Fluorescence resonance energy transfer within the regulatory light chain of myosin

Myosin regulatory domain orientation in skeletal muscle fibers: application of novel electron paramagnetic resonance spectral decomposition and molecular modeling methods

Reorientation of the regulatory domain of the myosin head is a feature of all current models of force generation in muscle. We have determined the orientation of the myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) using a spin-label bound rigidly and stereospecifically to the single Cys-154 of a mutant skeletal isoform. Labeled RLC was reconstituted into skeletal muscle fibers using a modified method that results in near-stoichiometric levels of RLC and fully functional muscle. Complex electron paramagnetic resonance spectra obtained in rigor necessitated the development of a novel decomposition technique. The strength of this method is that no specific model for a complex orientational distribution was presumed. The global analysis of a series of spectra, from fibers tilted with respect to the magnetic field, revealed two populations: one well-ordered (+/-15 degrees ) with the spin-label z axis parallel to actin, and a second population with a large distribution (+/-60 degrees ). A lack of order in relaxed or nonoverlap fibers demonstrated that regulatory domain ordering was defined by interaction with actin rather than the thick filament surface. No order was observed in the regulatory domain during isometric contraction, consistent with the substantial reorientation that occurs during force generation. For the first time, spin-label orientation has been interpreted in terms of the orientation of a labeled domain. A Monte Carlo conformational search technique was used to determine the orientation of the spin-label with respect to the protein. This in turn allows determination of the absolute orientation of the regulatory domain with respect to the actin axis. The comparison with the electron microscopy reconstructions verified the accuracy of the method; the electron paramagnetic resonance determined that axial orientation was within 10 degrees of the electron microscopy model.

Independent movement of the regulatory and catalytic domains of myosin heads revealed by phosphorescence anisotropy

Inter- and intradomain flexibility of the myosin head was measured using phosphorescence anisotropy of selectively labeled parts of the molecule. Whole myosin and the myosin head, subfragment-1 (S1), were labeled with eosin-5-iodoacetamide on the catalytic domain (Cys 707) and on two sites on the regulatory domain (Cys 177 on the essential light chain and Cys 154 on the regulatory light chain). Phosphorescence anisotropy was measured in soluble S1 and myosin, with and without F-actin, as well as in synthetic myosin filaments. The anisotropy of the former were too low to observe differences in the domain mobilities, including when bound to actin. However, this was not the case in the myosin filament. The final anisotropy of the probe on the catalytic domain was 0.051, which increased for probes bound to the essential and regulatory light chains to 0.085 and 0.089, respectively. These differences can be expressed in terms of a "wobble in a cone" model, suggesting various amplitudes. The catalytic domain was least restricted, with a 51 +/- 5 degrees half-cone angle, whereas the essential and regulatory light chain amplitude was less than 29 degrees. These data demonstrate the presence of a point of flexibility between the catalytic and regulatory domains. The presence of the "hinge" between the catalytic and regulatory domains, with a rigid regulatory domain, is consistent with both the "swinging lever arm" and "Brownian ratchet" models of force generation. However, in the former case there is a postulated requirement for the hinge to stiffen to transmit the generated torque associated by nucleotide hydrolysis and actin binding.

The regulatory domain of the myosin head behaves as a rigid lever

The regulatory domain of the myosin head is believed to serve as a lever arm that amplifies force generated in the catalytic domain and transmits this strain to the thick filament. The lever arm itself either can be passive or may have a more active role storing some of the energy created by hydrolysis of ATP. A structural correlate which might distinguish between these two possibilities (a passive or an active role) is the stiffness of the domain in question. To this effect we have examined the motion of the proximal (ELC) and distal (RLC) subdomains of the regulatory domain in reconstituted myosin filaments. Each subdomain was labeled with a spin label at a unique cysteine residue, Cys-136 of ELC or Cys-154 of mutant RLC, and its mobility was determined using saturation transfer electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The mobility of the two domains was similar; the effective correlation time (tau(eff)) for ELC was 17 micros and that for RLC was 22 micros. Additionally, following a 2-fold change of the global dynamics of the myosin head, effected by decreasing the interactions with the filament surface (or the other myosin head), the coupling of the intradomain dynamics remained unchanged. These data suggest that the regulatory domain of the myosin head acts as a single mechanically rigid body, consistent with the regulatory domain serving as a passive lever.

Intradomain distances in the regulatory domain of the myosin head in prepower and postpower stroke states: fluorescence energy transfer

The relative movement of the catalytic and regulatory domains of the myosin head (S1) is likely to be the force generating conformational change in the energy transduction of muscle [Rayment, I., Holden, H. M., Whittaker, M., Yohn, C. B., Lorenz, M., Holmes, K. C., and Milligan, R. A. (1993) Science 261, 58-65]. To test this model we have measured, using frequency-modulated FRET, three distances between the catalytic domain and regulatory domains and within the regulatory domain of myosin. The donor/acceptor pairs included MHC cys707 and ELC cys177; ELC cys177 and RLC cys154; and ELC cys177 and gizzard RLC cys108. The IAEDANS (donor) or acceptor (DABMI or IAF) labeled light chains (ELC and RLC) were exchanged into monomeric myosin and the distances were measured in the putative prepower stroke states (in the presence of MgATP or ADP/AlF(4-)) and the postpower stroke states (ADP and the absence of nucleotides). For each of the three distances, the donor/acceptor pairs were reversed to minimize uncertainty in the distance measured, arising from probe orientational factors. The distances obtained from FRET were in close agreement with the distances in the crystal structure. Importantly, none of the measured distances varied by more than 2 A, putting a strong constraint on the extent of conformational changes within S1. The maximum axial movement of the distal part of myosin head was modeled using FRET distance changes within the myosin head reported here and previously. These models revealed an upper bound of 85 A for a swing of the regulatory domain with respect to the catalytic domain during the power stroke. Additionally, an upper bound of 22 A could be contributed to the power stroke by a reorientation of RLC with respect to the ELC during the power stroke.

