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J Borejdo

Publications and source records attributed to J Borejdo.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

The orientation of DNA fragments in the agarose gels.

A microscopic method of measuring the orientation of nucleic acids in the agarose gels is described. A nucleic acid undergoing electrophoresis is stained with the dye ethidium bromide and is viewed under high magnification with a polarization microscope. A high-numerical-aperture microscope objective is used to illuminate and to collect the fluorescence signal, and therefore the orientation of the minute quantities of nucleic-acid can be measured: in a typical experiment we can detect the orientation of one-tenth of a picogram (10(13)g) of DNA. Polarization properties of the fluorescent light emitted by the separate bands corresponding to different molecular weights of the DNA are examined. A linear dichroism equation relates the measured fluorescence to the mean orientation of the absorption dipole of the ethidium bromide (and therefore DNA) and to the extent to which it is disorganized. As an example, we measured the orientation of phi X174 DNA RF/HaeIII fragments undergoing electrophoresis in a field of 10 V/cm. Ethidium bromide bound to the fragments with an angle of the absorption dipole largely perpendicular to the direction of the electrophoretic current. The dichroism declined as the molecular weight of the fragments decreased which is interpreted as an increase in the degree of disorder for shorter DNA.

DNA↗
PubMed1986

Interaction between actin and HMM.

It is shown that the interaction between actin and HMM results in a rapid precipitation of acto-HMM gel upon addition of MgATP. This is a simple demonstration of the idea that the formation of myosin filaments is not essential for mechanochemical reaction (muscle contraction) to occur and that the soluble myosin heads are competent to interact with actin to produce mechanical effect. Our findings also strongly support earlier suggestion that each head of one HMM molecule is able to bind to a different actin filament.

Actins↗
PubMed1986

Actin-attached and detached crossbridges in myofibrils: segregation into two populations according to their sensitivity to proteolytic digestion of myosin heavy chain.

Tryptic digestion of myofibrils was used to assess the interaction of crossbridges with thin filaments in the presence of ATP analogues. The relative amounts of 200 kDa fragment produced by trypsin from myosin heavy chain when the crossbridge is attached to actin, and of 160 kDa fragment produced when the crossbridge is detached from actin, served as a measure of crossbridge-actin interaction. In rigor only the 200 kDa fragment was produced suggesting that a great majority of the crossbridges were strongly attached to actin; in the presence of MgPPi at 0 degrees C only the 160 kDa fragment was finally produced suggesting that eventually all crossbridges detached from actin. In the presence of MgPPi or MgAMPPNP at 25 degrees C both 200 and 160 kDa fragments were present for several minutes after myosin heavy chain had been completely digested, suggesting that two populations of crossbridges (attached and detached) co-existed at the same time within the myofibril. It is concluded that the addition of ATP analogues to muscle does not simply affect the chemical equilibrium of binding of myosin heads to actin but that it causes rapid dissociation of one crossbridge population without significant effect on binding to actin of the remaining crossbridge population.

Actins↗
PubMed1985

The rate of MgADP binding to and dissociation from acto-S1.

The rate of binding and dissociation of MgADP from its ternary complex with actin and S1 was measured by following the extent to which fixed concentrations of MgADP slow down MgATP-induced dissociation of acto-S1. The solution of the equations describing this process shows that at any MgADP concentration the apparent rate of acto-S1 dissociation should be proportional to a square root of the equilibrium constant for MgADP dissociation and to MgATP concentration. By measuring the apparent rate of acto-S1 dissociation as a function of MgATP concentration, the rate of MgADP binding and dissociation were determined as 5 X 10(6) M-1 X s-1 and 1400 s-1, respectively. These rates were unchanged by modification of SH1 thiol of S1 by a variety of fluorescence and spin-labels, but dissociation rate was drastically reduced when SH1 was labelled with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein.

Actins↗
PubMed1984

Hydrophobic interaction chromatography of myosin fragments: potential use in purification.

