Decreased activity and impaired hormonal control of protein phosphatases in rat livers with a deficiency of phosphorylase kinase.

1. Livers from gsd/gsd rats, which do not express phosphorylase kinase activity, also contain much less particulate type-1 protein phosphatases. In comparison with normal Wistar rats, the glycogen/microsomal fraction contained 75% less glycogen-synthase phosphatase and 60% less phosphorylase phosphatase activity. This was largely due to a lower amount of the type-1 catalytic subunit in the particulate fraction. In the cytosol, the synthase phosphatase activity was also 50% lower, but the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was equal. 2. Both Wistar rats and gsd/gsd rats responded to an intravenous injection of insulin plus glucose with an acute increase (by 30-40%) in the phosphorylase phosphatase activity in the liver cytosol. In contrast, administration of glucagon or vasopressin provoked a rapid fall (by about 25%) in the cytosolic phosphorylase phosphatase activity in Wistar rats, but no change occurred in gsd/gsd rats. 3. Phosphorylase kinase was partially purified from liver and subsequently activated. Addition of a physiological amount of the activated enzyme to a liver cytosol from Wistar rats decreased the V of the phosphorylase phosphatase reaction by half, whereas the non-activated kinase had no effect. The kinase preparations did not change the activity of glycogen-synthase phosphatase, which does not respond to glucagon or vasopressin. Furthermore, the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was not affected by addition of physiological concentrations of homogeneous phosphorylase kinase from skeletal muscle (activated or non-activated). 4. It appears therefore that phosphorylase kinase plays an essential role in the transduction of the effect of glucagon and vasopressin to phosphorylase phosphatase. However, this inhibitory effect either is specific for the hepatic phosphorylase kinase, or is mediated by an unidentified protein that is a specific substrate of phosphorylase kinase.     

Hormonal regulation of hepatic glycogen synthase phosphatase

Perfusion of livers from fed rats with medium containing glucagon (2 x 10(-10) or 1 x 10(-8) M) resulted in both time- and concentration-dependent inactivation of glycogen synthase phosphatase. Expected changes occurred in cAMP, cAMP-dependent protein kinase, glycogen synthase, and glycogen phosphorylase. The effect of glucagon on synthase phosphatase was partially reversed by simultaneous addition of insulin (4 x 10(-8) M), an effect paralleled by a decrease in cAMP. Addition of arginine vasopressin (10 milliunits/ml) resulted in a similar inactivation of synthase phosphatase and activation of phosphorylase, but independent of any changes in cAMP or its kinase. Phosphorylase phosphatase activity was unaffected by any of these hormones. Synthase phosphatase activity, measured as the ability of a crude homogenate to catalyze the conversion of purified rat liver synthase D to the I form, was no longer inhibited by glucagon or vasopressin when phosphorylase antiserum was added to the phosphatase assay mixture in sufficient quantity to inhibit 90-95% of the phosphorylase a activity. These data support the following conclusions: 1) hepatic glycogen synthase phosphatase activity is acutely modulated by hormones, 2) hepatic glycogen synthase phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase are regulated differently, 3) the hormone-mediated changes in synthase phosphatase cannot be explained by an alteration of the synthase D molecule affecting its behavior as a substrate, and 4) glycogen synthase phosphatase activity is at least partially controlled by the level of phosphorylase a.     

Effects of adrenalectomy on hormone action on hepatic glucose metabolism. Impaired glucagon activation of glycogen phosphorylase in hepatocytes from adrenalectomized rats.

The effects of adrenalectomy on glucagon activation of liver glycogen phosphorylase and glycogenolysis were studied in isolated hepatocytes. Adrenalectomy resulted in reduced responsiveness of glycogenolysis and phosphorylase to glucagon activation. Stimulation of cAMP accumulation and cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity by glucagon was unaltered in cells from adrenalectomized rats. Adrenalectomy did not alter the proportion of type I and type II protein kinase isozymes in liver, whereas this was changed by fasting. Activation of phosphorylase kinase by glucagon was reduced in hepatocytes from adrenalectomized rats, although the half-maximal effective concentration of glucagon was unchanged. No difference in phosphorylase phosphatase activity between liver cells from control and adrenalectomized rats was detected. Glucagon-activated phosphorylase declined rapidly in hepatocytes from adrenalectomized rats, whereas the time course of cAMP increase in response to glucagon was normal. Addition of glucose (15 mM) rapidly inactivated glucagon-stimulated phosphorylase in both adrenalectomized and control rat hepatocytes. The inactivation by glucose was reversed by increasing glucagon concentration in cells from control rats, but was accelerated in cells from adrenalectomized rats. It is concluded that impaired activation of phosphorylase kinase contributes to the reduced glucagon stimulation of hepatic glycogenolysis in adrenalectomized rats. The possible role of changes in phosphorylase phosphatase is discussed.     

