Erythrocyte membrane tropomyosin. Purification and properties

Two polypeptides of Mr approximately 29,000 and 27,000 have been identified in human erythrocyte membranes that cross-react specifically with affinity purified antibodies to chicken gizzard tropomyosin. The cross-reacting polypeptides are quantitatively retained on the membrane after cell lysis if millimolar concentrations of magnesium are included in the lysis and wash buffers, indicating that they are membrane-bound proteins under physiological conditions. Milligram quantities of these immunoreactive polypeptides have been purified to greater than 95% purity from a low salt extract of membranes by DEAE-chromatography, precipitation at pH 4.4, and heating to 85 degrees C to denature contaminants. Physical similarities of the erythrocyte protein to other tropomyosins include (a) amino acid composition (b) anomalous migration of the Mr approximately 29,000 and 27,000 polypeptides on sodium dodecyl sulfate-gels in the presence of 6 M urea to apparent Mr approximately 43,000 and 38,000, respectively (c) arrangement of chains as dimers of Mr approximately 60,000 based on cross-linking studies and calculation of molecular weight from hydrodynamic values (Rs = 5.9 nm, sedimentation coefficient = 2.5 S; partial specific volume = 0.72 cm3/g) and (d) highly asymmetric shape, based on a frictional ratio of 2.07. Binding of erythrocyte tropomyosin to muscle F-actin saturates at one tropomyosin molecule (Mr approximately 60,000) to 6-7 actin monomers and is highly cooperative with a Hill coefficient of about 2.8, similar to muscle tropomyosins. Binding also exhibits a high degree of cooperativity as a function of the magnesium concentration with a transition between no binding and complete binding between 1 and 2 mM MgCl2. Increasing the magnesium concentration from 2 to 10 mM increases the apparent affinity of tropomyosin for actin from approximately 2.6 X 10(6) M-1 to approximately 2.7 X 10(7) M-1 without effect on the Hill coefficient. The tropomyosin polypeptides comprise about 1% of the erythrocyte membrane protein and are present in a ratio of one Mr approximately 60,000 tropomyosin molecule to 7-8 actin monomers, an amount almost sufficient to coat all of the F-actin on the membrane. These data are consistent with the association of two tropomyosin molecules with each of the short actin filaments (12-17 monomers long) thought to exist in the erythrocyte membrane cytoskeleton. The erythrocyte tropomyosin could function to mechanically stabilize these actin filam