Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca-ATPase: distinction of phosphoenzymes formed from MgATP and CaATP as substrates and interconversion of the phosphoenzymes by Mg2+ and Ca2+.

In order to characterize the phosphoenzymes (EPs) formed from MgATP and CaATP as substrates, the effects of Mg2+ and Ca2+ outside SR vesicles on the hydrolysis rates of EPs were examined by using purified and unpurified Ca-ATPases of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) at low [gamma-32P]ATP (4-10 microM), 0.1 M KCl, pH 7.0, and 0 degrees C. When the phosphorylation reaction was stopped by adding an excess of EDTA over Ca and Mg, two components of EP, EPfast (rate constant, kfast = 15-20 min-1), and EPslow (kslow = 0.3-0.4 min-1), were recognized in the time course of EP decomposition. These two rates did not depend on the Ca2+ or Mg2+ concentration in the medium during the phosphorylation reaction, although the proportions of EPfast and EPslow essentially depended on the concentrations of MgATP and CaATP in the phosphorylation reaction medium. The proportion of EPfast increased with increasing [MgATP]/[CaATP] in the medium, whereas that of EPslow decreased. The rate of EPslow hydrolysis in the presence of excess EDTA was basically the same as that of EP formed from CaATP. These results suggest that EPfast and EPslow are derived from MgATP and CaATP, respectively, and EPfast is a reaction intermediate with Mg bound at the substrate site (MgEP), while the main EPslow is a reaction intermediate with Ca bound at the substrate site (CaEP) which is readily converted to metal-free EP by EDTA addition (Shigekawa et al., (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 8698-8707). Mg2+ added outside SR vesicles stimulated the conversion of CaEP to MgEP and inhibited the hydrolysis of MgEP in the relatively high concentration range (K(Mg) = 7.9 mM). Ca2+ added outside SR vesicles stimulated the conversion of MgEP to CaEP and inhibited the conversion of CaEP to MgEP by Mg2+ addition. The Ca2+ outside SR vesicles did not essentially affect the hydrolysis of MgEP. These results suggest that the interconversion between MgEP and CaEP takes place during the reaction by exchange of the divalent cation on the substrate site. The following scheme is proposed. (formula: see text)