J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 262, Issue 24, 11553-11558, 08, 1987
4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole, a novel conformational probe of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump, and its effect on Ca2+ release
LG Meszaros, KL Brown and N Ikemoto
Sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles were noncovalently labeled at micromolar
concentrations with the polycationic fluorescent reagent
4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and changes in the fluorescence
intensity of the membrane-bound dye associated with functions of the Ca2+
pump and Ca2+ release were investigated. It was found that 1) DAPI
fluorescence changed in the [Ca2+] range in which high affinity Ca2+
binding to the Ca2+-ATPase takes place. The time course of the Ca2+-
induced changes of DAPI fluorescence was essentially the mirror image of
that of tryptophan fluorescence. 2) The fluorescence intensity of bound
DAPI decreased upon increase of the intravesicular [Ca2+] by either
ATP-dependent Ca2+ accumulation or incubation with millimolar Ca2+ in the
presence of a calcium ionophore. 3) Upon induction of Ca2+ release by
adding caffeine after the completion of Ca2+ uptake, DAPI fluorescence
showed transient changes. Two classes of binding sites of the sarcoplasmic
reticulum membrane for DAPI were clearly distinguishable: a high affinity
site (Ka = 3.0 X 10(5) M-1) with a capacity of about 1 mol/mol of
Ca2+-ATPase (8.0 nmol/mg of protein) and low affinity sites with about
20-fold lower affinity and 10-fold larger capacity. The partially purified
Ca2+-ATPase showed similar characteristics of high affinity DAPI binding,
suggesting that DAPI bound to its high affinity site on the Ca2+-ATPase
monitors the enzyme conformational changes coupled with the events
described above. The high affinity binding of DAPI to the enzyme led to an
increase of the initial rate of Ca2+ uptake and the inhibition of Ca2+
release induced by caffeine or ionic replacement. These results suggest
that the Ca2+- ATPase is involved in some steps of the Ca2+ release
mechanism.