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W F Harrington

Publications and source records attributed to W F Harrington.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

An enzyme-probe study of motile domains in the subfragment-2 region of myosin.

The temperature-dependence of local melting within the subfragment-2 region of rabbit skeletal muscle myosin has been investigated using an enzyme-probe technique. Rate constants of fragmentation of two long subfragment-2 particles (61,000 Mr and 53,000 Mr per polypeptide chain) and a short subfragment-2 particle (34,000 Mr per polypeptide chain) by three different enzymes (alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin and papain) have been determined over the temperature range 5 to 40 degrees C. We followed the time-course of digestion at specific sites at high (I = 0.50, pH 7.3) and low (physiological, I = 0.15, pH 7.3) ionic strengths by electrophoresis of the digestion products on sodium dodecyl sulfate-containing gels. All rate constants were corrected for the intrinsic temperature-dependence of the enzymes by comparison with model substrates. Normalized rate constant versus temperature profiles for the three enzyme-probes are similar in showing that local melting in long subfragment-2 (61,000 Mr) occurs in two distinct stages as was observed earlier for the intact myosin rod. Over the temperature range 5 to 25 degrees C a restricted region at Mr = 53,000 to 50,000 from the N terminus of the rod (the light meromyosin/heavy meromyosin junction) shows the highest susceptibility to proteolytic cleavage. At temperatures above 25 degrees C local melting was detected by all three enzymes at several specific sites within the hinge domain (Mr = 53,000 to 34,000). Activation energies for cleavage at the susceptible sites were similar for the three enzyme probes. They suggest that this region of the myosin rod has significantly lower thermal stability than the flanking light meromyosin and short subfragment-2 segments. These results, together with other physico-chemical studies, point to the hinge domain of the myosin cross-bridge as an important functional element in the mechanism of force generation in muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

An enzyme-probe method to detect structural changes in the myosin rod.

The temperature-dependence of local melting within the alpha-helical, coiled-coil structure of rabbit myosin rod has been investigated by following changes in the rate constants of proteolytic digestion. The kinetics of fragmentation of the rod by three different enzymes (alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin and papain) over the temperature range 5 to 40 degrees C (pH 7, I = 0.5) has been monitored by electrophoresis of the digestion products on sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels. All rate constants were corrected for the intrinsic temperature-dependence of the enzyme by comparison with model substrates. Results from the three enzyme-probes are similar in showing that local melting within the rod occurs in two distinct stages. At temperatures between 5 and 25 degrees C, melting is confined to a restricted segment of the rod structure near the light meromyosin/heavy meromyosin junction. At temperatures between 25 and 40 degrees C, a wider segment of the rod lysing between the junction and the short subfragment-2 segment (the hinge domain) appears to be melting, judging from the broad spectrum of cleavage sites observed in this region. Results are compared with those from other physicochemical methods that measure the hinging or opening of the coiled-coil structure of the rod.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Myosin.

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Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Self-association of a high molecular weight subfragment-2 of myosin induced by divalent metal ions.

The effect of divalent cations on the self-association of high molecular weight subfragment-2 (long S-2) and low molecular weight subfragment-2 (short S-2) of rabbit skeletal muscle myosin has been investigated. In the presence of millimolar concentrations of Ca2+ or Mg2+ long S-2 associates at neutral pH to form ordered, high molecular weight aggregates whereas short S-2 does not associate. The association process is co-operative and results from binding two to four divalent cations within the light meromyosin-heavy meromyosin (LMM-HMM) hinge region of long S-2. Optical diffraction of electron micrographs of the long S-2 aggregates revealed several periodicities including reflections near 143 A. High molecular weight HMM showed a similar divalent metal induced self-association. Chymotryptic digestion studies of rod filaments reveal that cleavage within the LMM-HMM hinge is also strongly dependent on the presence of divalent cations. At pH 8, in the absence of divalent cations, the S-2 region appears to be displaced away from the filament backbone resulting in rapid proteolysis in the hinge domain. At high cation concentrations (greater than 10 mM) proteolytic cleavage is suppressed. A similar depression of the (substantially lower) hinge cleavage rate was also observed at neutral pH following addition of these divalent metal ions. Results suggest that binding of Mg2+ within the hinge domain under physiological conditions may act to lock the cross-bridge onto the thick filament surface in its resting-state orientation.

