Open AccessMembrane lipid physical state and modulation of the Na+,Mg2+-ATPase activity in Acholeplasma laidlawii B.
Author(s) -
John R. Silvius,
Ronald N. McElhaney
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.77.3.1255
Subject(s) - membrane , arrhenius plot , arrhenius equation , enzyme , chemistry , membrane lipids , atp hydrolysis , biological membrane , atpase , phase (matter) , enzyme assay , phase transition , biochemistry , biophysics , membrane fluidity , activation energy , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , biology , physics
Careful analysis of the Arrhenius plot of the Na+,Mg2+-ATPase (ATP pyrophosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.8) activity in Acholeplasma laidlawii B membranes of varying fatty acid composition has been combined with differential thermal analysis of the membrane lipid phase transitions to evaluate the effects of membrane lipid properties on the enzyme activity. Our results indicate that the enzyme is active only in association with liquid-crystalline lipids, exhibiting a significant heat capacity of activation, delta Cp++, for the ATP hydrolytic reaction in this case. Quantitative analyses of Arrhenius plots for the enzyme activity in membranes whose lipids exhibit a gel-to-liquid-crystalline phase transition in the physiological temperature range suggest that the ATPase is inactivated when its boundary lipids undergo a phase transition that is driven by the bulk lipid phase transition but is less cooperative than the latter. Our results suggest that the familiar "biphasic linear" Arrhenius plots obtained for many membrane enzymes may in fact have a more complex shape, analysis of which can furnish useful information regarding the behavior of the enzyme molecule.