Caldesmon150 regulates the tropomyosin-enhanced actin-myosin interaction in gizzard smooth muscle

Using a reconstituted system in which myosin was preferentially phosphorylated, we examined the regulatory action of caldesmon150 on the smooth muscle actin-myosin interaction. Caldesmon150 inhibited the tropomyosin-enhanced actomyosin ATPase activity in a Ca2+-independent manner. This inhibitory effect of caldesmon150 was observed to be overcome by the addition of calmodulin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. In accordance with the observations of ATPase activity, we demonstrated evidence that the regulatory action of caldesmon150 on the actin site was mainly through control of the tropomyosin-enhanced actin-myosin interaction and calmodulin confers the Ca2+-sensitivity upon the caldesmon150 action determined by the cosedimentation method.