ABSTRACT31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at 72.8 MHz has been used to study glycogen phosphorylase from rabbit muscle (1,4-a-D-glucan:orthophosphate a-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.1) at concentrations as low as 25 mg/ml, using a WH-180 wide-bore superconducting spectrometer. The use of a thio analogue for 5'-AMP and arsenate for inorganic phosphate allowed the observation of three distinct forms of enzyme-bound pyridoxal 5'-phosphate at -0.2 ppm (Form I), -2 to -3 ppm (Form II, and -3.5 ppm (Form III) relative to triethylphosphate. Conversion of I to III occurs by activation of phosphorylase either by formation-of a ternary complex of phosphorylase b with effector and arsenate or, more efficiently, by direct phosphorylation to give the a form of the enzyme. The ionization state and exposure to solvent of each of the three forms is inferred from the 31P NMR data.Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is an essential constituent of all known a-glucan phosphorylases (1,4-a-D-glucan:orthophosphate aglucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.1). Reconstitution experiments with pyridoxal-P analogues (1-3) indicate the importance of the phosphate moiety in pyridoxal-P function but do not provide information on its precise role (4, 5). 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy gives specific information on the ionization state and the pKa values of pyridoxal-P bound to the enzyme. In addition, one can observe all other phosphorus-containing ligands involved in phosphorylase catalysis, as well as the phosphoserine group that regulates the activity of phosphorylase by interconversion of the b and a forms (6).However, the 31P NMR signals for Pi, glucose 1-phosphate, AMP, phosphoserine, and pyridoxal-P all lie in a very narrow range of ca 4 ppm. Therefore, we have substituted adenosine 5'-O-thiomonophosphate (AMP-S) for AMP and arsenate for phosphate. Adenosine 5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate (ATP-y-S) was used to prepare phosphorylase a containing thiophosphoserine residues. Thus, it was possible to separate the signals of the various ligands and to clearly observe the pyridoxal-P resonance, which monitors the protein conformational change induced by the effector AMP or by the phosphoserine group.