Adenylate metabolism in the heart. Regulatory properties of rabbit cardiac adenylate deaminase.

The kinetic properties of a 300-fold purified cardiac AMP deaminase were studied and compared with those of the corresponding enzyme from skeletal muscle. The heart enzyme is activated by ATP and less efficiently by ADP, and is inhibited by Pi, phosphocreatine and GTP. ATP, even at micromolar concentrations, is able to abolish the effects of the inhibitors. The affinity of the enzyme for AMP is low in the absence of activators (Km 3.1 mM), but, in the presence of ATP, becomes as high as that of skeletal-muscle AMP deaminase (Km 0.4 mM). The maximal activation by ATP is observed at alkaline pH (pH 7.5-8.0). Under the same conditions ATP is maximally inhibitory for skeletal-muscle enzyme. These results suggest that AMP deaminase in the heart is always in the activated state, whereas in skeletal muscle the enzyme is active only during exhaustive contractions.