Identification and characterization of cAMP-dependent protein kinase and its possible direct interactions with protein phosphatase-1 in marine dinoflagellates

Kinase Inhibitory, Haemolytic and Cytotoxic Activity of Three Deep-water Sponges from North Western Australia and their Fatty Acid Composition

The cAMP dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibition, haemolytic activity, and cytoxicity of 21 extracts obtained from North Western Australian sponges collected from depths of 84-135 m were investigated. Hexane extracts from Ircinia/Sarcotragus sp. and Geodia sp. displayed PKA inhibitory activities of 100 and 97% respectively (at 100 μg/mL), while aq. methanol extracts from Haliclona sp. exhibited potent haemolytic activity (75%) and hexane extracts from Geodia sp. were highly toxic (88%) to the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana. As the non-polar extracts gave the greatest PKA inhibition, these were further analysed by GCMS and 29 fatty acids were identified in the highest proportions in Ircinia/Sarcotragus sp. > Haliclona sp. > Geodia sp. In contrast to shallow-water sponges that are dominated by polyunsaturated fatty acids with a high percentage of long chain fatty acids, LCFAs (C24-C30), the deep-sea sponges investigated herein were all found to be rich in saturated fatty acids, in particular C14-C20 fatty acids, including odd and branched chain fatty acids, with only low levels (0-10%) of LCFAs. Screening of the PKA inhibitory activity of a series of commercially available fatty acids identified C14-C18 fatty acids as possessing significant PKA inhibitory activity that may contribute to the activity observed in the sponges studied.

Evidence for cAMP-dependent protein kinase in the dinoflagellate, Amphidinium operculatum

A cAMP dependent protein kinase (PKA) was identified in the dinoflagellate Amphidinium operculum. In vitro kinase activity towards kemptide, a PKA-specific substrate, was not detectable in crude lysates. However, fractionation of dinoflagellate extracts by gel filtration chromatography showed PKA-like activity toward kemptide at approximately 66 kDa. These findings suggest that possible low molecular mass inhibitors in crude lysates were removed by the gel filtration chromatography. Pre-incubation of extracts with cAMP prior to chromatography resulted in an apparent molecular mass shift in the in vitro kinase assay to 40 kDa. An in-gel kinase assay reflected activity of the free catalytic subunit at approximately 40 kDa. Furthermore, western blotting with an antibody to the human PKA catalytic subunit confirmed a catalytic subunit with a mass of approximately 40 kDa. Results from this study indicate that the PKA in A. operculatum has a catalytic subunit of similar size to that in higher eukaryotes, but with a holoenzyme of a size suggesting a dimeric, rather than tetrameric structure.

Cell cycle regulation in a dinoflagellate, Amphidinium operculatum: identification of the diel entraining cue and a possible role for cyclic AMP

This research describes the diel phasing of the cell cycle in the dinoflagellate, Amphidinium operculatum Claparéde and Lachmann, and investigates the mechanisms that serve to link the cell cycle to the diel cycle. Unlike many dinoflagellates, A. operculatum has a naturally high division rate of approximately 1 division day(-1), which yields a nearly synchronous population, making it useful for population studies. When grown on a 16:8 h light/dark cycle, S-phase begins 10 h and mitosis 14-16 h after the onset of light, as determined by flow cytometry. Alterations in the timing of the dark/light and light/dark transitions showed that the cell cycle is entrained by the dark/light transition, with the light/dark cue being uninvolved. Cells in logarithmic phase growth also undergo diel changes in cell size (9-14 &mgr;m), reaching a maximum size late in the light phase, concurrent with mitosis. Stationary phase cells or cells blocked in G1 of the cell cycle with a cell cycle inhibitor, olomoucine, showed no size changes or reduced size changes over the diel cycle, suggesting a coupling of cell size to the cell division cycle. In Euglena, cAMP-dependent signaling appears to mediate diel phasing of the cell cycle. Therefore, the role of cAMP in cell cycle control in A. operculatum was investigated. Measurement of intracellular cAMP by radioimmunoassay (RIA) revealed that cAMP concentrations varied on a diel basis, but increases observed appeared to correlate with cell size increases, and did not correlate with light cues at the dark/light or light/dark transition. However, when cells were treated with the cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor, IBMX, cell cycle progression was inhibited at both the G1/S and the G2/M phase transitions. This supports a role for cAMP-dependent signaling in the dinoflagellate cell cycle and is in agreement with the documented role of cAMP in the cell cycle control of higher eukaryotes.

Identification of sds21 in fission yeast in an inhibitor-resistant high molecular mass protein phosphatase-1 complex

While characterizing the type-1 protein phosphatases sds21 and dis2 in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) a novel high molecular mass protein was identified with serine/threonine phosphatase activity (referred to as PP-R) that was resistant to a panel of characteristic inhibitors of protein phosphatases. Purification of the native sds21 catalytic isoform of protein phosphatase-1 (PP-1) from an S. pombe knockout strain lacking dis2 (deltadis2) resulted predominantly in identification of PP-R. To test the hypothesis that the catalytic activity of PP-R comprised sds21, a parallel purification was performed of PP-1 activity from an S. pombe knockout strain lacking sds21 (deltasds21). Both deltasds21 and deltadis2 strains exhibited similar protein phosphatase activity profiles as determined by DEAE-sepharose, Mono-Q and Superdex gel filtration chromatography. However, the peak of protein phosphatase activity from deltasds21 S. pombe that co-migrated with PP-R from deltadis2 S. pombe exhibited the sensitivity to a panel of inhibitors that was characteristic of a type-1 protein phosphatase. These data suggest that the catalytic subunit of PP-R comprises sds21 and that the resistance to inhibitors may originate from structural differences between dis2 and sds21 isoforms. A key structural feature present in sds21, but lacking in dis2, is a classical phosphorylation consensus sequence surrounding serine-145 of sds21. The previous hypothesis was that PP-1 activity among several lower eukaryotes may be regulated directly by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) phosphorylation. However, this study demonstrated that recombinant sds21 is not a target for PKA in vitro. The constrained configuration of the putative PKA site on the PP-1 holoenzyme may restrict its ability to be targeted by PKA.