Purification of protein phosphatase from hen oviduct

Two protein phosphatases of 103 and 29 kDa as determined by gel filtration, were purified from hen oviducts. The 103 -kDa phosphatase was purified 7300-fold to near homogeneity and dissociated into two polypeptides in the presence of SDS. Molecular masses of these polypeptides were estimated to be 60 and 38 kDa by SDS-polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis using the buffer system of Laemmli, but 68 and 35 kDa using the buffer system of Weber and Osborn. The stoichiometry of these polypeptides was approx 1:1 according to the densitometric analysis of gels at 550 nm. The 29 -kDa phosphatase was purified 2900-fold. Both phosphatases dephosphorylated the alpha-subunit of phosphorylase kinase more rapidly than the beta-subunit.     

Electrophoretic behavior of the H+-ATPase proteolipid from bovine heart mitochondria

The proteolipid subunit of H⁺-ATPase was labeled by [¹⁴C]N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in bovine heart mitochondria. The radioactive labeling was followed using various systems of sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). When using discontinuous SDS-PAGE (Laemmli, U.K., 1970,Nature (London)227, 680–685) a monomeric (Mr 7600±1500) and a dimeric form (Mr 17,800±1200) of the proteolipid were detected, while only the monomeric form was found on urea (8 M) containing gels (SDS-PAGE according to Laemmli; or Swank, R. T., and Munkers, K. D., 1971,Anal. Biochem. 39, 462–477). When using SDS-PAGE with Na-P_i buffer (Weber, K., and Osborn, M., 1969,J. Biol. Chem. 244, 4406–4442), only a dimeric form of the proteolipid (Mr 15,000±1000) was detected. Experimental data indicate that the different patterns of proteolipid separation are related to the presence of the two distinct proteolipid conformations in the SDS solution.     

Rapid purification of phospholamban by monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography

Monoclonal antibodies have been raised against canine phospholamban purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Four of twenty-four antibodies were purified to close to homogeneity from mouse ascites. All four antibodies could react with isolated bovine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) to result in the stimulation of ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump activity and blocking of phospholamban phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Relative efficiencies of antibodies in Ca2+ pump stimulation and on phospholamban phosphorylation were not correlated. An immunoabsorbent prepared by conjugating antibody Al to Affi-Gel 10 was used for the purification of phospholamban. Isolated bovine cardiac SR was solubilized in a buffer containing deoxycholate and the soluble fraction was applied to the immunoaffinity column. After washing the column with a series of detergent-containing buffer solutions, the column-bound protein which contained essentially pure phospholamban was eluted by a buffer containing 2.8 M MgCl2. The phospholamban recovery from the immunoaffinity column was close to 100%; the overall yield of purification from SR vesicles was about 70%. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that purified phospholamban consisted of a 25 and 5 kilodalton (kDa) protein species. Upon brief boiling (20 s) of the sample in SDS-PAGE sample buffer, five molecular species ranging from 5 to 25 kDa could be detected by immunotransblotting following SDS-PAGE. This observation supports the notion that phospholamban is composed of five 5-kDa polypeptides. The pure phospholamban could be phosphorylated maximally by cAMP-dependent protein kinase to 1-1.5 mol phosphate/mol phospholamban (25,000 g). This stoichiometry of phosphorylation could be increased to about 5 upon addition of the immunoaffinity column flow through fraction.     

The phospholamban phosphatase associated with cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum is a type 1 enzyme.

Canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles contain intrinsic protein phosphatase activity, which can dephosphorylate phospholamban and regulate calcium transport. This phosphatase has been suggested to be a mixture of both type 1 and type 2 enzymes (E. G. Kranias and J. Di Salvo, 1986, J. Biol. Chem. 261, 10,029-10,032). In the present study the sarcoplasmic reticulum phosphatase activity was solubilized with n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside and purified by sequential chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel, polylysine-agarose, heparin-agarose, and DEAE-Sephadex. A single peak of phosphatase activity was eluted from each column and it was coincident for both phospholamban and phosphorylase a, used as substrates. The partially purified phosphatase could dephosphorylate the sites on phospholamban phosphorylated by either cAMP-dependent or calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase(s). Enzymatic activity was inhibited by inhibitor-2 and by okadaic acid (I50 = 10-20 nM), using either phosphorylase a or phospholamban as substrates. The sensitivity of the phosphatase to inhibitor-2 or okadaic acid was similar for the two sites on phospholamban, phosphorylated by the cAMP-dependent and the calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinases. Phospholamban phosphatase activity was enhanced (40%) by Mg2+ or Mn2+ (3 mM) while Ca2+ (0.1-10 microM) had no effect. These characteristics suggest that the phosphatase associated with cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum is a type 1 enzyme, and this activity may participate in the regulation of Ca2+ transport through dephosphorylation of phospholamban in cardiac muscle.     

