cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulatory subunit type IIβ -: Active site mutations define an isoform-specific network for allosteric signaling by cAMP

cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK) contains a regulatory (R) subunit dimer bound to two catalytic (C) subunits. Each R monomer contains two cAMP-binding domains, designated A and B. The sequential binding of two cAMPs releases active C. We describe here the properties of RIIbeta and two mutant RIIbeta subunits, engineered by converting a conserved Arg to Lys in each cAMP-binding domain thereby yielding a protein that contains one intact, high affinity cAMP-binding site and one defective site. Structure and function were characterized by circular dichroism, steady-state fluorescence, surface plasmon resonance and holoenzyme activation assays. The K-a for RIIbeta is 610 nm, which is 10-fold greater than its K-d(cAMP) and significantly higher than for RIalpha and RIIalpha. The Arg mutant proteins demonstrate that the conserved Arg is important for both cAMP binding and organization of each domain and that binding to domain A is required for activation. The K-a of the A domain mutant protein is 21-fold greater than that of wild-type and the K-d(cAMP) is increased 7-fold, confirming that cAMP must bind to the mutated site to initiate activation. The domain B mutant K-a is 2-fold less than its K-d(cAMP), demonstrating that, unlike RIalpha, cAMP can access the A site even when the B site is empty. Removal of the B domain yields a K. identical to the Kd(cAMP) of full-length RIIbeta, indicating that the B domain inhibits holoenzyme activation for RIIbeta. In RIalpha, removal of the B domain generates a protein that is more difficult to activate than the wild-type protein.