Smooth muscle calponin bound to the biologically active fluorescent calmodulin [2-(4'-maleimidoanilino)naphthalene-6-sulfonic acid-calmodulin] (MIANS.CaM) with a Kd of 80 nM and produced a 3.4-fold fluorescence enhancement. PKC-phosphorylated calponin (1.3 mol of Pi/mol) bound to CaM with approximately 15-fold lower affinity. Calponin inhibited CaM (10 nM) activation of the Ca(2+)-/CaM-activated cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) with an IC50 of 138 nM. The calponin-CaM interaction was Ca(2+)-dependent: half-maximal binding of calponin to MIANS.CaM occurred at pCa 6.6 with a Hill coefficient of 2.4. Stopped-flow fluorescence kinetic analysis demonstrated that EGTA chelation of Ca2+ from CaM disrupted the MIANS.CaM-calponin complex at a rate of 1 s-1. Calponin bound MIANS.CaM at a rate of (6.0 +/- 1.8) x 10(6) M-1s-1, and melittin and unlabeled brain CaM both disrupted the MIANS.CaM-calponin complex at a rate of 0.3 +/- 0.1 s-1. These studies suggest that calponin binds CaM with 80-fold lower affinity than myosin light-chain kinase and that calponin associates with CaM much slower than it associates with caldesmon or myosin light-chain kinase. The physiological relevance of the CaM-calponin interaction was evaluated by analysis of the effects of Ca(2+)-CaM on (i) the interaction of calponin with actin and (ii) calponin-mediated inhibition of actin-activated myosin MgATPase activity. Ca(2+)-CaM half-maximally inhibited calponin (2 microM) binding to smooth and skeletal muscle actins (9 microM) at 5.4 and 11 microM CaM, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cellular Ca2+ transients and Ca2+-binding proteins regulate physiological phenomena as diverse as muscle contraction, neurosecretion, and cell division. When Ca2+ is rapidly mixed with slow Ca2+ chelators, EGTA, or Mg2+/EDTA, artificial Ca2+ transients (ACTs) of varying duration (0.1-50 ms half-widths (hws)) and amplitude can be generated. We have exposed several Ca2+ indicators, Ca2+-binding proteins, and a Ca2+-dependent enzyme to ACTs of various durations and observed their transient binding of Ca2+, complex formation, and/or activation. A 0.1 ms hw ACT transiently occupied approximately 70% of the N-terminal regulatory sites of troponin C consistent with their rapid Ca2+ on-rate (8.7 +/- 2.0 x 10(7) M-1 s-1). A 1.1 ms hw ACT produced approximately 90% transient binding of the N-terminal of calmodulin (CaM) to the RS-20 peptide, but little binding of CaM's C-terminal to RS-20. A 0.6 ms hw ACT was sufficient for the N-terminal of CaM to transiently bind approximately 60% of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), while a 1.8 ms hw ACT produced approximately 22% transient activation of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+/ATPase. In both cases, the ACT had fallen back to baseline approximately 10-30 ms before maximal binding of CaM to MLCK or SR Ca2+/ATPase activation occurred and binding and enzyme activation persisted long after the Ca transient had subsided. The use of ACTs has allowed us to visualize how the Ca2+-exchange rates of Ca2+-binding proteins dictate their Ca2+-induced conformational changes, Ca2+-induced protein/peptide and protein/protein interactions, and enzyme activation and inactivation, in response to Ca2+ transients of various amplitude and duration. By characterizing the response of these proteins to ACTs, we can predict with greater certainty how they would respond to natural Ca2+ transients to regulate cellular phenomena.

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A recent report in Nature Catalysis detailed the potentially paradigm-shifting organocatalysis of Suzuki cross-coupling of aryl halides with aryl boronic acids, catalysed by simple amine species. We have conducted a reinvestigation of key claims in this paper across multiple academic and industrial laboratories that shows that the observed catalytic activity cannot be due to the amine, but rather is due to tricyclohexylphosphine palladium complexes that are readily entrained during the purification of the amine<b>.</b>

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Fuel modifications encompassing composition, volatility, and lead content are investigated as a means of reducing automotive exhaust emissions. Several test programs are summarized, and numerous conclusions are listed.