ATPase, myosin

Szent-Gyorgyi further showed that the viscosity of an actomyosin solution was lowered by the addition of ATP, indicating that ATP decreases myosin s affinity for actin. Kinetic studies demonstrated that myosin ATPase activity was increased substantially by actin. (For this reason, Szent-Gyorgyi gave the name actin to the thin filament protein.) The ATPase turnover number of pure myosin is 0.05/sec. In the presence of actin, however, the turnover number increases to about 10/sec, a number more like that of intact muscle fibers. 

The specific effect of actin on myosin ATPase becomes apparent if the product release steps of the reaction are carefully compared. In the absence of actin, the addition of ATP to myosin produces a rapid release of H, one of the products of the ATPase reaction ... 

However, release of ADP and P from myosin is much slower. Actin activates myosin ATPase activity by stimulating the release of P and then ADP. Product release is followed by the binding of a new ATP to the actomyosin complex, which causes actomyosin to dissociate into free actin and myosin. The cycle of ATP hydrolysis then repeats, as shown in Figure 17.23a. The crucial point of this model is that ATP hydrolysis and the association and dissociation of actin and myosin are coupled. It is this coupling that enables ATP hydrolysis to power muscle contraction. 

Goodno, C.C. (1979). Inhibition of myosin ATPase by vanadate ion. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 2620-2624. 

Phan, B. Reisler, E. (1992). Inhibition of myosin ATPase by beryllium fluoride. Biochemistry 31, 4787-4792. 

In resting muscle the high concentration of ADP does not decrease the proton gradient effectively and the high membrane potential slows electron transport. ADP, formed when ATP is hydrolyzed by myosin ATPase during contraction, may stimulate electron transport. However, the concentration of ATP (largely as its Mg salt) is buffered by its readily reversible formation from creatine phosphate catalyzed in the intermembrane space, and in other cell compartments, by the various isoenzymes of creatine kinase (reviewed by Walliman et al., 1992). 

Myosin as an ATPase Activation of Myosin ATPase by Actin Lymn and Taylor Model 1971 Eisenberg and Hill Model 1985... 

The simplest mechanism to explain the much faster rate of dissociation of actomyosin-S-1 by ATP than that of ATP cleavage is that actin activates the myosin ATPase by accelerating the rate at which ADP and Pj are released. That is when ATP is added to actomyosin-S-1, ATP rapidly binds and dissociates actomyosin, myosin ATPase then hydrolyzes ATP to form myosin-ADP.Pj, this state then reattaches to actin and phosphate is released much faster from actomyosin. ADP.Pj than it is from myosin.ADP.Pj, as shown in the scheme below ... 

It is generally accepted that the two main fiber types have different metabolic profiles with higher activities of Ca activated myosin ATPase, creatine kinase. 

The P-alanyl dipeptides carnosine and anserine (A -methylcarnosine) (Figure 31-2) activate myosin ATPase, chelate copper, and enhance copper uptake. P-Alanyl-imidazole buffers the pH of anaerobically contracting skeletal muscle. Biosynthesis of carnosine is catalyzed by carnosine synthetase in a two-stage reaction that involves initial formation of an enzyme-bound acyl-adenylate of P-alanine and subsequent transfer of the P-alanyl moiety to L-histidine. 

S-1 (molecular mass approximately 115 kDa) does exhibit ATPase activity, binds L chains, and in the absence of ATP will bind to and decorate actin with arrowheads (Figure 49-5). Both S-1 and HMM exhibit ATPase activity, which is accelerated 100- to 200-fold by complexing with F-actin. As discussed below, F-actin greatly enhances the rate at which myosin ATPase releases its products, ADP and Pj. Thus, although F-actin does not affect the hydrolysis step per se, its ability to promote release of the products produced by the ATPase activity greatly accelerates the overall rate of catalysis. 

