Autoactivation of C-terminally truncated Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) Iδ via CaMK kinase-independent autophosphorylation.

Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I isoforms (CaMKIα, β, γ, and δ) play important roles in Ca²⁺ signaling in eukaryotic cells by being activated by CaMK kinase (CaMKK) through phosphorylation at a Thr residue in the activation loop. However, we have recently found that, unlike rat CaMKIα (rCaMKIα), C-terminally truncated fragments of zebrafish and mouse CaMKIδ [zCaMKIδ(1-299) and mCaMKIδ(1-297)] produced by Escherichia coli exhibit almost full activity in the absence of CaMKK. To address the CaMKK-independent activation mechanism of CaMKIδ in E. coli cells, here we performed comparative analyses between recombinant zCaMKIδ(1-299) and rCaMKIα(1-294) in vitro. By using a kinase-dead mutant of zCaMKIδ(1-299) and λ phosphatase coexpression method, we elucidated that zCaMKIδ(1-299) was highly autophosphorylated and activated in E. coli during cell culture, but rCaMKIα(1-294) was not. The major autophosphorylation site leading to activation of the kinase was Ser²⁹⁶, determined using mass spectrometry analysis in conjunction with site-directed mutagenesis. Furthermore, mimicking phosphorylation at Ser²⁹⁶ in full-length zCaMKIδ resulted in additional activation of the kinase compared with CaMKI fully activated by CaMKK. Our results provide the first evidence that CaMKIδ is activated through CaMKK-independent phosphorylation at Ser²⁹⁶, which might be a clue to understand the physiological regulation of CaMKIδ isoform.

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