Specific cleavage of dynein heavy chains by ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of ATP and vanadate.

Irradiation of soluble dynein 1 from sea urchin sperm flagella at 254 nm in the presence of 50 microM ATP and 100 microM inorganic vanadate (Vi) cleaves the alpha and beta heavy chains into approximately equal quantities of two polypeptides of Mr 228,000 and 200,000, with a conversion efficiency of about 63%. A similar cleavage occurs in the presence of Vi and either ADP or 8-azidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate (8-N3ATP); in the latter case, 8-N3ATP becomes covalently bound principally to the Mr 228,000 polypeptide. No detectable amount of these fragments is formed if either the Vi or the nucleotide is omitted or in the presence of Vi and 50 microM AMP. These results emphasize the basic similarity of the two ATPases associated with the alpha and beta heavy chain subunits of dynein 1 and give a mean Mr of 428,000 for the intact heavy chains.