Acute regulation of hepatic protein phosphatases by glucagon, insulin, and glucose

The intravenous administration of glucagon to anesthetized rats resulted within 5 min in a 20% drop in the hepatic phosphorylase phosphatase activity, as measured in a post-mitochondrial supernatant at low dilution, but it did not affect the activity of glycogensynthase phosphatase. On the other hand, the injection of insulin plus glucose caused increases by about 35% in both phosphatase activities. Upon subcellular fractionation these effects were recovered in the cytosol, but not in the glycogen/microsomal fraction. However, activity changes in the latter fraction were observed after recombination with the liver cytosol from a hormone-treated animal. Preincubation of the liver cytosol with modulator protein (a specific inhibitor of type-1 protein phosphatases) cancelled the activity changes induced by insulin plus glucose. No hormonal effects on hepatic protein phosphatase activities were observed when the fractions were either diluted an additional 10-fold or pretreated with trypsin. An acute hormonal regulation of protein phosphatases could also be demonstrated in the perfused liver. When added to the perfusion medium, glucose as well as insulin increased the cytosolic protein phosphatase activities by about 25%. Their effect was additive, irrespective of the order of addition. On the other hand, the addition of glucagon and/or vasopressin resulted in a 20% drop in the phosphorylase phosphatase activity. The presence of glucagon did not interfere with the effectiveness of insulin, and vice versa. The changes in the phosphorylase phosphatase activities induced by glucagon, insulin, and glucose represented changes in the Vmax only. We propose that the acute control of the hepatic glycogen synthase phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activities is mediated by transferable, cytosolic effector(s).     

Regulation of glycogen metabolism in liver by the autonomic nervous system. VI. Possible mechanism of phosphorylase activation by the splanchnic nerve.

The effects of autonomic-nerve stimulation on the activities of phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1), dephospho-phosphorylase kinase (EC 2.7.1.38) and phosphorylase phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.17), and on the concentration of adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate in rabbit liver were investiaged. Results were compared with the effects of epinephrine and glucagon on these enzymes. 1. The acitivity of liver phosphorylase increased rapidly and markedly on electrical stimulation of the splanchnic nerve, or after intraportal administration of epinephrine or glucagon. The activity was not affected by vagal stimulation. 2. The activity of dephospho-phosphorylase kinase increased about 2--3-fold 1 min after injections of epinephrine and glucagon, glucagon causing more activation than epinephrine. The enzyme activity was not altered by splanchnic-nerve, or vagal stimulation. 3. Injections of epinephrine and glucagon caused marked elevation of liver adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate within a few minutes. With epinephrine, the nucleotide concentration rose to a maximum after 1 min and amounted to about 3-fold increase, while with glucagon the maximum increase of approximately 8-fold increase was observed after 2 min. Stimulation of the splanchnic nerve for 10 min did not affect the adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate level in the liver. Vagal stimulation also had no effect on the level. 4. The activity of phosphorylase phosphatase decreased promptly (within 30 s) and markedly on splanchnic-nerve stimulation, but did not change significantly on administration of epinephrine of glucagon. A small but insignificant increase in phosphatase activity wasobserved upon vagal stimulation. 5. The effect of Ca-2+ on purified dephospho-phosphorylase kinase was studied. The activity was found to depend partially on free Ca-2+ at low Ca-2+ concentrations (1-10-minus 7--1-10-minus 5 M). 6. These results suggest that the rise in hepatic phosphorylase content upon splanchnic-nerve stimulation, unlike that induced by epinephrine and glucagon, is not mediated by adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate and subsequent activation of dephospho-phosphorylase kinase, but rather by inactivation of phosphorylase phosphatase. The possible existence of a new factor in this mechanism is discussed.     

