Locking regulatory myosin in the off-state with trifluoperazine

Scallop striated adductor muscle myosin is a regulatory myosin, its activity being controlled directly through calcium binding. Here, we show that millimolar concentrations of trifluoperazine were effective at removal of all regulatory light chains from scallop myosin or myofibrils. More important, 200 microM trifluoperazine, a concentration 10-fold less than that required for light-chain removal, resulted in the reversible elimination of actin-activated and intrinsic ATPase activities. Unlike desensitization induced by metal ion chelation, which leads to an elevation of activity in the absence of calcium concurrent with regulatory light-chain removal, trifluoperazine caused a decline in actin-activated MgATPase activity both in the presence and absence of calcium. Procedures were equally effective with respect to scallop myosin, myofibrils, subfragment-1, or desensitized myofibrils. Increased alpha-helicity could be induced in the isolated essential light chain through addition of 100-200 microM trifluoperazine. We propose that micromolar concentrations of trifluoperazine disrupt regulation by binding to a single high-affinity site located in the C-terminal domain of the essential light chain, which locks scallop myosin in a conformation resembling the off-state. At millimolar trifluoperazine concentrations, additional binding sites on both light chains would be filled, leading to regulatory light-chain displacement.