Differential scanning calorimetry study of glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibres in intermediate state of ATP hydrolysis

Abstract

Thermal denaturation experiments were extended to study the thermal behaviour of the main motor proteins (actin and myosin) in their native environment in striated muscle fibres. The interaction of actin with myosin in the highly organized muscle structure is affected by internal forces; therefore their altered conformation and interaction may differ from those obtained in solution. The energetics of long functioning intermediate states of ATP hydrolysis cycle was studied in muscle fibres by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). SETARAM Micro DSC-II was used to monitor the thermal denaturation of the fibre system in rigor and in the presence of nucleotide and nucleotide analogues. The AM.ADP.P_i state of the ATP hydrolysis cycle has a very short lifetime therefore, we mimicked the different intermediate states with AMP.PNP and/or inorganic phosphate analogues V_i and AlF₄ or BeF_x. Studying glycerol-extracted muscle fibres from the rabbit psoas muscle by DSC, three characteristic thermal transitions were detected in rigor. The thermal transitions can be assigned to myosin heads, myosin rods and actin with transition temperatures (T_m) of 52.9 ± 0.7°C, 57.9 ± 0.7°C, 63.7 ± 1.0°C. In different intermediate states of the ATP hydrolysis mimicked by nucleotide analogues a fourth thermal transition was also detected which is very likely connected with nucleotide binding domain of myosin and/or actin filaments. This transition temperature T_m4 depended on the mimicked intermediate states, and varied in the range of 66°C – 77°C. According to DSC measurements, strongly and weakly binding states of myosin to actin were significantly different. In the presence of ADP only a moderate change of the DSC pattern was detected in comparison with rigor, whereas in ADP.P_i state trapped by V_i, AlF₄ or BeF_x a remarkable stabilization was detected on the myosin head and actin filament which is reflected in a 3.0 – 10.0°C shift in T_m to higher temperature. A similar effect was observed in the case of the nonhydrolyzable AMP.PNP analogue. Differential DSC measurements suggest that stabilization actin structure in the intermediate states of ATP hydrolysis may play an additional role in actin-myosin interaction.