Hormonal and ionic control of the glycogenolytic cascade in rat liver.

1. A parallel dose-dependent activation of histone kinase, phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase was observed in isolated hepatocytes incubated in the presence of glucagon; the effect of suboptimal concentrations of glucagon was antagonized by insulin. 2. An activation of phosphorylase which was not accompanied by a stable change in the activity of phosphorylase kinase was observed in hepatocytes incubated with phenylephrine, isoproterenol or vasopressin as well as on decapitation of unanesthetized animals. A dissociation of the two enzymic activities was also observed in hepatocytes incubated in the presence of a high concentration of glucose, in which phosphorylase was strongly inactivated with no change in the activity of phosphorylase kinase. 3. The activation of phosphorylase by phenylephrine in isolated hepatocytes was counteracted by insulin, greatly decreased by the absence of Ca2+ from the incubation medium, and completely suppressed by the replacement of Na+ by K+. 4. In a liver extract, phosphorylase kinase could also be activated by trypsin. Control, glucagon-activated or trypsin-activated phosphorylase kinase was inhibited by about 70% by EGTA and the activity was restored by the addition of Ca2+. 5. The mechanisms that control the activity of phosphorylase kinase and of phosphorylase are discussed.     

The effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and of insulin supplementation on glycogen metabolism in rat liver.

The effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and of insulin supplementation to diabetic rats on glycogen-metabolizing enzymes in liver were determined. The results were compared with those from control animals. The activities of glycogenolytic enzymes, i.e. phosphorylase (both a and b), phosphorylase kinase and protein kinase (in the presence or in the absence of cyclic AMP), were significantly decreased in the diabetic animals. The enzyme activities were restored to control values by insulin therapy. Glycogen synthase (I-form) activity, similarly decreased in the diabetic animals, was also restored to control values after the administration of insulin. The increase in glycogen synthase(I-form) activity after insulin treatment was associated with a concomitant increase in phosphoprotein phosphatase activity. The increase in phosphatase activity was due to (i) a change in the activity of the enzyme itself and (ii) a decrease in a heat stable protein inhibitor of the phosphatase activity.     

Non-hormonal and hormonal control of glycogen metabolism in isolated sheep liver cells

1. Control of glycogen metabolism by various substrates and hormones was studied in ruminant liver using isolated hepatocytes from fed sheep. 2. In these cells glucose appeared uneffective to stimulate glycogen synthesis whereas fructose and propionate activated glycogen synthase owing to (i) a decrease in phosphorylase a activity and (ii) changes in the intracellular concentrations of glucose 6-phosphate and adenine nucleotides. 3. The activation of hepatic glycogenolysis by glucagon and alpha 1-adrenergic agents was associated with increased phosphorylase a and decreased glycogen synthase activities. 4. The simultaneous changes in these two enzyme activities suggest that in sheep liver, activation of phosphorylase a is not a prerequisite step for synthase inactivation. 5. In sheep hepatocytes, in the presence of propionate and after a lag period, insulin activated glycogen synthase without affecting phosphorylase a. 6. This latter result suggests that the direct activation of glycogen synthase by insulin is mediated by a glycogen synthase-specific kinase or phosphatase. Insulin also antagonized glucagon effect on glycogen synthesis by counteracting the rise of cAMP.     

The effect of insulin on the glycogenolytic cascade and on the activity of glycogen synthase in the liver of anaesthetized rabbits.

1. The administration of insulin to anaesthetized rabbits caused the inactivation of liver phosphorylase and phosphorylase kinase, but did not change either the hepatic concentration of cyclic AMP or the activity of cyclic AMP-dependent histone kinase. All measured parameters were increased by the subsequent administration of glucagon. 2. Activation of glycogen synthase by insulin was only observed when phosphorylase had been strongly inactivated.     

