Multiple phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 during transition of quiescent 3T3 cells into early G1, and cellular compartmentalization of the phosphate donor.

At 5 min after quiescent cells are induced to enter G1 there is a large increase in the amount of 32P incorporated into 40S ribosomal protein S6. Here we show that changes in the specific activities of 32Pi and [gamma-32P]ATP in stimulated as compared to quiescent cultures do not account for this large increase. Instead, we demonstrate by decreased electrophoretic mobility on two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels that this increase is due to a quantitative increase in the total amount of phosphate incorporated into S6. Furthermore, pulse-chase experiments show that the phosphate that is incorporated into S6 is metabolically stable during at least the first 60 min of induction and that the incorporation of 32P into S6 responds immediately to the replacement of 32Pi by Pi in the medium, in contrast to [gamma-32P]ATP which changes very slowly. Thus, the S6 phosphate donor must be a compartment separate from that of the total cellular ATP.