Troponin Structural Dynamics in the Native Cardiac Thin Filament Revealed by Cryo Electron Microscopy.

Cardiac muscle contraction occurs due to repetitive interactions between myosin thick and actin thin filaments (TF) regulated by Ca2+ levels, active cross-bridges, and cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C). The cardiac TF (cTF) has two nonequivalent strands, each comprised of actin, tropomyosin (Tm), and troponin (Tn). Tn shifts Tm away from myosin-binding sites on actin at elevated Ca2+ levels to allow formation of force-producing actomyosin cross-bridges. The Tn complex is comprised of three distinct polypeptides - Ca2+-binding TnC, inhibitory TnI, and Tm-binding TnT. The molecular mechanism of their collective action is unresolved due to lack of comprehensive structural information on Tn region of cTF. C1 domain of cMyBP-C activates cTF in the absence of Ca2+ to the same extent as rigor myosin. Here we used cryo-EM of native cTFs to show that cTF Tn core adopts multiple structural conformations at high and low Ca2+ levels and that the two strands are structurally distinct. At high Ca2+ levels, cTF is not entirely activated by Ca2+ but exists in either partially or fully activated state. Complete dissociation of TnI C-terminus is required for full activation. In presence of cMyBP-C C1 domain, Tn core adopts a fully activated conformation, even in absence of Ca2+. Our data provide a structural description for the requirement of myosin to fully activate cTFs and explain increased affinity of TnC to Ca2+ in presence of active cross-bridges. We suggest that allosteric coupling between Tn subunits and Tm is required to control actomyosin interactions.

Effect of the N-terminal extension in myosin essential light chain A1 on the mechanism of actomyosin ATP hydrolysis.

Myosin essential light chains A1 and A2 are identical isoforms except for an extension of ∼40 amino acids at the N terminus of A1 that binds F-actin. The extension has no bearing on the burst hydrolysis rate (M-ATP → M-ADP-Pi) as determined by chemical quench flow (100 µM isoenzyme). Whereas actomyosin-S1A2 steady state MgATPase (low ionic strength, 20 °C) is hyperbolically dependent on concentration: Vmax 7.6 s-1, Kapp 6.4 µM (F-actin) and Vmax 10.1 s-1, Kapp 5.5 µM (native thin filaments, pCa 4), the relationship for myosin-S1A1 is bimodal; an initial rise at low concentration followed by a decline to one-third the Vmax of S1A2, indicative of more than one rate-limiting step and A1-enforced flux through the slower actomyosin-limited hydrolysis pathway. In double-mixing stopped-flow with an indicator, Ca(II)-mediated activation of Pi dissociation (regulatedAM-ADP-Pi → regulatedAM-ADP + Pi) is attenuated by A1 attachment to thin filaments (pCa 4). The maximum accelerated rates of Pi dissociation are: 81 s-1 (S1A1, Kapp 8.9 µM) versus 129 s-1 (S1A2, Kapp 58 µM). To investigate apomyosin-S1-mediated activation, thin filaments (EGTA) are premixed with a given isomyosin-S1 and double-mixing is repeated with myosin-S1A1 in the first mix. Similar maximum rates of Pi dissociation are observed, 44.5 s-1 (S1A1) and 47.1 s-1 (S1A2), which are lower than for Ca(II) activation. Overall, these results biochemically demonstrate how the longer light chain A1 can contribute to slower contraction and higher force and the shorter version A2 to faster contraction and lower force, consistent with their distribution in different types of striated muscle.

The structure of the native cardiac thin filament at systolic Ca2+ levels.

Every heartbeat relies on cyclical interactions between myosin thick and actin thin filaments orchestrated by rising and falling Ca2+ levels. Thin filaments are comprised of two actin strands, each harboring equally separated troponin complexes, which bind Ca2+ to move tropomyosin cables away from the myosin binding sites and, thus, activate systolic contraction. Recently, structures of thin filaments obtained at low (pCa ∼9) or high (pCa ∼3) Ca2+ levels revealed the transition between the Ca2+-free and Ca2+-bound states. However, in working cardiac muscle, Ca2+ levels fluctuate at intermediate values between pCa ∼6 and pCa ∼7. The structure of the thin filament at physiological Ca2+ levels is unknown. We used cryoelectron microscopy and statistical analysis to reveal the structure of the cardiac thin filament at systolic pCa = 5.8. We show that the two strands of the thin filament consist of a mixture of regulatory units, which are composed of Ca2+-free, Ca2+-bound, or mixed (e.g., Ca2+ free on one side and Ca2+ bound on the other side) troponin complexes. We traced troponin complex conformations along and across individual thin filaments to directly determine the structural composition of the cardiac native thin filament at systolic Ca2+ levels. We demonstrate that the two thin filament strands are activated stochastically with short-range cooperativity evident only on one of the two strands. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which cardiac muscle is regulated by narrow range Ca2+ fluctuations.

