Regulation of l-DOPA Biosynthesis by Site-Specific Phosphorylation of Tyrosine Hydroxylase in AtT-20 Cells Expressing Wild-Type and Serine 40-Substituted Enzyme

Abstract: De novo l -DOPA biosynthesis was studied in stably transfected AtT-20 cells expressing wild-type- or Leu⁴⁰]-recombinant tyrosine hydroxylase (rTH). Basal rates of DOPA accumulation were much higher by cells expressing rTH in which Leu was substituted for Ser⁴⁰ (S40L-rTH) than by those expressing wild-type rTH (WT-rTH). Treatment of WT-rTH cells with forskolin produced an increase in DOPA accumulation and a concomitant increase in WT-rTH phospho-Ser⁴⁰ content, whereas DOPA production by cells expressing S40L-rTH was entirely unaffected by forskolin. After forskolin treatment of ³²P_i-prelabeled cells, WT-rTH was phosphorylated at Ser⁸, Ser¹⁹, Ser³¹, and Ser⁴⁰, whereas ³²P incorporation into S40L-rTH was restricted to Ser⁸, Ser¹⁹, and Ser³¹. Relatively prolonged treatment of AtT-20 cells expressing WT-rTH with either a depolarizing agent (elevated potassium) or a phosphatase inhibitor (okadaic acid) increased DOPA production and increased the phosphorylation state of Ser⁴⁰; but, unlike forskolin, these treatments also increased DOPA production by cells expressing S40L-rTH. Thus, the present studies demonstrate that Ser⁴⁰ phosphorylation mediates forskolin-induced increases in DOPA biosynthesis directly but that mechanisms other than Ser⁴⁰ phosphorylation can mediate the increases in DOPA biosynthesis produced either by depolarization or by protein phosphatase inhibition.