Interaction of polyamines and magnesium with casein kinase II

In reticulocytes, polyamines appear to be physiologically relevant activators of casein kinase II [Hathaway, G. M. and Traugh, J. A. (1984). J. Biol. Chem. 259, 7011-7015]. The mechanism by which polyamines and Mg2+ interact to activate casein kinase II has been investigated. These studies were conducted by holding ionic strength constant at 0.10 M. At low Mg2+ (2.5 mM), activation by spermine resulted in a 33% decrease in the apparent Km for casein. Under these conditions, a 2.3-fold increase in the maximum velocity of the reaction was observed, and half-maximal stimulation was obtained with 275 microM spermine. At a kinetically optimal Mg2+ concentration of 12.5 mM, the effects of spermine on Km and Vmax were reduced, and the concentration of spermine required to give 50% of maximal stimulation was increased to 750 microM. Kinetic data obtained at the two Mg2+ concentrations indicated that Mg2+ and spermine competed for the same form of the enzyme. Double-reciprocal plots of velocity versus Mg2+ concentration showed downward curvature at Mg2+ concentrations higher than 1 mM, and these results were interpreted as evidence for two binding sites on the enzyme with an apparent Km of 0.5 and 2.5 mM. Experiments carried out with ATP-Mg2+ in the absence of excess MgCl2 gave results consistent with an absolute requirement of the enzyme for the metal ion which could not be replaced by spermine. These results are consistent with the formation of an enzyme-activator complex. A model is proposed where spermine activates casein kinase II at one site on the enzyme at which MgCl2 can also bind, while a second, high-affinity site exists exclusively for the metal ion.