Interaction between Chicken Gizzard Caldesmon and Tropomyosin

Abstract

Chicken gizzard muscle caldesmon has been examined for ability to interact with tropomyosin from chicken gizzard muscle by using fluorescence enhancement of tropomyosin labeled with dansyl chloride (DNS) and affinity chromatography. The binding of caldesmon to tropomyosin was regulated by Ca²⁺ and calmodulin, i. e., at low ionic strength most of the caldesmon bound to tropomyosin-Sepharose 4B was co-eluted by adding calmodulin only in the presence of Ca²⁺, but not in its absence. This regulation by Ca²⁺ and calmodulin was also suggested by fluorescence measurements. Actin-and calmodulin-binding sites on the caldesmon molecule were located in the 38K fragment (Fujii, T., Imai, M., Rosenfeld, G. C., & Bryan, J. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2757-2763). When 38K-enriched fraction was applied to the tropomyosin-Sepharose, the 38K fragment was retained by the column and could be eluted by adding Ca²⁺ and calmodulin.