Myosin fragments were fractionated on columns of the hydrophobic gel phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B. In the presence of high NaCl concentrations the fragments bound tightly to the columns; they could be eluted by decreasing the ionic strength, by increasing the pH, or by applying various concentrations of ethylene glycol. In myosin subfragment-1 (S-1), the light chains underwent partial dissociation from the heavy chain and bound separately to the column matrix. The order of strength of binding of the various species to the column was heavy chain greater than A1 light chain greater than A2 light chain greater than native S-1 greater than denatured heavy chain or S-1. Thus the hydrophobic gel appears to be able to differentiate between enzymatically active and inactive S-1. Under appropriate elution conditions it was possible to obtain S-1 preparations depleted from nicked heavy chains and with specific ATPase activities 34-130% higher than those of untreated S-1. When S-1 (A2) was fractionated on phenyl-Sepharose a fivefold enrichment of the heavy chain with respect to the light chains was obtained, while the ATPase activity was equal or larger than that of the original S-1, implying that the light chains are not essential for ATPase activity. Thus, it seems that chromatography of S-1 on phenyl-Sepharose is a potentially useful method for obtaining a purified myosin heavy-chain fragment with a high ATPase specific activity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1984

Crossbridge order and orientation in resting single glycerinated muscle fibres studied by linear dichroism of bound rhodamine labels.

Linear dichroism of iodoacetyl-rhodamine labels attached to the highly reactive thiol of the myosin heads was measured in order to infer the spatial orientation and the degree of order in myosin crossbridges in single glycerinated rabbit psoas fibres at rest. We have previously shown that in rigor the chromophoric labels are well ordered and that in the presence of MgADP and during isometric contraction a large fraction of probes is also ordered but at an attitude different from that of rigor. Here we show that in relaxed muscle the probe order is dependent on total ionic strength: at and above 0.180 M there is little evidence for any preferred probe orientation, implying a high degree of crossbridge disorder. Below 0.160 M there is progressively more order with decreasing ionic strength down to 0.100 M, below which no measurements could be taken at room temperature (because the fibres would not relax). The dichroism observed under these conditions resembles that of the rigor state in that the dichroism peaks at the same polarization of excitation light, implying that the average probe attitude relative to the fibre axis is larger than 54.7 degrees. Stretching the muscle beyond the point of overlap between actin- and myosin-containing filaments does not affect the ionic strength dependence of the amount of order present in relaxed muscle, suggesting that the observed order is due to ionic interactions of crossbridges with the thick filament surface.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Electrophoresis in the presence of Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 stains polyacrylamide gels during protein fractionation.

A method of staining polyacrylamide gels in which the dye is electrophoresed together with the sample is proposed. The method cuts short and simplifies the conventional electrophoresis procedure by eliminating the separate poststaining step. In the gels run in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, the method produces protein staining patterns which are quantitatively identical to the ones obtained by conventional staining procedure. Additional advantages of the method are easy control over the degree of staining and homogenous staining independent of the gel thickness and concentration of the dye.

Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel↗
PubMed1983

Evidence for cross-bridge order in contraction of glycerinated skeletal muscle.

The linear dichroism of iodoacetylrhodamine labels attached to the single reactive thiol groups of myosin heads was measured to determine the spatial orientation of myosin cross-bridges in single glycerinated skeletal muscle fibers. We have shown previously that in rigor the chromophoric labels are well ordered and assume an orientation nearly perpendicular to the fiber axis; in the presence of MgADP, a large fraction of probe remains well ordered but the probe attitude assumes a more slanted orientation; in relaxed muscle, the probe order is largely lost, implying a high degree of cross-bridge disorder. In this paper, we report that during isometric contraction a large fraction of the probe shows a high degree of order, suggesting the attachment of approximately equal to 65% of the cross-bridges to actin. These ordered cross-bridges have a probe attitude similar to that of the MgADP-induced static state and hence are in a mechanical state quite distinct from rigor.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1982

Binding of calcium and magnesium to myosin in skeletal muscle myofibrils.

Binding profiles for divalent cation to myosin have been obtained in myofibrils where myosin is assembled in arrays typical of the in vivo organization. Protection by Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions of the regions of myosin susceptible to chymotryptic attack provided the means to monitor metal ion binding. The effect of various concentrations of divalent cations on the chymotryptic digestion patterns was assessed by densitometry of Coomassie Blue stained gels obtained by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and by the rate of myofibrillar solubilization. The results indicate the presence of two classes of binding sites differing in affinity by 4 orders of magnitude. The fractional saturation of the high-affinity site associated with the 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)-dissociable light chains of myosin regulated the production of subfragment 1 of myosin. From the digestion profiles as a function of metal ion concentration, binding constants for Mg2+ and Ca2+ were obtained. The value for Mg2+ was 5.7 x 10(6) M-1, which is about 1 order of magnitude higher than the most recently determined values for free myosin in solution; the value for Ca2+ was 6.3 x 10(6) M-1. Binding to the low-affinity site regulated the production of the heavy meromyosin fragment and yielded association constants for Ca2+ and Mg2+ of 0.9 x 10(3) and 0.7 x 10(3) M-1, respectively.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Magnesium adenosine 5'-diphosphate influences proteolytic susceptibility of myosin in myofibrils.

