title: Calcium ions and the structure of muscle actin filament. An X-ray diffraction study.
abstract: In order to investigate the effects of Ca(2+)-binding to troponin on the conformation of the muscle thin filament (consisting of actin, tropomyosin and troponin) in the absence of actomyosin interaction, two series of X-ray diffraction experiments were undertaken. Firstly, the small angle X-ray scattering from filaments in solution indicate the tropomyosin strands are centred at about 3.5 nm from the filament axis and this distance is calcium independent. Secondly, X-ray fibre diffraction patterns from the filaments orientated in glass capillaries were studied. The X-ray intensity of the 2nd actin layer-line increased in a highly co-operative manner at a concentration of free calcium ions [Ca2+] of 10(-6.8) M, which is the range in which muscle contraction is physiologically regulated. However, this intensity increase accounted for some 30% of the total increase observed in diffraction patterns from muscle on activation, suggesting that the Ca(2+)-binding alters the state of the thin filament, which then undergoes further changes upon interaction with myosin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Popp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maéda
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D002118:Calcium