Regulatory Mechanisms of the Calcium Transport System of Fragmented Rabbit Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

The rate of ATP hydrolysis decreases very rapidly during the first 2 sec of calcium uptake. It changes with time in a manner similar to that described for calcium net uptake by other workers, suggesting that the two activities are coupled. The decline in both rates may be ascribed to an inhibitory effect of accumulated calcium on calcium influx and ATPase activity for the following reasons. During the steady state, Ca-Ca and Sr-Ca exchange and the rate of ATP hydrolysis are much slower than the initial rate of net calcium uptake and the associated ATP hydrolysis. If the accumulation of free calcium is prevented by calcium-oxalate precipitation the initial rate of net calcium uptake does not decay during prolonged periods of transport. Furthermore, passive preloading of vesicles with calcium inhibits the rate of hydrolysis in proportion to the extent of preloading. The inhibition of steady-state flux is alleviated by free ATP; i.e., not chelated with magnesium, but not by free ITP.