The Ca2+/Mg2+ sites (III and IV) located in the C-terminal domain of cardiac troponin C (cTnC) have been generally considered to play a purely structural role in keeping the cTnC bound to the thin filament. However, several lines of evidence, including the discovery of cardiomyopathy-associated mutations in the C-domain, have raised the possibility that these sites may have a more complex role in contractile regulation. To explore this possibility, the ATPase activity of rat cardiac myofibrils was assayed under conditions in which no Ca2+ was bound to the N-terminal regulatory Ca2+-binding site (site II). Myosin-S1 was treated with N-ethylmaleimide to create strong-binding myosin heads (NEM-S1), which could activate the cardiac thin filament in the absence of Ca2+. NEM-S1 activation was assayed at pCa 8.0 to 6.5 and in the presence of either 1 mM or 30 mu M free Mg2+. ATPase activity was maximal when sites III and IV were occupied by Mg2+ and it steadily declined as Ca2+. displaced Mg2+. The data suggest that in the absence of Ca2+ at site II strong-binding myosin crossbridges cause the opening of more active sites on the thin filament if the C-domain is occupied by Mg2+ rather than Ca2+. This finding could be relevant to the contraction relaxation kinetics of cardiac muscle. As Ca2+ dissociates from site 11 of cTnC during the early relaxing phase of the cardiac cycle, residual Ca2+ bound at sites III and IV might facilitate the switching off of the thin filament and the detachment of crossbridges from actin. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.