Regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylation in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells by elevated K+ and nerve growth factor. Evidence for different mechanisms of action.

A specific antiserum was used to compare phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) (EC 1.14.16.2, tyrosine 3-monooxygenase) as regulated by elevated K+ and nerve growth factor (NGF) in cultured PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. Exposure of cultures to either elevated K+ or to NGF significantly enhanced the incorporation of [32P]orthophosphate into TH. The effect of elevated K+ was evident at 10 mM and was maximal by 40-80 mM. Increased phosphorylation of TH was detected at 0.1 nM (3 ng/ml) NGF and reached a maximal level by 0.3-1 nM (10-30 ng/ml) NGF. Elevated K+ showed a biphasic time course of action with one maximum of phosphorylation at about 30 sec of exposure and a second after about 10 min of exposure. In contrast, the NGF effect showed an initial lag of several minutes followed by a monophasic increase in phosphorylation to reach a plateau. Both treatments enhanced TH activity, but in each case the time courses of this did not strictly correlate with that of phosphorylation. The effect of elevated K+ on TH phosphorylation required the presence of extracellular Ca2+ and was suppressed by trifluoperazine (100 microM). N-(6-Aminohexyl)-5-(chloronaphthalene)-1-sulfonamide (W-7) (100 microM), a potent inhibitor of calmodulin activity, also blocked the enhancement of phosphorylation by elevated K+, whereas N-(6-aminohexyl)-1-(naphthalene)sulfonamide (W-5) (100 microM), a less potent analogue of W-7, did not. In contrast to these findings, the increase in TH phosphorylation brought about by NGF did not require extracellular Ca2+, and was only slightly affected by trifluoperazine or W-7. When TH phosphorylated under various conditions (control medium, elevated K+, NGF) was subjected to peptide mapping after exposure to Staphylococcus aureus protease V8, multiple phosphorylated peptides were observed. Elevated K+ and NGF each produced increases in labeling of each of the peptides. However, the relative degree of labeling of different peptides was distinct for each condition. These data suggest that elevated K+ and NGF bring about rapid enhancement of the phosphorylation of TH by means of different mechanisms.