A comment on the functional specificities of cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases.

Cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases (protein kinases A and G, respectively) utilize the same phosphate acceptor proteins when assayed in in vitro systems. Nevertheless, protein kinase A phosphorylates preferentially free histone, whereas protein kinase G greatly favors the histone which is associated with polydeoxyribonucleotide. On the other hand, when cytoplasmic soluble substrates such as phosphorylase kinase are used, the reactions are always more favorable for protein kinase A rather than for protein kinase G. Available evidence implies that the topographic relationship between enzyme and substrate may be an important determining factor for the functional specificities of these two classes of protein kinases.     

A sensitive and specific binding assay for cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases in rat liver

• 1.1. Sensitive and specific binding assays for cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases have been developed for use in rat liver.
• 2.2. The addition of mixed histone to the binding mixture and the inclusion of ammonium sulfate in the termination and wash buffer enhanced the observed cyclic GMP- and cyclic AMP-binding activities markedly.
• 3.3. The principal effect of histone is to increase the binding of cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP to their respective protein kinases.
• 4.4. During filtration ammonium sulfate markedly increased the retention of the protein-bound cyclic nucleotides and markedly decreased the rapid dissociation component of cyclic GMP-binding.

     

Comparison of phosphorylation of ribosomal proteins from HeLa and Krebs II ascites-tumour cells by cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases.

Phosphorylation of eukaryotic ribosomal proteins in vitro by essentially homogeneous preparations of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase was compared. Each protein kinase was added at a concentration of 30nM. Ribosomal proteins were identified by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Almost identical results were obtained when ribosomal subunits from HeLa or ascites-tumour cells were used. About 50-60% of the total radioactive phosphate incorporated into small-subunit ribosomal proteins by either kinase was associated with protein S6. In 90 min between 0.7 and 1.0 mol of phosphate/mol of protein S6 was incorporated by the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Of the other proteins, S3 and S7 from the small subunit and proteins L6, L18, L19 and L35 from the large subunit were predominantly phosphorylated by the cyclic AMP-dependent enzyme. Between 0.1 and 0.2 mol of phosphate was incorporated/mol of these phosphorylated proteins. With the exception of protein S7, the same proteins were also major substrates for the cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. Time courses of the phosphorylation of individual proteins from the small and large ribosomal subunits in the presence of either protein kinase suggested four types of phosphorylation reactions: (1) proteins S2, S10 and L5 were preferably phosphorylated by the cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase; (2) proteins S3 and L6 were phosphorylated at very similar rates by either kinase; (3) proteins S7 and L29 were almost exclusively phosphorylated by the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase; (4) protein S6 and most of the other proteins were phosphorylated about two or three times faster by the cyclic AMP-dependent than by the cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme.     

Phosphorylation of mammalian myosin light chain kinases by the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase

The phosphorylation of the calmodulin-dependent enzyme myosin light chain kinase, purified from bovine tracheal smooth muscle and human blood platelets, by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase and by cGMP-dependent protein kinase was investigated. When myosin light chain kinase which has calmodulin bound is phosphorylated by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, 1 mol of phosphate is incorporated per mol of tracheal myosin light chain kinase or platelet myosin light chain kinase, with no effect on the catalytic activity. Phosphorylation when calmodulin is not bound results in the incorporation of 2 mol of phosphate and significantly decreases the activity. The decrease in myosin light chain kinase activity is due to a 5 to 7-fold increase in the amount of calmodulin required for half-maximal activation of both tracheal and platelet myosin light chain kinase. In contrast to the results with the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, cGMP-dependent protein kinase cannot phosphorylate tracheal myosin light chain kinase in the presence of bound calmodulin. When calmodulin is not bound to tracheal myosin light chain kinase, cGMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates only one site, and this phosphorylation has no effect on myosin light chain kinase activity. On the other hand, cGMP-dependent protein kinase incorporates phosphate into two sites in platelet myosin light chain kinase when calmodulin is not bound. The sites phosphorylated by the two cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases were compared by two-dimensional peptide mapping following extensive tryptic digestion of the phosphorylated myosin light chain kinases. With respect to the tracheal myosin light chain kinase, the single site phosphorylated by cGMP-dependent protein kinase when calmodulin is not bound appears to be the same site phosphorylated in the tracheal enzyme by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase when calmodulin is bound. With respect to the platelet myosin light chain kinase, the additional site that was phosphorylated by cGMP-dependent protein kinase when calmodulin was not bound was different from that phosphorylated by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase.     