Identification of a calsequestrin-like protein from sea urchin eggs

Following studies on calcium transport by isolated smooth endoplasmic reticulum from unfertilized sea urchin eggs (Oberdorf, J. A., Head, J. F., and Kaminer, B. (1986) J. Cell Biol. 102, 2205-2210) we have purified and partially characterized a calsequestrin-like protein from this organelle isolated from eggs from Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and Arbacia punctulata. Muscle calsequestrin from sarcoplasmic reticulum is well characterized as a calcium storage protein. The egg protein resembles calsequestrin in its behavior in purification steps, electrophoretic mobility, blue staining with Stains-all on polyacrylamide gels, and its calcium binding and amino acid composition. Purification was attained with DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite chromatography. The egg protein Mr of 58,000 in the Laemmli gel system is reduced to 54,000 under Weber-Osborn (neutral) conditions, thus showing a pH dependence in its mobility, although less than occurs with muscle calsequestrins. 25% of its amino acids are acidic and 10% basic. It binds 309 nmol of Ca2+/mg of protein, within the range reported for cardiac calsequestrin. Antigenically, the sea urchin egg protein is related to cardiac calsequestrin capable of binding anti-cardiac calsequestrin antibody.     

Characterization of an apparently lower molecular weight gamma-chain variant in fibrinogen Kyoto I. The replacement of gamma-asparagine 308 by lysine which causes accelerated cleavage of fragment D1 by plasmin and the generation of a new plasmin cleavage site

Congenitally abnormal fibrinogen Kyoto I with impaired fibrin monomer polymerization contains a normal gamma-chain and a gamma-chain variant (gamma Kyoto I) that has an apparently lower Mr on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the Laemmli system (Laemmli, U. K. (1970) Nature 227, 680-685) but migrates with apparently normal Mr in the Weber and Osborn system (Weber, K., and Osborn, M. (1969) J. Biol. Chem. 244, 4406-4412). Reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic analyses of the cyanogen bromide or lysyl endopeptidase cleavage fragments of the purified gamma-chains of fibrinogen Kyoto I showed the presence of peptides not seen from normal fibrinogen. Amino acid sequence analysis of these peptides indicated that gamma Asn308 of the gamma-chain variant is replaced by lysine. Purified fragment D1 of fibrinogen Kyoto I also contains two types of D1 gamma-remnants: normal and apparently lower Mr types. Abnormal fragment D1 is cleaved faster to fragments D2 and D3 by plasmin in the presence of [ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)]tetraacetic acid (EGTA) than normal fragment D1, as analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, followed by immunoblotting using anti-gamma-chain monoclonal antibody. Analysis of peptides released from fragment D1 by plasmin in the presence of EGTA demonstrated the cleavage of the gamma Lys308-Gly309 bond. Fragment D1 of fibrinogen Kyoto I has normal calcium binding properties. The data suggest that a region or conformation containing gamma Asn308 affects the polymerization of fibrin monomers and that the gamma Asn308----Lys replacement causes a conformational change in the gamma-chain which results in the accelerated cleavage of gamma Lys356-Ala357 and gamma Lys302-Phe303 bonds by plasmin and also results in the generation of a new plasmin cleavage site between Lys308 and Gly309 in the presence of EGTA. During these studies, we found that part of the gamma Lys212-Glu213 bond in fragment D1 is cleaved by plasmin in the presence of EGTA.     

