Phosphorylation and activation of calcineurin by glycogen synthase (casein) kinase-1 and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

Calcineurin is a phosphoprotein phosphatase that is activated by divalent cations and further stimulated by calmodulin. In this study calcineurin is shown to be a substrate for both glycogen synthase (casein) kinase-1 (CK-1) and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase). Either kinase can catalyze the incorporation of 1.0-1.4 mol 32P/mol calcineurin. Analysis by SDS-PAGE revealed that only the α subunit is phosphorylated. Phosphorylation of calcineurin by either kinase leads to its activation. Using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate the authors observed a 2-3 fold activation of calcineurin by either Mn2+ or Ni2+ (in the presence or absence of calmodulin) after phosphorylation of calcineurin by either CK-1 or A-kinase. In the absence of Mn2+ or Ni2+ phosphorylated calcineurin, like the nonphosphorylated enzyme, showed very little activity. Ni2+ was a more potent activator of phosphorylated calcineurin compared to Mn2+. Higher levels of activation (5-8 fold) of calcineurin by calmodulin was observed when phosphorylated calcineurin was pretreated with Ni2+ before measurement of phosphatase activity. These results indicate that phosphorylation may be an important mechanism by which calcineurin activity is regulated by Ca2+