Ionized and Bound Calcium Inside Isolated Sarcoplasmic Reticulum of Skeletal Muscle and Its Significance in Phosphorylation of Adenosine Triphosphatase by Orthophosphate

Calcium loading of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum performed passively by incubation with high calcium concentrations (0.5–15 mM) on ice gives calcium loads of 50–60 nmol/mg sarcoplasmic reticulum protein. This accumulated calcium is not released by EGTA [ethyleneglycol bis‐(2‐aminoethyl)‐N, N, N′, N′‐tetraacetic acid], but almost completely released by ionophore X‐537A plus EGTA or phospholipase A plus EGTA treatment and is therefore assumed to be inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This calcium is distributed in one saturable and one non‐saturable calcium compartment, as derived from the dependence of the calcium load on the calcium concentration in the medium. These compartments are assigned to bound and ionized calcium inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum, respectively. Maximum calcium binding under these conditions was 33 nmol/mg protein with an apparent half‐saturation constant of 5.8 nmol/mg free calcium inside, or between 1.2 and 0.6 mM free calcium inside, assuming an average vesicular water space of 5 or 10 μl/mg protein respectively. Calcium‐dependent phosphorylation of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium‐transport ATPase from orthophosphate depends on the square of free calcium inside, whilst inhibition of phosphorylation depends on the square of free calcium in the medium. Calcium‐dependent phosphorylation appears to be determined by the free calcium concentrations inside or outside allowing calcium binding to the ATPase according to the two classes of calcium binding constants for low affinity calcium binding or high affinity calcium binding, respectively. It is further suggested that the saturation of the low‐affinity calcium‐binding sites of the ATPase facing the inside of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane is responsible for the greater apparent orthophosphate and magnesium affinity in calcium‐dependent phosphorylation than in calcium‐independent phosphorylation from orthophosphate. Maximum calcium‐dependent phosphoprotein formation at 20°C and pH 7.0 is about 4 nmol/mg sarcoplasmic reticulum protein.