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Biomedical subjects

C R Bagshaw

Publications and source records attributed to C R Bagshaw.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Substrate binding to chloramphenicol acetyltransferase: evidence for negative cooperativity from equilibrium and kinetic constants for binary and ternary complexes.

Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) catalyzes the acetyl-CoA-dependent acetylation of chloramphenicol by a ternary complex mechanism with a rapid equilibrium and essentially random order of addition of substrates. Such a kinetic mechanism for a two-substrate reaction provides an opportunity to compare the affinity of enzyme for each substrate in the binary complexes (1/Kd) with corresponding values (1/Km) for affinities in the ternary complex where any effect of the other substrate should be manifest. The pursuit of such information for CAT involved the use of four independent methods to determine the dissociation constant (Kd) for chloramphenicol in the binary complex, techniques which included stopped-flow measurements of on and off rates, and a novel fluorometric titration method. The binary complex dissociation constant (Kd) for acetyl-CoA was measured by fluorescence enhancement and steady-state kinetic analysis. The ternary complex dissociation constant (Km) for each substrate (in the presence of the other) was determined by kinetic and fluorometric methods, using CoA or ethyl-CoA to form nonproductive ternary complexes. The results demonstrate an unequivocal decrease in affinity of CAT for each of its substrates on progression from the binary to the ternary complex, a phenomenon most economically described as negative cooperativity. The binary complex dissociation constants (Kd) for chloramphenicol and acetyl-CoA are 4 microM and 30 microM whereas the corresponding dissociation constants in the ternary complex (Km) are 12 microM and 90 microM, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetyl Coenzyme A

A folded (10 S) conformer of myosin from a striated muscle and its implications for regulation of ATPase activity.

Myosin from the striated adductor muscle of the scallop Pecten maximus is shown to fold into a compact 10 S conformer under relaxing conditions, as has been characterized for smooth and non-muscle myosins. The folding transition is accompanied by the trapping of nucleotide at the active site to give a species with a half-life of about an hour at 20 degrees C. Ca2+ binding to the specific, regulatory sites on a myosin head promotes unfolding to the extended 6 S conformer and activates product release by 60-fold. The unfolding transition, however, remains much slower than the contraction-relaxation cycle of scallop striated muscle and could not play a role in the regulation of these events. The dissociation of products from myosin heads in native thick filaments is Ca2(+)-regulated, but under relaxing conditions the nucleotide is released at least an order of magnitude faster than from the 10 S monomeric myosin, at a rate similar to that observed with heavy meromyosin. Thus, there is no evidence for any intermolecular interaction between neighbouring molecules in the filament analogous to the head-neck intramolecular interaction in the 10 S conformer. It is possible that the 10 S myosin state represents an inert form involved in the control of filament assembly during muscle growth and development. Removal of regulatory light chains or labelling the reactive heavy chain thiol of myosin prevents, or at least disfavours, formation of the folded 10 S conformer and allows separation of the modified protein from the native molecules.

Adenosine Triphosphate

In vivo overproduction of the pentafunctional arom polypeptide in Aspergillus nidulans affects metabolic flux in the quinate pathway.

The shikimate pathway and the quinic acid utilisation (QUT) pathway of Aspergillus nidulans and other fungi share the two common metabolic intermediates, 3-dehydroquinic acid (DHQ) and dehydroshikimic acid (DHS), which are interconverted by two isoenzymes, catabolic 3-dehydroquinase, (cDHQase) and biosynthetic dehydroquinase, (bDHQase). bDHQase is one of five consecutive enzymatic activities associated with the pentafunctional arom protein encoded by the complex AROM locus, whereas cDHQase is encoded by the single-function QUTE gene, one of seven genes comprising the QUT gene cluster in A. nidulans, which is required for the catabolism of quinate to protocatechuate. We addressed the question of how much (if any) leakage there is of the two common substrates between the two pathways, by increasing the concentration of the arom protein in vivo by means of recombinant DNA technology. We demonstrated that constitutive overproduction of the arom protein by 12-fold in the presence of quinate inhibits germination of conidiospores, but showed that 12-fold quinate-inducible overproduction of arom protein does not have this effect. In addition we showed that a qutE mutant (lacking cDHQase) can grow with quinic acid as sole carbon source whtn the arom protein is overproduced fivefold. The data are most simply interpreted as simple competition for common substrates by the enzymes of the two pathways and demonstrate that any channelling function of the arom protein in vivo is relatively leaky.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases

The calcium ion dependence of scallop myosin ATPase activity.

