Ca2+-independent gizzard myosin light chain kinase produced by cross-linking of the enzyme with calmodulin using glutaraldehyde.

Cross-linked complex of gizzard myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and calmodulin (CM) was produced by glutaraldehyde treatment of a mixture of these proteins in a high Ca2+ (0.1 mM) solution. Although the specific activity was reduced, this complex showed MLCK activity in a Ca2+-independent manner, different from the original MLCK whose activity was Ca2+-dependent. Chlorpromazine, one of the CM antagonists, was no longer able to inhibit the MLCK activity of this complex. These observations support the previously proposed hypothesis on the regulatory mechanism of MLCK activity via Ca2+. This complex could be regarded as another kind of Ca2+-independent MLCK different from that obtained by chymotryptic digestion of MLCK (Walsh, M.P., Dabrowska, R., Hinkins, S., & Hartshorne, D.J. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 1919-1925). This complex caused superprecipitation of gizzard actomyosin and enhanced actin-activated ATPase of myosin Ca2+-independently.