Acetylation negatively regulates glycogen phosphorylase by recruiting protein phosphatase 1

Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in glycogen catabolism and plays a key role in maintaining cellular and organismal glucose homeostasis. GP is the first protein whose function was discovered to be regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation, which is controlled by phosphorylase kinase (PhK) and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1). Here we report that lysine acetylation negatively regulates GP activity by both inhibiting enzyme activity directly and promoting dephosphorylation. Acetylation of GP Lys(470) enhances its interaction with the PP1 substrate-targeting subunit, G(L), and PP1, thereby promoting GP dephosphorylation and inactivation. We show that GP acetylation is stimulated by glucose and insulin and inhibited by glucagon. Our results provide molecular insights into the intricate regulation of the classical GP and a functional crosstalk between protein acetylation and phosphorylation.     

A comparative study of the microsomal S6 phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activities in rat liver.

Rat liver microsomes contain type-1 S6 phosphatase (acting on the serine residues phosphorylated by protein kinase A) and type-1 phosphorylase phosphatase activities. The main aim of this study has been to characterize the microsomal S6 phosphatase activity and to compare its properties with those of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity in the same microsomal preparation. The specific activities of both microsomal S6 phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase were 1.6- to 1.7-fold higher in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum than in the rough sarcoplasmic reticulum. Both phosphatase activities were inhibited to a similar extent by MgCl2 (10 mM) and NaF (22 mM), were completely suppressed by glycerophosphate (80 mM) and ZnCl2(10 mM), and were stimulated by MnCl2(1 mM). When analyzed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 superfine, both phosphatase activities eluted as broad peaks, stretching from the void volume to 45-60 kDa. The microsomal S6 phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activities also displayed the following distinct characteristics: (a) Mn2+ stimulated the S6 phosphatase activity 2.9-fold more than the phosphorylase phosphatase activity, (b) limited trypsin digestion of microsomal preparations increased the phosphorylase phosphatase activity by 1.5- to 2-fold, but decreased the S6 phosphatase activity by 50%, (c) a synthetic peptide analog of S6 (S6229-239) (200 microM), which did not act as a substrate for the microsomal S6 phosphatase and did not affect its activity, inhibited the microsomal phosphorylase phosphatase activity by about 50%, and (d) the elution profile of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was markedly broader than that of the S6 phosphatase activity. A series of in vivo studies showed that streptozotocin-diabetes and insulin replacement therapy as well as ip injection of insulin or vanadate, which modified the microsomal S6 phosphatase activity, had no statistically significant effects on the microsomal phosphorylase phosphatase activity. Taken together, these results suggest that the microsomal S6 phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activities are due to two distinct enzyme populations.     

Activation of protein kinase and glycogen phosphorylase in isolated rat liver cells by glucagon and catecholamines.

In liver cells isolated from fed female rats, glucagon (290nM) increased adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) content and decreased cyclic AMP binding 30 s after addition of hormones. Both returned to control values after 10 min. Glucagon also stimulated cyclic AMP-independent protein kinase activity at 30 s and decreased protein kinase activity assayed in the presence of 2 muM cyclic AMP at 1 min. Glucagon increased the levels of glycogen phosphorylase a, but there was no change in total glycogen phosphorylase activity. Glucagon increased glycogen phosphorylase a at concentrations considerably less than those required to affect cyclic AMP and protein kinase. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 1-methyl-3-isobutyl xanthine, potentiated the action of glucagon on all variables, but did not increase the maximuM activation of glycogen phosphorylase. Epinephrine (1muM) decreased cyclic AMP binding and increased glycogen phosphorylase a after a 1-min incubation with cells. Although 0.1 muM epinephrine stimulated phosphorylase a, a concentration of 10 muM was required to increase protein kinase activity. 1-Methyl-3-isobutyl xanthine (0.1 mM) potentiated the action of epinephrine on cyclic AMP and protein kinase. (-)-Propranolol (10muM) completely abolished the changes in cyclic AMP binding and protein kinase due to epinephrine (1muM) in the presence of 0.1mM 1-methyl-3-isobutyl xanthine, yet inhibited the increase in phosphorylase a by only 14 per cent. Phenylephrine (0.1muM) increased glycogen phosphorylase a, although concentrations as great as 10 muM failed to affect cyclic AMP binding or protein kinase in the absence of phosphodiesterase inhibitor. Isoproterenol (0.1muM) stimulated phosphorylase and decreased cyclic AMP binding, but only a concentration of 10muM increased protein kinase. 1-Methyl-3-isobutyl xanthine potentiated the action of isoproterenol on cyclic AMP binding and protein kinase, and propranolol reduced the augmentation of glucose release and glycogen phosphorylase activity due to isoproterenol. These data indicate that both alpha- and beta-adrenergic agents are capable of stimulating glycogenolysis and glycogen phosphorylase a in isolated rat liver cells. Low concentrations of glucagon and beta-adrenergic agonists stimulate glycogen phosphorylase without any detectable increase in cyclic AMP or protein kinase activity. The effects of alpha-adrenergic agents appear to be completely independent of changes in cyclic AMP protein kinase activity.     

