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S Lowey

Publications and source records attributed to S Lowey.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Neonatal and adult myosin heavy chains form homodimers during avian skeletal muscle development.

Myosin isoforms contribute to the heterogeneity and adaptability of skeletal muscle fibers. Besides the well-characterized slow and fast muscle myosins, there are those isoforms that appear transiently during the course of muscle development. At a stage of development when two different myosins are coexpressed, the possibility arises for the existence of heterodimers, molecules containing two different heavy chains, or homodimers, molecules with two identical heavy chains. The question of whether neonatal and adult myosin isoforms can associate to form a stable heterodimer was addressed by using stage-specific monoclonal antibodies in conjunction with immunological and electron microscopic techniques. We find that independent of the ratio of adult to neonatal myosin, depending on the age of the animal, the myosin heavy chains form predominantly homodimeric molecules. The small amount of hybrid species present suggests that either the rod portion of the two heavy chain isoforms differs too much in sequence to form a stable alpha-helical coiled coil, or that the biosynthesis of the heavy chains precludes the formation of heterodimeric molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Mapping myosin light chains by immunoelectron microscopy. Use of anti-fluorescyl antibodies as structural probes.

The two classes of light chains in vertebrate fast muscle myosin have been selectively labeled with the thiol specific reagent 5-(iodoacetamido) fluorescein to determine their location in the myosin head. The alkali light chains (A1 and A2) were labeled at a single cysteine residue near the COOH terminus, whereas the regulatory light chain (LC2) was reacted at either cysteine 125 or 154. The two cysteines of LC2 appear to be near each other in the tertiary structure as evidenced by the ease of formation of an intramolecular disulfide bond. Besides having favorable spectral properties, fluorescein is a potent haptenic immunogen for raising high affinity antibodies. When anti-fluorescyl antibodies were added to the fluorescein-labeled light chains, the fluorescence was quenched by greater than 90%, thereby providing a simple method for determining an association constant. The interaction with antibody was the same for light chains exchanged into myosin as for free light chains. Complexes of antibody bound to light chain could be visualized in the electron microscope by rotary shadowing with platinum. By this approach we have shown that the COOH-terminal regions of the two classes of light chains are widely separated in myosin: the cysteine residues of LC2 lie close to the head/rod junction, whereas the single cysteine of A1 or A2 is located approximately 90 A distal to the junction. These sites correspond to the positions of the NH2 termini of the light chains mapped in earlier studies (Winkelmann, D. A., and S. Lowey. 1986. J. Mol. Biol. 188:595-612; Tokunaga, M., M. Suzuki, K. Saeki, and T. Wakabayashi. 1987b. J. Mol. Biol. 194:245-255). We conclude that the two classes of light chains do not lie in a simple colinear arrangement, but instead have a more complex organization in distinct regions of the myosin head.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The regulatory light chain is required for folding of smooth muscle myosin.

Light chain phosphorylation causes the folded monomeric form of myosin to extend and assemble into filaments. This observation established the involvement of the 20-kDa regulatory light chain (LC20) in conformational transitions of smooth muscle myosin. To further assess the role of this subunit in the intramolecular folding of myosin, LC20 was removed from turkey gizzard myosin at elevated temperatures in the presence of EDTA through the use of an antibody affinity column. Metal-shadowed images showed that LC20-deficient myosin had a tendency to aggregate through the neck region. When MgATP was added to filaments formed from this myosin, less than 10% of the myosin was solubilized, indicating that myosin could not fold in the absence of light chain. Readdition of native regulatory light chain restored the myosin to its original solubility properties, thus establishing reversibility. Addition of foreign light chains from skeletal muscle myosin or a chymotryptic-cleaved gizzard light chain produced the same amount of monomeric myosin in high salt that was obtained by recombination with the homologous light chain. However, the ability of the hybrid myosins to assume the folded conformation was impaired, and only a partially folded species was obtained. Single-headed myosin, like rod and light chain-deficient myosin, remained filamentous in the presence of MgATP. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the regulatory light chain in the neck region of myosin contributes to a binding site for the myosin tail.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Assembly of smooth muscle myosin minifilaments: effects of phosphorylation and nucleotide binding.