High-Resolution Cryo-EM Structure of the Cardiac Actomyosin Complex.

Heart contraction depends on a complicated array of interactions between sarcomeric proteins required to convert chemical energy into mechanical force. Cyclic interactions between actin and myosin molecules, controlled by troponin and tropomyosin, generate the sliding force between the actin-based thin and myosin-based thick filaments. Alterations in this sophisticated system due to missense mutations can lead to cardiovascular diseases. Numerous structural studies proposed pathological mechanisms of missense mutations at the myosin-myosin, actin-tropomyosin, and tropomyosin-troponin interfaces. However, despite the central role of actomyosin interactions a detailed structural description of the cardiac actomyosin interface remained unknown. Here, we report a cryo-EM structure of a cardiac actomyosin complex at 3.8 Å resolution. The structure reveals the molecular basis of cardiac diseases caused by missense mutations in myosin and actin proteins.

The shaker-1 mouse myosin VIIa deafness mutation results in a severely reduced rate of the ATP hydrolysis step.

Mutations in the MYO7A gene, encoding the motor protein myosin VIIa, can cause Usher 1B, a deafness/blindness syndrome in humans, and the shaker-1 phenotype, characterized by deafness, head tossing, and circling behavior, in mice. Myosin VIIa is responsible for tension bearing and the transduction mechanism in the stereocilia and for melanosome transport in the retina, in line with the phenotypic outcomes observed in mice. However, the effect of the shaker-1 mutation, a R502P amino acid substitution, on the motor function is unclear. To explore this question, we determined the kinetic properties and the effect on the filopodial tip localization of the recombinant mouse myosin VIIa-5IQ-SAH R502P (myoVIIa-sh1) construct. Interestingly, although residue 502 is localized to a region thought to be involved in interacting with actin, the kinetic parameters for actin binding changed only slightly for the mutant construct. However, the rate constant for ATP hydrolysis (k+H + k-H) was reduced by ∼200-fold from 12 s-1 to 0.05 s-1, making the hydrolysis step the rate-limiting step of the ATPase cycle in the presence and absence of actin. Given that wild-type mouse myosin VIIa is a slow, high-duty ratio, monomeric motor, this altered hydrolysis rate would reduce activity to extremely low levels. Indeed, the translocation to the filopodial tips was hampered by the diminished motor function of a dimeric construct of the shaker-1 mutant. We conclude that the diminished motor activity of this mutant is most likely responsible for impaired hearing in the shaker-1 mice.

C0 and C1 N-terminal Ig domains of myosin binding protein C exert different effects on thin filament activation.

Mutations in genes encoding myosin, the molecular motor that powers cardiac muscle contraction, and its accessory protein, cardiac myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C), are the two most common causes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Recent studies established that the N-terminal domains (NTDs) of cMyBP-C (e.g., C0, C1, M, and C2) can bind to and activate or inhibit the thin filament (TF). However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which NTDs modulate interaction of myosin with the TF remains unknown and the contribution of each individual NTD to TF activation/inhibition is unclear. Here we used an integrated structure-function approach using cryoelectron microscopy, biochemical kinetics, and force measurements to reveal how the first two Ig-like domains of cMyPB-C (C0 and C1) interact with the TF. Results demonstrate that despite being structural homologs, C0 and C1 exhibit different patterns of binding on the surface of F-actin. Importantly, C1 but not C0 binds in a position to activate the TF by shifting tropomyosin (Tm) to the "open" structural state. We further show that C1 directly interacts with Tm and traps Tm in the open position on the surface of F-actin. Both C0 and C1 compete with myosin subfragment 1 for binding to F-actin and effectively inhibit actomyosin interactions when present at high ratios of NTDs to F-actin. Finally, we show that in contracting sarcomeres, the activating effect of C1 is apparent only once low levels of Ca(2+) have been achieved. We suggest that Ca(2+) modulates the interaction of cMyBP-C with the TF in the sarcomere.

