Roles of hydrogen bonding interaction between Ser 186 of the actuator (A) domain and Glu 439 of nucleotide binding (N) domain seen in the structures of ADP-insensitive phosphorylated intermediate (E2P) of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2؉ -ATPase were explored by their double alanine substitution S186A/E439A, swap substitution S186E/E439S, and each of these single substitutions. All the mutants except the swap mutant S186E/E439S showed markedly reduced Ca 2؉ -ATPase activity, and S186E/E439S restored completely the wild-type activity. In all the mutants except S186E/E439S, the isomerization of ADP-sensitive phosphorylated intermediate (E1P) to E2P was markedly retarded, and the E2P hydrolysis was largely accelerated, whereas S186E/E439S restored almost the wildtype rates. Results showed that the Ser 186 -Glu 439 hydrogen bond stabilizes the E2P ground state structure. The modulatory ATP binding at sub-mMϳmM range largely accelerated the EP isomerization in all the alanine mutants and E439S. In S186E, this acceleration as well as the acceleration of the ATPase activity was almost completely abolished, whereas the swap mutation S186E/E439S restored the modulatory ATP acceleration with a much higher ATP affinity than the wild type. Results indicated that Ser 186 and Glu 439 are closely located to the modulatory ATP binding site for the EP isomerization, and that their hydrogen bond fixes their side chain configurations thereby adjusts properly the modulatory ATP affinity to respond to the cellular ATP level.Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2ϩ -ATPase (SERCA1a) 2 is a representative member of P-type ion-transporting ATPases and catalyzes Ca 2ϩ transport coupled with ATP hydrolysis (Fig. 1) (1-9). In the catalytic cycle, the enzyme is activated by binding of two Ca 2ϩ ions at the transport sites (E2 to E1Ca 2 , steps 1-2) and then autophosphorylated at Asp 351 with MgATP to form ADP-sensitive phosphoenzyme (E1P, step 3), which can react with ADP to regenerate ATP. Upon formation of this EP, the bound Ca 2ϩ ions are occluded in the transport sites (E1PCa 2 ). The subsequent isomeric transition to ADP-insensitive form (E2P) results in a change in the orientation of the Ca 2ϩ binding sites and reduction of their affinity, and thus Ca 2ϩ release into lumen (steps 4 and 5). Finally, the hydrolysis takes place and returns the enzyme into an unphosphorylated and Ca 2ϩ -unbound form (E2, step 6). E2P can also be formed from P i in the presence of Mg 2ϩ and the absence of Ca 2ϩ by reversal of its hydrolysis.The cytoplasmic three domains N, A, and P largely move and change their organization states during the Ca 2ϩ transport cycle (10 -22). These changes are linked with the rearrangements in the transmembrane helices. In the EP isomerization (loss of ADP sensitivity) and Ca 2ϩ release, the A domain largely rotates (by ϳ110°parallel to membrane plane), intrudes into the space between the N and P domains, and the P domain largely inclines toward the A domain. Thus in E2P, these domains produce the most compactly organized state (see Fi...