Autophosphorylation of type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase in cultures of postnatal rat hippocampal slices.

Autophosphorylation of Thr286 on type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaM kinase) in vitro causes kinase activity to become partially independent of Ca2+. Here we report that Thr286 is the major CaM kinase autophosphorylation site occupied in situ in "organotypic" hippocampal cultures. Measurement of Ca(2+)-independent CaM kinase activity revealed that approximately one-third of the kinase is autophosphorylated in situ when the basal Ca2+ concentration is 15-43 nM. This proportion was substantially reduced 30 min after removal of extracellular Ca2+ or treatment of the cultures with protein kinase inhibitors and was increased by treatment with okadaic acid. Therefore, the high proportion of autophosphorylated kinase at basal Ca2+ concentrations appears to be maintained by Ca(2+)-dependent autophosphorylation. Homogenates of intact hippocampi also contain a high proportion of Ca(2+)-independent type II CaM kinase, 13-23% depending on developmental age. Thus, in hippocampal neurons, an important function of the autophosphorylation mechanism may be to produce a relatively high level of CaM kinase activity, even at basal Ca2+ concentrations, permitting both upward and downward local regulation by physiological agents.