Parallel measurement of Ca²⁺ binding and fluorescence emission upon Ca²⁺ titration of recombinant skeletal muscle troponin C: Measurement of sequential calcium binding to the regulatory sites

Calcium binding to chicken recombinant skeletal muscle TnC (TnC) and its mutants containing tryptophan (F29W), 5-hydroxytryptophan (F29HW), or 7-azatryptophan (F29ZW) at position 29 was measured by flow dialysis and by fluorescence. Comparative analysis of the results allowed us to determine the influence of each amino acid on the calcium binding properties of the N-terminal regulatory domain of the protein. Compared with TnC, the Ca²⁺ affinity of N-terminal sites was: 1) increased 6-fold in F29W, 2) increased 3-fold in F29ZW, and 3) decreased slightly in F29HW. The Ca²⁺ titration of F29ZW monitored by fluorescence displayed a bimodal curve related to sequential Ca²⁺ binding to the two N-terminal Ca²⁺ binding sites. Single and double mutants of TnC, F29W, F29HW, and F29ZW were constructed by replacing aspartate by alanine at position 30 (site I) or 66 (site II) or both. Ca²⁺ binding data showed that the Asp → Ala mutation at position 30 impairs calcium binding to site I only, whereas the Asp → Ala mutation at position 66 impairs calcium binding to both sites I and II. Furthermore, the Asp → Ala mutation at position 30 eliminates the differences in Ca²⁺ affinity observed for replacement of Phe at position 29 by Trp, 5-hydroxytryptophan, or 7-azatryptophan. We conclude that position 29 influences the affinity of site I and that Ca²⁺ binding to site I is dependent on the previous binding of metal to site II.