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D D Thomas

Publications and source records attributed to D D Thomas.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Accelerated reaction of nitric oxide with O2 within the hydrophobic interior of biological membranes.

We demonstrate herein dramatic acceleration of aqueous nitric oxide (NO) reaction with O2 within the hydrophobic region of either phospholipid or biological membranes or detergent micelles and demonstrate that the presence of a distinct hydrophobic phase is required. Per unit volume, at low amounts of hydrophobic phase, the reaction of NO with O2 within the membranes is approximately 300 times more rapid than in the surrounding aqueous medium. In tissue, even though the membrane represents only 3% of the total volume, we calculate that 90% of NO reaction with O2 will occur there. We conclude that biological membranes and other tissue hydrophobic compartments are important sites for disappearance of NO and for formation of NO-derived reactive species and that attenuation of these potentially damaging reactions is an important protective action of lipid-soluble antioxidants such as vitamin E.

Animals↗

Differential effects of general anesthetics on the quaternary structure of the Ca-ATPases of cardiac and skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The effects of the general anesthetics hexanol, halothane, and diethyl ether on Ca-ATPase activity and on the oligomeric state of the Ca-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) from cardiac and skeletal muscle were investigated. The effects of these general anesthetics on Ca-ATPase activity were similar in cardiac and skeletal SR and were characterized by stimulation of Ca-ATPase activity at lower concentrations of anesthetics and inhibition at higher concentrations. The distribution of the Ca-ATPase among its oligomeric states was estimated from the time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA) decay of SR in which Ca-ATPase was covalently labeled with erythrosin isothiocyanate (ERITC) or with erythrosin iodoacetamide (ERIA). In contrast to the similar responses of Ca-ATPase activity, there were marked differences in the responses to general anesthetics of the TPA decay between cardiac and skeletal SR. In cardiac SR hexanol, halothane, and diethyl ether caused pronounced increases in the limiting anisotropy at very long times (r infinity), which indicate increases in the fraction of oligomers too large to rotate on the millisecond time scale of the experiments. In skeletal SR, by contrast, there were no significant changes in r infinity in response to the three general anesthetics. This difference between cardiac and skeletal SR in response to general anesthetics is not due to the presence of phospholamban in cardiac SR, since SR from AT-1 cells, which have the SERCA2a isoform of Ca-ATPase, but only trace levels of phospholamban, have increases in r infinity in response to the general anesthetics that resemble those in cardiac SR. Experiments with cardiac SR labeled with ERIA give similar results, showing that the results with ERITC are not an artifact of the labeling procedure. Increasing the ionic strength with LiCl diminished the proportion of large immobile oligomers of cardiac Ca-ATPase under control conditions but enhanced the formation of large oligomers in response to hexanol.

Anesthetics, General↗

Carotid endarterectomy: the mandate for high quality duplex.

Excellent correlation between carotid angiography and duplex scanning has made it possible to perform carotid endarterectomy without angiography. The accuracy of scans from practices without a dedicated vascular laboratory must be validated prior to their use for clinical decisions. Seventy six patients had a carotid duplex performed at an outside institution and were referred for vascular surgery. All patients underwent a repeat study at our dedicated vascular lab. The overall accuracy of our lab was 93.8% for all carotid categories as demonstrated by angiography. Outside carotid duplex reports correlated with repeat exams as follows: occlusions: 10/13 carotids (76.9%); 80%-99% stenoses: 15/39 carotids (38.5%); 50%-79% stenoses: 28/44 carotids (63.6%). If a surgeon's practice is to operate for asymptomatic 80%-99% stenoses by report, then unnecessary surgery might have been performed in 61.5% of these carotids and appropriate surgery denied in 3.6%. Outside duplex velocities consistent with a 60%-99% stenosis correlated in 13/17 carotids (76.5%). If a surgeon's practice is to operate for asymptomatic 60%-99% stenoses based on velocity criteria, then unnecessary surgery might have been performed in 23.5% of these carotids, and appropriate surgery denied in 7.6% placing these patients at increased risk of stroke. Outside scans significantly overestimated the severity of carotid disease (p = 0.003). The weighted kappa analysis for agreement between scans was only 60.2%. Failure to have validated high-quality duplex in labs performing carotid studies can lead to unnecessary angiography or surgery. Carotid endarterectomy without angiography should be performed only when duplex accuracy has been previously validated by angiographic correlation studies. Poor agreement with studies from practices without a dedicated vascular lab makes it mandatory to repeat the duplex on all patients prior to clinical decision making. Reimbursement for such repeat studies should not be denied.

