Phosphorylation of RNA polymerases: specific association of protein kinase NII with RNA polymerase I.

The activities of the three DNA-dependent RNA polymerases from a rapidly growing rat tumour, Morris hepatoma 3924A, and from rat liver were examined. The activity of RNA polymerase I was higher in the tumour than in the liver. The enhanced capacity for RNA synthesis was a result of a higher concentration of polymerase I in the tumour as well as of an activation of this enzyme in vivo. The possibility that the high specific activity of the hepatoma polymerase I resulted from phosphorylation was investigated. Two major cyclic-AMP-independent nuclear casein kinases (NI and NII) were identified; the activity of protein kinase NII in the tumour was ten times that in liver. Protein kinase NII was capable of activating and phosphorylating RNA polymerase I in vitro. This kinase could also stimulate RNA polymerase II activity, although to a lesser extent than RNA polymerase I. RNA polymerase III was not affected by protein kinase NII. Protein kinase NII was tightly associated with polymerase I and was found even in purified preparations of the polymerase. Antibodies against both RNA polymerase I and protein kinase NII were present in sera of patients with certain rheumatic autoimmune diseases. These results imply that RNA polymerase I and protein kinase NII are in close association in vivo as well as in vitro and that polymerase phosphorylation may regulate the rate of ribosomal RNA synthesis in the cell.