Active site trapping of nucleotides by crosslinking two sulfhydryls in myosin subfragment 1.

Studies with reagents that crosslink two thiol groups have shown that it is possible to trap nucleotides at the active site of myosin chymotryptic subfragment 1. Subfragment 1 incorporates nearly stoichiometric quantities of [14C]ATP or [14C]ADP in a manner that depends linearly on the extent of inactivation by either N,N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide or Co(II)phenanthroline/[Co(III)(phenanthroline)2CO3]+ complexes. The incorporated radioactive nucleotide is retained after gel filtration, even when the enzyme derivatives are stored in the presence of EDTA or nonradioactive nucleotides (t 1/2 approximately 5 days). The nucleotide incorporated is not covalently bound because HClO4 denaturation allows immediate release of bound nucleotide. The nucleotide retained is ADP because the gamma-phosphate of [gamma-32P]ATP is lost after trapping. Subfragment 1 inactivated as above does not bind the competitive inhibitor adenosine 5'-[beta, gamma-imido]triphosphate, indicating that the active site is blocked. It is proposed that a jawlike nucleotide cleft closes on MgADP or MgATP, which can be locked shut by crosslinking two thiol groups by reaction with N,N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide or cobalt phenanthroline complexes.