Cardiac contractile dysfunction in J2N-k cardiomyopathic hamsters is associated with impaired SR function and regulation

Although dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is known to result in cardiac contractile dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is the main regulator of intracellular Ca²⁺ required for cardiac contraction and relaxation. We therefore hypothesized that abnormalities in both SR function and regulation will contribute to cardiac contractile dysfunction of the J2N-k cardiomyopathic hamster, an appropriate model of DCM. Echocardiographic assessment indicated contractile dysfunction, because the ejection fraction, fractional shortening, cardiac output, and heart rate were all significantly reduced in J2N-k hamsters compared with controls. Depressed cardiac function was associated with decreased cardiac SR Ca²⁺ uptake in the cardiomyopathic hamsters. Reduced SR Ca²⁺ uptake could be further linked to a decrease in the expression of the SR Ca²⁺-ATPase and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA)-mediated phospholamban (PLB) phosphorylation at serine-16. Depressed PLB phosphorylation was paralleled with a reduction in the activity of SR-associated PKA, as well as an elevation in protein phosphatase activity in J2N-k hamster. The results of this study suggest that an alteration in SR function and its regulation contribute to cardiac contractile dysfunction in the J2N-k cardiomyopathic hamster. sarcoplasmic reticulum; cardiomyopathy; cAMP-dependent protein kinase; Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase; sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum ATPase; phospholamban     

Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of purified phospholamban and associated phosphatidylinositides

Phospholamban, the putative regulator for the calcium pump, was purified to apparent homogeneity and in high yields from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes. Purified phospholamban migrated with an apparent Mr of 27,000 in alkaline sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, and upon boiling in 7.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate, it dissociated into a lower molecular weight component of 5500-6000. Purified phospholamban contained 0.62 +/- 0.09 mumol of lipid Pi/mg of protein, and the major phospholipids were phosphatidylserine (34%), phosphatidylcholine (22%), sphingomyelin (17%), phosphatidylinositol (13%), and phosphatidylethanolamine (9%). Phospholamban was phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase to a level of 207 nmol of Pi/mg, and this would indicate an incorporation of 1 mol of phosphate/mol of protein, assuming a molecular weight of 5500 for phospholamban. Phosphorylation of phospholamban could be reversed by a "phospholamban phosphatase" isolated from canine cardiac cytosol. Phospholipids associated with the purified phospholamban were also phosphorylated in the presence of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and the maximal phosphate incorporation was 4 nmol/mg of protein. The main phospholipids phosphorylated were phosphatidylinositol 4-monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. Phosphorylation of phospholipids was inhibited by the heat-stable inhibitor protein of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and it could be also reversed by the phospholamban phosphatase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Purification of the CaATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum by affinity chromatography

Proteins from sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles solubilized by a nonionic detergent were fractionated by use of a reactive red-120 agarose column. The Ca-ATPase was obtained in pure form by eluting the column with 400 microM adenyl 5'-yl imidodiphosphate, yielding an enzyme of almost twice the starting specific activity in a fraction containing half the initial protein. The conclusion that the ATPase comprises 50% of the sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicle protein agrees with estimates gained from densitometry using 7 1/2% Laemmli slab gels but not from densitometry using 7% Weber and Osborn slab gels. The mechanism of purification was found to be affinity chromatography, with the ATPase binding the reactive red-120 ligand in its nucleotide-binding site. The steady-state concentration of phosphorylated intermediate relative to the specific activity was found to be lower in the purified enzyme as compared to the starting vesicular enzyme.     

Phospholamban regulation of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (Ca(2+)-Mg2+)-ATPase. Mechanism of regulation and site of monoclonal antibody interaction.

Monoclonal antibodies raised against canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum phospholamban were used to study the structure-function relationship between phospholamban and the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) (Ca(2+)-Mg2+)-ATPase (Suzuki, T., and Wang, J. H. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 7018-7023). Additional monoclonal antibodies are characterized further. When five of these monoclonal antibodies were assessed for their ability to affect SR Ca2+ uptake three of these antibodies had no effect on SR Ca2+ uptake, whereas the other two monoclonals were able to stimulate SR Ca2+ uptake to levels similar to those caused by phosphorylation of phospholamban at different calcium concentrations. Using synthetic peptides corresponding to various portions of phospholamban in a competitive binding assay, it was possible to map the epitope site of monoclonals which stimulate the (Ca(2+)-Mg2+)-ATPase activity to phospholamban residues 7-16. These results implicate phospholamban residues 7-16 in the regulation of the (Ca(2+)-Mg2+)-ATPase.     

