GTPase-deficient G alpha i2 oncogene gip2 inhibits adenylylcyclase and attenuates receptor-stimulated phospholipase A2 activity.

The GTPase activity of a G protein alpha subunit functions as a timer to control the lifetime of the activated conformation of the protein. Expression of the GTPase-deficient Gi2 alpha subunit oncogene, gip2 (alpha i2Q205L), in Chinese hamster ovary cells inhibited the stimulation of adenylylcyclase and altered the calcium regulation of the Gi2-phospholipase A2 (PLA2) effector complex. The phenotypic consequence of the activated alpha i2 mutant on hormonal stimulation of PLA2 varied depending on the cytoplasmic calcium transient elicited by different Gi2-linked receptors. The stimulation of PLA2 by thrombin, which mobilized calcium only from internal stores, was markedly attenuated in gip2-expressing cells. In contrast, the attenuation of the PLA2 response to ATP, a purinergic agonist which mobilizes calcium from both extracellular space and internal stores, was significantly less than that observed for thrombin. Ionomycin, a calcium ionophore, stimulated PLA2 activity in clones which expressed gip2 to a level similar to that observed in wild-type Chinese hamster ovary cells. Thus, the dominant GTPase-deficient gip2 polypeptide will constitutively inhibit adenylylcyclase but differentially modulate enzymes regulated by calcium and coupled to Gi2.