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H K Simmerman

Publications and source records attributed to H K Simmerman.

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Phospholamban: protein structure, mechanism of action, and role in cardiac function.

A comprehensive discussion is presented of advances in understanding the structure and function of phospholamban (PLB), the principal regulator of the Ca2+-ATPase of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. Extensive historical studies are reviewed to provide perspective on recent developments. Phospholamban gene structure, expression, and regulation are presented in addition to in vitro and in vivo studies of PLB protein structure and activity. Applications of breakthrough experimental technologies in identifying PLB structure-function relationships and in defining its interaction with the Ca2+-ATPase are also highlighted. The current leading viewpoint of PLB's mechanism of action emerges from a critical examination of alternative hypotheses and the most recent experimental evidence. The potential physiological relevance of PLB function in human heart failure is also covered. The interest in PLB across diverse biochemical disciplines portends its continued intense scrutiny and its potential exploitation as a therapeutic target.

Animals↗

A leucine zipper stabilizes the pentameric membrane domain of phospholamban and forms a coiled-coil pore structure.

Phospholamban is a phosphoprotein regulator of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum which is phosphorylated in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation. Previous results have shown that phospholamban forms Ca2+-selective channels in lipid bilayers. The channel-forming domain has been localized to amino acid residues 26-52, which form a stable pentameric, helical structure. The specific residues responsible for stabilizing the pentameric membrane domain of phospholamban have been identified by mutational analysis. Residues 26-52 were individually mutated to Ala or Phe, and the ability of the resulting mutant to form a pentamer or other oligomer was assessed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis. Replacement of Leu37, Ile40, Leu44, Ile47, or Leu51 by Ala prevented pentamer formation, indicating their essential involvement in the oligomeric assembly. The heptad repeats, and 3-4-residue spacing of the essential amino acids suggest that residues 37-52 adopt a pentameric coiled-coil structure stabilized by a leucine zipper motif formed by the close packing of Leu37, Ile40, Leu44, Ile47, and Leu51. The resulting symmetric structure contains a central pore defined by the hydrophobic surface of the five stabilizing leucine zippers, which are oriented to the interior and form the backbone of the pentamer.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Crystallization, sequence, and preliminary crystallographic data for an antipeptide Fab 50.1 and peptide complexes with the principal neutralizing determinant of HIV-1 gp120.

X-ray quality crystals of an Fab fragment from an antipeptide monoclonal antibody (R/V3-50.1) that recognizes the principal neutralizing determinant (PND) of the gp120 glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) (MN isolate) were grown as uncomplexed and peptide complexed forms. Crystals of the free Fab grew from high salt in orthorhombic space groups P2(1)2(1)2(1) and I222 and from polyethylene glycol in space groups P1 and P2(1). Seeds from either the P1 and P2(1) native (uncomplexed) Fab crystals induced nucleation of crystals of the Fab complexed to a 16-residue synthetic peptide corresponding to the PND when streak seeded into preequilibrated solutions of this complex. Data were collected from these complex crystals and from each of the four native Fab forms to at least 2.8 A resolution. The genes for the variable domain of the Fab were cloned and sequenced and the primary amino acid sequence was deduced from this information. Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of this Fab-peptide complex will be important in the understanding of the PND of HIV-1 and its recognition by neutralizing monoclonal antibodies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sequence similarity of calreticulin with a Ca2(+)-binding protein that co-purifies with an Ins(1,4,5)P3-sensitive Ca2+ store in HL-60 cells.