Small bipolar filaments, or "minifilaments," are formed when smooth muscle myosin is dialyzed against low ionic strength pyrophosphate or citrate/Tris buffers. Unlike synthetic filaments formed at approximately physiological ionic conditions, minifilaments are homogeneous as indicated by their hypersharp boundary during sedimentation velocity. Electron microscopy and hydrodynamic techniques were used to show that 20-22S smooth muscle myosin minifilaments are 380 nm long and composed of 12-14 molecules. By varying solvents, a continuum of different size polymers in the range of 15-30S could be obtained. Skeletal muscle myosin, in contrast, preferentially forms a stable 32S minifilament (Reisler, E., P. Cheung, and N. Borochov. 1986. Biophys. J. 49:335-342), suggesting underlying differences in the assembly properties of the two myosins. Addition of salt to the smooth muscle myosin minifilaments caused unidirectional growth into a longer "side-polar" type of filament, whereas bipolar filaments were consistently formed by skeletal muscle myosin. As with synthetic filaments, addition of 1 mM MgATP caused dephosphorylated minifilaments to dissociate to a mixture of folded monomers and dimers. Phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain prevented disassembly by nucleotide, even though it had no detectable effect on the structure of the minifilament. These results suggest that differences in filament stability as a result of phosphorylation are due largely to conformational changes occurring in the myosin head, and are not due to differences in filament packing.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Subunit exchange between smooth muscle myosin filaments.

Filaments formed from phosphorylated smooth muscle myosin are stable in the presence of MgATP, whereas dephosphorylated filaments are disassembled to a mixture of folded monomers and dimers. The stability of copolymers of phosphorylated and dephosphorylated myosin was, however, unknown. Gel filtration, sedimentation velocity, and pelleting assays were used to show that MgATP could dissociate dephosphorylated myosin from copolymers containing either rod and myosin or dephosphorylated and phosphorylated myosin. Copolymers were typically formed by dialyzing monomeric mixtures into filament-forming buffer but, unexpectedly, could also be formed within minutes of mixing preformed rod and myosin minifilaments. This result suggested that molecules can rapidly and extensively exchange between filaments, presumably via the monomeric pool of myosin in equilibrium with polymer. An exchange of molecules between filaments was demonstrated directly by electron microscopy using gold-labeled streptavidin or antibody to detect the exchanged species. By this approach it was shown that smooth muscle myosin filaments, like other macromolecular assemblies, are dynamic structures that can readily alter their composition in response to changing solvent conditions. Moreover, because folded monomeric myosin is unable to polymerize, these experiments suggest a mechanism for the disassembly of the filament by MgATP.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1987

Subunit exchange between smooth muscle myosin filaments.

Myosin filaments are in equilibrium with a "critical concentration" of monomer (Josephs & Harrington, 1966). Our recent studies with smooth muscle myosin minifilaments and larger synthetic filaments suggest that this monomer pool undergoes more extensive exchange with the polymer than would occur if only polymer ends were involved. This observation provides a possible explanation for the behavior of copolymers of dephosphorylated and phosphorylated myosin in the presence of nucleotide. Upon addition of 1 mM MgATP, essentially all of the dephosphorylated myosin disassembled to the folded monomeric conformation, despite the presence of the more stable phosphorylated molecules in the same polymer. If molecules exchange freely in and out of the filament, phosphorylated myosin would not be expected to exert a significant stabilizing influence on neighboring dephosphorylated molecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Myosin subunit interactions. Properties of the 19,000-dalton light chain-deficient myosin.

