Phosphorylation of human CTP synthetase 1 by protein kinase C: Identification of Ser⁴⁶² and Thr⁴⁵⁵ as major sites of phosphorylation

Phosphorylation of human CTP synthetase 1 by mammalian protein kinase C was examined. Using purified Escherichia coli-expressed CTP synthetase 1 as a substrate, protein kinase C activity was time- and dose-dependent and dependent on the concentrations of ATP and CTP synthetase 1. The protein kinase C phosphorylation of the recombinant enzyme was accompanied by a 95-fold increase in CTP synthetase 1 activity. Phosphopeptide mapping and phosphoamino acid analyses showed that CTP synthetase 1 was phosphorylated on multiple serine and threonine residues. The induction of PKC1^R398A-encoded protein kinase C resulted in a 50% increase for human CTP synthetase 1 phosphorylation in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ura7Δ ura8Δ mutant lacking yeast CTP synthetase activity. Synthetic peptides that contain the protein kinase C motif for Ser⁴⁶² and Thr⁴⁵⁵ were substrates for mammalian protein kinase C, and S462A and T455A mutations resulted in decreases in the extent of CTP synthetase 1 phosphorylation that occurred in vivo. Phosphopeptide mapping analysis of S. cerevisiae-expressed CTP synthetase 1 mutant enzymes phosphorylated with mammalian protein kinase C confirmed that Ser⁴⁶² and Thr⁴⁵⁵ were phosphorylation sites. The S. cerevisiae-expressed and purified S462A mutant enzyme exhibited a 2-fold reduction in CTP synthetase 1 activity, whereas the purified T455A mutant enzyme exhibited a 2-fold elevation in CTP synthetase 1 activity (Choi, M.-G., and Carman, G.M. (2006) J. Biol. Chem. 282, 5367-5377). These data indicated that protein kinase C phosphorylation at Ser⁴⁶² stimulates human CTP synthetase 1 activity, whereas phosphorylation at Thr⁴⁵⁵ inhibits activity.