J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 261, Issue 25, 11674-11679, Sep, 1986
Involvement of 60-kilodalton phosphoprotein in the regulation of calcium release from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum
DH Kim and N Ikemoto
"Heavy" sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles loaded with 5 mM CaCl2 in the
presence of protease inhibitors were phosphorylated by addition of MgATP in
the presence or absence of calmodulin. The major site of phosphorylation
was a 60-kDa protein. In the absence of added calmodulin, phosphorylation
of the 60-kDa protein reached its maximal value (8 pmol of P/mg of membrane
protein) at 1 min. In the presence of 1 microM calmodulin, a 2-fold higher
level of phosphorylation (16.1 pmol of P/mg of sarcoplasmic reticulum) was
reached within a shorter time (10 s). The phosphoprotein was then
spontaneously dephosphorylated. The initial rate of Ca2+ release, which was
induced by a Ca2+ jump and determined by stopped-flow fluorometry using
chlorotetracycline, decreased upon phosphorylation, whereas it was restored
upon dephosphorylation. There was good correlation between the amount of P
incorporation into the 60-kDa protein and the extent of inhibition of Ca2+
release. In the presence of added calmodulin the protein kinase activity
sharply increased in the [Ca2+] range of 0.2-2 microM with a concentration
for half-maximal activation at 0.6 microM. On the other hand, the protein
phosphatase activity was virtually independent of calmodulin and [Ca2+] in
the [Ca2+] range in which protein kinase was activated. The results suggest
that the calmodulin- dependent phosphorylation of the 60-kDa protein plays
an important role in the regulation of Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic
reticulum.