Showing papers on "Calcineurin published in 1986"

Direct comparison of Ca2+ requirements for calmodulin interaction with and activation of protein phosphatase

Abstract: The mechanism of Ca2+-dependent protein-protein interaction and enzyme activation by calmodulin was investigated with the phosphoprotein phosphatase, calcineurin. Dimethylaminonaphthalene (dansyl)-calmodulin, a fluorescent derivative used to monitor complex formation, produced similar maximal activation (10- to 12-fold) with a Ca2+ dependence (Ka = 17 microM) identical to that of native calmodulin. The Ca2+-dependent increase in fluorescence intensity of dansyl-calmodulin was enhanced 100-150% by calcineurin, indicating complex formation; the concentration of Ca2+ required for a half-maximal increase in fluorescence was the same (K1/2 approximately equal to 7 microM) with and without calcineurin. Since the Ca2+ concentration required for activation appeared to differ from that necessary for protein-protein interaction, a method was devised to measure both the formation of complexes between dansyl-calmodulin and calcineurin and enzyme activity in the same samples. Direct comparison of interaction (measured by polarization of fluorescence) and enzyme activity demonstrated different Ca2+ requirements for the two events. Whereas dansyl-calmodulin-calcineurin interaction, measured in the presence of phosphoprotein substrate, exhibited very little cooperativity (Hill coefficient = 1.2, Ca2+ concentration required for the half-maximal increase in fluorescence, K1/2, approximately equal to 6 microM), phosphatase activation was highly cooperative (Hill coefficient = 3.5) and required 3 times higher Ca2+ concentration for half-maximal stimulation. Equivalent results were obtained with p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate. These data are consistent with a sequential mechanism for interaction and activation wherein filling of perhaps two Ca2+ sites permits calmodulin interaction with the phosphatase; this complex is inactive, requiring further binding of Ca2+ for activation. Such a scheme would provide a sensitive switch for control of enzyme activity within a narrow range of free Ca2+ concentration.

Calcineurin in human brain and its relation to extrapyramidal system. Immunohistochemical study on postmortem human brains.

Abstract: Calcineurin immunoreactivity has been successfully detected in formalin-fixed paraffinembedded postmortem human brain tissue using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. We have examined two autopsy cases with Huntigton's disease (HD), three cases with Parkinson's disease, and two senile patients as controls. In the controls, calcineurin immunoreactivity was present in neuronal cells only and highly concentrated in the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus (striato-pallidal pathway), substantia nigra (striato-nigral pathway) and hippocampal formation. These localizations were similar to those identified in rat brain. There was a marked depletion of neurons containing calcineurin in the caudate nucleus and putamen, and a marked reduction of calcineurin-immunoreactive nerve fibers in the globus pallidus and substantia nigra were found in the cases with HD, but not in those with Parkinson's disease. These findings suggest that calcineurin can be a useful and specific index of neuronal degeneration in the caudato-putamen resulting from extrapyramidal diesease, and that the calcineurin-immunostaining method can be a valuable tool for clarifying the anatomy of the human extrapyramidal system.

Association of calmodulin with peptide analogues of the inhibitory region of the heat-stable protein inhibitor of adenosine cyclic 3',5'-phosphate dependent protein kinase.

Abstract: A 20-residue peptide analogue (IASGRTGRRNAIHDILVSSA) of the 8000-dalton heat-stable cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor undergoes efficient calcium-dependent binding by calmodulin, with Kd approximately 70 nM when calcium is present. It is a potent inhibitor of smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase and of the calmodulin-dependent phosphatase activity of calcineurin. At concentrations above 3 microM, the peptide stimulates the basal activity of calcineurin. The native protein kinase inhibitor has no effect on the catalytic activity of myosin light chain kinase and is moderately inhibitory to both the calmodulin-dependent and -independent phosphatase activity of calcineurin. Competition experiments using excess concentrations of calcineurin and calmodulin suggest that the primary interaction of the native heat-stable inhibitor is with the catalytic subunit of protein kinase. Dansylcalmodulin exhibits only a weak interaction with the inhibitor. Observations on deletion peptides of the 20-residue analogue help to delineate the overlapping peptide binding specificities of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase [Scott, J. D., Glaccum, M. B., Fischer, E. H., & Krebs, E. G. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 1613-1616] and calmodulin. In both cases, the most effectively bound peptides contain the RTGRR sequence.

Calmodulin-binding protein (55K + 17K) of sea urchin eggs has a Ca2+- and calmodulin-dependent phosphoprotein phosphatase activity.

Abstract: A calmodulin-binding protein from sea urchin eggs consisting of two subunits (55 and 17K-daltons) was identified as a Ca2+-dependent phosphoprotein phosphatase similar to calcineurin in mammalian brain and to phosphatase 2B in skeletal muscle. Peptide mappings showed that the 55K subunit was different from 61K subunit of calcineurin, whereas the 17K subunit was similar to 19K subunit of calcineurin but different from calmodulin. The 55K + 17K protein of sea urchin eggs dephosphorylated 32P-inhibitor-1 in a Ca2+- and calmodulin-dependent manner. Vmax and Km for inhibitor-1 in the presence of Ca2+ and calmodulin were 2,100 pmol Pi/min/mg and 2.7 microM. Ca2+-dependent phosphatase activity for inhibitor-1 was detected in homogenates of both unfertilized and fertilized eggs, but was not detected in isolated cortices and mitotic apparatus.

Phosphorylation and activation of calcineurin by glycogen synthase (casein) kinase-1 and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

Abstract: Calcineurin is a phosphoprotein phosphatase that is activated by divalent cations and further stimulated by calmodulin. In this study calcineurin is shown to be a substrate for both glycogen synthase (casein) kinase-1 (CK-1) and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase). Either kinase can catalyze the incorporation of 1.0-1.4 mol /sup 32/P/mol calcineurin. Analysis by SDS-PAGE revealed that only the ..cap alpha.. subunit is phosphorylated. Phosphorylation of calcineurin by either kinase leads to its activation. Using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate the authors observed a 2-3 fold activation of calcineurin by either Mn/sup 2 +/ or Ni/sup 2 +/ (in the presence or absence of calmodulin) after phosphorylation of calcineurin by either CK-1 or A-kinase. In the absence of Mn/sup 2 +/ or Ni/sup 2 +/ phosphorylated calcineurin, like the nonphosphorylated enzyme, showed very little activity. Ni/sup 2 +/ was a more potent activator of phosphorylated calcineurin compared to Mn/sup 2 +/. Higher levels of activation (5-8 fold) of calcineurin by calmodulin was observed when phosphorylated calcineurin was pretreated with Ni/sup 2 +/ before measurement of phosphatase activity. These results indicate that phosphorylation may be an important mechanism by which calcineurin activity is regulated by Ca/sup 2 +/.