Glucose activation of liver glycogen synthase. Insulin-mediated restoration of glucose effect in diabetic rate is blocked by protein synthesis inhibitor

The loss of glucose regulation of glycogen synthase in perfused livers from diabetic rats was associated with a substantial reduction in synthase phosphatase activity. Treatment of diabetic rats with insulin alone resulted in total restoration of the glucose effect and synthase phosphatase activity, while simultaneous treatment with cycloheximide severely reduced the hormonal effect. Although treatment of normal rats with cycloheximide had no effect on glucose activation of synthase, it did result in severe depletion of liver glycogen increased liver glycogen phosphorylase activity, and elevation of liver adenosine 3′,5′-monosphosphate (cyclic AMP), but without elevation of liver protein kinase activity. Simultaneous treatment of alloxan-diabetic rats with insulin and cycloheximide resulted in reduction of total liver glycogen, increased phosphorylase activity, a reduction in the ability of insulin to lower hepatic cyclic AMP, and a further reduction of protein kinase activity.In summary, the effect of insulin treatment of diabetic rats to restore glucose regulation of hepatic glycogen synthase probably involves synthesis of new protein, and the data remain consistent with the hypothesis that the defect may be due to a diabetes-related deficiency in a specific synthase phosphatase and/or alteration of the synthase molecule itself.     

An insulin-stimulated kemptide kinase purified from rat liver is deactivated by phosphatase 2A.

Insulin action leads to the rapid stimulation of a cytosolic Kemptide (Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Leu-Gly) kinase (KIK) that has been recently purified to near homogeneity (Klarlund, J. K., Bradford, A. P., Milla, M. G., and Czech, M. P. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 227-234). To examine its activation mechanism, purified KIK was treated with purified protein phosphatases. The catalytic subunit of phosphatase 2A inhibited the activity of control KIK by about 50% and abolished the 5-fold elevation in KIK activity due to insulin action. The catalytic subunit of phosphatase 1 with equivalent activity based on dephosphorylation of 32P-labeled phosphorylase alpha had no effect on either control or insulin-stimulated KIK activity. The deactivation of insulin-stimulated KIK by phosphatase 2A was time- and concentration-dependent and was blocked by phosphatase inhibitors. The purified native complexes of phosphatase 2A, phosphatase 2A1, and phosphatase 2A2 similarly deactivated KIK. Analyis of control or insulin-stimulated KIK with two antiphosphotyrosine antibodies by immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation failed to detect the presence of phosphotyrosine in the kinase. These results indicate that KIK is activated by phosphorylation as part of a kinase cascade emanating from insulin receptor stimulation.     

Comparison of the substrate specificities of protein phosphatases involved in the regulation of glycogen metabolism in rabbit skeletal muscle.

