Regulation of GABA-modulin phosphorylation and GABA receptor binding by excitatory amino acids

Primary cultures of cerebellar granule cells phosphorylate numerous proteins including GABA-modulin (GM), which is a putative allosteric modulator of GABA receptors. Cell depolarization and treatment with dicarboxylic excitatory amino acids, which activate PI turnover, Ca2+ influx and guanylate cyclase in granule cells increase the phosphorylation of specific proteins. To determine GM phosphorylation by endogenous protein kinases in living granule cell cultures, GM was isolated by immunoprecipitation and reverse-phase HPLC. High K+, veratridine, glutamate and NMDA treatment stimulated GM phosphorylation over 2-fold. This increase was abolished by the absence of extracellular Ca2+ and was antagonized by Mg2+ ions and by AVP. The excitatory amino acid action was mimicked by phorbol esters but not by forskolin or by cGMP, and thus may be mediated by an activation of protein kinase C (PKC). Moreover, excitatory amino acids increase 3H-labelled phorbol ester binding sites in granule cell membrane. The same cultures, treated with glutamate or kainate, showed a 50-fold greater efficacy of muscimol for the stimulation of benzodiazepine (BZ) binding. These data-suggest that excitatory amino acid stimulation of neurons triggers PKC translocation and the activated enzyme phosphorylates GM. The extent of GM phosphorylation may regulate the coupling between GABA and BZ binding sites