Contraction and ATPase activity of glycerinated muscle fibers and myofibrillar fragments

Myokinase and contractile function of glycerinated muscle fibers

Glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers containing native CPK, ATPase, and myokinase activities were used and isometric contraction and relaxation responses to either ADP or ATP + CP or to ATP alone in the presence and absence of P1, P5-di(adenosine-5'-pentaphosphate), a myokinase inhibitor, were compared. In previous (14) work it was shown that CP generated more efficient and faster contraction and relaxation of glycerinated muscle fibers than ATP. The present work deals with the role of myokinase in the differential response of fibers to CP and ATP. Inhibition of the myokinase activity of these fibers caused slight diminution of the rate of contraction at physiological concentrations of ATP. Uninhibited fibers were not able to reach maximum contraction, because the tension began to drop gradually even in the presence of Ca2+. Addition of Ap5A permitted maximum contraction and the ability to stay at the contracted state. In the case of CP + adenosine nucleotides (ATP or ADP), myokinase activity decreased the rate of tension development which was statistically significant after 5-7 sec of contraction. Thus, a higher tension was obtainable when myokinase was inhibited. At high concentration of adenine nucleotides (greater than 2 mM) and in the absence of Ap5A, not only the maximum tension never was reached, but a spontaneous drop in tension was observed before addition of EGTA, as was seen with ATP alone. Relaxation was faster and more complete in the presence of uninhibited myokinase activity except that the ADP was low (125 mM). These observations provide further evidence for a close functional interaction of these three enzymes in the mechanism of contraction and relaxation, giving further support to the notion of the creatine-phosphocreatine energy shuttle.

Myofibrillar end of the creatine phosphate energy shuttle

Isometric contraction and relaxation of glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers containing native creatine kinase (CK) and ATPase activities were studied. Energy for contraction and relaxation was provided either by ADP + creatine phosphate (CP) or ATP alone, and the effectiveness of these additions on rate and maximum force of contraction and relaxation were compared. In the presence of 250 microM ADP, physiological concentration of CP (10 mM) produced faster and stronger contraction and faster and more complete relaxation than equimolar or even higher concentrations of ATP. When contraction was initiated by addition of ADP to fibers preincubated with 10 mM CP, the apparent Km for ADP was 1.18 +/- 0.24 mM. If the fibers were preincubated with ADP and contraction initiated by addition of 10 mM CP, the apparent Km for ADP was more than an order of magnitude smaller (76.0 +/- 4 microM). The observed Km for ADP for contraction was about half the Km for CP in solution (151.5 microM). The apparent Km for CP for rate of contraction was 2.67 +/- .046 mM independent of sequence of addition of ADP. Since these experiments were done in the presence of P1,P5-diadenosine 5'-pentaphosphate, a powerful inhibitor of adenylate kinase, the role of this enzyme in the process was not significant. These observations support the idea of compartmentation of myofibrillar CK in close function with myosin ATPase as part of the phosphoryl creatine energy shuttle.

Simultaneously measured isometric tension and ATP hydrolysis in glycerinated fibers from normal and hypertrophied rabbit heart

Adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity, isometric tension, and sarcomere length of glycerinated fibers from 14 hypertrophied and 18 normal rabbit hearts were measured simultaneously to characterize the altered performance of hypertrophied myocardium. ATPase activity was assessed radiochromatographically, and contributions from mitochondria, sarcolemma, and sarcoplasmic reticulum were excluded. The active length-tension and the active tension-pCa relationships in fibers from hypertrophied myocardium were normal in sharp contrast to the depressed active length-tension curves in corresponding intact papillary muscles. Total ATPase activity associated with contraction at a given developed tension was decreased significantly in fibers from hypertrophied hearts ( P <0.001). ATPase activity was diminished in glycerinated myofibrils, actomyosin, and homogenates from hypertrophied hearts as well. On the other hand, the increase in ATPase activity associated with a given increase in developed tension was virtually identical in fibers from hypertrophied and normal hearts. Thus, depressed total ATPase activity in glycerinated fibers from hypertrophied hearts does not appear to impair maintenance of isometric tension.

Magnesium in single skeletal muscle cells of Balanus

Single skeletal muscle cells of Balanus contain 48 +/- 1 mmoles magnesium/kg dry weight. Although (28)Mg can be shown either to enter the cells or to be bound to the cell surface within less than 10 min, only 2.1 +/- 0.3% of cellular or cell surface Mg exchanges with this isotope even after several hours. Glycerinated cells washed out in Tris buffer at low ionic strength retain approximately 70% of the Mg present in intact cells. About 85% of this Mg is removed by extraction with KCl or NaCl at concentrations of K and Na which prevail in intact cells, as well as by pyrophosphate, Tris-ATP, or reduction of the ionized Mg concentration to 1 microM. Lowering the ionized Mg concentration to 0.1 microM does not further reduce the Mg content of glycerinated cells. The pH dependence of KCl-inextractable Mg suggests that more than one class of binding sites is involved. A significant fraction of the KCl-inextractable Mg bound to glycerinated cells fails to exchange with (28)Mg even after long equilibration. It is suggested that this fraction may be actin-bound Mg incorporated into the thin filaments during the polymerization of actin.