Muscle extracts were subjected to fractionation with ethanol, chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, precipitation with (NH4)2SO4 and gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. These fractions were assayed for protein phosphatase activities by using the following seven phosphoprotein substrates: phosphorylase a, glycogen synthase b1, glycogen synthase b2, phosphorylase kinase (phosphorylated in either the alpha-subunit or the beta-subunit), histone H1 and histone H2B. Three protein phosphatases with distinctive specificities were resolved by the final gel-filtration step and were termed I, II and III. Protein phosphatase-I, apparent mol.wt. 300000, was an active histone phosphatase, but it accounted for only 10-15% of the glycogen synthase phosphatase-1 and glycogen synthase phosphatase-2 activities and 2-3% of the phosphorylase kinase phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activity recovered from the Sephadex G-200 column. Protein phosphatase-II, apparent mol.wt. 170000, possessed histone phosphatase activity similar to that of protein phosphatase-I. It possessed more than 95% of the activity towards the alpha-subunit of phosphorylase kinase that was recovered from Sephadex G-200. It accounted for 10-15% of the glycogen synthase phosphatase-1 and glycogen synthase phosphatase-2 activity, but less than 5% of the activity against the beta-subunit of phosphorylase kinase and 1-2% of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity recovered from Sephadex G-200. Protein phosphatase-III was the most active histone phosphatase. It possessed 95% of the phosphorylase phosphatase and beta-phosphorylase kinase phosphatase activities, and 75% of the glycogen synthase phosphatase-1 and glycogen synthase phosphatase-2 activities recovered from Sephadex G-200. It accounted for less than 5% of the alpha-phosphorylase kinase phosphatase activity. Protein phosphatase-III was sometimes eluted from Sephadex-G-200 as a species of apparent mol.wt. 75000(termed IIIA), sometimes as a species of mol.wt. 46000(termed IIIB) and sometimes as a mixture of both components. The substrate specificities of protein phosphatases-IIA and -IIB were identical. These findings, taken with the observation that phosphorylase phosphatase, beta-phosphorylase kinase phosphatase, glycogen synthase phosphatase-1 and glycogen synthase phosphatase-2 activities co-purified up to the Sephadex G-200 step, suggest that a single protein phosphatase (protein phosphatase-III) catalyses each of the dephosphorylation reactions that inhibit glycogenolysis or stimulate glycogen synthesis. This contention is further supported by results presented in the following paper [Cohen, P., Nimmo, G.A. & Antoniw, J.F. (1977) Biochem. J. 1628 435-444] which describes a heat-stable protein that is a specific inhibitor of protein phosphatase-III.     

Glucose activation of liver glycogen synthase. Insulin-mediated restoration of glucose effect in diabetic rats is blocked by protein synthesis inhibitor.

The loss of glucose regulation of glycogen synthase in perfused livers from diabetic rats was associated with a substantial reduction in synthase phosphatase activity. Treatment of diabetic rats with insulin alone resulted in total restoration of the glucose effect and synthase phosphatase activity, while simultaneous treatment with cycloheximide severely reduced the hormonal effect. Although treatment of normal rats with cycloheximide had no effect on glucose activation of synthase, it did result in severe depletion of liver glycogen, increased liver glycogen phosphorylase activity, and elevation of liver adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP), but without elevation of liver protein kinase activity. Simultaneous treatment of alloxan-diabetic rats with insulin and cycloheximide resulted in reduction of total liver glycogen, increased phosphorylase activity, a reduction in the ability of insulin to lower hepatic cyclic AMP, and a further reduction of protein kinase activity. In summary, the effect of insulin treatment of diabetic rats to restore glucose regulation of hepatic glycogen synthase probably involves synthesis of new protein, and the data remain consistent with the hypothesis that the defect may be due to a diabetes-related deficiency in a specific synthase phosphatase and/or alteration of the synthase molecule itself.     

Stimulation of pyruvate kinase phosphatase activity by insulin in isolated rat hepatocytes

Addition of insulin (10(-8)M) to hepatocytes, incubated either in the absence or in the presence of a suboptimal concentration of glucagon, caused the reactivation of pyruvate kinase and simultaneously provoked a transient stimulation of pyruvate kinase phosphatase activity (40-70% over control values). The stimulatory effect of insulin on pyruvate kinase phosphatase activity was dose-dependent (ED50 = 1 to 2 X 10(-11)M) and persisted after Sephadex G-25 filtration or ammonium sulfate precipitation of hepatocytes extracts. Our results demonstrate that insulin exerts a short-term regulation on hepatic pyruvate kinase phosphatase activity.     

