Cell-permeable peptide-based disruption of endogenous PKA-AKAP complexes: a tool for studying the molecular roles of AKAP-mediated PKA subcellular anchoring

Stimulation of numerous G protein-coupled receptors leads to the elevation of intracellular concentrations of cAMP, which subsequently activates the PKA pathway. Specificity of the PKA signaling module is determined by a sophisticated subcellular targeting network that directs the spatiotemporal activation of the kinase. This specific compartmentalization mechanism occurs through high-affinity interactions of PKA with A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs), the role of which is to target the kinase to discrete subcellular microdomains. Recently, a peptide designated “AKAPis” has been proposed to competitively inhibit PKA-AKAP interactions in vitro. We therefore sought to characterize a cell-permeable construct of the AKAPis inhibitor and use it as a tool to characterize the impact of PKA compartmentalization by AKAPs. Using insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells (INS-1 cells), we showed that TAT-AKAPis (at a micromolar range) dose dependently disrupted a significant fraction of endogenous PKA-AKAP interactions...