Reconstitution of the skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-pump: influence of negatively charged phospholipids.

The Ca2(+)-ATPase of skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum was purified and reconstituted in the presence of phosphatidyl choline using the freeze-thaw sonication technique. The effect of incorporation of negatively charged phospholipids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol phosphate, into the phosphatidylcholine proteoliposomes was investigated. Various ratios of phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol phosphate to phosphatidylcholine were used, while the total amount of phospholipid in the reconstituted vesicles was kept constant. Enrichment of phosphatidylcholine proteoliposomes by phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol phosphate was associated with activation of Ca2(+)-uptake and Ca2(+)-ATPase activities. The highest activation was obtained at a 50:50 molar ratio of phosphatidylserine:phosphatidylcholine and at a 10:90 molar ratio of phosphatidylinositol phosphate:phosphatidylcholine. The initial rates of Ca2(+)-uptake obtained at 1 microM Ca2+ were 2.6 +/- 0.1 mumol/min per mg of phosphatidylserine:phosphatidylcholine proteoliposomes and 1.5 +/- 0.1 mumol/min per mg of phosphatidylinositol phosphate:phosphatidylcholine proteoliposomes, compared to 0.9 +/- 0.05 mumol/min per mg of phosphatidylcholine proteoliposomes. These findings suggest that negatively charged phospholipids may be involved in the activation of the reconstituted skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-pump.