The 19,000-dalton light chain (LC2) can be completely and reversibly removed from chicken pectoralis myosin in 1 mM EDTA and 5 mM ATP using immunoaffinity chromatography at 37 degrees C. Earlier methods have led to only partial removal of LC2 or have caused limited degradation of the heavy chain. Electron microscopy of LC2-deficient myosin showed it to have a marked tendency to aggregate into oligomers through the "neck" region of the myosin head. Myosin reverted to the monomeric form when it was reconstituted with light chains. LC2-deficient myosin retained full K+ (EDTA) or Ca2+-ATPase activity, and the actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase was similar to that of the native molecule. Alkali light chain exchange at 37 degrees C, which has been demonstrated in subfragment 1 prepared with chymotrypsin, does not occur with intact myosin molecules or with papain subfragment 1, both of which contain LC2. However, a temperature-dependent exchange of alkali light chains was observed in myosin lacking LC2. The interaction of the alkali light chain with the heavy chain thus appears to be influenced by the presence of LC2, which may have an important stabilizing effect on the myosin molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Probing myosin head structure with monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies that react with defined regions of the heavy and light chains of chicken skeletal muscle myosin have been used to provide a correlation between the primary and the tertiary structures of the head. Electron microscopy of rotary shadowed antibody-myosin complexes shows that the sites for three epitopes in the 25,000 Mr tryptic fragment (25k) of subfragment-1, including one within 4000 Mr of the amino terminus of the myosin heavy chain, are clustered 145(+/- 20) A from the head-rod junction. An epitope in the 50,000 Mr fragment maps even further out on the head. These antibodies bind to the head in several orientations, suggesting that each of the heads can rotate can rotate 180 degrees about the head-rod junction. The epitopes are accessible on subfragment-1 bound to actin when they were probed with Fab fragments; therefore, none of these heavy chain sites is is on the contact surface between the head and actin. Two of the anti-25k antibodies affect the K+-EDTA-and Ca2+-ATPase activities of myosin in a manner that mimics the effect on activity of the modification of the reactive thiol, SH-1. These two antibodies also inhibit the actin-activated ATPase non-competitively with respect to actin. None of the other eight antibodies tested had any marked effect on activity. A monoclonal antibody that reacts with an epitope in the amino-terminal third of myosin light chain 2 maps close to the head-rod junction. A polyclonal antibody specific for the amino terminus of light chain 3 binds further up in the "neck region" of the head, indicating that these portions of the two classes of light chains are located at different sites.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1986

Cardiac and skeletal muscle myosin polymorphism.

Skeletal muscles, unlike cardiac tissue, express several myosin isozymes during development which differ in primary structure from adult myosin. Monoclonal antibodies have shown the presence of at least two embryonic myosins, followed by a post-hatch myosin that persists until the appearance of adult myosin in chicken pectoralis muscle. Although the two major cardiac isozymes differ in enzymatic activity, the avian skeletal myosin isozymes all share the same high level of ATPase activity found for adult pectoralis myosin. The functional basis for the extensive myosin polymorphism in skeletal muscles thus remains to be determined.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1985

Mechanism of smooth muscle myosin phosphorylation.

In vertebrate smooth muscles, phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain appears to be necessary for actin activation of the Mg-ATPase activity and for the in vitro assembly of myosin into filaments. From a correlation between the degree of phosphorylation and enzymatic activity, it was suggested that both myosin heads must be phosphorylated before either head could be activated by actin, and that phosphorylation of filamentous myosin occurred in a negatively cooperative manner (Persechini, A., and Hartshorne, D. J. (1981) Science 213, 1383-1385; Ikebe, M., Ogihara, S., and Tonomura, Y. (1982) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 91, 1809-1812; Sellers, J. R., Chock, P. B., and Adelstein, R. S. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 14181-14188). Here we have determined the mechanism of phosphorylation by separating dephosphorylated and phosphorylated myosin species based on their different structural properties in the minifilament buffer system (5 mM citrate, 22 mM Tris). Fully phosphorylated myosin remained assembled as minifilaments in 1 mM Mg-ATP, but dephosphorylated myosin dissociated to a mixture of folded monomers and dimers. Gel filtration was used to separate these two structures. At intermediate levels of phosphorylation, the relative amount of myosin that formed minifilament and dimer and the degree of phosphorylation of the separated species relative to the initial level of phosphorylation was measured. From these data, it was possible to deduce that singly and doubly phosphorylated myosin remained assembled in the presence of nucleotide. Myosin molecules with 0, 1, or 2 heads phosphorylated could also be separated by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis. The amount of myosin which formed each species was quantitated as a function of phosphorylation. Results from the combined approaches are consistent with a model in which light chain kinase randomly phosphorylates myosin, independent of the state of aggregation of the myosin.

Actins↗
PubMed1985

Myosin subunit interactions. Localization of the alkali light chains.

Myosin homodimers, molecules containing either the A1 or the A2 light chain, do not exchange their light chains under conditions approximating physiological temperature and ionic strength. Myosin heterodimers, molecules containing both A1 and A2 light chains, are therefore formed at the time of synthesis rather than by a labile subunit exchange. Antibodies specific for the amino-terminal region of the alkali light chains were used to localize these subunits in myosin by immunoelectron microscopy. The close proximity of the alkali light chain to the 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) light chain in the "neck" region of the myosin head is consistent with the finding that the 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) light chain influences subunit interactions between the alkali light chain and heavy chain in vertebrate skeletal muscle myosin.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1984

Conformational states of smooth muscle myosin. Effects of light chain phosphorylation and ionic strength.