Subunit structure and multiple phosphorylation sites of phospholamban

The phosphorylation-induced mobility shift of the high molecular weight form of phospholamban (24,500 daltons) in the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum produced on 3',5'-cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent phosphorylation with 5 mM ATP was resolved into five clear steps on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and on Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation into ten steps. The mobility shift of the low molecular weight form of phospholamban (less than 14,400 daltons) in these reactions occurred in one step and two steps, respectively. With the two protein kinase activities, the electrophoretic pattern of the mobility shifts of the high and low molecular weight forms of phospholamban was similar to that obtained with Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase alone. The results of pulse-chase experiments involving the centrifuge column method suggested that the site(s) of phosphorylation by cAMP- and Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activities are on the same phospholamban molecule. Two-dimensional tryptic peptide maps of phosphorylated phospholamban indicated that cAMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates at a single site, A, and Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates at sites C1 and C2 in the low molecular weight form, where A is different from C1 but may be the same as C2. The high molecular weight form of phospholamban is suggested to be a pentamer of identical monomers (low molecular weight form) having one phosphorylation site for cAMP-dependent protein kinase and two for Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase.     

Characterization of the molecular form of cardiac phospholamban

The native form of phospholamban is not known and it is presently under debate whether this protein exists as a monomer or an oligomer in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum. The currently accepted model for phospholamban is pentameric, based primarily on its behavior in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In this study, sucrose density gradient centrifugation and gel filtration chromatography were used to determine the form of phospholamban under nondenaturing conditions. Purified phospholamban or phospholamban present in solubilized cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was centrifuged through 5–20% sucrose density gradients in the absence or presence ofn-octylgucoside. The sucrose density gradient fractions were assayed for acid precipitable³²P-incorporation in the presence of [-³²P]ATP and cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit.³²P-containing peak fractions were subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis, using a phospholamban-polyclonal antibody, to confirm the presence of phospholamban. Purified phosphoblamban migrated with an apparent molecular weight of 25,000 daltons in the sucrose gradients in either the absence or presence of detergent. Phospholamban present in solubilized cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum migrated with a similar apparent molecular weight when detergent was included in the sucrose gradients. In addition, solubilized cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum was subjected to gel filtration chromatography in the presence of deoxycholate. Under these conditions phospholamban migrated with an apparent molecular weight of 24,500 daltons. These data suggest that phospholamban prefers an oligomeric assembly and this may be the form present in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes.     

Purification of the heat-stable inhibitor protein of the Ca2+-activated cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase by affinity chromatography.

The recently discovered heat-stable inhibitor protein of the Ca2+-activated cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (Sharma, R. K., Wirch, E. & Warg, J. H. (1978) J. Biol. Chem., in press) has been purified 238 214-fold from bovine brain extract using an affinity column of the modulator protein--Sepharose 4B conjugate. The purified sample appears to be homogeneous as judged by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) gel electrophoresis. The protein band has a mobility corresponding to that of a polypeptide of molecular weight 68 000. Since the heat-stable inhibitor protein has a molecular weight of 70 000 under nondenaturing conditions, it suggests that it is a monomeric protein. The protein has no inhibitory activity toward the cAMP-dependent protein kinase or protein phosphatase. The purified sample has been tested for various enzyme activities which include ATPase, GTPase, cAMP phosphodiesterase, cGMP phosphodiesterase, 5'-nucleotidase, and protein kinase. None of these activities are exhibited by the purified sample.     

Purification and characterization of phospholamban from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum

Phospholamban, the putative protein regulator of the Ca2+ pump of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, was purified to apparent homogeneity from canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles by selective extraction with sodium cholate, followed by adsorption to calcium oxalate, solubilization in Zwittergent 3-14, and specific elution from p-hydroxymercuribenzoate-agarose. Phospholamban, isolated in the dephosphorylated state, was purified 80-fold in 15% yield (approximately 2 mg of phospholamban/g of sarcoplasmic reticulum protein). Nondissociated phospholamban exhibited an apparent Mr = 25,000 in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Partially dissociated phospholamban, induced by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulfate, exhibited five distinct mobility forms in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, of apparent molecular weights between 5,000-6,000 and 25,000. Phospholamban was phosphorylated to a level of 190 nmol of Pi/mg of protein by cAMP-dependent protein kinase, consistent by minimum stoichiometry with a subunit molecular weight of approximately 5,000. Phospholamban prepared by the present method was different in several respects from the proteins that have been isolated in other laboratories. Pure phospholamban was cysteine rich, containing 6 residues/100 amino acid residues. Dephosphorylated phospholamban was strongly basic with a pI = 10; phosphorylation decreased the pI to approximately 6.7. Pure phospholamban (and phospholamban present in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles) was not readily extracted into acidified chloroform/methanol, suggesting that the protein does not behave as an acidic proteolipid. The purified protein was highly antigenic. Phospholamban was localized by immunochemical methods to cardiac membranes enriched in sarcoplasmic reticulum, but was absent from sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes prepared from fast skeletal muscle. The method described for isolation of cardiac phospholamban is highly reproducible and relatively simple, and should be useful for further detailed studies designed to probe the molecular structure of the protein.     