Blood Flow Velocity↗

An evaluation of sterilization of endodontic instruments in artificial sponges.

The ability to sterilize endodontic files inserted into synthetic sponges was tested. Sponges were subjected to 5 cycles of either dry heat (Driclave) or steam under pressure (autoclave) sterilization. Sterilization was corroborated by microbiological tests. The sponges and files were pre-sterilized separately using steam under pressure. One hundred eighty files contaminated with Bacillus stearothermophilus spores (experimental and positive control) and 60 noncontaminated files (negative control), were inserted into 60 sponges. After each cycle, each file and a portion of sponge surrounding the file were transferred aseptically to tubes containing trypticase soy broth culture medium for bacteriological analysis. None of the tubes containing files and portions of sponges that were subjected to autoclave grew Bacillus stearothermophilus spores. Two of 60 (3.33%) of the tubes that were subjected to sterilization by Driclave demonstrated bacterial growth. Although the sponges tolerated the dry heat cycles well physically, sterilization was achieved in only 96.67% of the cases.

Animals↗

Perturbations of functional interactions with myosin induce long-range allosteric and cooperative structural changes in actin.

The role of the rotational dynamics of actin filaments in their interaction with myosin was studied by comparing the effect of myosin subfragment 1 (S1) with two other structural perturbations, which have substantial inhibitory effects on activation of myosin ATPase and in vitro motility of F-actin: (1) binding of the antibody fragment Fab(1-7) against the first seven N-terminal residues and (2) copolymerization with monomers treated with the zero-length cross-linker 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide (EDC), referred to as EDC-actin. The rotational motion of actin was measured by time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA) of erythrosin iodoacetamide (ErIA) attached to Cys 374 on actin. The binding of S1 in a rigor complex (no nucleotide) induced intramonomer (allosteric) and intermonomer (cooperative) structural changes that increased the residual anisotropy of labeled F-actin, indicating a conformational change in the region of the C terminus. Similar allosteric and cooperative changes were induced by binding of Fab(1-7) and by copolymerization of the ErIA-labeled actin monomers with EDC-actin. This suggests that the functional perturbations transform actin to a form resembling the rigor actomyosin complex. The correlation of the perturbation-induced changes in TPA of actin with the functional effects suggests that the actomyosin interaction can be inhibited by stabilization of actin in one of its structural intermediates.

Actins↗

Mutation and phosphorylation change the oligomeric structure of phospholamban in lipid bilayers.

Phospholamban (PLB), a 52-residue protein integral to the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, is a key regulator of the Ca pump. PLB has been shown to form pentamers in the denaturing detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), but its oligomeric state in the natural environment of the lipid membrane remains unknown. In order to address this issue, we performed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments on two types of lipid-reconstituted, recombinant PLB: wild type (WT PLB) and a mutant substituted with alanine at leucine 37 (L37A PLB), whose propensity to oligomerize in SDS is greatly diminished. The lipid used in reconstitution was dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) doped with a phospholipid spin-label that detects protein contact. EPR spectroscopy was used to determine the fraction of the total lipid molecules in contact with PLB. Our results show that, in phospholipid bilayers, WT PLB is oligomeric (effective oligomeric size of 3.52 +/- 0.71), while L37A PLB is monomeric (effective oligomeric size of 1.15 +/- 0.15). Thus, the oligomeric states of these proteins in the lipid membrane are remarkably similar to those in SDS solution. In particular, the point mutation in L37A PLB greatly destabilizes the PLB oligomer. Phosphorylation of PLB by protein kinase A, which has been shown to relieve inhibition of the cardiac Ca pump, changes the lipid-PLB interactions, decreasing the number of lipids restricted by contact with protein. The results are consistent with a phosphorylation-dependent increase of the effective oligomer size of WT PLB from 3.52 to 5.34 and of L37A PLB from 1.15 to 1.91. These phosphorylation effects were abolished in a medium with a high ionic strength. We conclude that the oligomeric states of PLB in lipid membranes are in a dynamic equilibrium that is perturbed by phosphorylation due to reduced electrostatic repulsion among PLB protomers.