A hypersensitivity of glycogen phosphorylase activation in hearts of diabetic rats

This study was initiated to determine whether glycogen phosphorylase activation was defective in hearts of alloxan diabetic rats. When hearts were perfused by gravity flow for 1 to 10 min with various concentrations of epinephrine, activation of glycogen phosphorylase in the diabetic was significantly greater at every time and epinephrine concentration than that seen in the normal. Cyclic AMP accumulation and protein kinase activation by epinephrine in the diabetic were not appreciably different or were lower than the normal responses to the hormone. The effects of epinephrine on cAMP and protein kinase were blocked in both normal and diabetic hearts by propranolol. While the beta blocker prevented phosphorylase activation in the normal hearts, it did not block phosphorylase activation by epinephrine in the diabetic hearts. Likewise, the alpha agonist phenylephrine activated phosphorylase in the diabetic but not in the normal hearts. While glucagon produced the same phosphorylase hypersensitivity in diabetic hearts, the cAMP and protein kinase responses were not altered by diabetes. Phosphorylase phosphatase activity was found to be unaltered by either epinephrine or diabetes, whereas phosphorylase kinase activation by epinephrine in the diabetic was double the normal response. These data are consistent with a diabetes-related unmasking of an alpha effect on cardiac phosphorylase activation and an unexplained increase in the sensitivity of phosphorylase kinase activation by protein kinase.     

The MgATP-dependent protein phosphatase and protein phosphatase 1 have identical substrate specificities

The MgATP-dependent phosphorylase phosphatase was found to have a broad substrate specificity. Its activity against all phosphoproteins tested was dependent upon preincubation with the activating factor FA and MgATP. The enzyme dephosphorylated and inactivated phosphorylase kinase and inhibitor 1, and dephosphorylated and activated glycogen synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Glycogen synthase was dephosphorylated at similar rates whether it had been phosphorylated by cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase, phosphorylase kinase or glycogen synthase kinase 3. The enzyme also catalysed the dephosphorylation of ATP citrate lyase, initiation factor eIF-2, and troponin I. The properties of the MgATP-dependent protein phosphatase from either dog liver or rabbit skeletal muscle showed a remarkable similarity to highly purified preparations of protein phosphatase 1 from rabbit skeletal muscle. The relative activities of the two enzymes against all phosphoproteins tested was very similar. Both enzymes dephosphorylated the beta-subunit of phosphorylase kinase 40-fold faster than the alpha-subunit, and both enzymes were inhibited by identical concentrations of the two proteins termed inhibitor 1 and inhibitor 2, which inhibit protein phosphatase 1 specifically. These results demonstrate that the MgATP-dependent protein phosphatase is a type-1 protein phosphatase, and is distinct from type-2 protein phosphatases which dephosphorylate the alpha-subunit of phosphorylase kinase and are unaffected by inhibitor 1 and inhibitor 2. The possibility that the MgATP-dependent protein phosphatase is an inactive form of protein phosphatase 1 and that both proteins share the same catalytic subunit is discussed.     

Identification of a glycogen synthase phosphatase from yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as protein phosphatase 2A.

A glycogen synthase phosphatase was purified from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The purified yeast phosphatase displayed one major protein band which coincided with phosphatase activity on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This phosphatase had a molecular mass of about 160,000 Da determined by gel filtration and was comprised of three subunits, termed A, B, and C. The subunit molecular weights estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were 60,000 (A), 53,000 (B), and 37,000 (C), indicating that this yeast glycogen synthase phosphatase is a heterotrimer. On ethanol treatment, the enzyme was dissociated to an active species with a molecular weight of 37,000 estimated by gel filtration. The yeast phosphatase dephosphorylated yeast glycogen synthase, rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase, casein, and the alpha subunit of rabbit muscle phosphorylase kinase, was not sensitive to heat-stable protein phosphatase inhibitor 2, and was inhibited 90% by 1 nM okadaic acid. Dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase, phosphorylase, and phosphorylase kinase by this yeast enzyme could be stimulated by histone H1 and polylysines. Divalent cations (Mg2+ and Ca2+) and chelators (EDTA and EGTA) had no effect on dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase or phosphorylase while Mn2+ stimulated enzyme activity by approximately 50%. The specific activity and kinetics for phosphorylase resembled those of mammalian phosphatase 2A. An antibody against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the carboxyl terminus of the catalytic subunit of rabbit skeletal muscle protein phosphatase 2A reacted with subunit C of purified yeast phosphatase on immunoblots, whereas the analogous peptide antibody against phosphatase 1 did not. These data show that this yeast glycogen synthase phosphatase has structural and catalytic similarity to protein phosphatase 2A found in mammalian tissues.