Isolation, characterization and localization of bovine adrenal medullary myosin

Myosin was isolated in high purity from the bovine adrenal medulla by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. The purified myosin was analyzed by electrophoresis in gels containing SDS and found to contain a 200,000 molecular weight heavy chain and major light chains of molecular weights 20,000 and 17,000 in a 1:1:1 molar ratio. At high ionic strength the myosin had high Ca-ATPase and K-EDTA-ATPase activities and low Mg-ATPase activity. At low ionic strength, the Mg-ATPase was activated to a low level by rabbit muscle actin. The myosin was found to decorate F-actin in the absence, but not the presence of ATP. In low ionic strength solutions, the myosin assembled into characteristic bipolar filaments. The distribution of this myosin in the adrenal medulla and of cross-reacting myosin in several other bovine tissues was determined with the use of anti-medullary myosin immunoglobulin G as a specific stain that was detected by direct and indirect immunofluorescence. In the medulla strong staining was seen between the chords of chromaffin cells indicating that presence of a highly muscular vasculature that may perform functions analogous to those of the myoepithelium of exocrine glands. The chromaffin cells showed weak positive staining around the nuclei and in a pattern radiating toward adjacent blood vessels. Cells of the inner zone of the adrenal cortex showed strong staining in the peripheral cytoplasm while cells in the intermediate and outer zones did not stain. In a blood smear, platelets and the cytoplasm of leukocytes stained strongly while erythrocytes did not stain. In striated muscle and the gray and white matter of the cerebrum only the capillaries and larger vessels stained. In the liver the phagocytic cells bordering vascular sinuses staine strongly while the hepatocytes were separated from one another by a 2 micron trilaminar band possibly representing the microfilament web surrounding the bile canaliculi and associated with junctional complexes. The results suggest that myosin is present in several highly differentiated, non-motile tissue cells where it may play a role in secretion or other specialized functions.