Calcium-Binding Proteins↗

Interaction of bee venom melittin with zwitterionic and negatively charged phospholipid bilayers: a spin-label electron spin resonance study.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy was used to study the penetration and interaction of bee venom melittin with dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and ditetradecylphosphatidylglycerol (DTPG) bilayer membranes. Melittin is a surface-active, amphipathic peptide and serves as a useful model for a variety of membrane interactions, including those of presequences and signal peptides, as well as the charged subdomain of the cardiac regulatory protein phospholamban. Derivatives of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol spin-labeled at various positions along the sn-2 acyl chain were used to establish the chain flexibility gradient for the two membranes in the presence and absence of melittin. Negatively charged DTPG bilayer membranes showed a higher capacity for binding melittin without bilayer disruption than did membranes formed by the zwitterionic DMPC, demonstrating the electrostatic neutralization of bound melittin by DTPG. The temperature dependence of the ESR spectra showed that the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition is eliminated by binding melittin to DTPG bilayers, whereas a very broad transition remains in the case of DMPC bilayers. None of the spin labels used showed a two-component spectrum characteristic of a specific restriction of their chain motion by melittin, but the outer hyperfine splittings and effective chain order parameters were increased for all labels upon binding melittin. This indicates a reduced flexibility of the lipid chains induced by a surface orientation of the bound melittin. Whereas the characteristic shape of the chain flexibility gradient was maintained upon melittin addition to DMPC bilayers, the chain flexibility profile in DTPG bilayers was much more strongly perturbed. It was found that the steepest change in segmental flexibility was shifted toward the bilayer interior when melittin was bound to DTPG membranes, indicating a greater depth of penetration than in DMPC membranes. pH titration of stearic acid labeled at the C-5 position, used as a probe of interfacial interactions, showed net downward shifts in interfacial pK of 0.8 and 1.2 pH units contributed from the positive charge of melittin, outweighing upward shifts from interfacial dehydration, when melittin was bound to DTPG and DMPC, respectively. The perturbation of the outer hyperfine splitting was used to determine the interactions of melittin with spin-labeled lipids of different polar headgroups in DTPG and DMPC. Anionic lipids (phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, and stearic acid) and zwitterionic lipids (phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine) had the largest outer splittings in the presence of melittin. Neutral lipids (protonated stearic acid and diacylglycerol) displayed the largest increase in outer splitting on binding melittin, which was attributed to a change in the vertical location of these lipids in the bilayer. Both effects were more pronounced in DTPG than in DMPC.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Phospholamban-dependent effects of C12E8 on calcium transport and molecular dynamics in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

We have studied the effects of the nonionic detergent C12E8 on Ca-ATPase enzymatic activity and oligomeric state (detected by time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy, TPA) in skeletal and cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). In skeletal, SR, C12E8 inhibits the CA-ATPase, both at high (micromolar and above) and low (submicromolar) Ca. In cardiac SR, C12E8 inhibits at high Ca but activates at low Ca. Thus C12E8 activates enzymatic activity only in cardiac SR and only under conditions (submicromolar Ca) where phospholamban (PLB) regulates (inhibits) the enzyme [Lu, Y.-Z., & Kirchberger, M.A. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 5056-5062]. TPA of skeletal SR at low and high Ca demonstrates that C12E8 induces aggregation of ATPase monomers and small oligomers. C12E8 also aggregates the Ca-ATPase in cardiac SR at high Ca. In cardiac SR at low Ca, the Ca-ATPase is already highly aggregated, and C12E8 partially dissociates these aggregates. Thus the TPA results provide a simple physical explanation for the functional effects: C12E8 inhibits the ATPase when it aggregates the enzyme (skeletal SR at high and low Ca; cardiac SR at high Ca), and the detergent activates when it dissociates ATPase oligomers (cardiac SR at low Ca). C12E8 stabilizes the E2P conformation of the Ca-ATPase with respect to the E2 conformation, and this stabilization is PLB-dependent. Both the physical and functional effects of C12E8 on the Ca-ATPase are PLB-dependent, with C12E8 reversing the effects of PLB. The results provide insight into the mechanism by which PLB regulates the Ca-ATPase in cardiac SR.

