Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) and protein phosphatase 6 (PP6) regulate DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) phosphorylation in mitosis

The protein kinase activity of the DNA-PKcs (DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit) and its autophosphorylation are critical for DBS (DNA double-strand break) repair via NHEJ (non-homologous end-joining). Recent studies have shown that depletion or inactivation of DNA-PKcs kinase activity also results in mitotic defects. DNA-PKcs is autophosphorylated on Ser²⁰⁵⁶, Thr²⁶⁴⁷ and Thr²⁶⁰⁹ in mitosis and phosphorylated DNA-PKcs localize to centrosomes, mitotic spindles and the midbody. DNA-PKcs also interacts with PP6 (protein phosphatase 6), and PP6 has been shown to dephosphorylate Aurora A kinase in mitosis. Here we report that DNA-PKcs is phosphorylated on Ser³²⁰⁵ and Thr³⁹⁵⁰ in mitosis. Phosphorylation of Thr³⁹⁵⁰ is DNA-PK-dependent, whereas phosphorylation of Ser³²⁰⁵ requires PLK1 (polo-like kinase 1). Moreover, PLK1 phosphorylates DNA-PKcs on Ser³²⁰⁵ in vitro and interacts with DNA-PKcs in mitosis. In addition, PP6 dephosphorylates DNA-PKcs at Ser³²⁰⁵ in mitosis and after IR (ionizing radiation). DNA-PKcs also phosphorylates Chk2 on Thr⁶⁸ in mitosis and both phosphorylation of Chk2 and autophosphorylation of DNA-PKcs in mitosis occur in the apparent absence of Ku and DNA damage. Our findings provide mechanistic insight into the roles of DNA-PKcs and PP6 in mitosis and suggest that DNA-PKcs’ role in mitosis may be mechanistically distinct from its well-established role in NHEJ.     

A structural model for elongation factor 1 (EF-1) and phosphorylation by protein kinase CKII

EF-1a binds aminoacyl-tRNA to the ribosome with the hydrolysis of GTP; the complex facilitates the exchange of GDP for GTP to initiate another round of elongation. To examine the subunit structure of EF-1 and phosphorylation by protein kinase CKII, recombinant , , and subunits from rabbit were expressed in E. coli and the subunits were reconstituted into partial and complete complexes and analyzed by gel filtration. To determine the availability of the and subunits for phosphorylation by CKII, the subunits and the reconstituted complexes were examined as substrates for CKII. Formation of the nucleotide exchange complex increased the rate of phosphorylation of the subunit and reduced the Km, while addition of to or the complex inhibited phosphorylation by CKII. However, a had little effect on phosphorylation of . Thus, the and subunits in EF-1 were differentially phosphorylated by CKII, in that phosphorylation of was altered by association with other subunits, while the site on was always available for phosphorylation by CKII. From the availability of the subunits for phosphorylation by CKII and the composition of the reconstituted partial and complete complexes, a model for the subunit structure of EF-1 consisting of (22)2 is proposed and discussed.     

用T7RNA聚合酶体外转录合成大鼠肝tRNA~(Ile)

采用PCR技术从rec M1 3mp1 8中扩增出 1 2 0bp的大鼠肝tRNAIle合成基因片段 ,经限制性内切酶BstNⅠ酶切后作为模板 ,利用T7RNA聚合酶在体外无细胞体系转录由T7启动子带动的大鼠肝tRNAIle基因 ,生成不含修饰碱基的tRNAIle,并对体外转录反应条件进行了优化 ,回收的tRNA产量可达DNA模板量的 4 0倍     

Aurora-A kinase phosphorylation of Aurora-A kinase interacting protein (AIP) and stabilization of the enzyme-substrate complex

Aurora-A is an oncogenic kinase that plays essential roles in mitosis as well as cell survival. Aurora-A interacting protein (AIP) was identified as a negative regulator of Aurora-A with its ectopic over expression inducing destabilization of Aurora-A protein. Here we present evidence that in human cells, contrary to the earlier report, AIP functions in stabilizing rather than destabilizing Aurora-A. Furthermore, AIP is phosphorylated on Serine 70 by Aurora-A but not Aurora-B and expression of phosphorylation mimic mutant of AIP results in prolonged protein stability compared to unphosphorylatable mutant. We observed that when co-expressed with AIP, protein levels of both Aurora-A and Aurora-B are markedly elevated regardless of their kinase activities and phosphorylation state of AIP. Interaction of Aurora kinases with AIP is necessary for this elevated stability. This phenomenon is commonly detected in several human cancer cell lines used in this study. Depletion of AIP by RNA interference decreased Aurora-A but not Aurora-B in two of the three cell lines analyzed, indicating that under physiological condition, AIP functions in stabilization of Aurora-A but not Aurora-B, though this regulation may be dependent on additional factors as well. Further, AIP siRNA induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M, which is consistent with anticipated loss of function of Aurora-A in these cells. Thus, our study provides the first evidence of a role for AIP in G2/M cell cycle progression by cooperatively regulating protein stabilization of its up-stream regulator, Aurora-A kinase through protein-protein interaction as well as protein phosphorylation.