Conformation and activity of smooth muscle myosin probed by various essential light chains.

Porcine aorta smooth muscle myosin contains two essential light chain (LC17) isoforms and the light chain was replaced with one of the LC17 isoforms, rabbit skeletal muscle myosin alkali light chain 2 (A2), or scallop striated muscle myosin essential light chain (SHLC). The myosin containing either an LC17 isoform or A2 showed phosphorylation-dependent properties in the monomer conformation, filament formation, ATPase activities, and superprecipitation, behaving in essentially the same way as native myosin. On the other hand, the replacement of LC17 with SHLC destabilized the 10S conformation and the myosin was predominantly filamentous under physiological conditions, irrespective of the phosphorylation state. This myosin containing dephosphorylated regulatory light chain showed higher actin-activated ATPase activity than native dephosphorylated myosin and was further activated by Ca2+, resulting in a decrease of phosphorylation-dependent regulation. Superprecipitation for the myosin was observed only when the regulatory light chain was phosphorylated. Superprecipitation for myosin containing SHLC was significantly slow in the absence of Ca2+ in comparison with that for myosin containing LC17, and was further activated by the presence of Ca2+. On the basis of the differences in amino acid sequences of these essential light chains, it appears that the N-terminal domain of LC17 may be implicated in these phosphorylation-dependent properties of smooth muscle myosin.