Calcium-dependence of Donnan potentials in glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle in rigor, at and beyond filament overlap; a role for titin in the contractile process.

In glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle, Donnan potential measurements demonstrated that the net electric charge on the actin-myosin matrix undergoes a sharp switch-like transition at pCa(50) = 6.8. The potentials are 2 mV less negative at the lower pCa(2+) (P < 0.001). If ATP is present, the muscle contracts and breaks the microelectrode. Therefore the rigor state was studied. There is no reason to suppose a priori that a similar voltage switch does not occur during contraction, however. Calcium dependence is still apparent in muscles stretched beyond overlap (sarcomere length>3.8 μm) and is also seen in the gap filaments between the A- and I-band ends; further stretching abolishes the dependence. These experiments strongly suggest that calcium dependence is controlled initially by the titin component, and that this control is lost when titin filaments break. We suppose that that effect is mediated by the titin kinase in the M-line region and may involve the extensible PEVK region of titin. There is great interest in the electric charge on proteins in muscle within the structural system. We suggest how changes in these charges may control the calcium activation process. We also suggest some simple experimental approaches that could clarify these effects.