We constructed a model structure of Mg-adenosine triphosphate (MgATP) and the surrounding portion of myosin by using the X-ray crystal structure of the myosin motor domain bound to the stable MgATP analogue, MgADP-BeF x , and by adding hydrogen atoms and replacing beryllium with phosphorus and fluorine with oxygen. The positions of the hydrogen atoms were determined by optimization using the semiempirical molecular orbital program MOPAC 97. Analysis of the electronic states of the model structure revealed that the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) indicate that the reaction site of the ATP hydrolysis is the nonbridging γ-phosphoryl oxygen atoms and confirmed that H 2 O(1181) is the hydrolytic water. Thus, hypothetical mechanisms of the initial phase of the hydrolysis are proposed.

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