title: Sarcoplasmic reticulum from rabbit and winter flounder: temperature-dependence of protein conformation and lipid motion.
abstract: A comparative study of lipids and proteins in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) from rabbit and flounder has been undertaken. The protein/phospholipid ratio (w/w) was 3:1 in flounder SR (FSR) and 2.2:1 in rabbit SR (RSR). Both membranes had similar contents of PC (70%) and PI (6%). PE constituted 15% in RSR and 21% in FSR. PS and sphingomyelin were minor components of both SR (less than 4%). There were differences in the unsaturated chains of the total lipid extracts, PC, PE, and PI between FSR and RSR. RSR was high in linoleate and arachidonate while FSR contained substantial amounts of eicosapentaenoate and docosahexaenoate. FTIR spectroscopy revealed that the lipids of both membranes did not undergo a phase transition between 0 and 50 degrees C. The lipids were in the liquid-crystalline state at physiological temperatures and underwent monotonic increases in conformational disorder as the temperature was raised. CD spectra indicated higher content of alpha-helical structure of proteins in RSR than in FSR. Increasing temperature caused diminution of alpha-helix content. Relatively large decreases in ellipticity were observed between 20 degrees C and 40 degrees C for FSR and 30 degrees C and 60 degrees C for RSR. Measurements of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence as a function of temperature gave similar results for membrane proteins in both FSR and RSR. The rate of change of tryptophan fluorescence and fluorescence lifetimes was constant over the temperature ranges studied, and no abrupt shifts in fluorescence occurred in the temperature regions where ellipticity decreased rapidly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vrbjar
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Kean
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Senak
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mendelsohn
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keough
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017301:Ca(2+) Mg(2+)-ATPase / Q000378:metabolism; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000378:metabolism; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D005432:Flounder; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011817:Rabbits; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D017301:Ca(2+) Mg(2+)-ATPase; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases