth factor is dependent on morphological differentiation

We have examined the expression of brain-specific tropomyosins during neuronal differentiation. Both TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 were shown to be neuron specific. TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 mRNA levels increased during the most active phase of neurite outgrowth in the developing rat cerebellum. In PC12 cells stimulated by nerve growth factor (NGF) to differentiate to the neuronal phenotype, TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 levels increased with an increasing degree of morphological differentiation. Induction of TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 expression only occurred under conditions where PC12 cells were permitted to extend neurites. NGF was unable to maintain levels of TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 with the loss of neuronal phenotype by resuspension of differentiated PC12 cells. The unique cellular expression and regulation in vivo and in vitro of TmBr-1 and TmBr-3 strongly suggests a critical role of these tropomyosins in neuronal microfilament function. The findings reveal that the induction and maintenance of the neuronal tropomyosins is dependent on morphological differentiation and the maintenance of the neuronal phenotype.

Tropomyosin from the striated muscles of carp (Cyprinus carpio) and of icefish (Channichthys rhinoceratus)

Tropomyosin of fast-twitch, slow-twitch and cardiac muscles of carp and icefish has been isolated by hydroxyapatite chromatography. The subunit distribution has been investigated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by peptide mapping. The purified skeletal muscle tropomyosins all belong to the alpha family and differ from higher vertebrate tropomyosin by the lack of beta subunits. Specific alpha isotypes are however encountered in fast-twitch fibres (alpha w subunit) and slow-twitch or intermediate (pink) fibres (alpha and alpha w subunits). The amino acid compositions and the paracrystals formed by the carp alpha w alpha w and alpha alpha w tropomyosins do not differ markedly from that of rabbit alpha alpha chains. They differ however by their capability to inhibit the ATPase activity of rabbit skeletal muscle acto-HMM system. A beta-like subunit is found in carp cardiac tropomyosin, in the proportion of 25% of the native protein, but not in icefish heart.

Regulation of vertebrate striated muscle contraction

Most current textbooks of cell biology and histology use the steric blocking model to describe the protein mechanism by which vertebrate striated muscle contraction is regulated. Evidence accumulated in the past decade, however, reveals the regulation of muscle contraction to be far more complex than this model predicts.

Purification of tropomyosin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and identification of related proteins in Schizosaccharomyces and Physarum

Tropomyosin is a key component of the contractile systems found in muscle and nonmuscle cells of higher eukaryotes. Based on properties common to all tropomyosins, we have purified a protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that resembles tropomyosins from higher cells. The yeast protein remains soluble after heat treatment at 90 degrees C, has an apparent polypeptide molecular weight of 33,000, an isoelectric point of 4.5, a Stokes radius of 3.5 nm, and a sedimentation coefficient of 2.6 S. It binds F-actin in a Mg2+-dependent, KCl-modulated manner, up to a stoichiometry of about 1 polypeptide per 3.0 actin monomers. In all these properties it is very similar to tropomyosins from higher cells. Antigen-affinity-purified antibodies specifically recognize the Mr 33,000 polypeptide among total yeast proteins and crossreact with bovine brain tropomyosin. In addition, the antibodies specifically crossreact with heat-stable Mr 33,000 polypeptides in extracts of Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Physarum polycephalum. Our detection of tropomyosin in lower eukaryotes suggests that they might have contractile systems very similar to those found in higher organisms.

Caldesmon: a calmodulin-binding actin-regulatory protein

The protein caldesmon, originally isolated from smooth muscle tissue where it is the most abundant calmodulin-binding protein, has since been shown to have a wide distribution in actin- and myosin- containing cells where it is localized in sub-cellular structures concerned with motility, shape changes and exo- or endo-cytosis. Caldesmon is believed to be an actin- regulatory protein, and binds with high affinity to actin or actin-tropomyosin. Caldesmon inhibits the activation by actin-tropomyosin of myosin MgATPase activity, and the inhibition can be reversed by Ca2+.calmodulin. The binding of caldesmon to smooth muscle proteins has been studied in detail, enabling a model to be constructed which could account for the observed Ca2+ regulation of smooth muscle thin filaments. The abundance of caldesmon, and the Ca2+-regulation of its activity via calmodulin, mean that it is potentially an important intracellular regulator of processes such as smooth muscle contraction, cell motility and secretion.