The ATPase activity of scallop (Pecten maximus) striated adductor myosin and heavy meromyosin (HMM) have been investigated as a function of [Ca2+] using formycin triphosphate (FTP) as a fluorescent ATP analogue. The FTPase activity of the regulated fraction of these preparations was activated steeply over the range of 0.1 to 1 microM [Ca2+], implying the existence of a form of cooperativity that is intrinsic to the myosin heads. In addition to the previously characterised heterogeneity with respect to an unregulated fraction, the regulated fraction of HMM was resolved into two populations whose activities showed a slightly different dependency on [Ca2+]. This was revealed unambiguously at intermediate levels of activation where, in some experiments, the product release rate constants differed for the two populations by more than fivefold. At maximum relaxation or maximum activation, these rate constants differed by two- to three-fold and were not clearly resolved by the multiexponential fitting procedure. The populations might arise as a consequence of isoenzymes, modification during preparation or slowly interconverting conformers; Ca2+ binding itself being a rapid equilibrium process in both populations. FTP turnover by myosin could not be analysed in such detail because of the technical problems of measuring the fluorescence of a suspension of filaments, but the rates of the elementary steps appeared similar to those of HMM. The fraction of unregulated molecules in myosin preparations was comparable to that of HMM indicating that if it is a consequence of preparative damage, the modification must occur prior to tryptic digestion.

Animals

Logarithmic timebase for stopped-flow data acquisition and analysis.

A method for capturing stopped-flow and other rapid reaction records in logarithmic time, using a microcomputer, is described. Apart from the ability to record processes over several decades in time in a single experiment, the method shows distinct advantages in subsequent nonlinear regression analysis of multiexponential processes. The method is illustrated by a study of the binding of NADPH to dihydrofolate reductase and the reaction between formycin triphosphate and heavy meromyosin.

Animals

Parallel modulation of brush border myosin conformation and enzyme activity induced by monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies binding to distinct epitopes on the tail of brush border myosin were used to modulate the conformation and state of assembly of this myosin. BM1 binds 1:3 of the distance from the tip of the tail to the head and prevents the extended-tail (6S) monomer from folding into the assembly-incompetent folded-tail (10S) state, whereas BM4 binds to the tip of the myosin tail, and induces the myosin to fold into the 10S state. Thus, at physiological ionic strength BM1 promotes and BM4 blocks the assembly of the myosin into filaments. Using BM1 and BM4 together, we were able to prevent both folding and filament assembly, thus locking myosin molecules in the extended-tail 6S monomer conformation at low ionic strength where they normally assemble into filaments. Using these myosin-antibody complexes, we were able to investigate independently the effects of folding of the myosin tail and assembly into filaments on the myosin MgATPase. The enzymatic activities were measured from the fluorescent profiles during the turnover of the ATP analogue formycin triphosphate (FTP). Extended-tail (6S) myosin molecules had an FTPase activity of 1-5 X 10(-3) s-1, either at high ionic strength as a monomer alone or when complexed with antibody, or at low ionic strength as filaments or when maintained as extended-tail monomers by the binding of BM1 and BM4. Folding of the molecules into the 10S state reduced this rate by an order of magnitude, effectively trapping the products of FTP hydrolysis in the active sites.

Animals

Active site trapping of nucleotide by smooth and non-muscle myosins.

