1,3-Diethylurea-enhanced Mg-ATPase activity of skeletal muscle myosin with a converse effect on the sliding motility.

We investigate the effects of urea and its derivatives on the ATPase activity and on the in vitro motility of chicken skeletal muscle actomyosin. Mg-ATPase rate of myosin subfragment-1 (S1) is increased by 4-fold by 0.3M 1,3-diethylurea (DEU), but it is unaffected by urea, thiourea, and 1,3-dimethylurea at ≤1M concentration.