HL-60 cells possess a 60 kDa Ca2(+)-binding protein that is contained in a discrete subcellular compartment, referred to as calciosomes. Subcellular fractionation studies have suggested that, in HL-60 cells, this intracellular compartment is an Ins(1,4,5)P3-sensitive Ca2+ store. In order to investigate the structural relationship of the 60 kDa Ca2(+)-binding protein of HL-60 cells to other Ca2(+)-binding proteins, we have purified the protein by ammonium sulphate extraction, acid precipitation, and DEAE-cellulose and phenyl-Sepharose column chromatography. The N-terminal sequence of the protein shows 93% identity with rabbit muscle calreticulin, a recently cloned sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-binding protein. No amino acid sequence similarity with calsequestrin was found, although the purified protein cross-reacted with anti-calsequestrin antibodies. The calreticulin-related protein of HL-60 cells might play a role as an intravesicular Ca2(+)-binding protein of an Ins(1,4,5)P3-sensitive Ca2+ store.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Secondary structure of detergent-solubilized phospholamban, a phosphorylatable, oligomeric protein of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The structure of phospholamban, a 30-kDa oligomeric protein integral to cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, was probed using ultraviolet absorbance and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Purified phospholamban was examined in three detergents: octyl glucoside, n-dodecyloctaethylene glycol monoether (C12E8) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Ultraviolet absorption spectra of phospholamban reflected its aromatic amino acid content: absorption peaks at 275-277 nm and 253, 259, 265 and 268 nm were attributed to phospholamban's one tyrosine and two phenylalanines, respectively. Phospholamban phosphorylated at serine 16 by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase exhibited no absorbance changes when examined in C12E8 or SDS. Circular dichroism spectroscopy at 250-190 nm demonstrated that phospholamban possesses a very high content of alpha-helix in all three detergents and is unusually resistant to denaturation. Dissociation of phospholamban subunits by boiling in SDS increased the helical content, suggesting that the highly ordered structure is not dependent upon oligomeric interactions. The purified COOH-terminal tryptic fragment of phospholamban, containing residues 26-52 and comprising the hydrophobic, putative membrane-spanning domain, also exhibited a circular dichroism spectrum characteristic of alpha-helix. Circular dichroism spectra of phosphorylated and dephosphorylated phospholamban were very similar, indicating that phosphorylation does not alter phospholamban secondary structure significantly. The results are consistent with a two-domain model of phospholamban in which each domain contains a helix and phosphorylation may act to rotate one domain relative to the other.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Phospholamban phosphorylation in intact ventricles. Phosphorylation of serine 16 and threonine 17 in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation.

Phospholamban is the major membrane protein of the heart phosphorylated in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation. In cell-free systems, cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalyzes exclusive phosphorylation of serine 16 of phospholamban, whereas Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase gives exclusive phosphorylation of threonine 17 (Simmerman, H. K. B., Collins, J. H., Theibert, J. L., Wegener, A. D., and Jones, L. R. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 13333-13341). In this work we have localized the sites of phospholamban phosphorylation in intact ventricles treated with the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. Isolation of phosphorylated phospholamban from 32P-perfused guinea pig ventricles, followed by partial acid hydrolysis and phosphoamino acid analysis, revealed phosphorylation of both serine and threonine residues. At steady state after isoproterenol exposure, phospholamban contained approximately equimolar amounts of these two phosphoamino acids. Two major tryptic phosphopeptides containing greater than 90% of the incorporated radioactivity were obtained from phospholamban labeled in intact ventricles. The amino acid sequences of these two tryptic peptides corresponded exactly to residues 14-25 and 15-25 of canine cardiac phospholamban, thus localizing the sites of in situ phosphorylation to serine 16 and threonine 17. Phosphorylation of phospholamban at two sites in heart perfused with isoproterenol was supported by detection of 11 distinct mobility forms of the pentameric protein by use of the Western blotting method, consistent with each phospholamban monomer containing two phosphorylation sites, and with each pentamer containing from 0 to 10 incorporated phosphates. Our results localize the sites of in situ phospholamban phosphorylation to serine 16 and threonine 17 and, furthermore, are consistent with the phosphorylations of these 2 residues being catalyzed by cAMP- and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, respectively.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Phospholamban forms Ca2+-selective channels in lipid bilayers.

Phospholamban is the major membrane protein of the heart phosphorylated in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation. A role for phospholamban in the control of Ca2+ transport by the sarcoplasmic reticulum has been postulated, but the mechanism is incompletely understood. Structural characterization of the purified protein suggests that it is capable of forming a membrane-spanning pore (Simmerman, H. K. B., Collins, J. H., Theibert, J. L., Wegener, A. D., and Jones, L. R. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 13333-13341). The experiments described here tested the hypothesis that canine cardiac phospholamban, isolated in the fully dephosphorylated state, forms ion channels in lipid bilayers. Phospholamban purified by two different methods formed channels that were permeable to cations, exhibited spontaneous openings and closings, and were selective for Ca2+ over K+. Dihydropyridine drugs and ryanodine did not affect channel activity. The putative membrane-spanning portion of the molecule, residues 26-52, also formed channels in the bilayer. The putative regulatory portion of the molecule, residues 2-25, did not. The results suggest that phospholamban may regulate sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ flux by acting as a Ca2+ channel.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Complete amino acid sequence of canine cardiac calsequestrin deduced by cDNA cloning.