Soluble cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases from chick kidney. Effects of dilution and non-protein inhibitors.

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases prepared from crude cytosols of chick kidney, rat kidney and rat liver were found on dilution to exhibit complex kinetics. Dilution of the cytosols appears to increase the state of activation of the enzymes. This effect was due to the presence of inhibitory agents in the cytosol which had a greater inhibitory effect on the cyclic AMP-dependent than on the cyclic AMP-independent enzyme. Two types of inhibitory activity were found by column chromatography, one resistant to trichloroacetic acid precipitation and boiling but affected by trypsin digestion and the other resistant to boiling and trypsin digestion but precipitated by trichloroacetic acid. Inhibitory activity corresponding to the former characteristics has been described previously but the presence of additional soluble inhibitory agents in the cytosol has not been documented. The complete characterisation of this previously undescribed inhibitory activity requires further investigation. The relevance of such cytosolic inhibitory activity to the interpretation of states of activation of protein kinase enzymes is discussed.     

Inhibition of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase by analogues of a synthetic peptide substrate.

Analogues of the synthetic substrate Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Leu-Gly in which the serine is replaced by other amino acids inhibited the activity of the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase from beef skeletal muscle (Peak I). All of the analogues were competitive with respect to peptide substrate but apparent Ki values varied depending on the particular amino acid that was substituted for serine. Inhibition was also competitive with respect to mixed histone as determined in experiments utilizing one of the analogues. Acetylation of the terminal amino group of Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Leu-Gly lowered the Km for this substrate from 16 micrometer to 3 micrometer, but a similar modification of the inhibitory analogue Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ala-Leu-Gly resulted in no major change in the Ki value. An amount of inhibitory peptide sufficient to inhibit the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase by 90% caused less than 10% inhibition of several cyclic AMP-independent protein kinases indicating a high degree of specificity of inhibition by the peptide analogues. The experiments show that synthetic peptide analogues could be useful in identifying phosphorylation reactions catalyzed by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase as distinguished from other protein kinase reactions.     

Phosphorylation of hydroxyproline in a synthetic peptide catalyzed by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

The cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of hydroxyproline present in the heptapeptide, Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Hyp-Leu-Gly. The Km value for the reaction with this substrate was high (approximately 18 mM) compared to the Km values reported for the analogous threonine and serine-containing peptides, which were 0.59 mM and 0.016 mM, respectively (Kemp, B.E., Graves, D.J., Benjamini, E., and Krebs, E.G. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 4888-4894). The Vmax value with the hydroxyproline-containing peptide was 1 mumol . min-1 mg-1 in contrast to Vmax values of 6 mumol . min-1 mg-1 and 20 mumol . min-1 mg-1 for the threonine- and serine-containing peptides, respectively. Phosphate esterified to hydroxyproline present in the peptide was relatively stable in hot alkali, only 10% being released as Pi within 30 min in 0.1 N NaOH at 100 degrees C, whereas all of the phosphate was released from the phosphoserine peptide analogue under these conditions. Phosphohydroxyproline in the peptide was also more stable to acid (5.7 N HCl, 110 degrees C) than phosphoserine, the time for 50% release as Pi being 15 h in contrast to 6 h for the latter.     

Soluble cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases from chick kidney effects of dilution and non-protein inhibitors

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases prepared from crude cytosols of chick kidney, rat kidney and rat liver were found on dilution to exhibit complex kinetics. Dilution of the cytosols appears to increase the state of activation of the enzymes. This effect was due to the presence of inhibitory agents in the cytosol which had a greater inhibitory effect on the cyclic AMP-dependent than on the cyclic AMP-independent enzyme.Two types of inhibitory activity were found by column chromatography, one resistant to trichloroacetic acid precipitation and boiling but affected by trypsin digestion and the other resistant to boiling and trypsin digestion but precipitated by trichloroacetic acid. Inhibitory activity corresponding to the former characteristics has been described previously but the presence of additional soluble inhibitory agents in the cytosol has not been documented. The complete characterisation of this previously undescribed inhibitory activity requires further investigation.The relevance of such cytosolic inhibitory activity to the interpretation of states of activation of protein kinase enzymes is discussed.     