Omecamtiv Mecarbil modulates the kinetic and motile properties of porcine ß-cardiac myosin.

We determined the effect of Omecamtiv Mecarbil, a novel allosteric effector of cardiac muscle myosin, on the kinetic and "in vitro" motility properties of the porcine ventricular heavy meromyosin (PV-HMM). Omecamtiv Mecarbil increases the equilibrium constant of the hydrolysis step (M-ATP ⇄ M-ADP-Pi) from 2.4 to 6 as determined by quench flow, but the maximal rates of both the hydrolysis step and tryptophan fluorescence increase are unchanged by the drug. OM also increases the amplitude of the fast phase of phosphate dissociation (AM-ADP-Pi → AM-ADP + Pi) that is associated with force production in muscle by 4-fold. These results suggest a mechanism in which hydrolysis of M-ATP to M-ADP-Pi occurs both before and after the recovery stroke, but rapid acceleration of phosphate dissociation by actin occurs only on post-recovery stroke A-M-ADP-Pi. One of the more dramatic effects of OM on PV-HMM is a 14-fold decrease in the unloaded shortening velocity measured by the in vitro motility assay. The increase in flux through phosphate dissociation and the unchanged rate of ADP dissociation (AM-ADP → AM + ADP) by the drug produce a higher duty ratio motor in which a larger fraction of myosin heads are strongly bound to actin filaments. The increased internal load produced by a larger fraction of strongly attached crossbridges explains the reduced rate of in vitro motility velocity in the presence of OM and predicts that the drug will produce slower and stronger contraction of cardiac muscle.

Modulation of thin filament activation of myosin ATP hydrolysis by N-terminal domains of cardiac myosin binding protein-C.

We have used enzyme kinetics to investigate the molecular mechanism by which the N-terminal domains of human and mouse cardiac MyBP-C (C0C1, C1C2, and C0C2) affect the activation of myosin ATP hydrolysis by F-actin and by native porcine thin filaments. N-Terminal domains of cMyBP-C inhibit the activation of myosin-S1 ATPase by F-actin. However, mouse and human C1C2 and C0C2 produce biphasic activating and inhibitory effects on the activation of myosin ATP hydrolysis by native cardiac thin filaments. Low ratios of MyBP-C N-terminal domains to thin filaments activate myosin-S1 ATP hydrolysis, but higher ratios inhibit ATP hydrolysis, as is observed with F-actin alone. These data suggest that low concentrations of C1C2 and C0C2 activate thin filaments by a mechanism similar to that of rigor myosin-S1, whereas higher concentrations inhibit the ATPase rate by competing with myosin-S1-ADP-Pi for binding to actin and thin filaments. In contrast to C0C2 and C1C2, the activating effects of the C0C1 domain are species-dependent: human C0C1 activates actomyosin-S1 ATPase rates, but mouse C0C1 does not produce significant activation or inhibition. Phosphorylation of serine residues in the m-linker between the C1 and C2 domains by protein kinase-A decreases the activation of thin filaments by huC0C2 at pCa > 8 but has little effect on the activation mechanism at pCa = 4. In sarcomeres, the low ratio of cMyBP-C to actin is expected to favor the activating effects of cMyBP-C while minimizing inhibition produced by competition with myosin heads.

Mechanism of regulation of native cardiac muscle thin filaments by rigor cardiac myosin-S1 and calcium.

We have studied the mechanism of activation of native cardiac thin filaments by calcium and rigor myosin. The acceleration of the rate of 2'-deoxy-3'-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)ADP (mdADP) dissociation from cardiac myosin-S1-mdADP-P(i) and cardiac myosin-S1-mdADP by native cardiac muscle thin filaments was measured using double mixing stopped-flow fluorescence. Relative to inhibited thin filaments (no bound calcium or rigor S1), fully activated thin filaments (with both calcium and rigor-S1 bound) increase the rate of product dissociation from the physiologically important pre-power stroke myosin-mdADP-P(i) by a factor of ∼75. This can be compared with only an ∼6-fold increase in the rate of nucleotide diphosphate dissociation from nonphysiological myosin-mdADP by the fully activated thin filaments relative to the fully inhibited thin filaments. These results show that physiological levels of regulation are not only dependent on the state of the thin filament but also on the conformation of the myosin. Less than 2-fold regulation is due to a change in affinity of myosin-ADP-P(i) for thin filaments such as would be expected by a simple "steric blocking" of the myosin-binding site of the thin filament by tropomyosin. Although maximal activation requires both calcium and rigor myosin-S1 bound to the cardiac filament, association with a single ligand produces ∼70% maximal activation. This can be contrasted with skeletal thin filaments in which calcium alone only activated the rate of product dissociation ∼20% of maximum, and rigor myosin produces ∼30% maximal activation.

