Effect of extraction time on ability of calmodulin to activate 30S and 14S dynein ATPases.

Abstract

Cilia from the protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis were demembranated and then extracted for 5 min with a buffer containing 0.5 M NaCl. The briefly extracted axonemal pellet was then reextracted for about 20 hr. The soluble material obtained from each extraction was resolved into 14S and 30S dynein ATPases by sedimentation on sucrose density gradients and tested for sensitivity to added calmodulin. The 14S dynein obtained by a 5-min extraction was generally insensitive to added calmodulin, whereas that obtained by 20-hr extraction of the 5-min extracted axonemes was activated by calmodulin, the activation being much larger in the "light" 14S fractions than in the "heavy" fractions. The 30S dynein ATPase obtained by a 5-min extraction was generally activated over 1.6-fold by added calmodulin, whereas that obtained by the subsequent long extraction was usually activated only 1.3-fold. After further purification of the 5-min extracted 30S dynein and of the 5-min to 20-hr-extracted 14S dynein on DEAE-Sephacel, these dyneins retained much of their calmodulin activatability. The ATPase activity of both 14S and 30S dyneins was inhibited more strongly by erythro-9-[3-(2-hydroxynonyl)] adenine and by vanadate in the presence of added calmodulin than in its absence. These data suggest that the only ATPase activity present in the fractions studied is that of the dyneins and demonstrate that both the 14S and 30S dynein ATPases may be obtained in forms that are activated by added calmodulin as well as in forms that are insensitive to added calmodulin.