Differential phosphorylation of multiple sites in purified protein I by cyclic AMP-dependent and calcium-dependent protein kinases

Protein I, a specific neuronal phosphoprotein, has previously been shown, using rat brain synaptosome preparations, to contain multiple sites of phosphorylation which were differentially regulated by cAMP and calcium. In the present study, Protein I was purified to homogeneity from rat brain and its phosphorylation was investigated using homogeneous cAMP-dependent protein kinase and a partially purified calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase from rat brain. Employing various peptide mapping techniques, a minimum of three phosphorylation sites could be distinguished in Protein I; the phosphorylated amino acid of each site was serine. One phosphorylation site was located in the collagenase-resistant portion of Protein I and was the principal target for phosphorylation by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. This site was also phosphorylated by calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. The other two phosphorylation sites were located in the collagenase-sensitive portion of Protein I. These latter sites were markedly phosphorylated by calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, but not by cAMP-dependent protein kinase in concentrations sufficient to phosphorylate maximally the site in the collagenase-resistant portion. Thus, the phosphorylation of purified Protein I by purified cAMP-dependent and calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinases provides an enzymological explanation for the regulation of phosphorylation of endogenous Protein I in synaptosome preparations by cAMP and by calcium observed previously. The studies suggest that certain of the synaptic actions of two distinct second messengers, cAMP and calcium, are expressed through the distinct specificities of cAMP- and calcium-dependent protein kinases for the multiple phosphorylation sites in one neuron-specific protein, Protein I.     

Developmentally regulated cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Two apparently distinct species of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase appear during the first 1-2 hr of development in Dictyostelium discoideum; no such activity can be detected in vegetative cell extracts. These two kinases are similar in properties to the type I and II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases found in a number of mammalian tissues. Their time of appearance supports the idea that one or both mediate the effects of cyclic AMP on gene expression early in Dictyostelium development.     

Study of autophosphorylation of isoenzymes of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases.

Type I and type II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases, present in the cytosol from each of five rat and two bovine tissues, were separated from one another by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography in order to study their possible autophosphorylation. In each of the tissues studied, autophosphorylation of the regulatory subunit of the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase by the catalytic subunit could be demonstrated with the type II enzyme but not with the type I enzyme.     

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase does not phosphorylate cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in vitro

The autophosphorylation reaction of purified cGMP-dependent protein kinase has been studied. Apparent initial rates of autophosphorylation in the absence of cyclic nucleotides and in the presence of cGMP and cAMP are 0.006, 0.04, 0.4 mol Pi incorp./min-1. mol cGMP-kinase subunit-1. In the presence of cGMP and cAMP approximately 1 and 2 mol Pi are incorporated/mol enzyme subunit. These values are independent of the enzyme concentration. Stimulation of autophosphorylation by cAMP is not due to activation of a contaminating cAMP-dependent protein kinase since: (a) addition of the heatstable inhibitor protein of cAMP-kinase does not inhibit autophosphorylation; and (b) catalytic subunit of cAMP-kinase added at a 10-fold excess over cGMP-kinase does not phosphorylate cGMP-kinase.     

Differential phosphorylation of multiple sites in protein 4.1 and protein 4.9 by phorbol ester-activated and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases

The phosphorylation of the membrane skeleton components protein 4.1 and protein 4.9 in intact erythrocytes is shown to increase in the presence of either 1 microM 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate or 2 mM dibutyryl cAMP. The phosphorylation induced by these protein kinase activators is compared by two-dimensional tryptic peptide mapping. In both proteins, the pattern of peptides phosphorylated in the presence of 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate differs from the pattern of peptides phosphorylated in the presence of dibutyryl cAMP. The relative locations of the phosphorylated sites on protein 4.1 have been determined using limited proteolysis by alpha-chymotrypsin.     