Switch 1 mutation S217A converts myosin V into a low duty ratio motor.

We have determined the kinetic mechanism and motile properties of the switch 1 mutant S217A of myosin Va. Phosphate dissociation from myosin V-ADP-Pi (inorganic phosphate) and actomyosin V-ADP-Pi and the rate of the hydrolysis step (myosin V-ATP-->myosin V-ADP-Pi) were all approximately 10-fold slower in the S217A mutant than in wild type (WT) myosin V, resulting in a slower steady-state rate of basal and filamentous actin (actin)-activated ATP hydrolysis. Substrate binding and ADP dissociation kinetics were all similar to or slightly faster in S217A than in WT myosin V and mechanochemical gating of the rates of dissociation of ADP between trail and lead heads is maintained. The reduction in the rate constants of the hydrolysis and phosphate dissociation steps reduces the duty ratio from approximately 0.85 in WT myosin V to approximately 0.25 in S217A and produces a motor in which the average run length on actin at physiological concentrations of ATP is reduced 10-fold. Thus we demonstrate that, by mutational perturbation of the switch 1 structure, myosin V can be converted into a low duty ratio motor that is processive only at low substrate concentrations.

Structural characterization of the binding of Myosin*ADP*Pi to actin in permeabilized rabbit psoas muscle.

When myosin is attached to actin in a muscle cell, various structures in the filaments are formed. The two strongly bound states (A*M*ADP and A*M) and the weakly bound A*M*ATP states are reasonably well understood. The orientation of the strongly bound myosin heads is uniform ("stereospecific" attachment), and the attached heads exhibit little spatial fluctuation. In the prehydrolysis weakly bound A*M*ATP state, the orientations of the attached myosin heads assume a wide range of azimuthal and axial angles, indicating considerable flexibility in the myosin head. The structure of the other weakly bound state, A*M*ADP*P(i), however, is poorly understood. This state is thought to be the critical pre-power-stroke state, poised to make the transition to the strongly binding, force-generating states, and hence it is of particular interest for understanding the mechanism of contraction. However, because of the low affinity between myosin and actin in the A*M*ADP*P(i) state, the structure of this state has eluded determination both in isolated form and in muscle cells. With the knowledge recently gained in the structures of the weakly binding M*ATP, M*ADP*P(i) states and the weakly attached A*M*ATP state in muscle fibers, it is now feasible to delineate the in vivo structure of the attached state of A*M*ADP*P(i). The series of experiments presented in this article were carried out under relaxing conditions at 25 degrees C, where approximately 95% of the myosin heads in the skinned rabbit psoas muscle contain the hydrolysis products. The affinity for actin is enhanced by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) or by lowering the ionic strength in the bathing solution. Solution kinetics and binding constants were determined in the presence and in the absence of PEG. When the binding between actin and myosin was increased, both the myosin layer lines and the actin layer lines increased in intensity, but the intensity profiles did not change. The configuration (mode) of attachment in the A*M*ADP*P(i) state is thus unique among the intermediate attached states of the cross-bridge ATP hydrolysis cycle. One of the simplest explanations is that both myosin filaments and actin filaments are stabilized (e.g., undergo reduced spatial fluctuations) by the attachment. The alignment of the myosin heads in the thick filaments and the alignment of the actin monomers in the thin filaments are improved as a result. The compact atomic structure of M*ADP*P(i) with strongly coupled domains may contribute to the unique attachment configuration: the "primed" myosin heads may function as "transient struts" when attached to the thin filaments.

Maximal activation of skeletal muscle thin filaments requires both rigor myosin S1 and calcium.