Stoichiometric amounts of MgATP disassemble dephosphorylated smooth muscle and nonmuscle myosin filaments to a 10 S monomer. Phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain reassembles the myosin into filaments (Suzuki, H., Onishi, H., Takahashi, K., and Watanabe, S. (1978) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 84, 1529-1542). The conformation of the dephosphorylated 10 S monomer is highly unusual in that the 1500 A long myosin tail is folded into approximately equal thirds (Onishi, H., and Wakabayashi, T. (1982) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 92, 871-879; Trybus, K. M., Huiatt, T. W., and Lowey, S. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 79, 6151-6155). It was recently reported that phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain causes the bent monomer to unfold to the extended conformation characteristic of 6 S myosin in high salt (Craig, R., Smith, R., and Kendrick-Jones, J. (1983) Nature (Lond.) 302, 436-439). Here we show that phosphorylated myosin can exist in a stable 10 S conformation provided that the salt concentration is kept sufficiently low. Only in a narrow range of salt concentration does the monomer conformation depend on the state of phosphorylation. Above 0.3 M KCl, all myosins revert to the extended form; below 0.1 M KCl, all monomeric myosin is folded. As the salt concentration is decreased to 0.05 M KCl, the 10 S monomers form antiparallel folded dimers. Because phosphorylation increases filament formation even when 10 S monomer remains in equilibrium with polymer, assembly could proceed via the association of 10 S monomers or by a transient 6 S intermediate.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1983

Assembly and kinetic properties of myosin light chain isozymes from fast skeletal muscle.

Myosin from chicken pectoralis muscle consists of isozymes that differ in their alkali light chains. It is possible to isolate alkali 1 (A1) and alkali 2 (A2) homodimers of native myosin by immunoadsorption methods, and to compare their steady-state kinetics as well as their assembly into synthetic filaments under a variety of ionic conditions. Bipolar filaments of the isozymes formed at low salt concentrations had a narrow length distribution and did not differ from controls made from unfractionated myosin. Chicken myosin also assembles into highly homogeneous minifilaments similar to those formed by rabbit myosin in a citrate/Tris buffer. Analytical ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy showed that A1-homodimer, A2-homodimer and unfractionated myosin assembled into 0.3 micron short, bipolar minifilaments, which were indistinguishable from one another in size and shape. The steady-state myosin ATPase activity of the two homodimeric isozymes was identical in K+(EDTA) and Ca2+ assay media. The actomyosin Mg2+ ATPase measured at 25 and 55 mM-KCl (pH 8.0) showed only minor differences in both Vmax and Kapp. Actomyosin activity was also determined for the more homogeneous minifilament preparations of the isozymes and these, as well, produced essentially indistinguishable kinetic parameters. Thus we find no evidence to support the hypothesis that a particular alkali light chain of myosin can affect either the structure of the filaments or the steady-state rate of ATP hydrolysis.

Actomyosin↗
PubMed1983

An in vitro study of the interactions of skeletal muscle M-protein and creatine kinase with myosin and its subfragments.

Two proteins reported to be located in the M-band of skeletal muscle are M-protein (Mr 160,000) and creatine kinase (Mr 83,000). We have isolated and purified these proteins from adult chicken pectoralis muscle, and have studied their in vitro interactions with myosin, heavy meromyosin, light meromyosin and subfragment-2 in order to obtain a fuller understanding of the role these proteins play in the M-band of skeletal muscle. Experiments using the techniques of analytical ultracentrifugation, affinity chromatography and electron microscopy were carried out near physiological pH and ionic strength, under which conditions the M-band proteins are known to be firmly bound to the myofibril in situ. The results of our studies indicate that such interactions are either weak or absent in vitro. Discrepancies between our results and those from several other studies are discussed. We conclude that additional components may be required in order to observe interactions in vitro which are similar to those present in the intact myofibril.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Myosin isozymes in avian skeletal muscles. I. Sequential expression of myosin isozymes in developing chicken pectoralis muscles.