cDNA cloning was used to deduce the complete amino acid sequence of canine cardiac calsequestrin, the principal Ca2+-binding protein of cardiac junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum. Cardiac calsequestrin contains 391 amino acid residues plus a 19-residue amino-terminal signal sequence. The molecular weight of the mature protein, excluding carbohydrate, is 45,269. Cardiac calsequestrin is highly acidic, and a striking feature is the enrichment of acidic residues (60%) within the 63 carboxyl-terminal residues. No part of the sequence contains EF hand Ca2+-binding structures. The photo-affinity probe 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125I]iodophenyl)diazirine was used to localize the Ca2+-regulated hydrophobic site to amino acid residues 192-223. The cardiac and skeletal muscle isoforms of calsequestrin (Fliegel, L., Ohnishi, M., Carpenter, M. R., Khanna, V. K., Reithmeier, R. A. F., and MacLennan, D. H. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 84, 1167-1171), although the products of different genes, are 65% identical, are acidic, and share one glycosylation site. However, cardiac calsequestrin has several unique features. First, it has a 31-amino acid extension at its carboxyl terminus (residues 361-391), which contains 71% acidic residues and a second glycosylation site. Second, its mRNA contains a second open reading frame with the capacity to code for a 111-amino acid protein. Third, contrary to the restricted expression of the fast skeletal isoform, cardiac calsequestrin mRNA is present in both cardiac and slow skeletal muscle, but not in fast skeletal muscle. We conclude that the deduced amino acid sequence of cardiac calsequestrin is consistent with its ability to bind large amounts of Ca2+ (40 mol of Ca2+/mol of calsequestrin). The protein probably binds Ca2+ by acting as a charged surface rather than by presenting multiple discrete Ca2+-binding sites.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Ca2+ binding effects on protein conformation and protein interactions of canine cardiac calsequestrin.

Calsequestrin is a Ca2+-binding protein located intraluminally in the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of striated muscle. In this study, Ca2+ binding to cardiac calsequestrin was assessed directly by equilibrium dialysis and correlated with effects on protein conformation and calsequestrin's ability to interact with other SR proteins. Cardiac calsequestrin bound 800-900 nmol of Ca2+/mg of protein (35-40 mol of Ca2+/mol of calsequestrin). Associated with Ca2+ binding to cardiac calsequestrin was a loss in protein hydrophobicity, as revealed with use of absorbance difference spectroscopy, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, and photoaffinity labeling with the hydrophobic probe 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125]iodophenyl)diazirine. Ca2+ binding to cardiac calsequestrin also caused a large change in its hydrodynamic character, almost doubling the sedimentation coefficient. We observed that cardiac calsequestrin was very resistant to several proteases after binding Ca2+, consistent with a global effect of Ca2+ on protein conformation. Moreover, Ca2+ binding to cardiac calsequestrin completely prevented its interaction with several calsequestrin-binding proteins, which we identified in cardiac junctional SR vesicles for the first time. The principal calsequestrin-binding protein identified in junctional SR vesicles exhibited an apparent Mr of 26,000 in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. This 26-kDa calsequestrin-binding protein was greatly reduced in free SR vesicles and absent from sarcolemmal vesicles and was different from phospholamban, an SR regulatory protein exhibiting a similar molecular weight. Our results suggest that the specific interaction of calsequestrin with this 26-kDa protein may be regulated by Ca2+ concentration in intact cardiac muscle, when the Ca2+ concentration inside the junctional SR falls to submillimolar levels during coupling of excitation to contraction.

Animals↗

Sequence analysis of phospholamban. Identification of phosphorylation sites and two major structural domains.

Phospholamban is a regulatory protein in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum that is phosphorylated by cAMP- and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activities. In this report, we present the partial amino acid sequence of canine cardiac phospholamban and the identification of the sites phosphorylated by these two protein kinases. Gas-phase protein sequencing was used to identify 20 NH2-terminal residues. Overlap peptides produced by trypsin or papain digestion extended the sequence 16 residues to give the following primary structure: Ser-Ala-Ile-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Thr-Ile-Glu-Met-Pro-Gln-Gln-Ala- Arg-Gln-Asn-Leu-Gln-Asn-Leu-Phe-Ile-Asn-Phe-(Cys)-Leu-Ile-Leu-Ile-(Cys)- Leu-Leu-Leu-Ile-. Phospholamban phosphorylated by either cAMP-dependent or Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase was cleaved with trypsin, and the major phosphorylated peptide (comprising greater than 70% of the incorporated 32P label) was purified by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The identical sequence was revealed for the radioactive peptide obtained from phospholamban phosphorylated by either kinase: Arg-Ala-Ser-Thr-Ile-Glu-Met-Pro-Gln-Gln-. The adjacent residues Ser7 and Thr8 of phospholamban were identified as the unique sites phosphorylated by cAMP- and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, respectively. These results establish that phospholamban is an oligomer of small, identical polypeptide chains. A hydrophilic, cytoplasmically oriented NH2-terminal domain on each monomer contains the unique, adjacent residues phosphorylated by cAMP- and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activities. Analysis by hydropathic profiling and secondary structure prediction suggests that phospholamban monomers also contain a hydrophobic domain, which could form amphipathic helices sufficiently long to traverse the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane. A model of phospholamban as a pentamer is presented in which the amphipathic alpha-helix of each monomer is a subunit of the pentameric membrane-anchored domain, which is comprised of an exterior hydrophobic surface and an interior hydrophilic region containing polar side chains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Proteolytic cleavage of phospholamban purified from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. Generation of a low resolution model of phospholamban structure.

