cAMP-dependent protein kinases I and II: divergent turnover of subunits

cAMP-dependent protein kinase subunits were isolated from livers of rats that had been subjected to biosynthetic labeling with radioactive leucine. By application of ligand and antibody affinity techniques pure regulatory (R I; R II) and catalytic (C) subunits could be obtained in high yields, which allowed measurement of the apparent degradation rate constants and half-lives following a double isotope labeling protocol. In this way marked differences of apparent half-lives of regulatory subunits R I (t1/2 = 31 h) and R II (t1/2 = 125 h) were observed. To avoid the negative influence of reutilization inherent in the decay experiments, specific radioactivities were determined after a short isotope pulse. This parameter, which under steady-state conditions reflects the fractional turnover rate of the subunits, was found to be different for all three protein kinase subunits. Relative to total liver protein, the ratios R I:R II:C corresponded to 3.9:0.6:2. Our data indicate that in each type of protein kinase isoenzymes regulatory and catalytic subunits turn over with similar rates. The type I isoenzyme, however, is renewed much faster than protein kinase II. Furthermore, our findings are consistent with the thesis that free subunits as generated by activation are more susceptible to degradation than the holoenzymes, leading under steady-state conditions to compensatory resynthesis. Since renewal of R I exceeded that of R II also in two other tissues, the elevated turnover of protein kinase I as an indicator of preferential activation appears to be a general phenomenon. The different turnover of the two isoenzymes, then, may relate to different cellular functions like modulation of enzyme activity vs. modulation of gene activity.