LOCALIZATION OF A MG2+-ACTIVATED OR CA2+-ACTIVATED (BASIC) ATPASE IN SKELETAL-MUSCLE

A chicken pectoralis muscle membrane fraction enriched in a Mg2+- or Ca2+-activated ('basic') ATPase was obtained by sucrose gradient centrifugation. Enzymatic properties of the 'basic' ATPase were determined and used to localize its enzymatic activity in situ by ultrastructural cytochemistry. The enzyme was activated by Mg2+ or Ca2+ but not by Sr2+, Ba2+, Co2+, Ni2+ or Pb2+. It was present in a membranous fraction with a buoyant density of 1.10-1.12 (24-27.5% ( w w) sucrose). 'Basic' ATPase activity had a sedimentation pattern similar to the putative plasma membrane enzymes, 5′-nucleotidase and leucyl β-naphthylamidase, but different from that of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase. Also unlike sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase, 'basic' ATPase was resistant to N-ethylmaleimide and aldehyde fixatives, was active in a medium containing a high Ca2+ concentration (3 mM), and was lost when exposed to Triton X-100 or deoxycholate. In cytochemical studies, a low Pb2+ concentration was used to capture the enzymatically released phosphate ions. Under conditions which eliminated interfering (Na+ + K+) ATPase and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase activities, electron-dense lead precipitates were present at the plasmalemma and T-system membranes. These studies suggest that 'basic' ATPase activity is associated with plasmalemma and T-system membranes of skeletal muscle. © 1979.