Animals↗

Cooperativity in F-actin: binding of gelsolin at the barbed end affects structure and dynamics of the whole filament.

We have studied the effect of gelsolin, a Ca-dependent actin-binding protein, on the microsecond rotational dynamics of actin filaments, using time-resolved phosphorescence (TPA) and absorption anisotropy (TAA) of erythrosin iodoacetamide attached to Cys374 on actin. Polymerization of actin in the presence of gelsolin resulted in substantial increases in the rate and amplitude of anisotropy decay, indicating increased rotational motion. Analysis indicates that the effect of gelsolin cannot be explained by increased rates of overall (rigid-body) rotations of shortened filaments, but reflects changes in intra-filament structure and dynamics. We conclude that gelsolin induces (1) a 10 degrees change in the orientation of the absorption dipole of the probe relative to the actin filament, indicating a conformational change in actin, and (2) a threefold decrease in torsional rigidity of the filament. This result, which is consistent with complementary electron microscopic observations on the same preparations, directly demonstrates long-range cooperativity in F-actin, where a conformational change induced by the binding of a single gelsolin molecule to the barbed end is propagated along inter-monomer bonds throughout the actin filament.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗

Microsecond rotational dynamics of actin: spectroscopic detection and theoretical simulation.

We have investigated the microsecond rotational dynamics of F-actin with transient phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA) spectroscopy, and analyzed the data to determine the relative contributions from rigid-body rotations and from intrafilament bending and twisting, using a theoretical model developed for DNA dynamics by Schurr and co-workers. The fits of the data to the model were constrained by independently determining the orientation of the dye's absorption dipole (by transient absorption anisotropy, TAA) and the actin filament length distribution (by electron microscopy). We conclude that (1) the Schurr theory enables calculation of the torsional flexibility of actin independent of any contribution from rigid body rotations of the whole filament, (2) the TPA decays cannot be explained by rigid-body or bending rotations, but reflect primary twisting motions within actin filaments, and (3) the dynamic properties of actin filaments are best ascribed to a continuous elasticity. This analysis establishes a firm methodological foundation for future studies of the effects or perturbations of the dynamics of actin on its functional properties.

Actins↗

Orientation of intermediate nucleotide states of indane dione spin-labeled myosin heads in muscle fibers.

We have used electron paramagnetic resonance to study the orientation of myosin heads in the presence of nucleotides and nucleotide analogs, to induce equilibrium states that mimic intermediates in the actomyosin ATPase cycle. We obtained electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of an indane dione spin label (InVSL) bound to Cys 707 (SH1) of the myosin head, in skinned rabbit psoas muscle fibers. This probe is rigidly immobilized on the catalytic domain of the head, and the principal axis of the probe is aligned nearly parallel to the fiber axis in rigor (no nucleotide), making it directly sensitive to axial rotation of the head. On ADP addition, all of the heads remained strongly bound to actin, but the spectral hyperfine splitting increased by 0.55 +/- 0.02 G, corresponding to a small but significant axial rotation of 7 degrees. Adenosine 5'-(adenylylim-idodiphosphate) (AMPPNP) or pyrophosphate reduced the actomyosin affinity and introduced a highly disordered population of heads similar to that observed in relaxation. For the remaining oriented population, pyrophosphate induced no significant change relative to rigor, but AMPPNP induced a slight but probably significant rotation (2.2 degrees +/- 1.6 degrees), in the direction opposite that induced by ADP. Adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (ATP gamma S) relaxed the muscle fiber, completely dissociated the heads from actin, and produced disorder similar to that in relaxation by ATP. ATP gamma S plus Ca induced a weak-binding state with most of the actin-bound heads disordered. Vanadate had negligible effect in the presence of ADP, but in isometric contraction vanadate substantially reduced both force and the fraction of oriented heads. These results are consistent with a model in which myosin heads are disordered early in the power stroke (weak-binding states) and rigidly oriented later in the power stroke (strong-binding states), whereas transitions among the strong-binding states induce only slight changes in the axial orientation of the catalytic domain.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Aspects of adherence of oral spirochetes.

Oral spirochetes are present in the oral cavity in various numbers and forms and have been strongly implicated as playing a role in the etiology of periodontal disease. Because adherence to host tissues is a critical first step in establishing a bacterial infection, reports on the attachment of oral spirochetes to host tissues and matrix components were reviewed. The great bulk of the literature concerns Treponema denticola; however, where there is information regarding other oral spirochete species, it will be noted.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

A continuous spectrophotometric assay for simultaneous measurement of calcium uptake and ATP hydrolysis in sarcoplasmic reticulum.

