title: Self-association of plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase by volume exclusion.
abstract: At enzyme concentrations above 40 nM the configuration of the purified plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase is that of calmodulin-insensitive dimers. Dilution of the enzyme generates progressively higher proportions of calmodulin-sensitive monomers with lower Vmax and Ca2+ sensitivity than the dimeric enzyme. Dimerization from monomeric state had not been documented before. We investigated whether concentration by volume exclusion, obtained by addition of a large molecular weight dextran to a monomeric Ca(2+)-ATPase would elicit dimer-like behavior. Dextran induced self-association of monomers, as monitored by fluorescence energy transfer, but the Ca2+ sensitivity of the re-associated monomers was lower than that of the native dimers. These results suggest that the self-association reaction is structurally but not functionally reversible, and also document the existence of a hitherto unknown kinetic state of the oligomerized Ca(2+)-ATPase, with high Vmax but low Ca(2+)-sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology/CCM, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287-4961, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kosk-Kosicka
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fomitcheva
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Lew
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases / Q000737:chemistry*; D002147:Calmodulin; D003911:Dextrans; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D003911:Dextrans; D000252:Calcium-Transporting ATPases; D002118:Calcium