The role of calcium-dependent proteinase in molt-induced claw muscle atrophy.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D L Mykles.
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The claw closer muscle of the Bermuda land crab, Gecarcinus lateralis, undergoes a sequential atrophy and restoration during each molting cycle. We describe here the role of Ca2+-dependent proteinases in the turnover of myofibrillar protein in normal anecdysial (intermolt) claw muscle. Crab Ca2+-dependent proteinase degrades the myofibrillar proteins actin, myosin heavy and light chains, paramyosin, tropomyosin, and troponin-T and -I. Ca2+-dependent proteinase activity in whole homogenates and 90,000 X g supernatant fractions from muscle homogenates has been characterized with respect to Ca2+ requirement, substrate specificity, and effects of proteinase inhibitors. The enzyme is inhibited by antipain, leupeptin, E-64, and iodoacetamide; it is insensitive to pepstatin A. The Ca2+-dependent proteinase is a sarcoplasmic cysteine proteinase that shows maximal activation at 1 mM Ca2+ at neutral pH. Since approximately 28% of the activity remains at 1.5 microM Ca2+, the enzyme is partially active at physiological Ca2+ concentrations. The specificity of crab Ca2+-dependent proteinase was examined with native myosin with normal ATPase activity as well as with radioiodinated myosin and radioiodinated hemolymph proteins. Hydrolysis of 125I-myosin occurs in two phases, both Ca2+-dependent: 1) heavy chain (Mr = 200,000) is cleaved into four large fragments (Mr = 160,000, 110,000, 73,000, 60,000) and numerous smaller fragments; light chain (Mr = 18,000) is cleaved to a 15,000-Da fragment; 2) the fragments produced in the first phase are hydrolyzed to acid-soluble material. Although radioiodinated native hemolymph proteins are not susceptible to the Ca2+-dependent proteinase, those denatured by carboxymethylation are degraded. These data suggest that crab Ca2+-dependent proteinase is involved in turnover of myofibrillar protein in normal muscle and muscle undergoing proecdysial atrophy.
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The effects of salinity adaptation and of composition and tonicity of fixatives upon the ultrastructure of the posterior midgut caecum (PMC) of Pachygrapsus crassipes have been studied. The PMC epithelium consists of a single layer of columnar cells with a microvillous border. The apical cytoplasm contains numerous mitochondria, lysosomes, and much smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus are situated in the perinuclear cytoplasm. This epithelium resembles other transporting epithelia in that the basal cytoplasm has an extensive system of branched tubules formed from invaginations of the lateral and basal plasma membrane. Numerous mitochondria are associated with the basal tubular system. To determine the possible contribution of the PMC to the osmoregulatory ability of Pachygrapsus, the ultrastructure of the PMC from animals adapted to 40, 50, and 100 and 150% sea water was investigated. Enlargement of basal tubules and intercellular spaces at low salinity, suggestive of fluid-transport activity, was found to be an artifact of fixation. The most consistent response when animals were acclimated to dilute salinities was that some basal mitochondria assume a more complex shape, usually appearing as rings in cross sections of the caecum. A hypothesis concerning the functional significance of these mitochondria is proposed.
An international workshop on the proteasome was held on the campus of Colorado State University, Fort Collins, July 1-3, 1995. The program consisted of five oral sessions and one poster session. The abstracts of the posters and many of the oral presentations appear in this issue of Enzyme and Protein. The oral sessions were organized around four themes: structure and catalytic properties; allosteric regulators and synthetic inhibitors; the 26S proteasome; and physiological functions, developmental expression, and endogenous substrates. Since entire issues of Enzyme and Protein [vol. 47, No. 4-6, 1993] and Molecular Biology Reports [vol. 21, No. 1, 1995] have been devoted to the proteasome, this summary emphasizes recent results and current research of many of the laboratories studying this fascinating complex.