A continuous, spectrophotometric assay to simultaneously measure Ca uptake and ATP hydrolysis has been developed, in order to assess the function of the Ca-ATPase in skeletal and cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles. The absorbance of Fura Red was measured continuously at 490 nm, in EGTA-buffered solutions containing initial free ionized calcium concentrations of 300 nM, 500 nM, 790 nM, and 2 microM, during assays of oxalate-facilitated or phosphate-facilitated active calcium uptake in skeletal SR. Simultaneous measurement of ATP hydrolysis during the measurement of phosphate-facilitated Ca uptake was accomplished by measuring the disappearance of NADH at 340 nm, coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP by an enzyme-linked, continuous ATPase assay. This new method, unlike the standard 45Ca-filtration assay, measures calcium uptake in real time and eliminates the need for radioactivity. Moreover, the rates of calcium uptake and ATP hydrolysis are measured simultaneously, allowing the direct quantitative comparison of the two parameters. This assay will facilitate the characterization of Ca-ATPase function and malfunction in skeletal and cardiac SR and advances the methodology for comparison of normal and physically, chemically, or biologically altered Ca-ATPase.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Conformational transitions of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase studied by time-resolved EPR and quenched-flow kinetics.

We have used time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and quenched-flow kinetics in order to investigate the dynamics of Ca-ATPase conformational changes involved in Ca2+ pumping in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes at 2 degrees C. The Ca-ATPase was selectively labeled with an iodoacetamide spin label (IASL), which yields EPR spectra sensitive to enzyme conformational changes during ATP induced enzymatic cycling. The addition of ATP, AMPPCP, CrATP, or ADP decreased the rotational mobility of a fraction of the probes, indicating a distinct protein conformational state corresponding to this probe population, while Pi under conditions producing "backdoor" phosphorylation produced no spectral change. Transient changes in the amplitude of the restricted component associated with the pre-steady state of Ca2+ pumping were detected with 10 ms time resolution after an [ATP] jump produced by laser flash photolysis of caged ATP in the EPR sample. The laser energy was adjusted to generate 100 microM ATP from 1 mM caged ATP. At 0.1 M KCl, the EPR transient consisted of a brief initial lag phase, a monoexponential phase with a rate of 20 s-1, and a decay back to the initial intensity after the ATP had been consumed. Raising [KCl] from 0.1 to 0.4 M slowed the rate of the exponential phase from 20 to 6 s-1. Lowering the pH from 7 to 6, which increased the rate of caged ATP photolysis, eliminated the lag but did not change the apparent rate of the EPR signal rise. Parallel acid quenched-flow experiments conducted at 0.1 M KCl and 100 microM ATP produced fast (50-58 s-1) and slow (20 s-1) phases of phosphoenzyme formation. Increasing [KCl] from 0.1 to 0.4 M decreased the rate of the slow phase of phosphorylation from 20 to 5 s-1, without affecting the fast phase. The close correlation between the slow phase of phosphorylation and the exponential phase of the EPR signal suggests that the spin probe monitors a conformational event associated with phosphoenzyme formation in a population of catalytic sites with delayed kinetics. We propose that this constraint is imposed by conformational coupling between the catalytic subunits in a Ca-ATPase oligomer and that, consequently, the EPR signal reflects changes in quaternary protein structure as well as changes in secondary and tertiary structure associated with ATP-dependent phosphorylation.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Mechanism of Ca-ATPase inhibition by melittin in skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum.