Subunit interactions within an expressed regulatory domain of chicken skeletal myosin. Location of the NH2 terminus of the regulatory light chain by fluorescence resonance energy transfer

The regulatory domain (RD), or neck region of the myosin head, consists of two classes of light chains that stabilize an alpha-helical segment of the heavy chain. RD from chicken skeletal muscle myosin was prepared in Escherichia coli by coexpression of a 9-kDa heavy chain fragment with the essential light chain. Recombinant regulatory light chain (RLC), wild type or mutant, was added separately to reconstitute the complex. The affinity of RD for divalent cations was determined by measuring the change in fluorescence of a pair of heavy chain tryptophans upon addition of calcium or magnesium. The complex bound divalent cations with high affinity, similar to the association constants determined for native myosin. The intrinsic fluorescence of the tryptophans could be used as a donor to measure the fluorescence resonance energy transfer distance to a single labeled cysteine engineered at position 2 on RLC. Dansylated Cys2 could also serve as a donor by preparing RLC with a second cysteine at position 79 which was labeled with an acceptor probe. These fluorescence resonance energy transfer distances (24-30 A), together with a previous measurement between Cys2 and Cys155 (Wolff-Long, V. L., Tao, T., and Lowey, S. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 31111-31118) suggest a location for the NH2 terminus of RLC that appears to preclude a direct interaction between the phosphorylatable serine and specific residues in the COOH-terminal domain.

Direct cloning of polymerase chain reaction products into the pinpoint Xa1-T vector protein expression system

Expression of recombinant proteins is an important method for the characterisation of the structure and function of proteins. However, many expression methods can be difficult, time-consuming and lead to low protein yields. The Promega Pinpoint Xal-T vector system is a unique, one-step cloning method that allows the direct insertion of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragments into the expression vector. We describe our experience of the use of this system to clone and express three proteins (8-12 kDa) directly from their PCR products. The proteins are expressed as fusion proteins with a 13 kDa biotinylated tag that can be used for detection of the expressed protein and affinity purification. In our case, the yield was greater than 20 mg per litre of culture. Expressed proteins were purified by Q-Sepharose anion-exchange chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instead of the conventional method of avidin-biotin affinity chromatography. The Pinpoint vector proved to be a relatively simple and fast protein expression technique suitable for wide application for expressing recombinant proteins.

Distance measurements near the myosin head-rod junction using fluorescence spectroscopy

We reacted a fluorescent probe, N-methyl-2-anilino-6-naphthalenesulfonyl chloride (MNS-Ci), with a specific lysine residue of porcine cardiac myosin located in the S-2 region of myosin. We performed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) spectroscopy measurements between this site and three loci (Cys109, Cys125, and Cys154) located within different myosin light-chain 2s (LC2) bound to the myosin "head". We used LC2s from rabbit skeletal muscle myosin (Cys125), chicken gizzard smooth muscle myosin (Cys109), or a genetically engineered mutant of chicken skeletal muscle myosin (Cys154). The atomic coordinates of these LC2 loci can be closely approximated, and the FRET measurements were used to determine the position of the MNS-labeled lysine with respect to the myosin head. The C-terminus of myosin subfragment-1 determined by Rayment et al. ends abruptly after a sharp turn of its predominantly alpha-helical structure. We have constructed a model based on our FRET distance data combined with the known structure of chicken skeletal muscle myosin subfragment-1. This model suggests that the loci that bracket the head-rod junction will be useful for evaluating dynamic changes in this region.

Proximity relationships between engineered cysteine residues in chicken skeletal myosin regulatory light chain. A resonance energy transfer study

Resonance energy transfer was used to measure the distances between pairs of cysteines, Cys2 and Cys155 and Cys73 and Cys155, in recombinant chicken skeletal myosin regulatory light chains in the free and bound states. The fluorescent and nonfluorescent probes N-iodoacetyl-N'-(5-sulfo-1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine and N-(4-dimethylamino-3,5-dinitrophenyl)maleimide were used as the donor and the acceptor, respectively. The distance between Cys2 and Cys155 was measured to be 35 and 30 A in the absence and presence of myosin heavy chain, respectively, suggesting a slightly more compact structure for the light chain in the bound state. The distance between Cys73 and Cys155 measured in a similar manner was 31 and 30 A in the free and bound states, respectively; this latter value is in good agreement with that derived from crystallographic structures. For heavy chain-bound light chains, no measurable distance changes were detected with the binding of ATP or actin. These results show that no gross structural changes occur within the regulatory light chain during the contraction cycle, but that resonance energy transfer between other sites could be used to monitor potential changes in the myosin head upon the binding of nucleotides and actin.