Role of the deinhibitor protein in the interconversion of the ATP,Mg-dependent protein phosphatase.

The small molecular weight (+/- 9,000) heat stable deinhibitor protein, isolated from dog liver, not only protects the multisubstrate protein phosphatase from inhibition by inhibitor-1 and the modulator protein. It prevents the conversion of the active enzyme to the ATP,Mg-dependent enzyme form brought about by the modulator protein, and also affects the activation of the ATP,Mg-dependent protein phosphatase, probably by stabilizing the enzyme in its active conformation during the reversible activation by protein kinase FA. Therefore the deinhibitor protein could be an important factor in the process of glycogen synthesis, which requires glycogen synthase and phosphorylase as dephosphorylated enzymes.