We have previously shown that the basic, amphipathic peptide melittin inhibits the Ca-ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane by inducing large-scale aggregation of the enzyme via electrostatic cross-linking. To better understand the physical mechanism by which melittin-induced Ca-ATPase aggregation inhibits the enzyme, we have performed time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA) and steady-state fluorescence experiments in combination with enzyme kinetic assays, utilizing (1) native and charge-modified melittin in order to characterize the peptide charge dependence of the melittin-SR interaction, and (2) various calcium levels in order to define the effect of melittin on the enzyme's E1 and E2 conformational equilibrium. TPA results showed that decreasing melittin's positive charge dramatically decreases the ability of the peptide to aggregate the enzyme, which correlates with a reduced potency of the modified peptide to inhibit enzymatic activity. Steady-state fluorescence of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled Ca-ATPase showed that melittin reduces Ca-ATPase affinity for calcium by shifting the enzyme's E1-E2 conformational equilibrium toward E2, but increasing calcium progressively reverses this shift. Kinetic experiments showed that melittin does not prevent ATP-dependent enzyme phosphorylation, but it completely inhibits Pi-dependent EP formation and substantially slows Pi release during steady-state cycling. We conclude that melittin-induced aggregation of the Ca-ATPase depends on the electrostatic interaction of the peptide with cytoplasmic Ca(2+)-dependent sites on the enzyme, and that enforced Ca-ATPase protein-protein interactions inhibit the conformational transitions that facilitate phosphoenzyme hydrolysis.

Acetylation↗

CD18-independent mechanism of neutrophil emigration in the rabbit lung after ischemia-reperfusion.

BACKGROUND: Reperfusion of ischemic lung causes an inflammatory pulmonary vascular injury characterized by increased vascular permeability and migration of inflammatory cells into the alveoli. Migration of neutrophils into the alveolus during reperfusion after 24 hours of unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion has been shown to be in part dependent on the CD18 adhesion molecule on the cell surface. The current study investigated whether reperfusion lung injury after a 1-hour period of complete lung ischemia was CD18 dependent. METHODS: Eighteen rabbits were assigned to one of three groups. Groups 1 and 2 were subjected to one hour of in situ right hilar occlusion followed by 2 hours of reperfusion. Group 3 was subjected to identical surgical dissection but the right hilum was never occluded. Group 1 rabbits received saline solution (1 mL/kg) before hilar occlusion and group 2 rabbits, monoclonal antibody 60.3, a blocking antibody for the CD18 adhesion molecule on the neutrophil surface (2 mg/kg). In 3 of the antibody-treated rabbits, flow cytometry was performed on blood neutrophils before and after administration of the antibody and 120 minutes after reperfusion. RESULTS: The rabbits in groups 1 and 2 had significantly increased alveolar neutrophil infiltrate and increased pulmonary vascular resistance compared with the rabbits in group 3. However, there was no significant difference between group 1 (saline solution treated) and group 2 (antibody treated). Antibody treatment did not block migration of neutrophils into the alveoli. Flow cytometry of circulating neutrophils demonstrated that CD18 was upregulated after reperfusion and that CD18 was fully blocked after antibody treatment for the duration of the study. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a 1-hour period of warm ischemia followed by reperfusion results in upregulation of CD18 but that emigration of the neutrophils into the alveoli is not CD18 dependent in this injury.

Animals↗

Resolution of three structural states of spin-labeled myosin in contracting muscle.

We have used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to detect ATP- and calcium-induced changes in the structure of spin-labeled myosin heads in glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers in key physiological states. The probe was a nitroxide iodoacetamide derivative attached selectively to myosin SH1 (Cys 707), the conventional EPR spectra of which have been shown to resolve several conformational states of the myosin ATPase cycle, on the basis of nanosecond rotational motion within the protein. Spectra were acquired in rigor and during the steady-state phases of relaxation and isometric contraction. Spectral components corresponding to specific conformational states and biochemical intermediates were detected and assigned by reference to EPR spectra of trapped kinetic intermediates. In the absence of ATP, all of the myosin heads were rigidly attached to the thin filament, and only a single conformation was detected, in which there was no sub-microsecond probe motion. In relaxation, the EPR spectrum resolved two conformations of the myosin head that are distinct from rigor. These structural states were virtually identical to those observed previously for isolated myosin and were assigned to the populations of the M*.ATP and M**.ADP.Pi states. During isometric contraction, the EPR spectrum resolves the same two conformations observed in relaxation, plus a small fraction (20-30%) of heads in the oriented actin-bound conformation that is observed in rigor. This rigor-like component is a calcium-dependent, actin-bound state that may represent force-generating cross-bridges. As the spin label is located near the nucleotide-binding pocket in a region proposed to be pivotal for large-scale force-generating structural changes in myosin, we propose that the observed spectroscopic changes indicate directly the key steps in energy transduction in the molecular motor of contracting muscle.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