Presence of a Unit for Actin-Myosin Interaction during the Superprecipitation of Actomyosin

Abstract

The interaction of actin with myosin was studied in the presence of ATP at low ionic strength by means of measurements of the actin-activated ATPase activity of myosin and superprecipitation of actomyosin. At high ATP concentrations the ATPase activities of myosin, heavy meromyosin (HMM) and myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) were activated by actin in the same extent. At low ATP concentrations the myosin ATPase activity was activated about 30-fold by actin, whereas those of HMM and S-1 were stimulated only several-fold. This high actin activation of myosin ATPase was coupled with the occurrence of superprecipitation. The activation of HMM or S-1 ATPase by actin shows a simple hyperbolic dependence on actin concentration, but the myosin ATPase was maximally activated by actin at a 2:1 molar ratio of actin to myosin, and a further increase in the actin concentration had no effect on the activation. These results suggest the presence of a unit for actin-myosin interaction, composed of two actin monomers and one myosin molecule in the filaments.