Assay for IkappaB kinases using an in vivo biotinylated IkappaB protein substrate

IkappaB kinases (IKK)-1 and -2 are related kinases that are induced by stimuli such as TNF or IL-1 to phosphorylate serines 32 and 36 of IkappaBalpha, the regulatory subunit of the transcription factor NF-kappaB. A procedure for an IKK protein kinase assay is described that uses an in vivo biotinylated IkappaB protein substrate, [gamma-(33)P]ATP, and capture onto a streptavidin membrane. Residues 1-54 of the IkappaBalpha substrate were expressed as a fusion with glutathione S-transferase (GST) and a short (22 amino acid) biotinylation sequence that allowed modification during bacterial expression. Using the streptavidin capture assay the phosphorylation activities of recombinant IKK-1 and -2 were characterized. The assay provided a convenient way to compare IKK protein and peptide substrate preferences; biotinylated GST-IkappaBalpha(1-54) was more readily phosphorylated by both IKK-1 and IKK-2 compared to biotinylated myelin basic protein or a 20-mer biotinylated peptide containing serines 32 and 36 of IkappaBalpha. IKK-1 had 83-fold less activity than IKK-2, and the IKK-1+2 complex had approximately 2-fold more activity than IKK-2. IKK-1+2 and IKK-2 had similar K(m) values for ATP and GST-biotin-IkappaB(1-54) and were similarly inhibited by staurosporine and two of its analogues K252a and K252b, suggesting that most of the IkappaBalpha kinase activity in the IKK-1+2 complex may be attributed to IKK-2. Several features of the assay including the broad linear binding range of the streptavidin membranes for the protein substrate GST-biotin-IkappaB(1-54) (1-4000 pmol of protein/cm(2)), the low background, and its capacity for both biotinylated peptides and proteins make it a useful tool for quantitating IKK activity. These factors and the ease of expressing in vivo biotinylated GST fusions will make this assay approach suitable for a wide variety of protein kinases.