Hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors stimulate the production of InsP 3 3 and Ca 2ϩ signals in virtually all cell types (1). The ubiquitous nature of this mode of signaling dictates that this pathway does not exist in isolation; indeed, a multitude of additional signaling pathways can be activated simultaneously. A prime example of this type of "cross-talk" between independently activated signaling systems results from the parallel activation of cAMP and Ca 2ϩ signaling pathways (2, 3). Interactions between these two systems occur in numerous distinct cell types with various physiological consequences (3-6). Given the central role of InsP 3 R in Ca 2ϩ signaling, a major route of modulating the spatial and temporal features of Ca 2ϩ signals following cAMP production is potentially through PKA phosphorylation of the InsP 3 R isoform(s) expressed in a particular cell type. There are three InsP 3 R isoforms (InsP 3 R1, InsP 3 R2, and InsP 3 R3) expressed to varying degrees in mammalian cells (7,8). InsP 3 R1 is the major isoform expressed in the nervous system, but it is less abundant compared with other subtypes in non-neuronal tissues (8). Ca 2ϩ release via InsP 3 R2 and InsP 3 R3 predominate in these tissues. InsP 3 R2 is the major InsP 3 R isoform in many cell types, including hepatocytes (7, 8), astrocytes (9, 10), cardiac myocytes (11), and exocrine acinar cells (8,12). Activation of PKA has been demonstrated to enhance InsP 3 -induced Ca 2ϩ signaling in hepatocytes (13) and parotid acinar cells (4,14). Although PKA phosphorylation of InsP 3 R2 is a likely causal mechanism underlying these effects, the functional effects of phosphorylation have not been determined in cells unambiguously expressing InsP 3 R2 in isolation. Furthermore, the molecular determinants of PKA phosphorylation of this isoform are not known.PKA-mediated phosphorylation is an efficient means of transiently and reversibly regulating the activity of the InsP 3 R. InsP 3 R1 was identified as a major substrate of PKA in the brain prior to its identification as the InsP 3 R (15, 16). However, until recently, the functional consequences of phosphorylation were unresolved. Initial conflicting results were reported indicating that phosphoregulation of InsP 3 R1 could result in either inhibition or stimulation of receptor activity (16,17). Mutagenic strategies were employed by our laboratory to clarify this discrepancy. These studies unequivocally assigned phosphorylation-dependent enhanced Ca 2ϩ release and InsP 3 R1 activity at the single channel level, through phosphorylation at canonical PKA consensus motifs at Ser 1589 and Ser 1755 . The sites responsible were also shown to be specific to the particular InsP 3 R1 splice variant (18). These data were also corroborated by replacing the relevant serines with glutamates in a strategy designed to construct "phosphomimetic" InsP 3 R1 by mimicking the negative charge added by phosphorylation (19,20). Of particular note, however, although all three isoforms are substrates for PKA, neither o...