Evidence for a calcium-sensitive factor which alters the alkaline pH sensitivity of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium transport.

Oxalase-supported, ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake by cardiac and skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) exhibits a pH profile with the maximal rate of Ca2+ uptake at pH 6.6-6.8 and marked inhibition (90-95%) at pH 7.4-7.6, a point at which Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity is optimal. These observations are noted when the SR is first preincubated in media containing no added Ca2+. This alkaline pH inhibition is not caused by an irreversible perturbation since the Ca2+ uptake rate is fully restored by changing the alkaline pH preincubation medium to pH 6.8. When SR is preincubated with added Ca2+, Ca2+ uptake at alkaline pH (7.4-7.6) is only inhibited by 10-30%. Ca2+ uptake at pH 6.8 is the same regardless of preincubation conditions. A depressed oxalate permeability is not a factor in the observed alkaline pH inhibition of Ca2+ uptake. At alkaline pH, the relationship between the preincubation Ca2+ concentration and the rate of Ca2+ uptake is hyperbolic; the half-maximal free Ca2+ concentration for stabilization of Ca2+ uptake is 8-15 microM with a Vmax equal to the velocity at the optimal pH. The Hill coefficient is 1.0, implying a single class of Ca2+-requiring sites for stabilization at alkaline pH. In contrast to its effect on Ca2+ uptake, the presence of Ca2+ during preincubation does not alter the pH sensitivity of Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity. Thus, the presence of Ca2+ during preincubation may stabilize a state of the CaATPase, conducive to the coupling of net Ca2+ translocation to Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity, which is ordinarily opposed by alkaline pH. The data suggest a single class of Ca2+-requiring sites which favors this coupled state.