Ca2+ Sensitivity of Ca2+-Dependent Protein Kinase Activities Toward Intrinsic Proteins in Synaptosomal Membrane Fragments from Rat Cerebral Tissue

The Ca2+ and calmodulin sensitivity of endogenous protein kinase activity in synaptosomal membrane fragments from rat brain was studied in medium containing Ca2+ plus EGTA using a modified computer programme to calculate free Ca2+ concentrations that took into account the effect of all competing cations and chelators. The Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of 10 major polypeptide acceptors with Mr values ranging from 50 to 360 kilodaltons required calmodulin in reactions that were all equally sensitive to Ca2+; half-maximal phosphorylation required a free Ca2+ concentration of 45 nM and maximal phosphorylation approximately 110 nM. The significance of these values in relation to published data on the intracellular concentration of free Ca2+ in the nervous system is discussed. One acceptor of 45 kilodaltons was phosphorylated in a Ca2+-dependent reaction that did not require calmodulin. This polypeptide appeared to correspond to the B-50 protein, an established substrate of the lipid-dependent protein kinase C. Further study of this phosphorylating system showed that the reaction was only independent of calmodulin at saturating concentrations of Ca2+; at subsaturating concentrations (in the range 50-130 nM), a small but significant stimulation of the enzyme by calmodulin was demonstrated. The possible significance of this finding is discussed.