Protein kinase D (PKD) exists as a family of structurally related enzymes that are activated through similar phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms involving protein kinase C (PKC). While individual PKD isoforms could in theory mediate distinct biological functions, previous studies identify a high level of functional redundancy for PKD1 and PKD2 in various cellular contexts. This study shows that PKD1 and PKD2 are activated in a stimulus-specific manner in neonatal cardiomyocytes. The ␣ 1 -adrenergic receptor agonist norepinephrine selectively activates PKD1, thrombin and PDGF selectively activate PKD2, and endothelin-1 and PMA activate both PKD1 and PKD2. PKC activity is implicated in the ␣ 1 -adrenergic receptor pathway that activates PKD1 and the thrombin-and PDGF-dependent pathways that activate PKD2. Endothelin-1 activates PKD via both rapid PKC-dependent and more sustained PKC-independent mechanisms. The functional consequences of PKD activation were assessed by tracking phosphorylation of CREB and cardiac troponin I (cTnI), two physiologically relevant PKD substrates in cardiomyocytes. We show that overexpression of an activated PKD1-S744E/S748E transgene increases CREB-Ser 133 and cTnI-Ser 23 /Ser 24 phosphorylation, but agonist-dependent pathways that activate native PKD1 or PKD2 selectively increase CREB-Ser 133 phosphorylation; there is no associated increase in cTnI-Ser 23 /Ser 24 phosphorylation. Gene silencing studies provide unanticipated evidence that PKD1 down-regulation leads to a compensatory increase in PKD2 activity and that down-regulation of PKD1 (alone or in combination with PKD2) leads to an increase in CREB-Ser 133 phosphorylation. Collectively, these studies identify distinct roles for native PKD1 and PKD2 enzymes in stress-dependent pathways that influence cardiac remodeling and the progression of heart failure.
Protein kinase D (PKD)2 consists of a family of three structurally related serine-threonine kinases (termed PKD1 (or PKD), PKD2 and PKD3 (or PKD)) that play key roles in cell growth, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis (1). PKD isoforms share a common domain structure, consisting of a C-terminal kinase domain and an N-terminal regulatory domain. The regulatory domain contains a C1 domain that anchors full-length PKD to diacylglycerol/phorbol ester-containing membranes and a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain that participates in intramolecular autoinhibitory interactions. PKD activation is generally attributed to a phosphorylation-dependent mechanism involving PKC. Receptors that activate phospholipase C and promote diacyglycerol accumulation co-localize PKD with allosterically activated PKC at lipid membranes. PKD is then activated as a result of phosphorylation at Ser 744 and Ser 748 , a pair of highly conserved serine residues in the activation loop of the kinase domain (nomenclature based upon rodent PKD1). Once activated, PKD1 and PKD2 execute autophosphorylation reactions at a serine residue in a PKD consensus phosphorylation motif at the extreme C terminus (Ser 916 in...