Catalytic subunit of protein kinase A is an interacting partner of the inflammation-responsive transcription factor serum amyloid A-activating factor-1

Serum amyloid A-activating factor-1 (SAF-1) is a zinc finger transcription factor that is activated by many mediators of inflammation including IL-1, IL-6, and bacterial LPS. However, the mechanism of activation is not fully understood. To identify possible activation partners for SAF-I, we used a yeast two-hybrid system that detected interaction between the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA-C alpha) and SAF-I. Immunofluorescence and combined immunoprecipitation-Western blot analyses revealed colocalization and interaction between SAF-I and PKA-C alpha. In vivo evidence of SAF-1 and PKA-C alpha interaction was further revealed by coimmunoprecipitation of these two proteins in cAMP-activated liver cells. We further show that SAF-1 is phosphorylated in vitro by PKA-C alpha and that addition of cAMP markedly induces in vivo phosphorylation of SAF-1 and transcription of SAF-regulated reporter genes. These results showed that SAF1-PICA-C alpha interaction is involved in functional activation of SAF-I.