The effects of calcium, temperature and phospholamban phosphorylation on the dynamics of the calcium-stimulated ATPase of canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum

Highly purified sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) has been prepared from dog hearts and has been incubated with the triplet probe erythrosinyl isothiocyanate to specifically label the Ca2+-stimulated ATPase (Ca2+-ATPase) of the SR. The rotational mobility of the Ca2+-ATPase has been studied in this erythrosin-labelled SR using time-resolved phosphorescence polarization. Qualitatively, the mobility of the cardiac Ca2+-ATPase resembles that of skeletal muscle SR Ca2+-ATPase. Addition of Ca2+ to SR affects the mobility of the Ca2+-ATPase in a way consistent with a segment of the ATPase altering its orientation relative to the plane of the membrane. Phosphorylation of phospholamban in cardiac SR by the purified catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, which is known to increase the activity of the Ca2+-ATPase by deinhibition, also alters measured anisotropy. The changes observed are not compatible with dissociation of the Ca2+-ATPase from phospholamban after the latter is phosphorylated. The data are more consistent with phospholamban associating with the Ca2+-ATPase following phosphorylation, or more complex models in which only the hydrophilic domain of phospholamban binds with and dissociates from the Ca2+-ATPase.     

Purification of the calmodulin-sensitive adenylate cyclase from bovine cerebral cortex

A calmodulin-sensitive adenylate cyclase was purified 3000-fold from bovine cerebral cortex using DEAE-Sephacel, calmodulin-Sepharose, and two heptanediamine-Sepharose column steps. The purified enzyme activity was stimulated by calmodulin, forskolin, 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate, and NaF. The molecular weight of the protein component was estimated as 328 000 with a smaller form of Mr 153 000 obtained in the presence of Mn2+. The most highly purified preparations contained major polypeptides of 150 000, 47 000, and 35 000 daltons on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gels. Photoaffinity labeling of the preparation with azido[125I]iodocalmodulin gave one product of 170 000 daltons on SDS gels. It is proposed that the catalytic subunit of the calmodulin-sensitive enzyme is 150 000 +/- 10 000 daltons and that the enzyme exists as a complex of one catalytic subunit and the stimulatory guanyl nucleotide regulatory complex. These data are consistent with the previous report that the catalytic subunit of this enzyme has a molecular weight of 150 000 +/- 10 000 [Andreasen, T.J., Heideman, W., Rosenberg, G.B., & Storm, D.R. (1983) Biochemistry 22,2757].     

Identification of fodrin as a major calmodulin-binding protein in postsynaptic density preparations

A major protein of postsynaptic densities (PSDs), a doublet of 230,000 and 235,000 Mr that becomes enriched in PSDs after treatment of synaptic membranes with 0.5% Triton X-100, has been found to be identical to fodrin (Levine, J., and M. Willard, 1981, J. Cell Biol. 90:631) by the following criteria. The upper bands of the PSD doublet and purified fodrin (alpha-fodrin) were found to be identical since both bands (a) co-migrated on SDS gels, (b) reacted with antifodrin, (c) bound calmodulin, and (d) had identical peptide maps after Staphylococcus aureus protease digestion. The lower bands of the PSD doublet and of purified fodrin (beta-fodrin) were found to be identical since both bands co-migrated on SDS gels and both had identical peptide maps after S. aureus protease digestion. The binding of calmodulin to alpha-fodrin was confirmed by cross-linking azido-125I-calmodulin to fodrin before running the protein on SDS gels. No binding of calmodulin to beta-fodrin was observed with either the gel overlay or azido- calmodulin techniques. A second calmodulin binding protein in the PSD has been found to be the proteolytic product of alpha-fodrin. This band (140,000 Mr), which can be created by treating fodrin with chymotrypsin, both binds calmodulin and reacts with antifodrin.     