Myosin has been purified from chicken pectoralis muscle at various stages of development, from 10 days' incubation to approximately 10 months after hatching. Embryonic myosin from the earliest stage showed a high level of ATPase activity, similar to that obtained for adult pectoralis myosin. Two-dimensional peptide mapping of partial chymotryptic digests showed, however, that is heavy chain is quite different from that of adult fast myosin. The immunological crossreactivity observed between embryonic myosin and adult fast (pectoralis) myosin is therefore due to shared antigenic determinants rather than the presence of any adult isoforms. In an accompanying paper we will show that embryonic myosin at 10 days' incubation is not a single species, but consists of at least two heavy chain isozymes. The minor fraction binds slow light chains preferentially, and appears to be largely responsible for the observed crossreactivity with slow (ALD) myosin. None of the embryonic myosins is equivalent to the adult forms. Prior to hatching, LC3f is present only in very small amounts (less than 5%), and the adult light chain pattern, containing LC1f and LC3f in equimolar amounts, is not generated until after one week post-hatching. At about that time a new heavy chain population is detected, different from either the embryonic heavy chain or the adult heavy chain. The adult heavy chain peptide pattern appears from about three weeks' post-hatching, but a map indistinguishable from that of adult myosin is not observed until about 26 weeks. None of the observed differences in peptide maps can be related to different strains of chicken; pectoralis myosin from adult White Rock gave an identical map to that from White Leghorn. Unexpectedly, posterior latissimus dorsi (PLD) myosin from White Leghorn appears to be different from pectoralis myosin from the same strain, despite the histochemical and immunocytochemical similarity of the two muscles. We conclude that myosin polymorphism is widespread in muscle tissue, and that the expression of myosin isozymes and their subunits is under developmental regulation.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1983

Myosin isozymes in avian skeletal muscles. II. Fractionation of myosin isozymes from adult and embryonic chicken pectoralis muscle by immuno-affinity chromatography.

Chicken pectoralis consists primarily of large white fibres, which react exclusively with antibodies prepared against adult fast myosin. There is, however, a small region of uniformly red fibres which responds to antibodies against adult slow myosin as well as adult fast myosin. The myosin extracted from this red region is also heterogeneous as shown by the presence of both slow and fast light chains. By means of immunoadsorbents, it has been possible to separate the 'red myosin' into a 'fast' component and a 'slow' component. These two fractions have been characterized with respect to their light and heavy chain content by one-dimensional and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The myosin heavy chain was reduced to the smaller fragments required for electrophoresis by proteolytic degradation. We conclude from the electrophoretic patterns that the 'fast' and 'slow' myosin components from the pectoralis red region closely resemble the myosin from the white region of the pectoralis and the myosin from the slow anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle. The demonstration of a 'slow myosin' in adult pectoralis muscle raises the possibility that the crossreactivity of embryonic pectoralis myosin with anti-slow (ALD) myosin antibodies might be due to the presence of such slow components in embryonic chicken muscle. Direct isolation of a slow component from embryonic pectoralis was achieved by immunoadsorption, as described for adult mixed muscle myosin. Analysis of the subunit composition by gel electrophoresis shows an enrichment in adult-type slow light chains, but the heavy chain pattern is quite distinct from that of adult slow heavy chain. These studies suggest that several myosin isozymes exist in embryonic chicken pectoralis, but that none is identical to those myosins found in the different fibres of the adult pectoralis muscle.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1983

Monoclonal antibodies localize changes on myosin heavy chain isozymes during avian myogenesis.

Monoclonal antibodies were used to identify and localize by immunoelectron microscopy epitopes on myosin isozymes. An antibody that reacts with an amino-terminal fragment of the myosin heavy chain maps on the myosin head 140 A distal to the head-rod junction. It identifies an epitope that is shared on adult and embryonic myosin, and detects two transitions in myosin expression during avian pectoralis myogenesis. Another antibody maps to the carboxyl terminus of the myosin rod. It is specific for an adult fast myosin epitope that is not detected in early developing pectoralis muscle. In contrast, an epitope that is present throughout development is identified by an antibody that reacts with a myosin light chain. This light chain epitope is localized at the head-rod junction. These results demonstrate structural changes in widely separated regions of the myosin molecule accompanying the sequential expression of developmental myosin isozymes.

Animals↗