Effect of protein kinase modulator on cAMP-dependent protein kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of phospholamban and stimulation of calcium transport in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The heat-stable protein (protein kinase modulator), partially purified from fresh bovine heart, possessed the ability to inhibit and stimulate adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase and guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase activities, respectively. The inhibitory activity of protein kinase modulator on cAMP-dependent protein kinase was abolished almost completely by trypsin treatment, while the ability to stimulate cGMP-dependent protein kinase activity was resistant to trypsin. Fractionation by a linear potassium phosphate gradient on DEAE-cellulose column did not clearly separate both activities. Phosphorylation of cardiac microsomal component, "phospholamban" (molecular weight = 22,000), was inhibited almost completely by the saturating amounts of protein kinase modulator. This inhibition of phospholamban phosphorylation by protein kinase modulator was accompanied by a decreased Ca uptake rate that had been stimulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. These findings indicate that protein kinase modulator is functional in controlling the cAMP-dependent protein kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of phospholamban and the rate of calcium transport, lending further support for the previously proposed mechanism, in which phospholamban is assumed to serve as a regulator of calcium transport in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.