scholarly journals Dictyostelium myosin: characterization of chymotryptic fragments and localization of the heavy-chain phosphorylation site.

1981 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Peltz ◽  
E R Kuczmarski ◽  
J A Spudich

Chymotrypsin cleaves Dictyostelium myosin in half, splitting the heavy chain (210,000 daltons) into two fragments of 105,000 daltons each. One of the two major fragments is soluble at low ionic strength and has a native molecular weight of 130,000. As judged by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, this soluble fragment consists of the two intact myosin light chains of 18,000 and 16,000 daltons and a 105,000-dalton polypeptide derived from the myosin heavy chain. The soluble fragment retains actin-activated ATPase activity and the ability to bind to actin in an ATP-dissociable fashion. The maximal velocity of the actin-activated ATPase activity of the soluble fragment is 80% of that of uncleaved myosin, although its apparent Km for actin is 12-fold greater than that of myosin. In addition to the major soluble 105,000-dalton fragment discussed above, chymotryptic cleavage of the Dictyostelium myosin also generates fragments that are insoluble at low ionic strength. The major insoluble fragment is 105,000 daltons on an SDS polyacrylamide gel and forms thick filaments that are devoid of myosin heads. A less prevalent insoluble fragment has a molecular weight of 83,000 and is probably a subfragment of the insoluble 105,000-dalton fragment. The heavy chain of myosin is phosphorylated in vivo and the phosphorylation site has been localized to the insoluble fragments, which derive from the tail portion of the myosin molecule.

1985 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Crossley ◽  
D. Holberton

The giardins are a family of approximately 30000 Mr structural proteins found in microribbons attached to microtubules in the disc cytoskeleton of Giardia. After examining the solubility of giardins in various agents, a method has been developed to extract these polypeptides and subsequently precipitate them selectively. The giardin chains are soluble in 10 mM-HEPES/EDTA buffer at high pH and low ionic strength, but become insoluble in 10 mM-MES/EDTA buffer at pH 6.7 when the ionic strength is raised above 50 mM salt. By dialysing giardin extracts in turn against dissociating and reassembly buffers, the purification is obtained of a subset of giardin chains identified by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as the cytoskeleton bands 14a, 14b and 15. The structures forming under assembly conditions are all composed of fine filaments, 2–3 nm in diameter. Filaments after the first cycle of assembly are found in bundles, narrow ribbons of two or three filaments, and large ordered tactoids. Assembly after a second cycle of solubilization yields a more uniform population of long ribbons. Both the tactoids and the second cycle ribbons are transversely banded at the 15 nm interval characteristic of microribbons in the cytoskeleton. Filaments in the tactoids are precisely placed at a centre-to-centre separation of 2.5 nm. Other structural features of the tactoids are discussed in relation to the association behaviour and possible dimensions of the giardin molecular subunit.


1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn L. Orthner ◽  
Sam Morris ◽  
David P. Kosow

Factor X is the zymogen of the proteolytic coagulation enzyme Factor Xa. Since the activation of Factor X to Factor Xa may be a rate limiting step of the coagulation cascade we have begun investigations of the mechanism of this reaction. Human Factor X has been purified 6000-fold from human plasma and the final product is over 95% pure as judged by Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Human Factor X has a monomeric molecular weight of 75,000 and consists of two chains held together by a disulphide bridge. The molecular weight of the heavy chain is 56,000 and that of the light chain is 17,500. The venom coagulant protein of V. russelli (RVV-X) activates human Factor X by cleaving the heavy chain. When fully activated, human Factor Xa shows two bands on Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicating that human Factor Xa like the bovine enzyme has two molecular forms.The kinetic mechanism of the activation reaction has been investigated utilizing the chromogenic Factor Xa substrate Bz-Ile-Glu-Gly-Arg-p-Nitroanilide (S-2222). The reaction has an absolute requirement for Ca; Mg cannot substitute for Ca, however Mg can increase the Vmax of Xa formation in the presence of suboptimal concentrations of Ca. Both Ca and Mg effects exhibit positive cooperativity. Our data indicate that human Factor X has at least three cooperative metal binding sites some of which are specific for Ca.


1969 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
U E Loening

1. The effects of changes in experimental conditions on the mobility of RNA in polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis were investigated. 2. The linear relation between log(molecular weight) and electrophoretic mobility was shown to be independent within limits of salt or gel concentration. 3. The relative mobility of RNA with low content of guanylic acid and cytidylic acid residues was decreased in low-ionic-strength buffer. This was related to a small relative decrease in sedimentation coefficient. 4. However, Mg2+ ion caused almost no increase in mobility although it was associated with large increases in sedimentation coefficient. This suggested opposing actions of Mg2+ ion on the size and effective charge of the RNA. 5. It is concluded that the method provides a satisfactory measurement of molecular weight, which is almost independent of the nucleotide composition of RNA at moderate salt concentrations.


