Site-directed mutagenesis of the Ca2+ ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum

We have cloned cDNA encoding the Ca2+ ATPase from fast-twitch skeletal muscle and, on the basis of its amino acid sequence and immunological studies of its topology, have made deductions concerning its secondary structure and active sites. These deductions have led us to test models for Ca2+ transport through expression of the protein in functional form in COS-1 cells, mutagenesis, and measurement of altered function. Mutation of about 250 of the 1000 amino acids making up the Ca2+ pump has indicated that the sites of high affinity Ca2+ binding are located in the center of the transmembrane domain and are made up from residues located in transmembrane sequences M4, M5, M6 and M8. The ATP binding site appears to be located in the headpiece and is made up from a series of loop sequences connecting alternating alpha helices and beta strands. Sites of conformational interaction appear in all domains throughout the Ca2+ pump. In our present model, Ca2+ transport occurs through binding to high affinity sites accessible to the cytoplasm in the E1 conformation, followed by release to the lumen from low affinity sites which form during the ATP-induced transition of the protein from the E1 to the E2 conformation.