Regulation by calmodulin of the calcium affinity of the calcium-transport ATPase in human erythrocytes.

The Ca2+ affinity of (Mg2+ + Ca2+)-ATPase in human red blood cells is regulated by a number of intracellular factors, including the association of the enzyme with the cytosolic Ca2+ binding protein, calmodulin. Ghosts prepared by hypotonic lysis in the presence of 0.1 mM CaCl2, or by a gradual stepwise hemolysis procedure, contain an EDTA-extractable protein whose effects are mimicked by calmodulin, whereas ghosts prepared by extensive washes in the absence of added CaCl2 lack calmodulin and contain only a high molecular weight heat stable activator. Purified calmodulin from human red cells or bovine brain shifts the apparent Ca2+ affinity of (Mg2+ + Ca2+)-ATPase activity in extensively washed ghosts to a high Ca2+ affinity state. The shift was most apparent in ghosts in which the Ca2+ affinity was decreased by EDTA treatment. Calmodulin increased the velocity of (Mg2+ + Ca2+)-ATPase in the EDTA-treated ghosts about 36-fold at a low (1.4 microM) Ca2+ concentration, compared with 6-fold before EDTA treatment. The maximum shift in apparent Ca2+ affinity occurred only in the presence of saturating concentrations of calmodulin. It is concluded that red cell calmodulin confers to the Ca2+ transport ATPase the ability to increase its apparent Ca2+ affinity, as well as its maximum velocity, in response to increases in intracellular Ca2+.