Ligand and lipid domain stabilization of a membraneous Ca2+-ATPase during hyperthermia

The susceptibility of the membranous Ca2+-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum to enzymatic inactivation at hyperthermic temperatures was investigated. Inactivation produced a break in the Arrhenius plot at 45-46 degrees C and was accompanied by an increased mobility of spin label, covalently attached to the Ca2+-ATPase. MgADP and MgATP exerted a markedly stabilizing effect on inactivation, both at pH 7.0 and in acidic media. By contrast, high-affinity Ca2+ or Mg2+ binding only moderately stabilized Ca2+-ATPase (inactivation rates were decreased 2-3 times), and this effect was non-additive, i.e., only observed in the absence of the other divalent cation. But withdrawal of K+ and Na+ gave rise to a pronounced destabilization that could be reversed efficiently by high concentrations of Ca2+ or Mg2+. These results are compared with a previous study on detergent solubilized Ca2+-ATPase (Møller, J.V., Lind, K.E. and Andersen, J.P. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 1912-1920) which showed the enzyme to be markedly stabilized by Ca2+ as well as by nucleotide. It is concluded that, due to the presence of nucleotide, inactivation of Ca2+-ATPase is not likely to occur during malignant hyperthermia and that the native environment of the lipid bilayer provides stabilization of the membrane-embedded and Ca2+-translocating domain of the Ca2+-ATPase.