The high affinity of Paracoccus denitrificans cells for nitrate as an electron acceptor. Analysis of possible mechanisms of nitrate and nitrite movement across the plasma membrane and the basis for inhibition by added nitrite of oxidase activity in permeabilised cells

The plasma membrane-enriched fraction from dog antrum smooth muscle is enriched in ATP-dependent azide-insensitive Ca2+ uptake (0.3-0.4 microM Ca2+ required for half-maximal activity), a high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase (Km of 0.3-0.8 microM for Ca2+), a low-affinity Ca2+-ATPase (Km for 250-400 microM for Ca2+), and a Mg2+-ATPase. Studies using membranes washed with EDTA and assay media treated with Chelex 100 showed that the high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase did not depend on contaminating Mg2+. Thus, whereas the ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake had an absolute requirement for Mg2+, the Ca2+-ATPases did not. Studies using gamma-irradiation showed that the protein responsible for the ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake was inactivated at significantly lower doses of radiation than the three ATPases. The Ca2+ uptake and the high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase also differed in their inhibition by calmodulin antagonists and 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid. Thus it is unlikely that the high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase by itself is responsible for the ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake.

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Assessment of transport capacity of plasmalemmal Ca2+ pump in smooth muscle

AJP Cell Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpcell.1988.255.2.c226 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 255 (2) ◽

pp. C226-C236 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

P. A. Lucchesi ◽

R. A. Cooney ◽

C. Mangsen-Baker ◽

T. W. Honeyman ◽

C. R. Scheid

Keyword(s):

Smooth Muscle ◽

Plasma Membrane ◽

Membrane Vesicles ◽

Reliable Estimate ◽

Flux Rate ◽

Transport Capacity ◽

High Affinity ◽

Transmembrane Flux ◽

Inositol 1,4,5 Trisphosphate ◽

Biochemical Studies

In resting smooth muscle, a variety of Ca2+ extrusion processes offset the inward Ca2+ leak. Biochemical studies suggest that the plasmalemmal Ca2+ pump dominates this process; however, this contention could not be proven without a reliable estimate of the inward Ca2+ leak that must be opposed by active transport. Recent studies using dispersed cells from the toad stomach provided such an estimate; thus we examined the capacity of the plasmalemmal Ca2+ pump in this tissue. Membranes were prepared using nitrogen cavitation, high-salt extraction, and flotation on discontinuous sucrose gradients. These membrane vesicles were enriched 16- to 24-fold for plasma membrane markers and exhibited an ATP-dependent uptake of 45Ca that was insensitive to azide or oxalate but sensitive to orthovanadate inhibition and calmodulin stimulation. 45Ca accumulated in the presence of ATP was rapidly released by Ca2+ ionophore but not by caffeine, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, or GTP. Uptake exhibited a high affinity for Ca2+ (Km 0.2 microM) and a high-transport capacity, producing greater than 12,000-fold gradient for Ca2+ and a transmembrane flux rate greater than that observed in resting smooth muscle cells. Thus this enzyme is capable of maintaining steady-state Ca2+ levels in smooth muscle.

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