The proteolytic susceptibility of the subfragment 2/light meromyosin junction [heavy meromyosin (HMM) junction] of myosin was employed as a probe of the cross-bridge conformation. The proteolysis was carried out in the myofibrils where myosin assembled in arrays typical of the in vivo organization. When subfragment I formation was inhibited by saturating the Nbs2 [5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)] light chains with Mg2+ ions, chymotrypsin attacked exclusively the HMM junction. The rate of this attack was assessed by measuring the rate of HMM formation by quantitative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and by following absorbance changes associated with the solubilization of myofibrillar suspensions. Under rigor conditions, the myofibrils were relatively resistant to the chymotryptic attack. The presence of MgAMP-PNP or MgPPi did not affect the rate of proteolytic attack. On the other hand, binding of MgADP had a powerful stimulating influence on the HMM site digestibility. The dissociation constant for the effect of MgADP was 10 microM less than Kd less than 50 microM. MgADP did not exercise its unique effect through destabilization of myosin filaments or through dissociation of the actomyosin complex. These results are explained in terms of a change in the myosin cross-bridge conformation brought about by the binding of MgADP to the active site.

Actomyosin↗
PubMed1981

Polymerization of G-actin by hydrodynamic shear stresses.

In the absence of Ca2+ G-actin can be polymerized by the application of shear stress in low ionic strength buffer. When G-actin in low ionic strength buffer containing EGTA was sheared for predetermined times under different velocity gradients, viscosity attained a maximal value, comparable to that obtained by seeding with F-actin nuclei, at a velocity gradient of 3000 s-1 after about one hour. Such flow-polymerized actin was indistinguishable from KCl-polymerized actin. Under similar conditions, EDTA which can bind both Ca2+ and Mg2+, gave a smaller effect than the Ca2+-chelating agent EGTA which binds Mg2+ weakly. When an Mg2+ salt was added to EDTA- or EGTA-containing buffer to give a free Mg2+ concentration of a few micromoles/liter, flow-induced polymerization was significantly enhanced. It appears that occupancy of only a small fraction of the high affinity binding sites by Ca2+ prevents flow-polymerization while Mg2+ may enhance this type of polymerization by replacing Ca2+. We speculate that the shear stress induces polymerization by promoting nucleation and that Ca2+ bound to the high affinity divalent cation binding site inhibits formation of the nuclei.

Actins↗
PubMed1980

Binding of heavy meromyosin and subfragment-1 to thin filaments in myofibrils and single muscle fibers.

The binding of fluorescently labeled heavy meromyosin (HMM) and heavy meromyosin subfragment-1 (S-1) to thin filaments of myofibrils and of rabbit psoas muscle fibers was measured under conditions of rigor and contraction. The fragments diffused rapidly into the myofibrillar space and bound specifically to the thin filaments. The fragments bound strongest and in a uniform fashion to myofibrils in which the competition from indigenous myosin was abolished by removing it with Hasselbach-Schneider solution. Under these conditions, the rigor Ka values for HMM and S-1 were 1.5 x 10(6) M-1 and 4.8 x 10(4) M-1, respectively. The stoichiometry of binding was measured by independently estimating the concentration of actin sites. S-1 was found to be capable of saturating all available actin sites in a myofibril or a fiber, but HMM could only occupy 50% of the sites.

Actins↗
PubMed1980

Tension fluctuations in contracting myofibrils and their interpretation.

A self-consistent cycling steady-state model of contracting muscle is postulated to relate the autocorrelation functions of force fluctuations to the kinetic constants governing the operation of the cross-bridges. The fluctuations in the concentration of various intermediates in the model are due to the probabilistic nature of the transitions between states. It is shown that the decay rate of the autocorrelation of fluctuations in force is dependent on, and only on, the two rate constants governing transitions between attached states, and hence that the experimental autocorrelation functions can be used to estimate these rate constants. The model relates the time behavior of fluctuations in the concentration of any pair of enzymatic intermediates through the cross-correlation functions of fluctuations, and thus suggests a way to establish experimentally whether coupling exists between enzymatic and mechanical events during muscle contraction.

Actomyosin↗