Phosphorylation by cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase of a synthetic peptide corresponding to the autophosphorylation site in the enzyme

The substrate specificity of cGMP-dependent protein kinase has been investigated by examining the ability of the enzyme to phosphorylate a series of synthetic peptides that correspond to the amino acid sequence at its site of autophosphorylation. The undecapeptide Ile53-Gly-Pro-Arg-Thr-Thr58-Arg-Ala-Gln-Gly-Ile63 which corresponds to the sequence around threonine-58 in cGMP-dependent protein kinase (Takio, K., Smith, S.B., Walsh, K.A., Krebs, E.G., and Titani, K. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 5531-5536) was synthesized and tested as a substrate for that enzyme. It was phosphorylated to the extent of 1.0 mol of phosphate/mol of peptide. Analysis of the products of Edman degradation of the phosphopeptide indicated that only threonine-58 was phosphorylated, as is the case for the autophosphorylation reaction in the native enzyme. The peptide was phosphorylated by cGMP-dependent protein kinase with a Km value of 578 +/- 25 microM and a Vmax of 0.069 +/- 0.003 mumol/min/mg of enzyme. This low Vmax value is consistent with the relatively slow rate of the autophosphorylation reaction. An analog peptide that contained serine in place of threonine-58 was also phosphorylated to 1.0 mol of phosphate/mol of peptide. That phosphopeptide contained only phosphoserine. The serine-containing analog peptide had a Km value similar to that of the parent peptide but was phosphorylated with a 70-fold higher Vmax value. Substitution of arginine-56 in the parent peptide by an alanine residue resulted in a peptide that was essentially not a substrate. Substitution of arginine-59, COOH-terminal to the phosphorylatable threonine, yielded a peptide with a Vmax similar to that of the parent peptide but a Km value of almost 22,000 microM. These results indicate that serine is a better phosphate-accepting residue than is threonine and that both arginine residues around the site of autophosphorylation are important specificity determinants for the cGMP-dependent protein kinase.     

pH induced increase in cyclic GMP reactivity with cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases have been found which exhibit an enhanced capacity to bind cyclic GMP at acidic values of pH. The binding of cyclic GMP to a protein kinase from skeletal muscle, eluted as a single peak from DEAE cellulose columns, is inversely proportional to pH between the values of 7 to 4; the enzyme exhibits a 5 fold greater ability to bind cyclic [³H]-GMP (10^?8M) at pH 4.0 than 7.0. Protein kinases prepared from skeletal or uterine muscle, eluted as the first of two peaks from DEAE cellulose, exhibited similar pH dependent changes in specificity for cyclic GMP as determined by inhibition of cyclic [³H]-AMP binding. Acidic pH did not appreciably enhance the binding of cyclic [³H]-AMP to kinases prepared from aged skeletal muscle or kinase eluted as the second peak from DEAE cellulose.     

Methods for the estimation of receptor capacity of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases.

The dissociation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase to give two catalytic subunits results in data for the binding reaction that cannot be interpreted by the method of Scatchard. Linear plots that allow determination of total receptor capacity and equilibrium association constant are described.     

Cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases, protein kinase modulators and phosphodiesterases in arteries and veins of dogs. Distribution and effects of arteriovenous fistula and arterial occlusion.

Possible involvement of cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases, protein kinase modulators and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in functions of vascular tissues were investigated in the dog. All of the above activities, localized in the smooth muscle-rich inner layer of the blood vessels, were found to be higher in the arteries than in the veins. The peripheral arteries were disproportionately richer in cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (as indicated by high ratios of cyclic GMP-dependent to cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase) than were the veins, with the exception of the pulmonary artery, an atypical arterial tissue exposed to low blood pressure. Interestingly, the protein kinase ratio for the aorta, an artery with no significant role in blood pressure regulation, was not higher than that for the vena cava. Creation of femoral arteriovenous fistulae in the dogs led to preferential reductions in the cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme activity both in the proximal and distal arteries, whereas it was elevated in the stressed vein distal to the anastomotic site. The cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme was preferentially reduced in the saphenous artery distal to occlusion. Changes in the cyclic GMP-dependent enzyme activity appeared to precede gross atrophy or hypertrophy of the vessels. It is suggested that the vascular cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase may be closely related to peripheral resistance and its regulation.