Photoaffinity ADP analogs as covalently attached reporter groups of the active site of myosin subfragment 1

: The enzymatic properties of rabbit skeletal myosin subfragment 1 (S1) have been determined after photoaffinity labeling the active site with two ADP analogs. These analogs, 2-[(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)-amino]ethyl diphosphate (NANDP) and the fluorescent analog 3'(2')-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)-1,N6-ethenoadenosine diphosphate (Bz2 epsilon ADP), label the heavy chain residues Trp 130 and Ser-324, respectively. These residues in the crystal structure of chicken skeletal S1 are on either side of the entrance to the active site pocket (Rayment et al., 1993b). Here S1 was photolabeled with NANDP or Bz2 epsilon ADP after trapping with vanadate (Vi). Both of the photolabeled S1 preparations had normal MgATPase activities after removal of vanadate by actin treatment. These results show that the covalently tethered nucleotide analogs could move out of the active site and be replaced by MgATP. Experiments that monitored the fluorescence emission intensity, polarization, and quenching by acrylamide of S1 photolabeled with Bz2 epsilon ADP show that the covalently linked analog was displaced out of the active site cleft by MgATP (or MgATP and actin) but not by ATP in the absence of Mg2+ ions. The effective concentration of the tethered ethenoadenosine diphosphate at the active site, determined by competition with MgATP, was calculated to be 10 mM. In the absence of Mg2+ ions, ATP was unable to compete with the bound analog. Binding constants of the S1 photolabeled with Bz2 epsilon ADP to actin were 1.5 x 10(5) and 5.8 x 10(5) M-1 at 200 and 20 mM ionic strength, respectively, showing that actin binding affinities are similar to those obtained for S1.ADP. The binding of actin in the absence of MgATP did not produce any change in the emission intensity, polarization, or quenching by acrylamide of the tethered ethenoadenosine diphosphate, indicating that the conformation of the pocket around the adenine ring was unchanged. However, the binding of actin did destabilize Vi, which had been previously trapped in the form of photolabeled S1-Vi complexes. These results indicate that actin binding primarily affects the gamma-phosphate binding site but not the adenine ring binding site.