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Binding of ADP and 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate to rabbit muscle myofibrils

J A Biosca1, L E Greene, E Eisenberg

  • 1Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

Insights

Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) binds strongly to rabbit skeletal myofibrils, while adenosine-5

Area of Science:

  • Muscle physiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular biology

Background:

  • Skeletal myofibrils are the fundamental contractile units of muscle.
  • Understanding myosin head interactions with nucleotides is crucial for muscle function.
  • Previous studies explored nucleotide binding to isolated myosin subfragment-1 (S-1) and acto-S-1.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the binding affinity of ADP and AMP-PNP to myosin heads within intact rabbit skeletal myofibrils.
  • To investigate the influence of myofibril structure (in overlap vs. out of overlap) on nucleotide binding.
  • To compare nucleotide binding in myofibrils with in vitro binding data.

Main Methods:

  • Measurement of [3H]ADP and [3H]AMP-PNP binding to rabbit skeletal myofibrils at different temperatures (25°C and 7°C).
  • Use of [14C]mannitol as a volume marker to determine bound nucleotide concentrations.
  • Analysis of binding data using models assuming single or multiple cross-bridge populations.

Main Results:

  • ADP exhibited a strong binding constant (approx. 10^4 M^-1) to myosin heads in the overlap region.
  • AMP-PNP binding affinity to myosin heads outside the overlap region was similar to in vitro S-1 binding.
  • AMP-PNP binding to myosin heads within the overlap region was significantly weaker (approx. 1 x 10^3 M^-1, corrected for non-specific binding).
  • Data suggested that at least half of the cross-bridges in overlap bind AMP-PNP weakly, comparable to acto-S-1 in vitro.

Conclusions:

  • Myofibril structure influences nucleotide binding affinity to myosin heads.
  • The weak binding of AMP-PNP in the overlap region of myofibrils suggests specific structural constraints or interactions.
  • These findings provide insights into the regulatory mechanisms of muscle contraction at the molecular level.

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