The binding of Mg2+ to calmodulin (CaM) and the effect of Mg2+ on the binding of Ca2+-CaM to target peptides were examined using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. We found that Mg2+ preferentially binds to Ca2+-binding sites I and IV of CaM in the absence of Ca2+ and that Ca2+-binding site III displays the lowest affinity for Mg2+. In contrast...

Hydrogen peroxide destroyed the Na+/Mg2+ antiport in Mg(2+)-loaded human and rat erythrocytes and increased the leakage of intracellular Mg2+ and K+. These effects are opposite to the increase of Na+/Mg2+ antiport and unchanged Na(+)-independent Mg2+ efflux from erythrocytes of patients with cystic fibrosis score 3. Thus, the increase of Na+/Mg2+ antiport in these patients is not caused by incr...

Considering the biological abundance and importance of Mg2+, there is a surprising lack of information regarding the proteins that transport Mg2+, the mechanisms by which they do so, and their physiological roles within the cell. The best characterized Mg2+ channel to date is the bacterial protein CorA, present in a wide range of bacterial species. The CorA homolog Mrs2 forms the mitochondrial ...

Magnesium (Mg) is one of the essential nutrients for all living organisms. Plants acquire Mg from the environment and distribute within their bodies in the ionic form via Mg2+-permeable transporters. In Arabidopsis, the plasma membrane-localized magnesium transporter MGT6 mediates Mg2+ uptake under Mg-limited conditions, and therefore is important for the plant adaptation to low-Mg environment....

The binding of Mg2+ X adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Mg2+ X AMP-PNP) to rabbit skeletal myofibrils has been measured in aqueous solution and in 50% ethylene glycol in the presence and absence of Ca2+. In water, the observed binding was weak with less than half the calculated myosin active sites filled even at 1 mM Mg2+ X AMP-PNP. In 50% ethylene glycol, the binding is at least 100-fold tighter ...

Magnesium transport across sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles was investigated in reaction mixtures of various composition using antipyrylazo III or arsenazo I to monitor extravesicular free Mg2+. The half-time of passive Mg2+ efflux from Mg2+-loaded SR was 100 s in 100 mM KCl, 150 S in 100 mM K gluconate, and 370 S in either 100 mM Tris methanesulfonate or 200 mM sucrose solutions. The conce...

Magnesium reabsorption and regulation within the kidney occur principally within the cortical thick ascending limb (cTAL) cells of the loop of Henle. Fluorometry with the dye, mag-fura-2, was used to characterize intracellular Mg2+ concentration ([Mg2+]i) in single cTAL cells. Primary cell cultures were prepared from porcine kidneys using a double antibody technique (goat anti-human Tamm-Horsfa...

BACKGROUND The increase in cytosolic free Mg2+ occurring during exercise and initial recovery in human skeletal muscle is matched by a decrease in cytosolic pH as shown by in vivo phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS). To investigate in vivo to what extent the homeostasis of intracellular free Mg2+ is linked to pH in human skeletal muscle, we studied patients with metabolic myopa...

The chemistry of Mg2+ is unique amongst biological cations, and the properties of Mg2+ transport systems reflect this chemistry. Prokaryotes carry three classes of Mg2+ transport systems: CorA, MgtA/B and MgtE. CorA and MgtE are widely distributed in both Eubacteria and Archaea, while the MgtA/B class is found primarily in the Eubacteria. Eukaryotic homologs of CorA, although clearly functional...

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) synthesis driven by an artificially imposed membrane potential in right-side-out membrane vesicles of Escherichia coli was investigated. Membrane vesicles prepared in the presence of adenosine diphosphate were loaded with K+ by incubation with 0.5 M potassium phosphate. Addition of valinomycin resulted in the synthesis of 0.2 to 0.3 nmol of ATP/mg of membrane pro...