1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Ribieto ◽  
J Elion ◽  
D Labie ◽  
F Josso

For the purification of the abnormal prothrombin (Pt Metz), advantage has been taken of the existence in the family of three siblings who, being double heterozygotes for Pt Metz and a hypoprothrombinemia, have no normal Pt. Purification procedures included barium citrate adsorption and chromatography on DEAE Sephadex as for normal Pt. As opposed to some other variants (Pt Barcelona and Madrid), Pt Metz elutes as a single symetrical peak. By SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, this material is homogeneous and appears to have the same molecular weight as normal Pt. Comigration of normal and abnormal Pt in the absence of SDS, shows a double band suggesting an abnormal charge for the variant. Pt Metz exhibits an identity reaction with the control by double immunodiffusion. Upon activation by factor Xa, Pt Metz can generate amydolytic activity on Bz-Phe-Val-Arg-pNa (S2160), but only a very low clotting activity. Clear abnormalities are observed in the cleavage pattern of Pt Metz when monitored by SDS gel electrophoresis. The main feature are the accumulation of prethrombin l (Pl) and the appearance of abnormal intermediates migrating faster than Pl.


1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 1529-1535 ◽  
Author(s):  
J H Sinard ◽  
T D Pollard

At low ionic strength, Acanthamoeba myosin-II polymerizes into bipolar minifilaments, consisting of eight molecules, that scatter about three times as much light as monomers. With this light scattering assay, we show that the critical concentration for assembly in 50-mM KCl is less than 5 nM. Phosphorylation of the myosin heavy chain over the range of 0.7 to 3.7 P per molecule has no effect on its KCl dependent assembly properties: the structure of the filaments, the extent of assembly, and the critical concentration for assembly are the same. Sucrose at a concentration above a few percent inhibits polymerization. Millimolar concentrations of MgCl2 induce the lateral aggregation of fully formed minifilaments into thick filaments. Compared with dephosphorylated minifilaments, minifilaments of phosphorylated myosin have a lower tendency to aggregate laterally and require higher concentrations of MgCl2 for maximal light scattering. Acidic pH also induces lateral aggregation, whereas basic pH leads to depolymerization of the myosin-II minifilaments. Under polymerizing conditions, millimolar concentrations of ATP only slightly decrease the light scattering of either phosphorylated or dephosphorylated myosin-II. Barring further modulation of assembly by unknown proteins, both phosphorylated and dephosphorylated myosin-II are expected to be in the form of minifilaments under the ionic conditions existing within Acanthamoeba.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (9) ◽  
pp. 958-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. C. Ip ◽  
R. J. Thibert ◽  
D. E. Schmidt Jr.

Cysteine-glutamate transaminase (cysteine aminotransferase; EC 2.6.1.3) has been purified 149-fold to an apparent homogeneity giving a specific activity of 2.09 IU per milligram of protein with an overall yield of 15%. The isolation procedures involve the preliminary separation of a crude rat liver homogenate which was submitted sequentially to ammonium sulfate fractionation, TEAE-cellulose column chromatography, ultrafiltration, and isoelectrofocusing. The final product was homogenous when examined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). A minimal molecular weight of 83 500 was determined by Sephadex gel chromatography. The molecular weight as estimated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of SDS was 84 000. The purified enzyme exhibited a pH optimum at 8.2 with cysteine and α-ketoglutarate as substrates. The enzyme is inactivated slowly when kept frozen and is completely inactivated if left at room temperature for 1 h. The enzyme does not catalyze the transamination of α-methyl-DL-cysteine, which, when present to a final concentration of 10 mM, exhibits a 23.2% inhibition of transamination of 30 mM of cysteine. The mechanism apparently resembles that of aspartate-glutamate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.1) in which the presence of a labile hydrogen on the alpha-carbon in the substrate is one of the strict requirements.


1980 ◽  
Vol 191 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
R G Sutcliffe ◽  
B M Kukulska-Langlands ◽  
J R Coggins ◽  
J B Hunter ◽  
C H Gore

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) has been purified by a combination of methods including antibody-affinity chromatography. The resultant protein, obtained in 16% yield from maternal serum, appeared as a single major component on non-denaturing polyacrylamide and SDS/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The protein showed a single component when analysed by isoelectric focusing under denaturing conditions in the presence and absence of reduction and had a pI of 4.34 and 4.42 respectively. These pI values were indistinguishable from those of alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M). The molecular weight of the PAPP-A polypeptide as shown by SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis was 187000, with a minor component of mol.wt. 82500 that was attributed to proteolysis. Since native PAPP-A had a molecular weight on gel chromatography very similar to that of alpha 2M (620000–820000), it was concluded that PAPP-A was a homotetramer. In the absence of reduction, a high-molecular-weight (420000) protomer of PAPP-A was found. It was deduced that PAPP-A, like alpha 2M, is a dinner, whose protomers are composed of disulphide-linked polypeptide chains. It was found that the molecular weight of the PAPP-A polypeptide exceeded that of alpha 2M by 3.3%, but that the total carbohydrate content of PAPP-A exceeded that of alpha 2M by 10% and that its neutral carbohydrate content exceeded that of alpha 2M by between 7.4 and 9.0%. The significance of the estimated molecular weights of alpha 2M (181000) and its major tryptic fragments is discussed in the light of published values. A tryptic fragment alpha 2M (82500 mol.wt.) was apparently the same size as the major tryptic fragment of PAPP-A.


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