Labelling the Ca(2+)-ATPase of skeletal-muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum with the cross-linker o-phthalaldehyde.

The Ca(2+)-ATPase in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle reacts with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) to form a fluorescent isoindole product. The stoichiometry of labelling of the ATPase is 9 nmol of isoindole/mg of ATPase, corresponding to a 1:1 molar ratio of isoindole: ATPase. There is no evidence for any intermolecular cross-linking. Isoindole formation is faster in the presence of methylamine, but the stoichiometry of labelling is unchanged, whereas in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol the level of labelling is much higher. It is concluded that OPA reacts with a single Cys residue (defining the specificity of the reaction) in a fast step, subsequent reaction with a Lys residue to form the isoindole being rate-controlling. Labelling the ATPase with OPA in the absence of methylamine leads to total loss of ATPase activity, whereas in the presence of methylamine, the decrease in ATPase activity on reaction is small. We conclude that the loss of ATPase activity probably follows from formation of the intramolecular cross-link rather than from the initial modification of the Cys residue. Reaction with OPA is not affected by the presence of ATP, ADP or Ca2+, so that the reactive Cys is not part of a ligand-binding site. The fluorescence emission spectrum of the labelled ATPase indicates a hydrophobic environment for the isoindole ring.