Activation of the particulate low Km phosphodiesterase of adipocytes by addition of cAMP-dependent protein kinase

The purified catalytic subunit (C) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase produced a 2-fold activation of the low Km phosphodiesterase in crude microsomes (P-2 pellet) of rat adipocytes. This activation was C subunit concentration-dependent, ATP-dependent, blocked by a specific peptide inhibitor, and lost if the C subunit was first heat denatured. The concentration of ATP necessary for half-maximal activation of the low Km phosphodiesterase was 4.50 +/- 1.1 microM, which was nearly the same as the known Km of C subunit for ATP (3.1 microM) using other substrates. The concentration of C subunit producing half-maximal activation of phosphodiesterase was 0.22 +/- 0.04 microM, slightly less than the measured concentration of total C subunit in adipocytes (0.45 microM). The activation of the low Km phosphodiesterase by C subunit was specific, since on an equimolar basis, myosin light chain kinase, cGMP-dependent protein kinase, or Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II did not activate the enzyme. The percent stimulation of phosphodiesterase by C subunit was about the same as that produced by incubation of adipocytes with a cAMP analog, and the enzyme first activated in vivo with the analog was not activated to the same extent (on a percentage basis) by in vitro treatment with C subunit. Treatment of the crude microsomes with trypsin resulted in transfer of phosphodiesterase catalytic activity from the particulate to the supernatant fraction, but the enzyme in the supernatant was minimally activated by C subunit, suggesting either loss or dislocation of the regulatory component. The C subunit-mediated activation of phosphodiesterase was preserved after either transfer of phosphodiesterase activity to the supernatant fraction by nonionic detergents or partial purification of the transferred enzyme. The present findings are consistent with the suggestion that protein kinase regulates the concentration of cAMP through phosphodiesterase activation and provide direct evidence that the mechanism of activation involves phosphorylation.