Phospholamban phosphorylation in intact ventricles. Phosphorylation of serine 16 and threonine 17 in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation

Phospholamban is the major membrane protein of the heart phosphorylated in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation. In cell-free systems, cAMP-dependent protein kinase catalyzes exclusive phosphorylation of serine 16 of phospholamban, whereas Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase gives exclusive phosphorylation of threonine 17 (Simmerman, H. K. B., Collins, J. H., Theibert, J. L., Wegener, A. D., and Jones, L. R. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 13333-13341). In this work we have localized the sites of phospholamban phosphorylation in intact ventricles treated with the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. Isolation of phosphorylated phospholamban from 32P-perfused guinea pig ventricles, followed by partial acid hydrolysis and phosphoamino acid analysis, revealed phosphorylation of both serine and threonine residues. At steady state after isoproterenol exposure, phospholamban contained approximately equimolar amounts of these two phosphoamino acids. Two major tryptic phosphopeptides containing greater than 90% of the incorporated radioactivity were obtained from phospholamban labeled in intact ventricles. The amino acid sequences of these two tryptic peptides corresponded exactly to residues 14-25 and 15-25 of canine cardiac phospholamban, thus localizing the sites of in situ phosphorylation to serine 16 and threonine 17. Phosphorylation of phospholamban at two sites in heart perfused with isoproterenol was supported by detection of 11 distinct mobility forms of the pentameric protein by use of the Western blotting method, consistent with each phospholamban monomer containing two phosphorylation sites, and with each pentamer containing from 0 to 10 incorporated phosphates. Our results localize the sites of in situ phospholamban phosphorylation to serine 16 and threonine 17 and, furthermore, are consistent with the phosphorylations of these 2 residues being catalyzed by cAMP- and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, respectively.     

The phosphorylation of purified phospholamban by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase is stimulated by phosphatidylinositol

A pure bovine phospholamban sample was phosphorylated by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase maximally to about 1 mol of phosphate/mol of protein (Mr 25,000), whereas phospholamban purified from bovine cardiac SR (sarcoplasmic reticulum) vesicle prephosphorylated by the protein kinase was found to contain 4.6 mol of phosphate/mol of phospholamban. The decrease in phospholamban phosphorylation occurred during the protein purification at the immunoaffinity chromatography step. The protein phosphorylation could be restored by the addition of the affinity column flow-through fraction to the phosphorylation reaction. The phosphorylation-stimulating activity of the flow-through fraction was resistant to boiling and trypsin treatment and extractable by organic solvent, suggesting that the endogenous factor(s) is lipid. Various phospholipids were found capable of stimulating the phosphorylation of phospholamban by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, but only phosphatidylinositol could stimulate the protein phosphorylation to a level achieved by the phosphorylation of SR membrane-bound phospholamban, about 5 mol of phosphate/mol. Phospholamban phosphorylated in the presence of phosphatidylinositol showed similar sites of phosphorylation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis mobility shifts as the phospholamban isolated from phosphorylated SR vesicles. Results of the present study suggest that phospholamban in SR is embedded in a phosphatidylinositol-rich microenvironment, and that this specific environment may be important for the regulation of Ca2+ pump by phospholamban.     

Increased inhibition of SERCA2 by phospholamban in the type I diabetic heart

The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) plays a critical role in mediating cardiac contractility and its function is abnormal in the diabetic heart. However, the mechanisms underlying SR dysfunction in the diabetic heart are not clear. Because protein phosphorylation regulates SR function, this study examined the phosphorylation state of phospholamban, a key SR protein that regulates SR calcium (Ca2+) uptake in the heart. Diabetes was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by an injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg kg(-1) i.v.), and the animals were humanely killed after 6 weeks and cardiac SR function was examined. Depressed cardiac performance was associated with reduced SR Ca2+-uptake activity in diabetic animals. The reduction in SR Ca2+-uptake was consistent with a significant decrease in the level of SR Ca2+-pump ATPase (SERCA2a) protein. The level of phospholamban (PLB) protein was also decreased, however, the ratio of PLB to SERCA2a was increased in the diabetic heart. Depressed SR Ca2+-uptake was also due to a reduction in the phosphorylation of PLB by the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). Although the activities of the SR-associated Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK), cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) were increased in the diabetic heart, depressed phosphorylation of PLB could partly be attributed to an increase in the SR-associated protein phosphatase activities. These results suggest that there is increased inhibition of SERCA2a by PLB and this appears to be a major defect underlying SR dysfunction in the diabetic heart.