Multiple roles for cAMP-dependent protein kinase during Dictyostelium development

The cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) holoenzyme of Dictyostelium comprises a single regulatory (R) and catalytic (C) subunit, and both proteins increase in concentration during cellular aggregation. In order to determine the role of the kinase, we have constructed mutants of the R subunit that are defective in cAMP binding, in inhibition of the C subunit, or in both functions. Analysis of these mutants suggests that overexpression of the unmutated R subunit, which is known to block development, occurs by direct inactivation of the C subunit rather than by an effect on intracellular cAMP levels. Cells with an inactive C subunit (PKA- cells) are defective in cAMP relay, the production of cAMP in response to extracellular cAMP stimulation. This presumably accounts for their inability to undertake aggregation. When mixed with wild-type cells, PKA- cells migrate toward the signalling centre but remain confined to the periphery of the tight aggregate and are lost from the back of the migratory slug. This suggests that PKA may be required during the late, multicellular stages of development. Consistent with this, we find that a number of postaggregative genes are not expressed in PKA- cells, even when they are allowed to synergise with normal cells.