Prothrombin fragment 1-membrane interactions: a calcium-43 NMR study.

The 43Ca NMR spectra are reported for solutions of prothrombin fragment 1 in the presence and absence of phospholipid. The calcium NMR spectrum permits distinction between three thermodynamic classes of calcium-binding interactions. The calcium ion in the lipid-free solutions was labile, with maximum residence times estimated for the average protein site in the range of 0.5-1 ms. The calcium spectrum was sensitive to the protein association and the addition of phospholipid, which appears to sharpen the calcium specificity for the protein sites. The calcium NMR spectra in the presence of phospholipid are similar to those in lipid-free solutions, which suggests that the calcium ion remains labile in the lipid-protein complex.