The regulation by calcium and rigor-bound myosin-S1 of the rate of acceleration of 2'-deoxy-3'-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)ADP (mdADP) release from myosin-mdADP-P(i) by skeletal muscle thin filaments (reconstituted from actin-tropomyosin-troponin) was measured using double mixing stopped-flow fluorescence with the nucleotide substrate 2'-deoxy-3'-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl). The predominant mechanism of regulation is the acceleration of product dissociation by a factor of approximately 200 by thin filaments in the fully activated conformation (bound calcium and rigor S1) relative to the inhibited conformation (no bound calcium or rigor S1). In contrast, only 2-3-fold regulation is due to a change in actin affinity such as would be expected by "steric blocking" of the myosin binding site of the thin filament by tropomyosin. The binding of one ligand (either calcium or rigor-S1) produces partial activation of the rate of product dissociation, but the binding of both is required to maximally accelerate product dissociation to a rate similar to that obtained with F-actin in the absence of regulatory proteins. The data support an allosteric regulation model in which the binding of either calcium or rigor S1 alone to the thin filament shifts the equilibrium in favor of the active conformation, but full activation requires binding of both ligands.

Human deafness mutation of myosin VI (C442Y) accelerates the ADP dissociation rate.

The missense mutation of Cys(442) to Tyr of myosin VI causes progressive postlingual sensorineural deafness. Here we report the affects of the C442Y mutation on the kinetics of the actomyosin ATP hydrolysis mechanism and motor function of myosin VI. The largest changes in the kinetic mechanism of ATP hydrolysis produced by the C442Y mutation are about 10-fold increases in the rate of ADP dissociation from both myosin VI and actomyosin VI. The rates of ADP dissociation from acto-C442Y myosin VI-ADP and C442Y myosin VI-ADP are 20-40 times more rapid than the steady state rates and cannot be the rate-limiting steps of the hydrolysis mechanism in the presence or absence of actin. The 2-fold increase in the actin gliding velocity of C442Y compared with wild type (WT) may be explained at least in part by the more rapid rate of ADP dissociation. The C442Y myosin VI has a significant increase ( approximately 10-fold) in the steady state ATPase rate in the absence of actin relative to WT myosin VI. The steady state rate of actin-activated ATP hydrolysis is unchanged by the C442Y mutation at low (<10(-7) m) calcium but is calcium-sensitive with a 1.6-fold increase at high ( approximately 10(-4) m) calcium that does not occur with WT. The actin gliding velocity of the C442Y mutant decreases significantly at low surface density of myosin VI, suggesting that the mutation hampers the processive movement of myosin VI.

Mechanism of regulation of phosphate dissociation from actomyosin-ADP-Pi by thin filament proteins.

Regulation by calcium and myosin-S1 of the acceleration of the rate of phosphate release from myosin-ADP-inorganic phosphate (M-ADP-Pi) by the thin filament actin-tropomyosin (Tm)-troponin (Tn), was measured directly by using double mixing stopped-flow experiments with fluorescent phosphate binding protein. At low calcium and without rigor myosin-S1, saturating concentrations of thin filaments accelerate the rate of phosphate dissociation from M-ADP-Pi 8-fold, from 0.08 to 0.64 s(-1). If either myosin-S1 or calcium is bound to the thin filaments, phosphate release is a biphasic process in which the fast phase is the dissociation of Pi from actoTmTnM-ADP-Pi and the slow phase is limited by the hydrolysis of actoTmTnM-ATP to actoTmTnM-ADP-Pi. The maximum accelerations of the fast components by saturating thin filaments (relative to M-ADP-Pi alone) are: approximately equal 200-fold, 16 s(-1) (calcium only); approximately equal 400-fold, 30 s(-1) (EGTA and rigor S1); and approximately equal1,000-fold, 75 s(-1) (calcium and rigor S1). The maximum rate of phosphate dissociation attained with S1 and calcium bound to the thin filament is the same as for unregulated actin. Regulation of the rate of phosphate dissociation by calcium and myosin-S1 is partially explained by the model of Geeves [McKillop, D. F. and Geeves, M. A. (1993) Biophys. J. 65, 693-701], in which calcium and rigor S1 perturb the equilibria among three states of the thin filament (blocked, closed, and open). However, a quantitative description of the regulatory mechanism requires acceleration by calcium of an additional step of the mechanism, either phosphate dissociation or a preceding conformational change.