Allosteric Regulation↗
PubMed1983

Stability and melting kinetics of structural domains in the myosin rod.

The thermal stability and melting kinetics of the alpha-helical conformation within several regions of the rabbit myosin rod have been investigated. Cyanogen bromide cleavage of long myosin subfragment-2 produced one coiled-coil alpha-helical fragment corresponding to short subfragment-2 with molecular weight 90,000 (Mr = 45,000) and two fragments from the hinge region with molecular weights of 32,000 to 34,000 (Mr = 16,000 to 17,000) and 24,000 to 26,000 (Mr = 12,000 to 13,000). Optical rotation melting experiments and temperature-jump kinetic studies of long subfragment-2 and its cyanogen bromide fragments show that the hinge and the short subfragment-2 domains melt as quasi-independent co-operative units. The alpha-helical structure within the hinge has an appreciably lower thermal stability than the flanking short subfragment-2 and light meromyosin regions of the myosin rod. Two relaxation processes for helix-melting, one in the submillisecond range (tau f) and the other in the millisecond range (tau s), are observed in the light meromyosin and short subfragment-2 regions of the rod, but melting in the hinge domain is dominated by the fast (tau f) process. Results suggest that the hinge domain of the subfragment-2 link may be the locus of force generation in a cycling cross-bridge.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1983

Cross-bridge movement in muscle and the conformation of the myosin hinge.

The force-generating mechanism in muscle is discussed and it is shown that a helix-coil transition in the S-2 link of the cycling cross-bridge is compatible with the physical and chemical properties of this region of the myosin molecule. Thermal melting and temperature-jump experiments are described demonstrating that the light meromyosin-heavy meromyosin (LMM-HMM) hinge domain of S-2 is a segment of low thermal stability. This region can undergo alpha-helix-random coil transitions on a time-scale comparable to the quick-recovery tension transient observed when isometrically contracting muscle is abruptly shortened or stretched. Cross-linking and enzyme probe studies of glycerinated muscle fibres and myofibrils in resting, rigor and activating solvents suggest that the polypeptide chains within the hinge region of S-2 undergo a conformational transition to a more open, proteolytically sensitive structure when the S-2 link is released from the thick filament surface.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Sugar transport by the bacterial phosphotransferase system. Studies on the molecular weight and association of enzyme I.

Studies were conducted on the physical properties of Enzyme I, the first protein in the Salmonella typhimurium phosphoenolpyruvate:glycose phosphotransferase system. Since values lower than those previously reported for the monomer molecular weight were obtained, experiments were performed to determine whether Enzyme I had been partially degraded during isolation of homogeneous protein. Crude extracts and partially purified and homogeneous protein preparations exhibited identical behavior in crossed immunoelectrophoresis analyses, indicating that the isolated protein represented native, intact Enzyme I. The monomeric subunit of Enzyme I is globular, with a frictional ratio of about 1. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments provided a monomer molecular weight of 57,700 +/- 3,400, and gel filtration studies under denaturing conditions gave a comparable value of 57,000. The values previously obtained from polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate varied with the conditions used, but under one set of conditions agreed with those given above. The sedimentation equilibrium studies were conducted at 8 degrees C, in the absence of substrates and cofactor (phosphoenolpyruvate, pyruvate, Mg2+). Under these conditions Enzyme I self-associates, but the association is weak, favoring primarily monomer. Because of solubility limitations, the sedimentation experiments were performed with Enzyme I at an initial concentration of 0.5 mg/ml, providing a concentration distribution of 0.1 to 2 mg/ml. Computer analysis of the results showed that within this concentration range it was not possible to distinguish between two modes of self-association, monomer-dimer and isodesmic. The physiological significance of the results is discussed.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1981

Conformational transition in the myosin hinge upon activation of muscle.

