The molecular structure of a rapidly formed oligomeric adenosine tetraphosphate derivative from rat heart

Abstract

The inability to account for large systematic variations with time in soluble adenine nucleotides in perfused rat hearts [Bates, Perrett & Mowbray (1978) Biochem. J. 176, 485-493; Mowbray, Bates & Perrett (1981) FEBS Lett. 131, 55-59; Mowbray, Perrett & Bates (1984) Int. J. Biochem. 16, 889-894] led us to show that the soluble nucleotides are in rapid equilibrium with some hitherto unrecognized trichloroacetic acid/methanol-precipitable highly phosphorylated heteropolymeric form [Mowbray, Hutchinson, Tibbs & Morris (1984) Biochem. J. 223, 627-632]. Selective digestion coupled to chromatographic analysis together with m.s. and 31P-n.m.r. spectrometry have now been used to show that the likely structure for a purified oligomer that is in specific-radioactivity equilibrium with tissue ATP is 3-phospho-[glyceroyl-gamma-triphosphoroyl-5′-adenosine-3′-3- phospho]4 glyceroyl-gamma-triphosphoroyl-5′-adenosine.