The thin filaments of smooth muscles

Contraction in vertebrate smooth and striated muscles results from the interaction of the actin filaments with crossbridges arising from the myosin filaments. The functions of the actin based thin filaments are (1) interaction with myosin to produce force; (2) regulation of force generation in response to Ca2+ concentration; and (3) transmission of the force to the ends of the cell. The major protein components of smooth muscle thin filaments are actin, tropomyosin and caldesmon, present in molar ratios of 28:4:1 respectively. Other smooth muscle proteins which may be associated with the thin filaments in the cell are filamin, vinculin, alpha-actinin, myosin light chain kinase and calmodulin. We have reviewed the structural and functional properties of these proteins and where possible we have suggested what their function and mechanism of action may be. We propose that actin and tropomyosin are involved in the force producing interaction with myosin, and that this interaction is controlled by a Ca2+-dependent mechanism involving caldesmon, tropomyosin and calmodulin. Vinculin, alpha-actinin and filamin appear to be involved in the attachment of the thin filaments to the cell membrane and their spatial organization within the cell. We conclude that the filaments of smooth muscles share many common properties with those from skeletal muscle, but that they are also quite distinct in terms of both their caldesmon based regulatory mechanism and their mode of organization into a contractile apparatus.

Properties of carboxypeptidase A-treated chicken gizzard tropomyosin

Chicken gizzard tropomyosin was digested with carboxypeptidase A at the weight ratios of enzyme to substrate 1:200 and 1:50. Removal of about 16 C-terminal amino acid residues per tropomyosin molecule, at lower enzyme concentration, caused reversion of the effect on skeletal actomyosin ATPase activity from activating to inhibiting without an influence on polymerizability and actin-binding ability. Removal of about 26 C-terminal amino acid residues per molecule, at higher enzyme concentration, resulted in loss of polymerizability and actin binding ability. Digestion of gizzard tropomyosin with carboxypeptidase A has no dramatic effect on its binding to troponin T. The results show that not only the existence of head-to-tail overlapping regions but also their length is important for the functional properties of chicken gizzard tropomyosin.

Tropomyosin-enriched and alpha-actinin-enriched microfilaments isolated from chicken embryo fibroblasts by monoclonal antibodies

Antitropomyosin and anti-alpha-actinin monoclonal antibodies have been used to isolate two classes of microfilaments, i.e., tropomyosin-enriched and alpha-actinin-enriched microfilaments, respectively, from cultured chicken embryo fibroblasts. Electron microscopic studies of the isolated tropomyosin-enriched microfilaments showed periodic localization of tropomyosin along the microfilaments, with a 35-nm repeat. On the contrary, the isolated alpha-actinin-enriched microfilaments showed no obvious periodicity. Many individual alpha-actinin-enriched microfilaments with length greater than 1 micron (ranging from 1 to 10 microns) were aggregated by anti-alpha-actinin monoclonal antibodies. Both of the isolated microfilaments had the ability to activate the Mg2+-ATPase activity of skeletal muscle myosin, although different extents of activation were observed. These two classes of microfilaments also differed in their protein composition. Molar ratios of major identifiable proteins in the isolated microfilaments were alpha-actinin(dimer):actin(monomer):tropomyosin(dimer) = less than 0.02:8.06:1.00 for tropomyosin-enriched microfilaments and 0.44:13.91:1.00 for alpha-actinin-enriched microfilaments. By two-dimensional gel analysis of the isolated microfilaments, we have found seven spots which possess typical tropomyosin properties including pI 4.5, immunological cross-reaction, lack of proline and tryptophan, and heat stability. Pulse-chase experiments suggested that the assembly of microfilament-associated proteins, at least for alpha-actinin and tropomyosins, was coordinately regulated by the assembly of actin into microfilaments.

