HEAT-TREATED MYOSIN DOES NOT BIND ATPASE - INHIBITING ANTIBODIES

Polyclonal antibodies to native chicken pectoral fast-twitch myosin ar e directed to all subfragments of the molecule (S-1, S-2 and LMM), as seen in the ELISA and Western blotting techniques. The antibodies inhi bit the Ca2+-activated myosin ATPase. Absorption of the antibodies wit h native myosin abolishes these reactions. Heat treatment of myosin fo r 2h at 40 degrees C will inactivate myosin ATPase and alter its antib ody binding pattern: the binding of antibodies to the rod fractions is reduced, that to the globular head (S-1) completely abolished. Thus, these antibodies are useful as sensitive probes for the structural int egrity of the myosin head.