The folded 10 S monomer conformation of smooth muscle myosin traps the hydrolysis products ADP and Pi in its active sites. To test the significance of this, we have searched for equivalent trapping in other conformational and assembly states of avian gizzard and brush border myosins, using formycin triphosphate (FTP) as an ATP analogue. When myosin monomers were in the straight-tail 6 S conformation, the hydrolysis products were released at about 0.03 s-1. Adoption of the folded 10 S monomer conformation reduced this rate by more than 100-fold, effectively trapping the products FDP and Pi in the active sites. This profound inhibition of product release occurred only on formation of the looped tail monomer conformation. In vitro-assembled myosin filaments released products at a comparable rate to free straight-tail 6 S monomers, and smooth muscle heavy meromyosin, which lacks the C-terminal two-thirds of the myosin tail, also did not trap the products in this way. Phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain had no effect on the rate of product release from straight-tail 6 S myosin monomers or from myosin filaments. Rather, it allowed actin to accelerate product release. Phosphorylation acted also to destabilize the folded monomer conformation, causing the recruitment of molecules from the pool of folded monomers into the myosin filaments. The two processes of contraction and filament assembly are thus both controlled in vitro by light-chain phosphorylation. A similar linked control in vivo would allow the organization of myosin in the cell to adapt itself continuously to the pattern of contractile activity.

Adenosine Triphosphate

Transient-kinetic studies of the adenosine triphosphatase activity of scallop heavy meromyosin.

Fluorescence stopped-flow experiments were performed to elucidate the elementary steps of the ATPase mechanism of scallop heavy meromyosin in the presence and in the absence of Ca2+. ATP binding and hydrolysis, as monitored by the change in tryptophan fluorescence, appear to be Ca2+-insensitive, whereas both Pi release and ADP release are markedly suppressed in the absence of Ca2+. Rate constants for Pi release are 0.2 s-1 and 0.002 s-1 and for ADP release are 6 s-1 and 0.01 s-1 in the presence and in the absence of Ca2+ respectively. Ca2+ binding to the specific site of the regulatory domain is rapid and its release occurs at 25 s-1, consistent with the time scale of a twitch of the striated adductor muscle. Nucleotide binding is a multi-step process requiring a minimum of three states. In such a model Ca2+ controls the rate of conformational changes at the active site in both the forward and the reverse direction, leading to a large dependence of the rate of nucleotide release, but a lesser effect on the overall equilibrium position. The kinetic trapping of nucleotides and Pi at the active site, in the absence of Ca2+, appears to be a fundamental step in suppressing the interaction of the myosin head with the thin filaments in relaxed molluscan muscle.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Kinetic trapping of intermediates of the scallop heavy meromyosin adenosine triphosphatase reaction revealed by formycin nucleotides.

The kinetics of interaction of formycin nucleotides with scallop myosin subfragments were investigated by exploiting the fluorescence signal of the ligand. Formycin triphosphate gives a 5-fold enhancement of the emission intensity on binding to heavy meromyosin, and the profile indicates that the kinetics of binding are Ca2+-insensitive. In contrast, the subsequent product-release steps show a marked degree of regulation by Ca2+. In the absence of Ca2+ formycin triphosphate turnover by the unregulated and the regulated heavy meromyosin fractions are clearly resolved, the latter showing a fluorescence decay rate of 0.002 s-1, corresponding to the Pi-release step. In the presence of Ca2+ this step is activated 50-fold. Formycin diphosphate release is also regulated by Ca2+, being activated from 0.008 s-1 to 5 s-1. In contrast with protein tryptophan fluorescence [Jackson & Bagshaw (1988) Biochem. J. 251, 515-526], formycin fluorescence is sensitive to conformational changes that occur subsequent to the binding step and demonstrate, directly, an effect of Ca2+ on both forward and reverse rate constants. Apart from a decrease in the apparent second-order association rate constants, formycin derivatives appear to mimic adenosine nucleotides closely in their interaction with scallop heavy meromyosin and provide a spectroscopic handle on steps that are optically silent with respect to protein fluorescence. A novel mechanism is discussed in which regulation of the formycin triphosphate activity by Ca2+ involves kinetic trapping of product complexes.

Adenosine Triphosphatases

The kinetics of calcium binding to fura-2 and indo-1.

The kinetics of Ca2+ dissociation from fura-2 and indo-1 were measured using a stopped-flow spectrofluorimeter. The dissociation rate constants were 84 s-1 and 130 s-1, respectively, in 0.1 M KC1 at 20 degrees C. The rate constants were insensitive to pH over the range 7.0 to 8.0. The second order association rate constants were estimated indirectly to be in the region of 5 X 10(8) M-1 X s-1 and thus approach the diffusion-controlled limit. The results demonstrate that these new generation indicators are well-suited to measure rapid changes in concentration of intracellular Ca2+.

Benzofurans

The kinetics of bivalent metal ion dissociation from myosin subfragments.

Bivalent metal ions have multiple roles in subunit association and ATPase regulation in scallop adductor-muscle myosin. To help elucidate these functions, the rates of Ca2+ and Mg2+ dissociation from the non-specific high-affinity sites on the regulatory light chains were measured and compared with those of rabbit skeletal-muscle myosin subfragments. Ca2+ dissociation had a rate constant of about 0.7 s-1 in both species, as measured by the time course of the pH change on EDTA addition. Mg2+ dissociation had a rate constant of 0.05 s-1, as monitored by its displacement with the paramagnetic Mn2+ ion. It is concluded that the exchange between Ca2+ and Mg2+ at the non-specific site, on excitation of both skeletal and adductor muscles, is too slow to contribute to the activation itself. The release of bivalent metal ions from the non-specific site is, however, the first step in release of the scallop regulatory light chain (Bennett & Bagshaw (1986) Biochem. J. 233, 179-186). In scallop myosin additional specific sites are present, which can bind Ca2+ rapidly, to effect activation of the ATPase. In the course of this work, Ca2+ dissociation from EGTA was studied as a model system. This gave rates of 1 s-1 and 0.3 s-1 at pH 7.0 and pH 8.0 respectively.

Animals

The mechanism of regulatory light chain dissociation from scallop myosin.

The dissociation of the regulatory light chains from scallop myosin subfragments, on addition of EDTA, was investigated by using the fluorophore 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulphonate as a probe. The rate of this process (0.014 s-1) was partially limited by the rate of Mg2+ dissociation (0.058 s-1) from the non-specific high-affinity site. The dissociation of the regulatory light chain subfragment 1 was less extensive than from heavy meromyosin. Reassociation of the scallop regulatory light chain was induced on addition of Mg2+, but it appeared to be limited by a first-order step. The nature of this step was revealed by the kinetics of Mercenaria regulatory light chain association. Scallop heavy meromyosin, denuded of its regulatory light chains, exists in a refractory state, whose reversal to the nascent state limits the rate of light chain association (0.006 s-1). The formation of the refractory state is the driving force for the net dissociation of regulatory light chains from scallop heavy meromyosin. This mechanism is discussed with reference to existing structural information on light-chain-denuded myosin.

Animals

Fluorescence studies on the nucleotide- and Ca2+-binding domains of molluscan myosin.

The effects of nucleotides and Ca2+ on the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of molluscan myosin and its proteolytic fragments were studied. By using these proteins from the scallop, Pecten maximus, the existence of two distinct tryptophan-containing domains was established, which respond independently to ATP and Ca2+-specific binding. The latter is located in the 'neck' region of the myosin, which constitutes the regulatory domain. Subfragment 1, lacking the regulatory domain, responded only to ATP binding. On the other hand a tryptic fragment comprising the regulatory domain responded only to Ca2+ binding. Subfragment 1, containing the regulatory domain, responded to both ATP and Ca2+, but its ATPase activity was Ca2+-insensitive. By contrast, the ATPase activity of HMM was Ca2+-sensitive. Increasing the ionic strength had a detrimental effect on Ca2+-sensitivity, and fluorescence studies on solubilized myosin were therefore of limited value. Myosin and its fragments from other molluscan species which were investigated produced similar changes to those of Pectan maximus.

Adenosine Diphosphate