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The dienophile 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTD) was identified as a novel protein cross-linker, and utilized as a conformational probe of phosphorylase b kinase (PhK), a hexadecameric enzyme with the subunit composition (alphabetagammadelta)4. In its reaction with this enzyme, PTD produced five major cross-linked conjugates as resolved by denaturing gel electrophoresis: alphabeta, betagammagamma, alphagamma and a doublet of differently migrating homodimers, betabeta1 and betabeta2. Cross-linking in the presence of six different activators of the kinase targeted to its various subunits caused substantial changes in the amounts of three of the conjugates. The formation of alphagamma was increased by all of the activators but the largest enhancement was caused by exogenous Ca2+/calmodulin. All except one of the activators decreased the amount of betagammagamma formed, with Mg2+ having the greatest effect, and all except two increased the amount of betabeta1, with Mg2+ again having the largest influence. From the overall similarity of the changes in cross-linking by PTD induced by the various activators, we conclude that, even though they are targeted to different sites and subunits, they induce activated conformations of PhK that have certain structural features in common. Regarding the mechanism of cross-linking by PTD, its reaction with a model nucleophile suggests that its initial reaction with a side chain nucleophile of PhK involves a 1,4-conjugate addition to form a urazole adduct, with the secondary cross-linking reaction occurring through an as yet unknown pathway.

The structural organization of the (␣␤␥␦) 4 phosphorylase kinase complex has been studied using the yeast two-hybrid screen for the purpose of elucidating regions of ␣ subunit interactions. By screening a rabbit skeletal muscle cDNA library with residues 1-1059 of the ␣ subunit of phosphorylase kinase, we have isolated 16 interacting, independent, yet overlapping transcripts of the ␣ subunit containing its C-terminal region. Domain mapping of binary interactions between ␣ constructs revealed two regions involved in the self-association of the ␣ subunit: residues 833-854, a previously unrecognized leucine zipper, and an unspecified region within residues 1015-1237. The cognate binding partner for the latter domain has been inferred to lie within the stretch from residues 864 -1059. Indirect evidence from the literature suggests that the interacting domains contained within the latter two, overlapping regions may be further narrowed to the stretches from 1057 to 1237 and from 864 to 971. Cross-linking of the nonactivated holoenzyme with N-(␥-maleimidobutyroxy)sulfosuccinimide ester produced intramolecularly cross-linked ␣-␣ dimers, consistent with portions of two ␣ subunits in the holoenyzme being in sufficient proximity to associate. This is the first report to identify potential areas of contact between the ␣ subunits of phosphorylase kinase. Additionally, issues regarding the general utility of twohybrid screening as a method for studying homodimeric interactions are discussed.Phosphorylase b kinase (PhK) 1 is among the largest and most complex of the protein kinases, with a mass of 1.3 ϫ 10 6 Da and a subunit stoichiometry of (␣␤␥␦) 4 (reviewed in Refs. 1 and 2). The catalytic ␥ subunit of this complex oligomer is allosterically controlled through alterations in quaternary structure initiated by the regulatory ␣, ␤, and ␦ subunits, the latter being an intrinsic molecule of calmodulin (3). Studies have shown that activation of PhK by multiple effectors occurs concomitantly with common conformational changes in the ␣ and ␤ subunits (4 -6); moreover, the activity of free ␥ subunit is inhibited by the ␣ and ␤ subunits (7,8). It has been proposed that the ␣ and ␤ subunits of PhK impose steric constraint upon ␥ that, when removed, leads to activation of the kinase (7-10).We have chosen to study the largest of the regulatory subunits, ␣, because relatively few studies have been devoted to understanding its role in the structure and function of PhK. Previous studies using electron microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy have suggested that the ␣ subunit is peripherally located in the holoenzyme (11, 12), which is consistent with its high susceptibility to proteolysis by a wide variety of proteases (5). Based upon the probable exposed location of ␣ within the PhK hexadecamer, we hypothesized that this subunit may interact with other muscle proteins and investigated potential PhK ␣ interactions by screening a skeletal muscle cDNA library for potential binding partners of ␣ using the yeast two-hybrid system.The two-hybr...

We studied the effects of intracerebroventricular and intraperitoneal injection and the in vitro effects of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, on the nitric oxide synthase activities of the cerebellum, brainstem, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and the remainder of the brain after dissections. Male rats were chronically implanted with lateral icv guide cannula. L-NAME was injected in doses of 0.2, 1, and 5 mg intracerebroventricularly, and 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally. L-NAME induced dose-dependent suppression of NOS activities in each brain region. The threshold dose was 0.2 mg; 1 mg L-NAME completely abolished brain nitric oxide synthase activity 90 min after the injection. Brain NOS activities returned to baseline level 48 h after the injection of 5 mg L-NAME. There were significant differences between the sensitivity of various regions to L-NAME after in vivo but not in vitro administration of the enzyme inhibitor. These findings indicate that intracerebroventricular injection of L-NAME is a useful tool for inhibiting brain nitric oxide synthase activities in vivo. The differences between the sensitivity of different brain regions to L-NAME as well as the relative fast recovery of nitric oxide synthase activities must be taken into account when L-NAME is administered intracerebroventricularly to rats.

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