A casein kinase-like kinase phosphorylates beta-tubulin and may be a microtubule-associated protein.

The hypothesis that casein kinase II (CKII) is a microtubule-associated protein kinase was investigated using a neuronal cell line and bovine brain. Heparin, an inhibitor of CKII, inhibited the phosphorylation of a PC12 cytosolic protein whose molecular weight was similar to that of beta-tubulin. Partially purified PC12 CKII was immunoreactive to an antibody directed against bovine CKII and was able to phosphorylate purified beta-tubulin in a heparin-inhibitable manner when the concentration of tubulin was less than 50 micrograms/ml. To better determine if CKII is a microtubule-associated protein kinase, bovine brain tubulin was chromatographed on FPLC Mono Q and phosphocellulose columns. Several tubulin casein kinase (TCK) activities were apparent. All TCK activities phosphorylated tubulin and casein, but none was able to phosphorylate the CKII-specific synthetic peptide RRREEETEEE. One of these TCK fractions was immunoreactive to the antibody directed against CKII, and this antibody labeled a 50-kDa molecular mass band that had a molecular mass distinctly different from those of the subunits of CKII. Thus, we suggest that a CKII-like protein, but not CKII, might be a microtubule-associated protein.