The deafwaddler mutant in mice was the first spontaneous mutant discovered
in the plasma membrane Ca2+ pump (PMCA) [Street, V.A. et al., 1998, Nat. Ge
net. 19, 390-394]. A nucleotide substitution in deafwaddler results in a Gl
y to Ser transition at amino acid 283 in the small cytoplasmic loop of PMCA
isoform 2 (PMCA2). PMCA2 is abundant in the stereocilia of auditory and ve
stibular hair cells, neurons of the spiral ganglion, and participates in in
ner ear development. Mice that are homozygous for deafwaddler are deaf and
have poor balance. However, the balance and hearing disorders of the deafwa
ddler mice appear to be less severe than homozygotes for a functionally nul
l frameshift mutant or homozygous PMCA2 knockout mice, suggesting that deaf
waddler PMCA2 retains some biological activity. To examine the enzymic effe
cts of the deafwaddler mutant, PMCA2 wild-type and deafwaddler were produce
d by transient expression in COS cells as well as baculovirus-mediated expr
ession in Sf9 insect cells. Membrane preparations were assayed for calcium
transport and ATPase activity. No significant differences in the regulation
by calmodulin of the wild-type and deafwaddler PMCA2b were found. Steady-s
tate transport assays and pre-steady-state ATPase assays of these two prote
ins revealed that the K-0.5 for Ca2+, K-0.5 for calmodulin, degree of activ
ation by calmodulin and rate of activation by Ca-calmodulin were nearly ide
ntical. However, calcium transport of the deafwaddler pump was reduced to 3
0% of the wild-type activity. Although calcium transport activity was reduc
ed in the deafwaddler pump, total phosphoenzyme formation from ATP was slig
htly higher for deafwaddler than for wild-type. 50 muM LaCl3 (which blocks
the E1P to E2P conformational transition) increased the steady-state level
of phosphoenzyme 3-fold for the wild-type but had no effect on the deafwadd
ler. Taken together, the kinetic data suggest that the deafwaddler mutation
affects PMCA2 by slowing the E1P to E2P transition, resulting in approxima
tely 70% reduction in the PMCA2-mediated Ca2+ export. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci
ence B.V. All rights reserved.