Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 9, 851-864, Copyright © 1989 by Society for Neuroscience
ARPP-21, a cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein enriched in dopamine- innervated brain regions. I. Purification and characterization of the protein from bovine caudate nucleus
HC Hemmings Jr and P Greengard
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021.
ARPP-21 (cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, Mr = 21,000 as determined by
SDS/PAGE) is a major cytosolic substrate for cAMP-stimulated protein
phosphorylation in dopamine-innervated regions of rat CNS (Walaas et al.,
1983c). This acidic phosphoprotein has now been identified in bovine
caudate nucleus cytosol and purified to homogeneity from this source. The
purification procedure involved diethylaminoethyl-cellulose chromatography,
ammonium sulfate fractionation, phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B chromatography, and
fast protein liquid chromatography using Mono Q anion-exchange resin. Two
isoforms of ARPP-21 (ARPP-21A and ARPP-21B) were obtained, which were
present in approximately equal amounts in the starting material. ARPP-21A
was purified 2610-fold with a final yield of 20% and ARPP-21B was purified
2940-fold with a final yield of 21%. The purified preparations of both
isoforms were judged to be homogenous by SDS/PAGE. ARPP-21A and ARPP-21B
yielded identical 2-dimensional thin- layer tryptic phosphopeptide maps,
identical amino acid compositions and closely related, but distinct,
reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatograms of tryptic digests. The
amino acid composition of ARPP-21 showed a high content of glutamic
acid/glutamine, and no methionine, tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine, or
histidine. ARPP-21 was stable to heat denaturation and to 50% (vol/vol)
ethanol treatment and was partially soluble at pH 2. The Mr determined for
ARPP-21 by SDS/PAGE was 21,000. The Stokes radius of ARPP-21 was 26.3 A,
and the sedimentation coefficient of ARPP-21 was 1.3 S; these values yield
a calculated molecular mass of 13,700 Da and a frictional ratio of 1.7,
indicative of an elongated tertiary structure. ARPP-21 was an excellent
substrate for cAMP-dependent protein kinase and was either not
phosphorylated or only poorly phosphorylated by cGMP-dependent protein
kinase, calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I,
calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, casein kinase II, or
protein kinase C. The purified catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein
kinase catalyzed the incorporation of 1.2 mol phosphate/mol purified
ARPP-21. Phosphorylation occurred exclusively on seryl residues.
Phospho-ARPP-21 was dephosphorylated effectively by protein phosphatase-1
or -2A, but not by protein phosphatase-2B or -2C. Rabbit polyclonal and
mouse monoclonal antibodies were prepared to purified ARPP-21. These
antibodies specifically immunoprecipitated ARPP-21, which was found to be
highly enriched in the caudate nucleus and putamen of monkey
brain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)