The specificity of interaction of the isolated N-and C-terminal domains of calmodulin with peptide WFFp (Ac-KRRWKKNFIAVSAANRFK-amide) and variants of the target sequence of skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase was investigated using CD and fluorescence. Titrations show that two molecules of either domain bind to 18-residue target peptides. For WFFp, the C-domain binds with 4-fold higher affinity to the native compared with the non-native site; the N-domain shows similar affinity for either site. The selectivity of the Cdomain suggests that it promotes occupancy of the correct binding site for intact calmodulin on the target sequence. Far UV CD spectra show the extra helicity induced in forming the 2:1 C-domain-peptide or the 1:1:1 C-domain-N-domain-peptide complex is similar to that induced by calmodulin itself; binding of the C-domain to the Trp-4 site is essential for developing the full helicity. Calmodulin-MLCK-peptide complexes show an approximate two-fold rotational relationship between the two highly homologous domains, and the 2:1 C (or N)-domain-peptide complexes evidently have a similar rotational symmetry. This implies that a given domain can bind sequences with opposite peptide polarities, significantly increasing the possible range of conformations of calmodulin in its complexes, and extending the versatility and diversity of calmodulin-target interactions.Calmodulin is a regulatory protein involved in a variety of Ca 2ϩ -dependent cellular signaling pathways. Its importance as a mediator of the second messenger Ca 2ϩ is reflected in its high conservation throughout evolution. This apparently contrasts with its unique ability to interact strongly with and to regulate selectively a variety of proteins (at least 30) without any obvious sequence homology in their calmodulin binding region (see Refs. 1-5 for reviews). Recently, structures of calmodulin and calmodulin-peptide complexes at atomic resolution have been determined (reviewed in Refs. 2, 6, and 7), showing two similar domains with two Ca 2ϩ binding sites each, which for calmodulin in solution are connected by a flexible linker (8 -15). The conformational change upon Ca 2ϩ binding to calmodulin exposes those residues that create the binding site for most target proteins (1,6,7,16).Binding of the Ca 2ϩ saturated form of calmodulin to the target protein triggers its activation. Despite the wide target range, target affinities are strong (K d Ϸ 1 nM) (2-4). The interaction is apparently mediated by both hydrophobic and electrostatic forces (17). NMR (18) and x-ray structures (19) of two related Ca 2ϩ -calmodulin-target peptide complexes show that the ␣-helical MLCK target peptide lies in a hydrophobic channel composed by the two domains, with the predominant interactions being those between the N-and C-terminal domains and the C-and N-terminal portions of the target, respectively. Calmodulin can be cleaved by trypsin to generate two halfmolecules, i.e. the C-terminal and the N-terminal Ca 2ϩ binding domain (20, 21). The equilibrium (22-24) an...