Purified phospholamban isolated from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles was subjected to proteolysis and peptide mapping to localize the different sites of phosphorylation on the protein and to gain further information on its subunit structure. Five different proteases (trypsin, papain, chymotrypsin, elastase, and Pronase) degraded the oligomeric 27-kDa phosphoprotein into a major 21-22-kDa protease-resistant fragment. No 32P was retained by this protease-resistant fragment, regardless of whether phospholamban had been phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, or protein kinase C. Phosphoamino acid analysis and thin-layer electrophoresis of liberated phosphopeptides revealed that 1 threonine and 2 serine residues were phosphorylated in phospholamban and that 1 of these serine residues and the threonine residue were in close proximity. Only serine was phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, whereas Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase phosphorylated exclusively threonine. The results demonstrate that phospholamban has a large protease-resistant domain and a smaller protease-sensitive domain, the latter of which contains all of the sites of phosphorylation. The 21-22-kDa protease-resistant domain, although devoid of incorporated 32P, was completely dissociated into identical lower molecular weight subunits by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulfate, suggesting that this region of the molecule promotes the relatively strong interactions that hold the subunits together. The data presented lend further support for a model of phospholamban structure in which several identical low molecular weight subunits are noncovalently bound to one another, each containing one site of phosphorylation for cAMP-dependent protein kinase and another site of phosphorylation for Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase.

Animals↗

Purification and characterization of phospholamban from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Phospholamban, the putative protein regulator of the Ca2+ pump of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, was purified to apparent homogeneity from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles by selective extraction with sodium cholate, followed by adsorption to calcium oxalate, solubilization in Zwittergent 3-14, and specific elution from p-hydroxymercuribenzoate-agarose. Phospholamban, isolated in the dephosphorylated state, was purified 80-fold in 15% yield (approximately 2 mg of phospholamban/g of sarcoplasmic reticulum protein). Nondissociated phospholamban exhibited an apparent Mr = 25,000 in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Partially dissociated phospholamban, induced by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulfate, exhibited five distinct mobility forms in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, of apparent molecular weights between 5,000-6,000 and 25,000. Phospholamban was phosphorylated to a level of 190 nmol of Pi/mg of protein by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, consistent by minimum stoichiometry with a subunit molecular weight of approximately 5,000. Phospholamban prepared by the present method was different in several respects from the proteins that have been isolated in other laboratories. Pure phospholamban was cysteine rich, containing 6 residues/100 amino acid residues. Dephosphorylated phospholamban was strongly basic with a pI = 10; phosphorylation decreased the pI to approximately 6.7. Pure phospholamban (and phospholamban present in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles) was not readily extracted into acidified chloroform/methanol, suggesting that the protein does not behave as an acidic proteolipid. The purified protein was highly antigenic. Phospholamban was localized by immunochemical methods to cardiac membranes enriched in sarcoplasmic reticulum, but was absent from sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes prepared from fast skeletal muscle. The method described for isolation of cardiac phospholamban is highly reproducible and relatively simple, and should be useful for further detailed studies designed to probe the molecular structure of the protein.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Semisynthesis of sperm whale myoglobin by fragment condensation.

Reconstruction of the sperm whale myoglobin structure was accomplished by a series of aqueous condensations of suitably protected synthetic myoglobin fragments to a large fragment prepared from the native protein. Reaction of N alpha,N epsilon 19-acetimidomyoglobin with 3-bromo-2-(2-nitrophenylsulfenyl)skatole (BNPS-skatole) yielded the fragment corresponding to residues 15-153. The covalent structure was reformed by sequential coupling of the N-hydroxysuccinimide esters of o-nitrophenylsulfenyl-L-tryptophan (residue 14) and selectively protected peptides corresponding to residues 1-5 and 6-13, which were synthesized by the solid-phase method and removed from the resin by methoxide-catalyzed methanolysis. A mixed aqueous solvent system containing methanol and N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)ethylenediamine/trifluoroacetic acid buffer (Quadrol) solubilized the peptide and protein fragments during the condensations. Replacement of the heme moiety and immunoaffinity chromatography made possible the isolation and purification of the reconstructed native molecule. The development of this nondestructive synthetic procedure allows investigation of the structural and functional significance of individual residues by isotopic enrichment or selective amino acid substitutions.

Animals↗