Functional specificity of guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent and adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinases from silkworm.

Adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase partially purified from silkworm pupae shows identical functional activities with those of mammalian protein kinases; the insect and mammalian kinases are completely exchangeable in the phosphorylation of muscle glycogen phosphorylase kinase and glycogen synthetase resulting in the activation and inactivation of the respective enzymes. In contrast, guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase obtained from the same organism is totally inactive in this role and phosphorylates different, mainly seryl and some threonyl, residues of acceptor proteins. Substrates of the latter kinase intimately involved in the regulation of biological processes have remained unknown.