Sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump in cardiac and slow twitch skeletal muscle but not fast twitch skeletal muscle undergoes phosphorylation by endogenous and exogenous Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. Characterization of optimal conditions for calcium pump phosphorylation.

We have demonstrated recently that in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), a membrane-associated Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaM kinase) phosphorylates and activates the Ca(2+)-pumping ATPase (Ca(2+)-ATPase) in addition to phosphorylating the previously characterized substrates, phospholamban, and Ca2+ release channel (ryanodine receptor) (Xu, A., Hawkins, C., and Narayanan, N. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 8394-8397). The present study shows that a CaM kinase regulatory system capable of modulating SR Ca2+ pump activity through direct phosphorylation of the Ca(2+)-ATPase is functional in slow twitch but not fast twitch skeletal muscle. Incubation of SR vesicles isolated from rabbit slow twitch (soleus) and fast twitch (adductor magnus) skeletal muscles in the presence of Ca2+ and calmodulin resulted in phosphorylation of the Ca(2+)-ATPase in slow twitch muscle SR but not in fast twitch muscle SR. Exogenous CaM kinase II, which stimulated phosphorylation of the cardiac and slow twitch muscle SR Ca(2+)-ATPase, failed to phosphorylate fast twitch muscle SR Ca(2+)-ATPase. These observations demonstrate that CaM kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of the Ca2+ pump is isoform-specific since heart and slow twitch muscle express the same Ca(2+)-ATPase isoform (SERCA2a), which is distinct from that of fast twitch muscle (SERCA1). As in the case of cardiac SR Ca(2+)-ATPase, phosphorylation of the slow twitch muscle SR Ca(2+)-ATPase (occurring at a serine residue) resulted in a 2-fold increase in catalytic activity of the enzyme without alteration in its Ca2+ sensitivity. In addition, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent prephosphorylation of slow twitch muscle SR resulted in a greater than 2-fold increase in its Ca2+ transport activity. In both cardiac and slow twitch muscle SR, phosphorylation of the Ca(2+)-ATPase by the endogenous CaM kinase occurred rapidly (maximum within 2 min at 37 degrees C), had similar pH optimum (8.5-9.0), temperature optimum (30 degrees C), and calmodulin concentration-dependence (k0.5 50-60 nM). cAMP-dependent protein kinase did not phosphorylate the Ca(2+)-ATPase appreciably in either cardiac or slow twitch muscle SR. These findings suggest a muscle-specific role for the membrane-associated CaM kinase in the modulation of Ca2+ uptake and release functions of the SR. In cardiac and slow twitch muscle, phosphorylation of the SR Ca(2+)-ATPase by CaM kinase might provide a novel mechanism for the modulation of the enzymatic and Ca2+ transport functions of this enzyme.