Endogenous phosphorylation of proteins and phosphatidylinositol in the plasma membranes of a human astrocytoma.

Incubation of plasma membrane preparations from several tissues with [gamma-32P]ATP resulted in the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol as well as of proteins. The presence of an active phosphatidylinositol kinase in these membranes was indicated by equal or greater incorporation of 32P into phosphatidylinositol phosphate than into proteins. Phosphorylation of endogenous protein and lipid substrates by protein and phosphatidylinositol kinases in the plasma membranes of a human astrocytoma was investigated in detail. Maximal protein phosphorylation required the presence of Nonidet-P40 and phosphatase inhibitors (vanadate or fluoride). The rate of protein phosphorylation was greater with Mg2+ than with Mn2+, and phosphoserine accounted for 60% of the radioactivity incorporated into proteins. In the presence of Mn2+, phosphorylation of tyrosine was increased and was equal to that of serine phosphorylation (40%). With one exception, the overall pattern of phosphorylated proteins was similar with either Mg2+ or Mn2+. Maximal phosphatidylinositol phosphorylation of the astrocytoma plasma membranes also required detergent and phosphatase inhibitors. However, the enzymatic characteristics of lipid phosphorylation differed from those of protein phosphorylation with respect to divalent cation activation, ATP dependence, and sensitivity to inhibition by p-chloromercuriphenyl sulfonate, quercetin, and nucleoside derivatives. These results suggest that phosphorylation of plasma membrane proteins and phosphatidylinositol is catalyzed by different enzymes. The fact that membrane preparations exhibited phosphatidylinositol kinase activity almost 100,000 times greater than that exhibited by the purified tyrosine kinase of ros gene would exclude this and similar oncogene proteins from making a significant contribution to the overall phosphatidylinositol phosphorylation of cell membranes.