We have determined the rates of chymotryptic proteolysis of the myosin hinge region in glycerinated rabbit psoas fibers and myofibrils in in rigor-inducing, activating, and relaxing buffers. The time course of formation of light meromyosin (LMM) provides a specific probe for cleavage within the hinge domain. In rigor-inducing and relaxing buffers proteolysis within the hinge is depressed, but on activation LMM is formed at a markedly increased rate, which is dependent on the concentration of MgATP. Peptide bond cleavage occurs at four widely separated sites spanning the length of the hinge domain. Only a trivial amount of proteolysis occurs at the head--rod swivel or within the heavy chain of the head itself (S-1 subunit) in rigor-inducing and relaxing solvents, and we find no significant change on activation. The rate of formation of LMM in rigor-inducing buffer is unchanged by addition of MgADP, Pi, or magnesium adenosine 5'-[beta, gamma-imido]triphosphate or in activating solvent at zero overlap between thick and thin filaments. These results provide evidence for a conformational (helix--coil) transition within the myosin hinge upon activation of skeletal muscle.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1979

On the origin of the contractile force in skeletal muscle.

Analysis of the early tension responses after abrupt step changes in the length of isometrically contracting skeletal muscle shows that the magnitude of the recovery tension (T2) and the time dependence of this process at various step displacements give a good correlation with the behavior expected for a helix-coil transition in the subfragment-2 (S-2) region of myosin. The "instantaneous" tension response (to T1) after the step change in length appears to have its origin in compliance within the coil region of S-2, which is formed through helix melting at the moment of force generation.

Actins↗
PubMed1979

Rapid helix--coil transitions in the S-2 region of myosin.

Temperature-jump studies on the long S-2 fragment (100,000 daltons) isolated from myosin show that this structure can undergo alpha-helix--random coil transitions in a time range approximating the cycle time of a crossbridge. Two relaxation times are observed after temperature jumps of 5 degrees C over the range 35--55 degrees C, one in the submillisecond (tau f) and the other in the millisecond (tau s) time ranges. Both processes exhibit maxima near the midpoint of the helix--coil transition (tm = 45 +/- 2 degrees C) as determined by optical rotation melt experiments. Similar results were observed for the low temperature transition (tm = 45 degrees C) of the myosin rod. Viscosity studies reveal that the S-2 particles has significant flexibility at physiological temperature. Results are considered in terms of the Huxley--Simmons and helix--coil transition models for force generation in muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Effect of pH on the cross-bridge arrangement in synthetic myosin filaments.

Synthetic thick filaments were cross-linked with dimethyl suberimidate at various pH values over the range pH 6.8---8.3. The rate of cross-linking myosin heads to the thick filament surface decreases significantly over a narrow pH range (7.4--8.0) despite the fact that the rate of the chemical reaction (amidination of lysine side chains) shows a positive pH dependence. The fall in rate cannot be ascribed to dissociation of the filament during the cross-linking reaction since the sedimentation boundary of the cross-linked filament (pH 8.3) remains unaltered in the presence of high salt (0.5 M). The decreased rate of cross-linking is also not caused by a shift in reactivity of a small number of highly reactive lysine groups, since the time course of cross-linking (pH 7.2) is unaffected by preincubation with a monofunctional imidate ester. Our results suggest that the heads of the myosin molecules move away from the thick filament surface at alkaline pH but are held close to the surface at neutral pH.

Dimethyl Suberimidate↗
PubMed1977

Reactivity of essential thiols of myosin. Chemical probes of the activated state.

14C-Labeled fluorodinitrobenzene and N-ethylmaleimide have been used as chemical probes of the conformational states of myosin induced by the binding of MgADP and MgATP. The results indicate that in the high-energy conformation, MMgADP-Pi, the essential thiols are protected from modification but their diminished reactivity does not result from depletion of the reagent by reaction at nonessential thiols. The binding of MgADP to myosin exposes the essential thiols as reflected by an increased rate of their modification. The influence of the divalent cations Mg2+ and Ca2+ on the conformation of the M species has also been investigated. By monitoring the incorporation of fluorodinitrobenzene, the conformations of the M state in the presence of these cations can be clearly discerned.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