Evidence for a Role of Protein Kinase C Substrate B-50 (GAP-43) in Ca2+-Induced Neuropeptide Cholecystokinin-8 Release from Permeated Synaptosomes

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Abstract
To study the involvement of the protein kinase C (PKC) substrate B-50 [also known as growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43), neuromodulin, and F1] in presynaptic cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) release, highly purified synaptosomes from rat cerebral cortex were permeated with the bacterial toxin streptolysin O (SL-O). CCK-8 release from permeated synaptosomes, determined quantitatively by radioimmunoassay, could be induced by Ca2+ in a concentration-dependent manner (EC50 of ∼10-5M). Ca2+-induced CCK-8 release was maximal at 104M Ca2+, amounting to ∼10% of the initial 6,000 ± 550 fmol of CCK-8 content/mg of synaptosomal protein. Only 30% of the Caa+-induced CCK-8 release was dependent on the presence of exogenously added ATP. Two different monoclonal anti-B-50 antibodies were introduced into permeated synaptosomes to study their effect on Ca2+-induced CCK-8 release. The N-terminally directed antibodies (NM2), which inhibited PKC-mediated B-50 phosphorylation, inhibited Ca2+-induced CCK-8 release in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the C-terminally directed antibodies (NM6) affected neither B-50 phosphorylation nor CCK-8 release. The PKC inhibitors PKC19–36 and 1 −(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7), which inhibited B-50 phosphorylation in permeated synaptosomes, had no effect on Ca2+-induced CCK-8 release. Our data strongly indicate that B-50 is involved in the mechanism of presynaptic CCK-8 release, at a step downstream of the Ca2+ trigger. As CCK-8 is stored in large densecored vesicles, we conclude that B-50 is an essential factor in the exocytosis from this type of neuropeptide-containing vesicle. The differential effects of the monoclonal antibodies indicate that this B-50 property is localized in the N-terminal region of the B-50 molecule, which contains the PKC phosphorylation site and calmodulin-binding domain.