Multi-site phosphorylation of the inhibitory guanine nucleotide regulatory protein Gi-2 occurs in intact rat hepatocytes

A phosphorylated form of alpha-Gi-2 (the alpha-subunit of Gi-2), immunoprecipitated from hepatocytes under basal conditions, migrated as a single species of pI approximately 5.7, the labelling of which increased approximately 2-fold in cells challenged with either vasopressin or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA); agents which activate protein kinase C. In contrast, treatment of hepatocytes with 8-bromo-cyclic AMP produced a more acidic species of phosphorylated alpha-Gi-2 having a pI of approximately 5.4 and whose labelling was increased approximately 3-fold. Trypsin digestion of labelled alpha-Gi-2 isolated from hepatocytes under basal conditions identified, on two-dimensional peptide analyses, three positively charged phosphoserine-containing peptides (C1, C2 and C3), with only peptides C1 and C2 being evident upon less extensive digestion with trypsin. These are suggested to reflect a single site of phosphorylation, with proteolysis by trypsin being incomplete, and where C2 is larger than C1, which is larger than C3. An identical pattern of tryptic phosphopeptides was seen in hepatocytes treated with either vasopressin or PMA, although labelling of this group of peptides was increased by approximately 2-fold compared with the basal state. In contrast, treatment of hepatocytes with glucagon, 8-bromo-cyclic AMP or forskolin not only resulted in increased labelling of the ‘basal’ sites approximately 3-fold, but identified a novel positively charged tryptic phosphoserine-containing peptide (AN). All four tryptic peptides were susceptible to proteolysis by V8 protease. Treatment of labelled alpha-Gi-2 from basal and PMA-treated cells produced a pattern of peptides which was identical with those found when the tryptic phosphopeptide was treated with V8 protease. We tentatively suggest that, on alpha-Gi-2, Ser144 is phosphorylated through the action of protein kinase C and Ser207 is phosphorylated upon elevation of the intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP.