Thermal Gelation Characteristics of Myosin Subfragments

To elucidate the roles of the head and the tail portions of the molecule in the thermal gelation of myosin, the gelation characteristics of heavy meromyosin (HMM) and of light meromyosin (LMM) were investigated. The aggregation process of HMM corresponded to that of myosin alone in the temperature range above 50°C. Both the dynamic viscoelastic behavior and the aggregation process of LMM agreed fairly well with those of myosin alone in the temperature range up to 45 °C. Therefore, the first development of gel elasticity of myosin was attributable mainly to the tail portion of the molecule and the second was to its head portion.     

Ca2+ Affects Physicochemical and Conformational Changes of Threadfin Bream Myosin and Actin in a Setting Model

The effect of Ca²⁺ on physicochemical and conformational changes of threadfin bream (TB) myosin and actin during setting at 25 and 40°C was investigated. Ca²⁺ ion at 10 to 100 mM induced the unfolding of myosin and actin as evident by an increase of surface hydrophobicity (S_o ANS) at 40 °C. Total SH groups also decreased with an increased Ca²⁺ concentration, suggesting that Ca²⁺ promoted the formation of disulfide bonds during setting at 40 °C. Both hydrophobic interactions and disulfide linkages were involved in formation of myosin aggregates at 40 °C and were enhanced by addition of 10 to 100 mM Ca²⁺. Myosin Ca‐ATPase activity decreased when Ca²⁺ was greater than 50 mM, indicating conformational changes of myosin head. Circular dichroism spectra demonstrated that Ca²⁺ reduced the α‐helical content of myosin and actin incubated at either 25 or 40 °C. Ca²⁺ induced conformational changes of TB myosin and actin incubated at 40 °C to a greater extent than at 25 °C.     

Protein-Protein Interaction of Fish Myosin Fragments

Protein-protein interaction of myosin fragments from flying fish and white marlin muscles was studied by means of absorbance changes resulting from aggregation at temperatures of 20°C to 70°C. Subfragment-1 (S-1) exhibited a high extent of interaction with the transition temperature of 35–36°C, while the interaction of heavy meromyosin (HMM) was very weak. Though light meromyosin (LMM) gave lower interaction values throughout the heating temperature, the addition of butanol promoted markedly the interactions at the temperature above 50°C. The degree of promotion was high for flying fish and low for white marlin.     

Heat denaturation of rabbit skeletal G-actin in the presence of ATP

Heat treatments at pH 7-5 induced the polymerisation of G-actin without the addition of KCl or MgCl₂. This heat-induced polymerisation of G-actin was accompanied by the splitting of ATP. The polymerised actin at 45°C could be depolymerised by dialysis against a solution containing ATP. Electron microscopic observation of actin showed that irregular filaments were formed after heat treatment at 45°C for 3h, and at 55°C small filamentous pieces were formed. The abilities of heavy meromyosin ATPase (EC 3.6.1.32) activation and ATP splitting of G-actin were drastically impaired by heating to temperatures above 50°C. Studies of the temperature dependence of fluorescence and viscosity data also revealed that heat denaturation of G-actin in the presence of ATP occurred steeply between 45°C and 55°C.     

Identification of Cross-linking Site(s) of Myosin Heavy Chains in Oxidatively Stressed Chicken Myofibrils

ABSTRACT: The cross-linking site(s) of myosin heavy chains (MHC) in chicken myofibrils exposed to non-enzymatic, hydroxyl radical-generation oxidizing systems (HRGS) was investigated by means of chymotryptic digestion and subsequent electrophoresis. Oxidation of the chymotryptic digests resulted in cross-linking of the rod or light meromyosin (LMM) segment of MHC mostly via disulfide bonds, while subfragment-1 (S-1) or heavy meromyosin (HMM) was not affected. A mixture of cross-linked rod or LMM and uncross-linked S-1 or HMM was also produced when myofibrils were 1st oxidized and then digested with chymotrypsin, confirming that cross-linking of myosin in HRGS-oxidized myofibrils occurred initially in the LMM portion of the myosin rod.     

Thermal Aggregation of Myosin Subfragments from Cod and Herring

Turbidity of fish myosin subfragment solutions increased with temperature, except cod heavy meromyosin turbidity leveled above 45°C. Extent of aggregation and number of cross-linking sites for cod heavy and light meromyosins were significantly higher than for herring (p<0.05), but only at temperatures above 35°C and 45°C, respectively. Thermal aggregation ability increased linearly with increased surface hydrophobicity (S_o) for the myosin subfragments, except cod heavy meromyosin where the increase in S_o between 45–55°C did not correspond to an increase in cross-linking ability. The lessened aggregation ability of herring myosins may be due to the low cross-linking of the HMM (S-2) region.     

Effect of frozen storage on the structure and enzymatic activities of myofibrillar proteins of rabbit skeletal muscle

The effect of frozen storage on the biochemical properties of myofibrils, and of their major constituents, actin and myosin, was investigated. Extractability of myofibrillar proteins increased slightly for 3 weeks during frozen storage of muscle, decreasing thereafter. The change in myofibrillar ATPase activity during frozen storage was consistent with that of a reconstituted acto-heavy meromyosin (HMM) complex prepared from frozen stored muscle at the same weight ratio of actin to myosin as in situ. However, myosin ATPase activity showed a different pattern of change when compared with myofibrillar ATPase activity. The maximum velocity of acto-HMM ATPase activity and the apparent dissociation constant of the acto-HMM complex decreased for 1 week during frozen storage, increasing thereafter, indicating that the affinity of actin for myosin was greatest in muscle which had been frozen for 1 week.     

Curtailing Oxidation‐Induced Loss of Myosin Gelling Potential by Pyrophosphate Through Shielding the S1 Subfragment

In muscle food processing, where oxidation is inevitable, phosphates are usually added to improve water binding. This present study attempted to investigate the interactive roles of protein oxidation and pyrophosphate (PP) during thermal gelation of myosin. Myosin isolated from pork muscle was solubilized in 0.5 M NaCl at pH 6.2 then oxidatively stressed with an iron‐redox cycling system that produces hydroxyl radicals with or without 1 mM PP and 2 mM MgCl₂ at 4 °C for 12 or 24 h then heated to 50 °C at 1.3 °C/min. Protein conformational stability was measured by differential scanning calorimetry, and covalent cross‐linking was examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis following chymotrypsin digestion. The binding of PP to myosin suppressed disulfide bond formation in myosin subfragments 1 and 2 and partially inhibited oxidation‐initiated cross‐linking of heavy meromyosin during myosin gelation with a lesser effect on light meromyosin. In the presence of PP, myosin exhibited less loss of conformational integrity upon oxidation than myosin without PP. Rheological analysis from 20 to 75 °C indicated up to 32% decreases (P < 0.05) in elastic modulus (G′) of myosin gels due to oxidation. However, the presence of 1 mM PP, which also lowered the gelling capacity of myosin, inhibited the oxidation‐induced G′ by nearly half (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the protection of myosin head from oxidative modification by PP can be a significant factor for the minimization of gelling property losses during cooking of comminuted meats.     

Trypsin Inhibitory Activity and Gel‐Enhancing Effect of Sarcoplasmic Proteins from Common Carp

Abstract: Proteinase inhibitory activity of sarcoplasmic protein (SP) extracted from common carp (Cyprinus carpio) muscle and its gel‐improving ability were investigated. SPs displayed 89% and 54% inhibitory activity toward trypsin at 40 and 65 °C, respectively. Protein bands with molecular mass of 69, 50, 44, 41, and 35 kDa appeared on trypsin inhibitory activity staining under nonreducing condition when incubated at 40 °C, while 2 protein bands at 54 and 35 kDa were observed at 65 °C. Addition of SP at 0.18 g protein/100 g increased textural properties of threadfin bream surimi gel. However, when SP was added in combination with various CaCl₂ concentrations (0.1% to 0.5%) it did not further improve textural properties as compared to the addition of SP alone. Retention of myosin heavy chain of threadfin bream surimi was greater with the addition of SP. These results indicated that the gel‐enhancing effect of common carp SP was due to the inhibitory activity toward endogenous trypsin‐like proteinases in threadfin bream surimi. Practical Application: Sarcoplasmic protein from common carp muscle could be used as a functional protein ingredient that minimizes muscle proteolysis and improves textural properties of surimi containing trypsin‐like endogenous proteinases.     

Proteinase inhibitory activity of sarcoplasmic proteins from threadfin bream (Nemipterus spp.)

BACKGROUND: Thailand is the second largest surimi producer in the world and 50% of surimi is produced from threadfin bream. During surimi processing, sarcoplasmic proteins are removed through water washing and discarded in the waste stream. This study was aimed at investigating the proteinase inhibitory activity of sarcoplasmic proteins. RESULTS: Sarcoplasmic proteins from threadfin bream (TBSP) exhibited inhibitory activity toward trypsin but did not inhibit papain and chymotrypsin. Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under non‐reducing condition stained by trypsin inhibitory activity revealed three protein bands of molecular mass of 95, 41 and 37 kDa. Inhibitory activity of TBSP reached a maximum when subjected to 45 °C and completely disappeared at 60 °C. The breaking force and deformation of lizardfish surimi gel with added TBSP and pre‐incubated at 37° for 20 min increased with additional levels of TBSP (P < 0.05). Trichloroacetic acid–oligopeptide content of lizardfish surimi gel with added TBSP decreased with the addition of 4 g kg^?1 TBSP (P < 0.05). Retention of myosin heavy chain (MHC) increased when TBSP concentration was increased. TBSP effectively protected MHC from proteolysis at 37 °C to a similar extent as egg white powder, but efficacy of TBSP was not observed at 65 °C. CONCLUSION: TBSP could be applied to reduce proteolytic degradation of lizardfish surimi or other surimi associated with trypsin‐like proteinase, rendering an improvement in surimi gelation set at 37–40 °C. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Carp Natural Actomyosin: Thermal Denaturation Mechanism

Structural changes of actomyosin, the major protein of muscle, on heating have been estimated on ATPase activity. We investigated carp actomyosin molecule changes on heating based on biophysical and biochemical techniques. Actomyosin molecules began to unfold at ～30°C. Hydrophobic amino acid residues and SH groups, which had been inside the molecule, emerged to the surface. Because of hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds, actomyosin molecules formed aggregates. At > 40°C, a part of myosin molecules was dissociated from actin filaments. Thus, dissociated myosin and the myosin-lacking molecules co-existed. In addition, fragmentation of actin filaments was observed, which was associated with the dissociation of myosin molecules. At ≥ 60 °C actomyosin molecules formed larger aggregates, in which no filamentous shape was observed. This aggregation occurred mainly by formation of SS bonds.     

Changes in myofibrillar proteins during processing of salted cod (Gadus morhua) as determined by electrophoresis and differential scanning calorimetry

The effects of salt-curing, drying and rehydration on muscle proteins in cod (Gadus morhua) were studied during the processing of heavily salted cod or “bacalhau”. The aim was to observe conformational stability and possible degradation or denaturation, with sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The salting process significantly decreased the heat stabilities of both myosin and actin. The decrease in water content during dry-salting did shift the transition temperatures slightly back to higher temperatures. The results, from the SDS-PAGE, showed that the myosin heavy chain (MHC) was cleaved into smaller sub fragments in the salting process with the two heavy meromyosin fractions (HMM S1 and S2) and the light meromyosin (LLM) fraction being the most abundant. Actin was less affected than myosin.     

Monitoring Myosin Degradation During Conditioning in Chicken Meat Using an Immunological Method

ABSTRACT: Changes of chicken breast myosin during storage at 2°C and 37°C were monitored immunochemically. Anti-myosin subfragment-1 (S-1) monoclonal antibody, which recognized epitopes within the 27 kDa fragment of S-1, and the anti-myosin rod polyclonal antiserum, were prepared. Myosin degradation products were not detected in muscle extracts stored for 3 weeks at 2°C. In contrast, storage at 37°C brought about the degradation of myosin heavy chain to immunologically detectable small fragments. While, myosin rod produced during the conditioning period was not decomposed into any small filaments. Namely, storage of muscle at 37°C resulted in minor amounts of myosin heavy chain degradation, with initial conversion to rod and S-1 fragments, and subsequent breakdown occurred in the S-1 region only. Immunoblot assay also suggested that the pattern of changes in myosin heavy chain in muscle incubated at 37°C was similar to that produced by in vitro digestion with cathepsin D.     

Effects of carrageenan on thermal stability of proteins from chicken thigh and breast muscles

Thermal stability of ground chicken meat and myofibrillar proteins mixed with κ-, ι-, and λ-carrageenan (CGN) at different NaCl concentrations was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry. Three transitions, characteristic of myosin head (63.3, 62.2°C), sarcoplasmic proteins/myosin tail (67.7, 68.6°C), and actin (78.3, 81.4°C), were observed for nontreated thigh and breast muscles, respectively. The influence of CGNs on the thermal transitions was dependent on salt concentrations. κ-CGN with 2.5% NaCl decreased (P<0.05) transition temperature (T_max) of thigh myosin head and actin, while all three CGNs with or without 2.5% salt decreased (P<0.05) T_max for breast actin. Total enthalpy of denaturation decreased slightly in the presence of κ-CGN for thigh muscles only. The gum effects on myofibril isolates were variable and were salt-dependent. The results suggested molecular interactions between the gums and meat proteins, but the response of the specific proteins to gums appeared to be muscle type-dependent.     

Application of competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ci-ELISA) for monitoring the degree of frozen denaturation of bovine myosin

The denaturation of myosin on freezing and frozen storage was monitored using competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ci-ELISA) formatted with polyclonal antibodies anti-MWM IgG, anti-S-1 IgG and anti-LMM IgG raised against the antigens (Ags) bovine myosin whole molecules (MWMs), heavy meromyosin S-1 (myosin head part, S-1) and light meromyosin (myosin tail part, LMM) respectively. Beef slices and cuts stored at −20 °C or −50 °C lost immune affinity with all antibodies, in particular anti-LMM IgG. Repeated thawing–refreezing treatment caused more myosin denaturation than simple freezing. Myosin from beef stored at −20 °C was denatured more than that stored at −50 °C. The immune affinities between anti-LMM IgG and thawed samples were similar to those from anti-MWM IgG. We were unable to differentiate reliably between fresh and thawed beef using anti-S-1 IgG. Myosin was denatured by freezing, in particular its tail part (LMM).     

Effect of heating temperature and duration on the texture and protein composition of Bighead Carp (Aristichthys nobilis) muscle

The effect of heating temperature and duration on the texture and protein composition of bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) muscle was investigated. Samples were heated at 90°C, 100°C, 110°C, and 120°C for different times. The results showed that cooking loss increased significantly with increasing temperature and heating time, and a fractional conversion model was used to describe the increase. Hardness, chewiness, and gumminess exhibited a similar four-phase change with two peaks at 90°C, 100°C, and 110°C, and the trend was not observed at 120°C. Analysis of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electropheresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed that contents of myosin heavy chain decreased entirely to disappear and contents of actin significantly decreased. Increasing the intensity of the heavy molecular weight bands indicated the aggregation of myosin. Content of water-soluble proteins presented an increasing trend, which reflected the protein degradation and the release of low-molecular-weight compounds.     

Thermostable Proteinase in Salted Anchovy Muscle

Salted anchovy fillets produced in Japan were severely degraded above 35°C and were solubilized completely in a few hours at 55°C. In contrast, raw anchovy fillets were not solubilized, but the solubility of fillets gradually increased during the salting process. In contrast, salted and raw anchovy fillets from southern Europe were relatively stable. Proteolytic activity that digested myosin heavy chain in vitro was found in muscle extracts from both types of salted fillets. Enzymes with activity were high-temperature-active serine proteinases with substrate specificities similar to trypsin. Optimal pH was 7.4 (Japan) and >8.5 (Europe). Neither enzyme showed collagen-degrading activity.     

Autolysis of Squid Mantle Muscle Protein as Affected by Storage Conditions and Inhibitors

Autolysis of squid mantle muscle was investigated under various conditions using muscle homogenate as a model system. Cleavage of myosin into heavy and light meromyosin was prominent during autolysis. Storage conditions such as NaCl concentration and temperature affected not only the rate of autolysis but also the products formed. Conditions for maximal autolysis were: NaCl concentration 0.3M, pH 7 and temperature 40°C. Autolysis was well inhibited by ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid and Na-pyrophosphate at <25°C and by phenyhnethylsulfonyl fluoride and chymotrypsin inhibitor extracted from potato tuber at >35°C suggesting two different types of proteinases were involved.     

Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Postmortem Property Change of Myofibrillar Proteins

Changes in biochemical properties of myofibrillar proteins of rabbit muscle, which had been subjected to electrical stimulation soon after slaughter, during postmortem storage at 0°C were investigated. Myofibrillar ATPase activity and the ATPase activity of acto-heavy meromyosin (HMM) complex, reconstituted from actin and HMM which had been prepared from at-death and postmortem muscles, decreased at first and then increased slightly during 7 days storage. In addition, the change of the dissociation constant of acto-HMM complex of electrically stimulated muscle during postmortem storage was quite small, i.e., 1.59 ± 10^?4M for at-death muscle, 1.70 ± 10^?4M for muscle stored for 1 day and 1.49 ± 10^?4M for muscle stored for 7 days. This indicates that electrical stimulation treatment minimized the postmortem change of actin-myosin interaction.     

Characterization of Myosin Subfragment-1 of Summer and Winter Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) Muscle

Myosin subfragment-1 (S1) was prepared from myofibrils of summer and winter silver carp by chymotryptic digestion in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Two S1 heavy chain isoforms with different molecular sizes of 91 kDa and 95 kDa were detected in the fast skeletal muscle from summer and winter silver carp, respectively. ATPase inactivation assay indicated that winter S1 was about 20-fold unstable comparing to summer S1. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) further confirmed that summer and winter myosin S1 heavy chain isoforms were homologous to myosin high-temperature type and myosin low-temperature type S1 heavy chain, respectively. Moreover, both types of myosin S1 heavy chain isoforms were identified at the intermediate stage. The results indicated that myosin was expressed in a season-specific manner; different types of myosin isomer expressed in different seasons, showing different thermostabilities. Practical Application: Silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, is one of the most abundant freshwater fish species in China. The structure thermal stability of myosin rod from silver carp was affected by season change. The gel-forming abilities of surimi prepared in different seasons were different. This study investigated the seasonal differences in structure thermal stability of myosin S1 which is vital for gel formation of myosin. The results of this study will aid understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of myosin, and effective production of surimi from freshwater fish species in different seasons.