When smooth muscle myosin is bound to F-actin in the absence of other muscle proteins such as tropomyosin, there is no detectable ATPase activity. This absence of activity is quite unlike the situation described for striated muscle myosin and F-actin, which has abundant ATPase activity. Smooth muscle myosin contains fight chains that prevent the binding of the myosin head to F-actin they must be phosphorylated before they allow F-actin to activate myosin ATPase. The ATPase activity then attained hydrolyzes ATP about tenfold more slowly than the corresponding activity in skeletal muscle. The phosphate on the myosin fight chains may form a chelate with the Ca bound to the tropomyosin-TpC-actin complex, leading to an increased rate of formation of cross-bridges between the myosin heads and actin. The phosphorylation of fight chains initiates the attachment-detachment contraction cycle of smooth muscle. 

Table 49—7 summarizes and compares the regulation of actin-myosin interactions (activation of myosin ATPase) in striated and smooth muscles. 

Spontaneous interaction of F-actin and myosin alone (spontaneous activation of myosin ATPase by F-actin Yes No... 

Moreira CM, Oliveira EM, Bonan CD, Sarkis JJ, Vassallo DV. 2003. Effects of mercury on myosin ATPase in the ventricular myocardium of the rat. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 135C 269-275. 

Fast-twitch muscle fibers develop tension two to three times faster than slow-twitch muscle fibers because of more rapid splitting of ATP by myosin ATPase. This enables the myosin crossbridges to cycle more rapidly Another factor influencing the speed of contraction involves the rate of removal of calcium from the cytoplasm. Muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions by pumping them back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Fast-twitch muscle fibers remove Ca++ ions more rapidly than slow-twitch muscle fibers, resulting in quicker twitches that are useful in fast precise movements. The contractions generated in slow-twitch muscle fibers may last up to 10 times longer than those of fast-twitch muscle fibers therefore, these twitches are useful in sustained, more powerful movements. 

In smooth muscle, myosin crossbridges have less myosin ATPase activity than those of skeletal muscle. As a result, the splitting of ATP that provides energy to "prime" the crossbridges, preparing them to interact with actin, is markedly reduced. Consequently, the rates of crossbridge cycling and tension development are slower. Furthermore, a slower rate of calcium removal causes the muscle to relax more slowly. 

Figure 9.20 The creatine/phosphocreatine shuttle between subsarcolemmal mitochondria and myosin ATPase in muscle. The distance between the mitochondria that reside just below the plasma membrane (sarcolemma) and the myofibrils in which the myosin ATPase results in contraction, is long in such muscles. The advantage of the position of these mitochondria is ready access to oxygen and fuel from blood. Such mitochondria are common in endurance athletes.

Figure 9.21 The creatine/phosphocreatine shuttle in spermatozoa. This shuttle may not be present in all sperm it will depend upon the distance between the mitochondria and the flagellum. Mitochondria are present in the midpiece just below the head. ATP is required for movement of the flagellum which enables the sperm to swim. Dynein ATPase is the specific motor ATPase, similar to myosin ATPase, that transfers energy from ATP to the flagellum. A deficiency of creatine may explain low sperm motility in some infertile men. CK - creatine kinase. Deficiences of enzymes in the pathway for synthesis of creatine are known to occur (see Appendix 8.3).

Figure 9.22 The relationship between ATP utilisation by myosin ATPase and ATP generation by Krebs cycle and electron transfer. This relationship between the two major energy systems in muscle is critical. The rate of the cycle and electron transfer is controlled, in part, by ATP utilisation by muscle contraction (see below). This is equivalent to a market economy so that the law of supply and demand applies. The greater the demand and hence the use of ATP, the greater is the rate of generation.

It simulates the activity of myosin ATPase, which results in contraction of the muscle (i.e. increased cross-bridge cycling). This increases the rate of utilisation of ATP and hence increases the concentration of ADP. 

Figure 9.25 Control of the Krebs q/cle and myosin-ATPase by direct effects of Ccf ions and the resultant effects on electron transfer and oxidative phosphorylation in muscle. The stimulation of the Krebs cycle by ions results in an increase in the NADH/NAD concentration ratio, which stimulates electron transfer. The stimulation of myosin-ATPase by Ca lowers the ATP/ADP concentration ratio, which also stimulates electron transfer. The Ca ions are released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in muscle in response to nervous stimulation. In addition, generation of ADP by myosin ATPase increases the ADP concentration, which stimulates the cycle. Note that a lack of oxygen will prevent generation of ATP (Chapter 13).

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