The Phosphorylation of Endogenous Substrates by Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II in Pancreatic β-Cells

Date

1998-06-01

Authors

Krueger, Kimberly A.

ORCID

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Krueger, Kimberly A., The Phosphorylation of Endogenous Substrates by Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II in Pancreatic β-cells. Doctor of Philosophy (Biomedical Sciences), June, 1998, 165 pp., 35 illustrations, references, 259 titles. Increasing evidence supports a physiological role for calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) in the secretion of insulin from pancreatic β-cell. While it has been previously demonstrated that CaM kinase II is activated by glucose in isolated rat islets implicating this enzyme in the secretion process, its cellular targets are unidentified. Potential candidates would likely exhibit strong binding to the enzyme, an association with the cytoskeleton, or an involvement in the secretion process. Based on these criteria, the following study represents an evaluation, in situ, of two proteins to function as substrates for CaM kinase II. Microtubule-associated protein, MAP-2 is one of the best substrates of CaM kinase II in vitro thought to be involved in secretion process. Synapsin I phosphorylation in the neuron by CaM kinase II is essential for neurotransmitter release. Unique to this study, both proteins were determined to be expressed in clonal mouse β-cells (βTC3) and primary rat islet β-cells. By immunoprecipation, in situ phosphorylation of MAP-2 and synapsin I was induced in permeabilized βTC3 cells within a calcium range shown to activate endogenous CaM kinase II under identical conditions. Two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping of both proteins revealed that sites phosphorylated by CaM kinase II in vitro, while distinct from sites phosphorylated by protein kinase A in vitro, were largely homologous to those sites phosphorylated in situ upon incubation of the βTC3 cells with increased free calcium. Immunofluorescence verified expression of both proteins in βTC3 cells and pancreatic slices, however, synapsin I exhibited little co-localization with insulin containing dense core granules as demonstrated by immunogold electron microscopy. These data provide evidence that MAP-2 and synapsin I are phosphorylated by CaM kinase II in the pancreatic β-cell in situ. While the data suggest that synapsin I may not be involved in insulin secretion, an association with other known microvesicles of the β-cell, similarly secreted, may be possible. The phosphorylation of these CaM kinase II substrates may reveal an important intermediate step in the mediation of the glucose response in the pancreatic β-cell.

Description

Citation