Expression of a constitutive form of calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II leads to arrest of the cell cycle in G2.

Calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a multifunctional serine/threonine protein kinase. We have created a calcium/calmodulin independent form of this enzyme by truncation. Expression of this enzyme fragment in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate yields a constitutive enzyme with specific activity similar to the activated native enzyme. We have established mammalian cell lines that transiently express this constitutive enzyme using the glucocorticoid-inducible mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat. The transient increase in kinase activity results in a complete cessation of cell cycle progression. This block develops as a consequence of a specific arrest of the cell cycle in G2. During the block, increases in histone H1 kinase activity present in p13 beads or anti-cdc2 immunoprecipitates are seen in parallel with the accumulation of cells at G2, arguing that the arrest is not due to a failure to activate cdc2 as a histone H1 kinase. These results suggest that other changes in serine/threonine protein phosphorylation besides those involved in activation of cdc2 as a histone H1 kinase may be necessary for proper G2-M transition.