The ATPase activity of subfragment-1 from the hypertrophied heart.

Myosin and subfragment-1 were prepared from rabbit hearts hypertrophied secondary to pulmonary artery constriction. The Ca2+ -stimulated ATPase activity was reduced while the potassium/EDTA-stimulated ATPase activity was unchanged in both the myosin and subfragment 1 (S-1) from hypertrophied hearts. When hypertrophy myosin was mixed with an equal quantity of control myosin, the ATPase activity of the mixed protein fell halfway between control and hypertrophy values. Similar results were obtained with control and hypertrophy S-1. The actin-stimulated ATPase activity of hypertrophy S-1 was slightly depressed but unlike hypertrophy myosin this depression was not significant when compared to normal S-1. This suggests that papain cleavage may have removed part of the conformational difference that exists between control and hypertrophy myosins.