Structural and functional properties of the non-muscle tropomyosins

The non-muscle tropomyosins (TMs), isolated from such tissues as platelets, brain and thyroid, are structurally very similar to the muscle TMs, being composed of two highly alpha-helical subunits wound around each other to form a rod-like molecule. The non-muscle TMs are shorter than the muscle TMs; sequence analysis demonstrates that each subunit of equine platelet TM consists of 247 amino acids, 37 fewer than for skeletal muscle TM. The major differences in sequence between platelet and skeletal muscle TM are found near the amino and carboxyl terminal ends of the proteins. Probably as the result of such alterations, the non-muscle TMs aggregate in a linear end-to-end manner much more weakly than do the muscle TMs. Since end-to-end interactions are responsible for the highly cooperative manner in which TM binds to actin, the non-muscle TMs have a lower affinity for actin filaments than do the muscle TMs. However, the attachment of other proteins to actin (e.g. the Tn-I subunit of skeletal muscle troponin or the S-1 subfragment of skeletal muscle myosin) can increase the affinity of actin filaments for non-muscle TM. The non-muscle TMs interact functionally with the Tn-I component of skeletal muscle troponin to inhibit the ATPase activity of muscle actomyosin and with whole troponin to regulate the muscle actomyosin ATPase in a Ca++-dependent manner, even though one of the binding sites for troponin on skeletal TM is missing in non-muscle TM. A novel actomyosin regulatory system can be produced using Tn-I, calmodulin and non-muscle TM; in this case inhibition is released when the non-muscle TM detaches from the actin filament in the presence of Ca++. Although it has not yet been demonstrated that the non-muscle TMs participate in a Ca++-dependent contractile regulatory system in vivo it does appear that they are associated with actin filaments in vivo.

A novel 36,000-dalton actin-binding protein purified from microfilaments in Physarum plasmodia which aggregates actin filaments and blocks actin-myosin interaction

In the plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum, which show a cyclic contraction-relaxation rhythm of the gel layer, huge aggregates of entangled actin microfilaments are formed at about the onset of the relaxation (R. Nagai, Y. Yoshimoto, and N. Kamiya. 1978. J. Cell Sci. 33:205-225). By treating the plasmodia with Triton X-100, we prepared a demembranated cytoskeleton consisting of entangled actin filaments and found that the actin filaments hardly interact with rabbit skeletal myosin. From the cytoskeleton we purified a novel actin-binding protein which binds stoichiometrically to actin and makes actin filaments curled and aggregated. It also inhibits the ATPase activity as well as the superprecipitation of reconstituted rabbit skeletal muscle actomyosin. This protein has a polypeptide molecular weight of 36,000 and binds 7 mol of actin/mol 36,000 polypeptide.

Properties of tropomyosin from the dual-regulated obliquely striated body wall muscle of the earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.)

The obliquely striated body wall muscle of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L. possesses a dual actin-linked and myosin-linked regulatory system. Tropomyosin from this muscle has now been purified and its functional properties compared to tropomyosin from vertebrate skeletal muscle. Earthworm tropomyosin has a molecular weight of about 70 000 and is composed of two polypeptide chains of molecular weight of 34 000 and 37 000. Structural and functional similarities to skeletal muscle tropomyosin were demonstrated with respect to the formation and periodicity of paracrystals and nets and the potentiation of skeletal muscle acto-SF1 ATPase activity at low ATP concentration. Likewise, earthworm tropomyosin inhibited skeletal muscle acto-HMM ATPase activity at normal ATP concentrations but to a much greater extent than skeletal muscle tropomyosin; this inhibition was removed by skeletal muscle troponin, in the presence of Ca2+. In a system containing earthworm myosin and skeletal muscle actin, earthworm tropomyosin had no detectable influence on the actin-activated ATPase activity. It is concluded that earthworm tropomyosin plays an active role in the actin-linked troponin-dependent regulatory system and has no measurable effect on the regulation via myosin.